Mike O: Thank you so much for letting me do this! It really means a lot to me!
Lee: No worries!
Mike
O: Gallows just formed in 2005 and are already an international
success. What’s it like being in a band that’s blown up so fast?
Lee: I think with us living in the UK it's hard to gauge how much of a success we are internationally. We've been lucky enough to tour America
two or three times and play to people that genuinely love our music but
at the same time, there are bands who've been together a lot shorter
time then us and achieved a phenomenal amount of success. We're just
happy to be able to keep coming over to the US and to visit Japan, Australia and Europe and playing shows. Hopefully more success will come on the back of Grey Britain.
Mike O: You have already announced that you are playing the full Warped Tour; do you guys have anything planned for after that?
Lee: After Warped I think we're planning on going back to Australia and Japan for some headline shows. Then we'll be back in the UK for another headline run. We're hoping to fit in another US tour too before the end of the year but we'll see how that works out.
Mike O: What should fans be expecting from your new studio album that’s set to be released early this year?
Lee:
The new album definitely has a heavier vibe to it then our debut. Not
just musically but also with the theme. It's not going to be an album
you'll listen to and feel upbeat afterwards but the songs themselves
are definitely more direct then our debut. You can probably get in to
them all after the first listen. There's a couple of bouncier tracks
which are more like old Gallows and there's also a handful of heavier
tracks that people would not be expecting from us.
Mike O: Why did you choose to call your newest release Grey Britain?
Lee: As soon as Frank started writing the lyrics for this album, the title Grey Britain
seemed very fitting. We're definitely not anti-Britain but at the same
time, when you live in this country and see how it's slowly going down
the pan, it makes you want to sit up and do something about it.
It's not just people in Britain
who will be able to identify with the lyrical themes of this album
though. It's definitely more of a widespread social commentary. We're
not trying to be political but we felt we had a lot more to say on this
album because on Orchestra Of Wolves a lot of the songs were very personal. We even had a song about Frank going to the dentist!
Mike O: What is the writing process like for Gallows?
Lee:
It took us a good 3 months to write this album. We really wanted to
make sure that we wrote the best songs we could as before on Wolves we
had to write about 6 songs in 2 weeks!
There was some stressful
moments in the studio but we're all so happy with every part of the
record now, we think every song is killer.
Mike O: Should we expect any guest on your new album?
Lee: Yes, we have Simon Neil from Biffy Clyro doing some vocals on the track "Graves" and we've also got the guys from Cancer Bats doing some gang vocals throughout the album.
Mike O: What was it like working with Garth Richardson?
Lee:
It was cool! Garth's managed to make the album sound exactly how we
wanted it too. We had a lot of big ideas for orchestral parts and the
way we wanted certain things to sound and he totally nailed everything
we wanted. He's a very interesting guy too, most of his jokes suck but
we learned to accept that!
Mike
O: It’s been revealed that you are making six music videos for Grey
Britain and that Frank has written a screenplay for them. Have you
already begun shooting them yet?
Lee: Yes we started shooting
last week and it's meant to all be wrapped by the 17th of February.
It's looking phenomenal right now. The idea is for us to have all our
music videos shot but we're also filming a ton of cut scenes that tie
in with the screen play and it's going to make a short half hour film
based on Grey Britain.
Mike O: Can you reveal anything about the screenplay? What it is about or anything?
Lee:
Originally, the screen play was based around every song on the album
but we decided to cut it down to 6 main songs for it to flow better. I
can't give away too much right now but the screen play revolves around
a lot of the characters you'll find on the album. We're pretty sure
that the film will shock and horrify most people, it's definitely not
Disney but it's fucking dirty and gritty which is exactly what we
wanted.
Mike
O: Frank Carter has stated that Gallows isn’t his life and that the
band won’t be around past 2009. Is that a definite or has your success
changed that?
Lee: That's 100% NOT DEFINITE haha. Frank is
definitely more involved now with the band then he's ever been and I
can see us making more records after this one. There's still times when
we're all stressed out but for anyone to say now that we're going to
break up after this year is ludicrous.
Mike O: Do any members of Gallows have side projects or is Gallows the only music project you are all working on?
Lee:
Our bass player Stu is working on some stuff in a band called Spy
Catcher but it's nothing serious as we know Gallows has a lot going on
this year.
Mike O: Do you guys have a favorite venue to play in the United States or in Britain?
Lee: I think the coolest place I've played in the States would be The Gorge at Seattle on Warped tour. The scenery was mind blowing! I also really like Emos in Austin where we filmed our video for 'Just Because You Sleep'. At home, the Astoria
was a great venue but it's just been torn down for the government to
build some apartments on it. We were lucky enough to headline that
place before it closed.
Mike O: What would you say is the biggest difference between playing to fans in America and playing to fans in Britain?
Lee:
Obviously the size of the crowds would be the main thing. At home we
could be playing to up to 2000 fans a night but in the States it's more
likely to be 100-200 on a headline tour. The positive thing about that
is those couple of hundred kids fucking LOVE the band, know every word
and show a lot more dedication to coming out to see us live.
Mike
O: I read that you guys have written an acoustic track for Grey
Britain. Was it hard working so out of the bands established sound?
Lee:
At first the idea of an acoustic track seemed a bit alien. We weren’t
worried about our fans reaction, more whether we'd be happy with it
ourselves. We're now totally stoked with how it sounds; it's very in
keeping with the mood of the album which is the most important thing.
Mike O: A lot of fans want to know what equipment there favorite bands use, care to share?
Lee:
I can't tell you about the other guys as they change their equipment
all the time but I use a Mapex Orion drum kit, Zildjian cymbals, Vic
Firth sticks and Evans heads.
Mike O: Ending it on an odd note, Blink 182 is back together; what are your thoughts about that?
Lee:
I think it was only a matter of time! It's funny because they were one
of those bands that most people ridiculed up until they broke up and as
soon as they did everyone threw a fit and demanded they get back
together. Their last album was amazing though so I'm hoping they'll be
able to carry on from where that left off.
Mike O: I can’t thank you enough for doing this! Do you have anything left to say to all of your fans?
Lee: Grey Britain will be out in May so make sure you check that out. Also check out our new website www. everythingisfallingapart. com and come see us play on Warped Tour!