At the end of last summer I wrote a Q&A post because I thought it would be fun which you can have a read of here. Because of a gig review falling through I thought instead I would post another so I asked you guys on Twitter and Instagram to send in questions and there were…a wide range.
Last time I gave quite long, detailed answers but here I am going to give some more snappy responses.
What’s your favourite album right now (and favourite track off it)?
It has to be “Rhinoceros” by Calva Louise. They released their debut album last week and I’ve been unsurprisingly blown away by it. Every song is brilliant so picking one is so hard! I do like the rerecorded version of “Getting Closer” but a track which hadn’t been released previously is “Wondertale”. I also dig the different direction they’ve gone in by writing a track in Spanish called “No Hay!”.
I’ve got a lot of gigs coming up but their’s is the one I am most looking forward to!
What drums do you want?
These ones. (With Sabian cymbals).
Three things you wished you were better at?
Oh err…drumming, photography and…talking to new people.
How many gigs did you go to last year?
Not enough! About twenty-five I would say. Not 100% sure because I went to events like Live At Leeds and things so not counting sets by different artists. There was a real mix though between arenas, small indoor venues and outdoor spaces so it was all pretty rounded. However, I am hoping to go to much more this year, we will just have to see how that works out.
What inspired you to begin the blog?
This is a great question. I think it started because I thought people were bored of me talking about gigs and drums and music and stuff so to me starting this blog seemed the best solution. I still “say” everything I want to say but instead people who are actually interested can read about it. It has now evolved from a place where I just write to a place I can promote smaller artists which is so important to me.
Why do you focus on smaller artists?
They work so hard…usually harder than most of the artists you listen to on the radio or on Spotify. These people deserve recognition. Bigger artists become lazy because they think they can (and they usually get away with it) but I don’t think that’s okay.
Have you had any bad experiences with security at gigs?
This comes off the back of me being rescued by some awesome security at the O2 Academy Birmingham last weekend. They were brilliant, simply the best security I have ever come across after I fell ill at a gig.
Bad experiences…I mean sometimes security say stuff but then don’t follow through or tease you or whatever but I haven’t had any awful experiences. My biggest peeve when it comes to gig venues or outdoor festivals is when security don’t give a crap and don’t give out water etcetera despite it being a billion degrees. And I’ve seen the odd incident of security being oblivious to someone collapsing in the crowd even though people are trying to get their attention but I can’t point out an exact incident.
When scrolling through social media, do you prefer posts from celebrities or from best friends?
Depends on the “celebrity” I guess. Usually friends make me laugh on social media and that’s what I want from it.
Noel or Liam?
Paul.
What’s more important at a gig, how the artist sounds or the atmosphere?
Great question! I love a good atmosphere at any gig and it’s the first thing that I – like most people I guess – sense. The band may be awesome but if the crowd is dead then it really has an affect on how much I enjoy a gig. Plus I have seen some terrible bands who have been propped up by a fun atmosphere. I’m going to say atmosphere.
Is there anything you would like to do with this blog which you haven’t done yet?
Definitely. There are things I want to do more of like gig reviews and there’s going to be plenty I sense this year. However, I want to delve in doing more artist interviews. I have done one or two on here but not that many.
How many times have you met the Kaiser Chiefs?
The fact this is a question is embarrassing. The amount of interactions that were actually accidental is quite amusing. I guess if I count the meetings of the five of them separately…like twenty something times. They are all solid dudes.
Who do you think has the best festival line-up this year?
That’s a TOUGH question. I haven’t looked at any line-up and been wowed in particular. I think the RAL line-up looks better than last year but that isn’t particularly difficult. TRNSMT looks decent. I think I am not very excited by any because there are a few artists who appear frequently on the different line-ups and they aren’t artists I like or listen to like 1975 and George Ezra.
What are the best hand warmers for standing out in the cold?
This is a funny question because I was queuing for KCs and I bought some hand warmers from Tiger and they were AWFUL. There was a joke that I should review hand warmers. Haha.
The above question led to a lot of other random questions so I thought I’d stick these in too for a laugh.
Why aren’t there any grapes in grapefruit?
What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Why is the word for ‘fear of long words’ Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?
Why do tourists go up to the top of tall buildings and then put money in a telescope so they can see things on the ground close up?
To be fair…these are good questions.
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