Honesty didn't get me anywhere, but I'm sure it got them far...
I've honestly never met such an honest,nice and relaxed band before. The way that they treat their fans is phenomenal, so gentle, so polite and very sweet! But once they climb the stage they turn into wild animals! The energy and power that they capture in their songs on-stage is mind blowing, something I haven't seen before. It's obvious that great music brings out the best in Neil(vocals), Ryan(guitar), Mike(drums) and Will(bass). Attack! Attack! is ready to Attack! the global rock-scene by stealing millions of innocent hearts by honest, nice and polite raw booming ROCK MUSIC!
Interview with: Neil and Ryan
Interview by: Pearl
Are you excited to play in Rotterdam tonight?
Neil: Very, even more than normal I think, because of what happened last time. We couldn't make it then.
How are you going to make up for that?
Ryan: We'll play naked tonight!
Neil: Yeah...
Really?
Neil: Yes! No that's not making up for that. You don't want to see us naked. There's nothing we can do, we promised to come back and we did, so that's everything we can do. So that's probably the best that we can do, but we always try to do that anyway.
I'm always surprised by the energy that you have on stage. How do you capture the energy and power in your songs?
Neil: that's a good question...I don't think that there's an answer on that, it's just natural I think. Music and the energy that we feel is in the music just brings out the best in us while we are on-stage and playing it. That's probably just what it is. It's just that we enjoy the music so much that we really get into it.
You grew up admiring the Lostprophets and you've got the opportunity to work and tour with them. What did you learn from them?
Neil: I think that they taught us that you can be a couple of average guys of South Wales and still make it in the music industry with hard work and determination.They worked so hard, they believed in what they did and they've achieved their dreams. That gives bands like us the believe that we can achieve our dreams as well.
I've seen the video of "you and me" and it kind of reminds me of the film Charley and the Chocolate factory.
Neil: Really? Cool, I love that film!
Which one is your favorite character?
Neil: My favorite is Grab a Joke!
Ryan: God! I think it's got to be Willy Wonka, Gene Simmons. It's got to be Gene Simmons...
No he's not Gene Simmons! Gene Simmons is definitely not Willy Wonka right?! haha..
Neil: I didn't see the remake, what was the remake like?
Ryan: Nothing on the original...
I haven't seen the original.
Ryan and Neil: O NO! You've got to see that! Get it on the screen now!
Neil: Is Grab a Joke even in the remake? Our answers are based on the original.
The video also reminded me of a time I was afraid of people coming out of the television.
Neil: Like the film the Ring! have you seen that film?
No
Neil: That happens in that film, it's a horror movie, it's scary!
What used to be your fears as a child?
Neil: Still is, fish. I've always been scared of fish and chickens. At least when they're alive, cause I love them when they're dead and tasty!
Ryan: I'm not scared of anything! No.
Never been afraid of the dark or something like that?
Ryan: Maybe afraid of the dark when I was a kid, maybe...
Neil: maybe this time?
Ryan: hehe I'm not afraid of chickens... I used to be scared of dogs, don't know why, I love dogs.
What things inspire you to write songs?
Neil: All different kind of things: Everyday life experiences, touring in a band, being on the road, news things, movies.
Really personal stuff?
Neil: That's coming to it definitely.
Do you write about things that are very close to your heart, or do you prefer to write about things that everyone can identify with?
Neil: I think they both cross over anyway, cause a lot of stuff that happens to you, happen to a lot of other people as well. And you can interpret lyrics in your own way, so we might have written something that means this, but somebody might think it means something else. That's cool, as long as they could relate with it.
What's the nicest song to perform live?
Neil: I really like playing "From now on".
Are you going to play that tonight as well?
Neil: Yeah we will. When we recorded this song we didn't know what the song sounded like. It's hard to explain. The song wasn't finished when we started recording it. It might sound strange, but the first time we played the song from start to finish was actually live. I really like it because of the fresh feeling of playing it. A lot of songs you play hundreds and hundreds of times and then you record them, but this song is differently. We had the ideas, but we didn't actually have the full song.
Is it also your favorite song to perform live?
Ryan: No I like to play "You and Me" I think...I don't know I like them all I think.
Will you be playing all of your songs tonight?
Neil: We're not playing "Lost for Words"
That's too bad.
Neil: Sorry, we've played it only a few times, but it's a little bit hard to sing and that can cause problems. It wouldn't be so bad to sing it at the end of a tour, at the last day, cause if you damage your voice you can have time to recover. But that's not possible when you're on tour. i struggle with that sometimes. We stay away from that and pretend it doesn't exists.
You´ve performed on the London Forum, which is really big, but tonight you´ll be playing in Watt, which is a bit smaller but cosy at the same time. What do you prefer?
Neil: That depends as long as it is full. I definitely prefer Europe in general to the UK. You do get treated better by the promoters and the venues are very helpfull. In the UK, a lot of the time you get at a venue and you're out there on your own. In Europe there're always people to help you and that's cool.
Is there a difference between the British and the Dutch audience?
Neil: Must be..Neither of them understand us, cause we're Welsh, we speak too fast.
It's funny, because in the UK there are different parts with totally different attitudes towards bands in general. So you have places you look forward to more to go and play in the UK. We've played in two different places in Holland, Amsterdam and Nijmegen. The Amsterdam crowd is always really cool. And Nijmegen...You were at the Nijmegen show, it's always good. We've never had a bad reaction anywhere we've been, whether it's Holland, the UK or anywhere. But the Dutch fans always seem to be up for a good time, so that's cool. Enthousiastic! Which is always good.
What would your life look like if there wasn't any music?
Neil: Dark, boring..
Ryan: What our life would look like? No good!
Neil: I would have to kill fifteen hours a day. I don't know, I love listening to music, love playing music. If there was no music...
Ryan: That would have been bad wouldn't it?
Neil: That's why I would say thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing, thanks for all the joy they're bringing. I'll ask in all honesty, what would life be like? Do you know that song? No
Would you be another person if you weren't in a band?
Ryan: I'd probably be in prison right now.
Neil: In Wales you have two choices music or crime.
What kind of crime would you commit?
Neil: Anything! Car theft, drugs, an occaisional murder... Like when Mike and Ryan were younger they were in a crime gang. Ryan, show her your tattoos! They were dark times, but luckily they discovered music and it can pull you out of these things and give you a totally different direction.
If you could kill one person in the world who would that be?
Neil: Sean Smith..
Ryan: Can we kill a band?
SEAN SMITH??
Neil: No joking...I knew I would get a reaction on that!
Ryan: I would kill Scouting for girls.
Really? Why?
Ryan: Because it's a terrible band!
Neil: Are we going to be found out for killing this person?
No
Neil: Okay, this is good..Gordon Brown I think. Gordon Brown is the prime minister of the UK. I got to kill Gordon Brown and give the UK a fresh start in politics.
Wouldn't you kill the other Attack! Attack! band?
Ryan: O yeah, we'd kill them as well!
Neil: No we'd hug and kiss!
Ryan: I'd kill them, definitely!
How would a sixteen-year-old Neil or Ryan look at the person that you've become today?
Neil: I don't think I'd believe it.
Ryan: No I wouldn't believe it, I'd laugh!
Neil: I've totally changed, cause I was very shy as a child. I think I'd be very happy with what I've done with my life from that point of view.
You don't have any regrets?
Neil: There're always regrets, meeting Ryan that was a regret.
If you could have a time-machine, would you go forward in time or would you go to the past?
Ryan: I'd definitely go back.
Neil: I'd go back too.
Ryan: I'd go back to the seventies.
Neil: No I'd go to the sixtees when that whole Beatles explosion happenend, that would have been cool to see.
I've heard that Mike is the father of the band, in what ways does he different from you?
Neil: He's taller and he's kind of sensible I think. When it's time to leave he's always like "comon can we leave now?" He's always thinking ahead of the next show.
Are you a typical rockband? You know where the singer and the guitarist are more with the groupies and stuff, while the drummer and the bassist are more down to earth?
Neil: Well, you can't keep Will away from the girls. He can't stop it. I don't really think it's like that.
Ryan: We're nothing like that at all.
Neil: We like to meet people, but we're not interested in "Do you want to come back to our bus" kind of stuff you know? Forget that. We have our computer games on the bus, what do we need girls for?
Is there any prejudgement about rockbands you would like to get rid of?
Neil: No, it does happen with some bands. Some guys in bands are into that kind of stuff and maybe that's why they go in a band in the first place, cause that's what they wanted to do. But it's different for us, we're just four guys looking to have a laugh. We'll see what happens and we'll be going with the flow. But it does happen, just not to our band.
If you could solve one problem in the world, what would that be?
Ryan: Poverty
Neil: Poverty is a good one. I was going to say disease, but then can you imagine if you get rid of disease that the population will grow absurd! So I would go for poverty as well.
If you could be president of the USA what would you do?
Ryan: O that's too much! I can't go into that one.
Neil: I think Obama is awesome, really really awesome! You just try to do the best you can, it's a job that I wouldn't want. I would not want to deal with such a big country. It's the most important country of the world!
You would be very famous!
Neil: Yeah, but it would still be bad! You wouldn't be able to do anything, everything you do is watched and critisised. Very little praise is coming out of doing that job!
Do you like to be famous?
Neil: No, not to be famous. I like to be in a succesfull band and I quess that will become part and part together. So I suppose yes is the answer, but not to be famous. To be succesfull with the band that's what we want to be. Honestly, we want as many people to come to our show as possible and for every night to be in big venues and to meet loads of new people and have fun everywhere around the world. Which I think you can't really have if nobody knows who you are.
I'm giving you three wishes..What would you wish for?
Neil: Health
For yourself or for the world?
Neil: I was going to say for my family and friends, which sounds a bit selfish. What would you choose Ryan?
Ryan: Succes and inpoverty
Neil: Yeah something like that.
Ryan: What would I wish for? Loads and loads of money!
Always usefull
Ryan: You can do a lot with money!
Neil: You can cause and also solve a lot of problems. I think I would buy a football club if I had loads and loads of money. I think I wouldn't buy a big one, but a small one and try to build them up. I would help a small team to get bigger, maybe our home town Cardiff, that'll be good...
Thank you very much for this interview Neil and Ryan!
