Interview – Planet Verge 2002
Author: Joelle
Date: 13th July 2002
Link: Planet Verge
As a music journalist, I get the privilege to interview bands that I am a huge fan of. Sometimes I’m in amazement that I am actually sitting on a tour bus talking with them. During interviews, I have the chance to get an inside look at the music makers themselves. When I’m interviewing a band that I really like, I usually have a lot of questions to ask and time flies. Such was the case when I met up with the Lostprophetsat Ozzfest on July 19 at the PNC Bank Arts Center. Prior to the interview, I watched from the sidelines as the band performed an off the wall set on the second stage. Despite the heat (which lead to singer vocalist Ian Watkins making note of Nelly’s lyric “It’s getting hot in here so take off all your clothes”) the band’s energetic set spurred more than a few crowd surfers. Those who worked up an appetite were even thrown a container of cheese puffs from the band. Maybe it’s a British thing, or maybe they were just being cool. But one thing is for sure, the Lostprophets are not arrogant, as much of the media in their native country proclaims. I talked with Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis and both were very focused on the interview and not once said anything like, “We are the shit in England and headline over Linkin Park, so we should be playing the main stage here too.” However, if they did say that, I would agree with them. These South Wales natives broke out of the town of Pontypridd and for three years have been supporting their album, thefakesoundofprogess, which is about to make them familiar faces in the U.S.
How is the tour going so far?
Ian: So far, so good. The crowd has been really cool. Everyday they’ve been into it. We haven’t had any really bad experiences yet
Did you do Ozzfest in England yet?
Ian: We did UK Ozzfest, which was ass. We did an Irish Ozzfest, which was ass as well. It was just nasty ‘cause the weather sucked and it was just horrible. We were on the main stage.
Mike L.: It was cool but the second stage is so much better than the main stage.
Ian: The second stage is where it’s at.
Mike: It’s up close.
Ian: When you play an amphitheater, people sit down and eat hot dogs and are like, “Who are these guys?” So far now, it’s been sunny, so it’s been nice.
Was the line up oversees the same?
Ian: In England, Tool and Slayer were on the main stage. There were mostly UK bands on the second stage.
Which do you prefer?
Ian: I like being in America. I didn’t like the UK Ozzfest at all.
Are the venues set up the same?
Mike: In England, the main stage is just open. Here, it’s all seated.
Ian: Bands don’t play amphitheaters in England. We play in massive, massive fields.
Mike: I think it’s better that way.
Ian: There are no people sitting in their seats.
Do you ever feel pressure to succeed here, with the media hyping you as “The Band Most Likely To Break America?”
Ian: No. We just do our own thing regardless. The media comes and goes. One minute they like you and the next they start talking shit about you. We never relied on the media. We always got out there and just played ‘cause the media didn’t want anything to do with us in the beginning. So we built up a fan base and relied on that.
Is there a scene going on in England, that’s not getting attention over here?
Ian: The big thing is indie rock, Brit type stuff. You’ve got like Coldplay and Starsailor that are huge. Oasis and Stereophonics are huge in the UK, which doesn’t seem to translate over here. There’s a lot of cool bands coming up now in the UK.
Are you going to be headlining a tour of your own?
Ian: Yea. We’re doing that at the end of the year. It’s going to be just five dates with Glassjaw and the Movielife. It’ll be cool, just an end. We’ve had this record out for three years. We’re going to go and do a new record at the end of the year. So we’re just going to do a “hi-bye-you’re not gonna see us for five months” tour.
Have you started writing for the second album yet?
Ian: Kinda. We don’t really write properly until we’re in the room together ‘cause we jam. It doesn’t really work until all six of us are there. It’s really organic.
Do you write the lyrics first?
Ian: No. The melody is more important to me than lyrics. You can have the most profound lyrics in the world, but if it’s crap melody nobody’s gonna care.
How was your show at the Bowery Ballroom a few days ago?
Ian: Really, really good.
Were there other bands there?
Ian: Yes. It was with Amazing Device, an awesome NY band, Chevelle and we headlined. It was really cool. It just went off. There’s no security there and the whole place just went wild.
Which do you prefer, being a drummer or a singer?
Ian: I like being a drummer. I wish I was a drummer. I like just getting behind the kit and playing. I like making up melodies and I like singing. But sometimes being the singer is a lot of hassle. You kind of just gotta be the guy who has to talk to the crowd and get all excited.
How long have you played the drums for?
Ian: Since I was 14. Then a friend of Mike’s was a drummer and we didn’t know a singer. I couldn’t sing for shit when we first started. I’m still learning it now.
Did you take voice lessons?
Ian: No. We just did it. We didn’t care, we were having fun. I wasn’t going to go sit with some vocal coach for an hour.
The band designed the cover to your CD. Does anyone have a background in design?
Ian: I studied graphic design and got my degree in it. I worked as a graphic designer for a year.
What made you want to pursue music instead?
Ian: Graphic design was always something to do in the meantime, while we were trying to make it in the band. We always played in bands, but I always loved art and design as well. So when I was in University, I was doing the band as well. Then, I graduated and started working while we played shows and stuff like that. Music was always first.
Have you considered using your position in the public eye to send out messages through your music? For example, maybe Mike would talk about the benefits of being a vegetarian.
Ian: No. Three of us are straight edge, but the whole thing comes down to personal choice. People are like, “Don’t you ever get tempted?” Well it’s like, if you don’t like a certain food and you walk into a room full of that food, you’re not going to be tempted to do it because the food sucks. I don’t like it. If I was tempted, I’d do it.
Who are the three of you who are straight edge?
Ian: Me, Lee and Mike, the two guitarists. Like I said, we’re not gonna preach about it, it’s a personal thing. If people want to drink and smoke, then why not? It’s their choice. There’s no real message other than positivity. The songs are reflective of our emotional lives and political things. There’s no underlying.
I read that you are influenced my movies, art and video games. Are there any specific ones?
Ian: We love a lot of the 80’s movies, like John Hughes stuff. The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, 16 Candles, Ferris Buller, all that type of stuff. All the cool 80’s movies you grew up watching and being in awe of, like the Back to the Future trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy and the Karate Kid. Everything like that, which forms who you are to a certain extent. It may seem trivial to some people. But, we’re that generation. We’re the movie, MTV generation because that’s what we grew up on. When we write music, we relate to that. I can only sing about things I know about and that’s what I know about. I know about growing up watching those movies and playing video games.
Were there any movies in England that are on the same level as those?
Ian: We just had all the American movies. The British movie industry has always been every arty, very art house. It’s not very good. I like Snatch and Lock Stock, which are really cool movies, but I think they are the only exceptions. The rest are just kind of boring.
I like watching the soap operas. I watch East Enders.
Ian: That’s depressing, but lifting because you think at least my life is not that bad.
It’s really different than American ones. English ones are more realistic.
Ian: American ones are more escapism.
I heard you guys are big Star Trek fans and recently went to the Hilton in Las Vegas to see the museum.
Ian: Yea. That was one of the coolest things we’ve ever done.
Are you excited about the new movie?
Ian: Yea. Apparently I hear it’s going to be more action, like First Contact. That was incredible. Insurrection was like a long episode. It wasn’t like a movie. I like Sci-fi. I like space, space rules. And aliens, as long as they don’t abduct you.
Is it hard to have relationships while you are on tour? Or do you bring your girlfriends with you?
Ian: No. It is kind of hard. We don’t tend to bring the girlfriends out because it causes more problems, having like six girlfriends on the bus. The bus only sleeps a certain number. It’s tough to live in, for the crew as well. I’m sure the crew don’t want to live with our girlfriends.
Do you stay in hotels at night?
Ian: We stay in the bus. Now and again, if we have a day off, we get a hotel. Now and again our girlfriends do come out for certain periods of time. But as a general rule, no. It’s like your job. You don’t take your girlfriend to work. Do you know what I mean?
Do you tour the cities you’re in?
Ian: No, we just look around. We don’t do specific tourist-y things. We just take our BMX bikes and ride around the town, see if there are any cool shops, see if you can go for coffee, chill out and get some food.
Are there any places that you really liked when you were there?
Ian: I liked San Diego a lot. It’s really relaxed and warm. San Antonio was cool because it had the Alamo and was like being in Desperado. I love NYC, that’s always good, Chicago as well.
Do you mind when girls start viewing you more as pin-up-boys on TRL rather than musicians? Do you think they really appreciate the music?
Ian: That’s the $64,000 question. Is it selling out or is it converting people to a new style of music? We’ve had this in the UK, where we’re in teen magazines and on TV a lot and people say we’ve sold out and are a crap pop band now. But our album is exactly the same. It’s the same album they liked when we first started, nothing has changed. It’s just that these girls can listen to the Backstreet Boys and have some brainless message or they can listen to us and at least have something positive or vaguely intellectual in their heads.
I guess some people don’t get exposed to music until it goes main stream.
Ian: Exactly. If we’re in a poster wearing a t-shirt of some underground band, chances are they’ll be in the store one day and they’ll see their name. Then they’ll be like, “Oh, that guy on my wall has that t-shirt on. If he likes them, I might like them.” Then they’ll check them out. It may start from there. She may then get into punk rock or metal. She may start thinking for herself. I mean, 80 % of the time, probably not. But there’s always that 20% where you will open doors. You can’t do that or otherwise you’d be an elitist. We didn’t start a band to form barriers and say who can and who can’t listen to our music.
Was it your idea to have a spot on your website for bands to submit their demos?
Ian: Yea.
Have you gotten any ones that you really liked?
Ian: Yea. We’ve listened to a lot, but I’m not really gonna listen to them properly until I get home because I don’t think it’s fair. When I’m home I can concentrate and write stuff down and actually listen to them properly. We get so many demos on the road that they just end up getting lost because you haven’t got the time or the mindset to listen to them properly. When I’m home, I can because I’ve got nothing to do. Then I put on the demos, listen to them and see what’s good and what’s crap. When we’re on the road, a lot of people come up to us and give us their demos and tell us to check out their website. You try to, but your mind is not there because you are too tired and you’re busy touring. So we thought it would be cool if on the website we put a place to submit demos and mp3’s, so when I’m home I can check it out.
What are you going to do with the ones that you like?
Ian: We’re just going to try to help them as much as we can. We know a lot of people in the music industry now because we got signed and stuff. We can take them out, if they are really good, on tour. Or, we can put them in contact with people who can book them shows.
In your CD insert you thanked Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. Was that a joke?
Ian: No. They’re good friends.
Who are some of your influences?
Ian: Duran Duran, the Police, Depeche Mode, New Order, Anthrax, Annihilator, Faith No More, Jesus Jones. Weird stuff, 80’s pop, 80’s thrash metal.
Is there any band here that you like to watch?
Ian: I think Il Nino are cool to watch. Hatebreed are cool to watch because they get the kids going so nuts. I like P.O.D.’s energy.
Do you ever jump into the mosh pit when you sing?
Ian: Yea. We’re not allowed at Ozzfest. I like doing it, though. Here, you’re not allowed to step off the stage or you’ll get your ass smacked.
Psss…..the Lostprophets had the cleanest tour bus that we were in at Ozzfest! Good looking, great musicians, British accents, and they pick up after themselves: A Girl’s Dream!
Author: Joelle
Date: 13th July 2002
Link: Planet Verge
As a music journalist, I get the privilege to interview bands that I am a huge fan of. Sometimes I’m in amazement that I am actually sitting on a tour bus talking with them. During interviews, I have the chance to get an inside look at the music makers themselves. When I’m interviewing a band that I really like, I usually have a lot of questions to ask and time flies. Such was the case when I met up with the Lostprophetsat Ozzfest on July 19 at the PNC Bank Arts Center. Prior to the interview, I watched from the sidelines as the band performed an off the wall set on the second stage. Despite the heat (which lead to singer vocalist Ian Watkins making note of Nelly’s lyric “It’s getting hot in here so take off all your clothes”) the band’s energetic set spurred more than a few crowd surfers. Those who worked up an appetite were even thrown a container of cheese puffs from the band. Maybe it’s a British thing, or maybe they were just being cool. But one thing is for sure, the Lostprophets are not arrogant, as much of the media in their native country proclaims. I talked with Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis and both were very focused on the interview and not once said anything like, “We are the shit in England and headline over Linkin Park, so we should be playing the main stage here too.” However, if they did say that, I would agree with them. These South Wales natives broke out of the town of Pontypridd and for three years have been supporting their album, thefakesoundofprogess, which is about to make them familiar faces in the U.S.
How is the tour going so far?
Ian: So far, so good. The crowd has been really cool. Everyday they’ve been into it. We haven’t had any really bad experiences yet
Did you do Ozzfest in England yet?
Ian: We did UK Ozzfest, which was ass. We did an Irish Ozzfest, which was ass as well. It was just nasty ‘cause the weather sucked and it was just horrible. We were on the main stage.
Mike L.: It was cool but the second stage is so much better than the main stage.
Ian: The second stage is where it’s at.
Mike: It’s up close.
Ian: When you play an amphitheater, people sit down and eat hot dogs and are like, “Who are these guys?” So far now, it’s been sunny, so it’s been nice.
Was the line up oversees the same?
Ian: In England, Tool and Slayer were on the main stage. There were mostly UK bands on the second stage.
Which do you prefer?
Ian: I like being in America. I didn’t like the UK Ozzfest at all.
Are the venues set up the same?
Mike: In England, the main stage is just open. Here, it’s all seated.
Ian: Bands don’t play amphitheaters in England. We play in massive, massive fields.
Mike: I think it’s better that way.
Ian: There are no people sitting in their seats.
Do you ever feel pressure to succeed here, with the media hyping you as “The Band Most Likely To Break America?”
Ian: No. We just do our own thing regardless. The media comes and goes. One minute they like you and the next they start talking shit about you. We never relied on the media. We always got out there and just played ‘cause the media didn’t want anything to do with us in the beginning. So we built up a fan base and relied on that.
Is there a scene going on in England, that’s not getting attention over here?
Ian: The big thing is indie rock, Brit type stuff. You’ve got like Coldplay and Starsailor that are huge. Oasis and Stereophonics are huge in the UK, which doesn’t seem to translate over here. There’s a lot of cool bands coming up now in the UK.
Are you going to be headlining a tour of your own?
Ian: Yea. We’re doing that at the end of the year. It’s going to be just five dates with Glassjaw and the Movielife. It’ll be cool, just an end. We’ve had this record out for three years. We’re going to go and do a new record at the end of the year. So we’re just going to do a “hi-bye-you’re not gonna see us for five months” tour.
Have you started writing for the second album yet?
Ian: Kinda. We don’t really write properly until we’re in the room together ‘cause we jam. It doesn’t really work until all six of us are there. It’s really organic.
Do you write the lyrics first?
Ian: No. The melody is more important to me than lyrics. You can have the most profound lyrics in the world, but if it’s crap melody nobody’s gonna care.
How was your show at the Bowery Ballroom a few days ago?
Ian: Really, really good.
Were there other bands there?
Ian: Yes. It was with Amazing Device, an awesome NY band, Chevelle and we headlined. It was really cool. It just went off. There’s no security there and the whole place just went wild.
Which do you prefer, being a drummer or a singer?
Ian: I like being a drummer. I wish I was a drummer. I like just getting behind the kit and playing. I like making up melodies and I like singing. But sometimes being the singer is a lot of hassle. You kind of just gotta be the guy who has to talk to the crowd and get all excited.
How long have you played the drums for?
Ian: Since I was 14. Then a friend of Mike’s was a drummer and we didn’t know a singer. I couldn’t sing for shit when we first started. I’m still learning it now.
Did you take voice lessons?
Ian: No. We just did it. We didn’t care, we were having fun. I wasn’t going to go sit with some vocal coach for an hour.
The band designed the cover to your CD. Does anyone have a background in design?
Ian: I studied graphic design and got my degree in it. I worked as a graphic designer for a year.
What made you want to pursue music instead?
Ian: Graphic design was always something to do in the meantime, while we were trying to make it in the band. We always played in bands, but I always loved art and design as well. So when I was in University, I was doing the band as well. Then, I graduated and started working while we played shows and stuff like that. Music was always first.
Have you considered using your position in the public eye to send out messages through your music? For example, maybe Mike would talk about the benefits of being a vegetarian.
Ian: No. Three of us are straight edge, but the whole thing comes down to personal choice. People are like, “Don’t you ever get tempted?” Well it’s like, if you don’t like a certain food and you walk into a room full of that food, you’re not going to be tempted to do it because the food sucks. I don’t like it. If I was tempted, I’d do it.
Who are the three of you who are straight edge?
Ian: Me, Lee and Mike, the two guitarists. Like I said, we’re not gonna preach about it, it’s a personal thing. If people want to drink and smoke, then why not? It’s their choice. There’s no real message other than positivity. The songs are reflective of our emotional lives and political things. There’s no underlying.
I read that you are influenced my movies, art and video games. Are there any specific ones?
Ian: We love a lot of the 80’s movies, like John Hughes stuff. The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, 16 Candles, Ferris Buller, all that type of stuff. All the cool 80’s movies you grew up watching and being in awe of, like the Back to the Future trilogy, the Indiana Jones trilogy and the Karate Kid. Everything like that, which forms who you are to a certain extent. It may seem trivial to some people. But, we’re that generation. We’re the movie, MTV generation because that’s what we grew up on. When we write music, we relate to that. I can only sing about things I know about and that’s what I know about. I know about growing up watching those movies and playing video games.
Were there any movies in England that are on the same level as those?
Ian: We just had all the American movies. The British movie industry has always been every arty, very art house. It’s not very good. I like Snatch and Lock Stock, which are really cool movies, but I think they are the only exceptions. The rest are just kind of boring.
I like watching the soap operas. I watch East Enders.
Ian: That’s depressing, but lifting because you think at least my life is not that bad.
It’s really different than American ones. English ones are more realistic.
Ian: American ones are more escapism.
I heard you guys are big Star Trek fans and recently went to the Hilton in Las Vegas to see the museum.
Ian: Yea. That was one of the coolest things we’ve ever done.
Are you excited about the new movie?
Ian: Yea. Apparently I hear it’s going to be more action, like First Contact. That was incredible. Insurrection was like a long episode. It wasn’t like a movie. I like Sci-fi. I like space, space rules. And aliens, as long as they don’t abduct you.
Is it hard to have relationships while you are on tour? Or do you bring your girlfriends with you?
Ian: No. It is kind of hard. We don’t tend to bring the girlfriends out because it causes more problems, having like six girlfriends on the bus. The bus only sleeps a certain number. It’s tough to live in, for the crew as well. I’m sure the crew don’t want to live with our girlfriends.
Do you stay in hotels at night?
Ian: We stay in the bus. Now and again, if we have a day off, we get a hotel. Now and again our girlfriends do come out for certain periods of time. But as a general rule, no. It’s like your job. You don’t take your girlfriend to work. Do you know what I mean?
Do you tour the cities you’re in?
Ian: No, we just look around. We don’t do specific tourist-y things. We just take our BMX bikes and ride around the town, see if there are any cool shops, see if you can go for coffee, chill out and get some food.
Are there any places that you really liked when you were there?
Ian: I liked San Diego a lot. It’s really relaxed and warm. San Antonio was cool because it had the Alamo and was like being in Desperado. I love NYC, that’s always good, Chicago as well.
Do you mind when girls start viewing you more as pin-up-boys on TRL rather than musicians? Do you think they really appreciate the music?
Ian: That’s the $64,000 question. Is it selling out or is it converting people to a new style of music? We’ve had this in the UK, where we’re in teen magazines and on TV a lot and people say we’ve sold out and are a crap pop band now. But our album is exactly the same. It’s the same album they liked when we first started, nothing has changed. It’s just that these girls can listen to the Backstreet Boys and have some brainless message or they can listen to us and at least have something positive or vaguely intellectual in their heads.
I guess some people don’t get exposed to music until it goes main stream.
Ian: Exactly. If we’re in a poster wearing a t-shirt of some underground band, chances are they’ll be in the store one day and they’ll see their name. Then they’ll be like, “Oh, that guy on my wall has that t-shirt on. If he likes them, I might like them.” Then they’ll check them out. It may start from there. She may then get into punk rock or metal. She may start thinking for herself. I mean, 80 % of the time, probably not. But there’s always that 20% where you will open doors. You can’t do that or otherwise you’d be an elitist. We didn’t start a band to form barriers and say who can and who can’t listen to our music.
Was it your idea to have a spot on your website for bands to submit their demos?
Ian: Yea.
Have you gotten any ones that you really liked?
Ian: Yea. We’ve listened to a lot, but I’m not really gonna listen to them properly until I get home because I don’t think it’s fair. When I’m home I can concentrate and write stuff down and actually listen to them properly. We get so many demos on the road that they just end up getting lost because you haven’t got the time or the mindset to listen to them properly. When I’m home, I can because I’ve got nothing to do. Then I put on the demos, listen to them and see what’s good and what’s crap. When we’re on the road, a lot of people come up to us and give us their demos and tell us to check out their website. You try to, but your mind is not there because you are too tired and you’re busy touring. So we thought it would be cool if on the website we put a place to submit demos and mp3’s, so when I’m home I can check it out.
What are you going to do with the ones that you like?
Ian: We’re just going to try to help them as much as we can. We know a lot of people in the music industry now because we got signed and stuff. We can take them out, if they are really good, on tour. Or, we can put them in contact with people who can book them shows.
In your CD insert you thanked Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. Was that a joke?
Ian: No. They’re good friends.
Who are some of your influences?
Ian: Duran Duran, the Police, Depeche Mode, New Order, Anthrax, Annihilator, Faith No More, Jesus Jones. Weird stuff, 80’s pop, 80’s thrash metal.
Is there any band here that you like to watch?
Ian: I think Il Nino are cool to watch. Hatebreed are cool to watch because they get the kids going so nuts. I like P.O.D.’s energy.
Do you ever jump into the mosh pit when you sing?
Ian: Yea. We’re not allowed at Ozzfest. I like doing it, though. Here, you’re not allowed to step off the stage or you’ll get your ass smacked.
Psss…..the Lostprophets had the cleanest tour bus that we were in at Ozzfest! Good looking, great musicians, British accents, and they pick up after themselves: A Girl’s Dream!
