Interview With Smokey Bastard

After taking in their new album, we had a chat with the guys at Smokey Bastard HQ to find out about the new album and the changes the band has been through recently.

First up, can you introduce yourself?

Hi, we’re Smokey Bastard, we’re based in reading and London and we play Folk Punk music. we have Chris on mandolin and vocals, Mike on bass and vocals, Aled on Banjo and vocals, Matt on guitar, JP on accordion and Tyron on drums.

Your new album is out now, we've reviewed it, but can you tell us a bit about in your words?

Our new album, Back to the Drawing Room has been a long time in the making. We started writing some of the songs straight after the second album came out in 2011. A lot of the songs took quite a while to come together because we were gigging quite a lot in 2012 and 2013, so we didn’t find much time for writing. In late 2013 we started writing the album in earnest and I think in total we wrote about 19 songs, 10 of which have made the final cut. We draw on a some pretty varied influences, so we wanted the album to cover a lot of ground musically, but still retain a clear sense of band identity. We’re all very happy with how it turned out and we hope other people agree...

You've had a few lineup changes since the last album. What have the new guys brought to the band?

Each member of the band has their own musical tastes and their own idea of how a song should sound. As there are so many of us, we have tried to make sure that everyone has something interesting to do and that means that each member will add their own style to what we’re doing. Tyron has played in metal bands in the past, so his influence in terms of double kick pedal work and heaviness has definitely rubbed off on us. We’re always looking for new musical ideas to bounce off each other, so the more people involved in writing, the better. We may not use all the ideas presented, but it’s always good to explore whatever as many avenues as possible.

What else have you guys been up to in 2015?

We have been fairly quiet on the live front in 2015. We had a version of the album finished in 2014, but decided to drop some songs and write some new ones, so we started 2015 by writing Archipelago and Screens, then we went into the studio in April to record the new songs and finish off some from the ones we’d already recorded. After that came Mixing at The Animal Farm in May and Mastering at Hafod Mastering in June. Since then it’s been all systems go trying to organise the Pledge Music campaign to fund making physical copies of the album and tour booking.

Your UK tour kicks off this month. Where you looking forward to hitting?

 

To be honest, we’re just excited to be getting back on the road. The album took longer than expected, so we’ve been quiet for too long. We’ve been in our own little bubble getting the new album ready and we’re all excited about being able to get out and play the new songs to people.

Why do you think people should be coming to see you?

 

We’re really proud of the album we’ve made and we’ve worked hard to make sure the songs sound great on the record, but also come across well live. You can’t beat the energy of a live show and having 6 of us on stage means there’s always a lot going on.

How will you be getting around on the tour? Are you old school van-ing it, or are you creatures of luxury?

 

We’ll be going old school in our big red van, Rattly Phil. It’s an old Royal Mail post van. It may not be the most glamorous mode of transport, but it hasn’t broken down for a couple of years now, so hopefully it’ll see us through.

We're getting towards the end of the year now, what's been your album of the year?

 

Aled was really looking forward to the latest Faith No More album, although he’s still in two minds on whether it fully delivered. We’ve been enjoying Random Hand’s farewell gift, “Hit Reset”. We’ve had the pleasure of sharing a stage with them many times and it was a great way for them to say goodbye.

Any plans locked in for 2016 yet?
 

We have a few plans for 2016, but it would spoil the surprise if I told you about them now...

Finally, anything else you'd like to say to the MNN readers?
 

Yes.

Check out one of their tracks here: