Sound Of Guns
Liverpool band Sound of Guns graced us with their presence at Rock City, piercing a quiet night Thursday night in Nottingham with the sound of rock and roll. Platform’s Tanya Porter met up with Andy Metcalfe, lead singer, in their very stylish dressing room to have a chat about Nottingham, their last album, festivals and their journey from their classic debut single ‘Alcatraz’.
Tanya: So you’re here in Nottingham, what is your first impression of the place?
Andy Metcalfe: Well this is the first time that we’ve headlined at this venue. We’ve played a few show up at Bodega a few times but they always look after us, the fridge is full of ciders and stuff so we’re happy.
TP: That’s all you need really isn’t it?
AM: That’s it! Easily pleased.
TP: So the album is called ‘What Came From Fire’, what was your inspiration for it?
AM: Well it’s called What Came From Fire because basically we used to rehearse in this place by Penny Lane in Liverpool and it burnt down. It was an old social club and I mean I lost my piano, but on the front cover of the album we’re standing on the ashes of it. We wrote a lot of our songs in there too so we just thought it would be cool. The only thing that got left that you can see on the cover is the flag pole, and that was the only thing that survived, which was convenient because it meant that we had a flag as well.
Sound Of Guns' album 'What Came From Fire'
TP: So this album is quite personal to you guys then?
AM: Yeah we definitely wanted to keep it that way, that’s why we recorded the album ourselves after we got some gear back and moved down the road and recorded it all ourselves, produced it all ourselves. So yeah we all just kind of wanted to base it all on that.
TP: Your first single was ‘Alcatraz’ so is any of your new material based on that or is it all entirely new?
AM: Yeah ‘Alcatraz’ was our first single which we wrote off the first album and we’ve just finished recording the second album which is coming out in February next year. But yeah ‘Alcatraz’ was our first single and people love that song as well.
TP: To me your music seems to have changed a lot since that first single, is there a reason for that or is it not really something that you guys have noticed?
AM: I’d like to think that it’s got better, it’s still got the essence of a good song in there but I think that sonically the band sound a lot better and I know I sing a lot better than I did on the first album, but that’s not really for me to say. I’d like to think it is anyway. I just think that we’ve got better as a band, we’ve spent a lot more time together just playing better.
TP: So in 2010, you performed at both Leeds and Reading festivals, would you ever consider doing V Festival or Download?
AM: Obviously this year especially we’ve done loads of festivals like Rockness. Yeah, festivals are what it’s all about really I suppose, I think it’s just about keeping that vibe. Especially with some of our songs as well, we get them sung back to us a lot and Leeds festival was dead special to us because that tent had like 4000 people in it and it was just rammed with everyone singing ‘Architects’. It was amazing, dead special for us.
TP: Well you guys are still really strong as a band, is there anything that you are all desperate to do or are you chilled about the gigs you do?
AM: Yeah I’d like to headline but I think that’s a long way off. I mean there’s no limit on what we want to do, we just want to keep progressing as a band which I think is happening and the second album just sounds wicked, you know we’re selling out places and stuff now. It’s taken a long time but we’re here for the long haul and we wouldn’t do anything else. It’s good that we’ve got a label behind us who are putting money behind us too so we can carry on growing as a band.
TP: Well you’ve got loads of support in Nottingham, and there’s a big crowd turning up tonight so I’m sure it will go down really well.
AM: Well we’ll see after the show, you never know.
TP: I’m sure it will be fine. Thank you for your time.
AM: It’s the best so far today, I’ll give you that. That’s happy days, well happy.
To find out more about one of the most exciting new acts to come from merseyside click here.
Tanya Porter – Platform
Tags: Alcatraz, andy metacalfe, liverpool, rock city, sound of guns, tanya porter, what came from fire
