I sat down with blistering rock quartet The Amazons (all of us squeezed into their dressing room. That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle for you!) for a conversation before their live, sold-out show at The Cookie, in Leicester.
They were humble and incredibly down to earth, having met them twice before, I knew what to expect. Matt Thompson (lead vocals, guitar) seemed exceptionally proud, to have sold out the venue, having played there twice before.
TT: Thanks for letting me interview you guys. How are you, this evening?
E: We’re very good, thank you!
M: Joe is feeling very hungover! He was in McDonald’s services last night, like ripping plants out.
E: He was saying “We need to save the plants!” It was a nice thought, but you were technically killing them…
TT: Yeah, it doesn’t quite work like that!
J: I know… I was just trying to be nice to them.
M: We’ve been alright! I think it’s our bodies getting used to the Rock ‘n’ Roll lifestyle.
TT: So, you were on tour in Europe last month. What were your favourite places to gig at?
E: There were a lot of memorable moments on that tour. We played at a converted church in Paradiso. That was lovely. Beautiful place.
M: We sold out two Netherlands shows, that was great! They were our first shows in the Netherlands as well. We’d had a lot of plays on the radio, as they have a station called 3FM which is equivalent to Radio 1. We’d done a lot of interviews with them as well.
E: We played a very small village hall in a town called Halver, in Germany. When we arrived we had quite low expectations, but on the night it was sold out.
M: Where else was wicked? Paris was very good! Munich was sick. Europe was just bonkers.
TT: What can you tell me about your latest single Black Magic?
M: It took a while to come together. We have a pile of ideas, that we pick up, try on and if it doesn’t fit, we put it back and come back to it later. It took three years for it all to come together. Like when you’re writing anything you sort of dip in and out and you come back to it. There’s a misconception, that songs are written in say, twenty minutes.
E: Our process is slightly different than that.
TT: What can we expect from your debut album?
M: Black Magic will be on it. Little Something will be on it. I can also confirm that In My Mind will be on the record. They’re the darker, heavier tunes. However, we like to surprise people in terms of sonnets and that kind of thing.
E: It’s a collection of songs that we’ve written ever since we started, really. It’s a journey, I guess from where we’ve been to where we are now. It’s a journey of our experiences and us growing up as teenagers.
M: We recorded it all in one session with Catherine Marks, and it was based very much on live recordings. The idea was based on us wanting to record it live all in one go and getting it right.
TT: Is there a song that you’re the proudest of?
M: Black Magic, man. It’s riffy, it’s heavy for those who like that. I like that one. I like the lyrics, and it’s been on a journey.
J: I like all of our songs.
TT: Do you have any highlights so far, from being in the band?
M: There are so many highlights! That’s impossible. I wouldn’t want to whittle it down to one thing.
E: Being in a band, you have plenty of highlights, from first starting to getting your first gig out of town. Getting your first play on the radio.
M: Yeah, even being on the first B-List for Radio 1, that was awesome. Even, getting a van!… That’s always a highlight. New guitars, even. And playing Reading Festival. It’s all a highlight.
TT: Is there a favourite song that you love to play live?
J: Mine’s Black Magic, at the moment, because it’s not been in the set very long.
E: I like In My Mind at the minute. Chris?…
C: I like In My Mind at the minute, now that’s it been released, as before we were playing it to deadpan faces and people hadn’t heard it.
M: Night Driving-
J: Get out! Rubbish choice.
M: No, let me tell you why! It went off last night. It’s got a great riff and the crowd go mental at it. There’s the key lyrics for everyone to sing along to it. I had a massive grin on my face and everyone was singing and going great. Stay With Me, I love that one as well.
TT: Finally, If you could be stuck in a lift with anyone, who would it be?
M: Nice question. Daft Punk, I think.
E: Paul McCartney.
M: No, okay Springsteen or McCartney is our final answer. McCartney, because we don’t know that much about him and what he’s done. And Springsteen because I loved his autobiography. What about you?
TT: I’d say, Emma Watson, maybe? We could talk about Feminism and all gal things.
M: Sweet! I like that one. Thanks for the interview. Very good questions!
TT: A pleasure, as always. Thank you!
The Amazons’ new single Black Magic is available to buy from iTunes and listen to on Spotify. Dates for the rest of their UK tour can be found below:
March 14 The Portland Arms, Cambridge, UK
15 March The Bullingdon, Oxford, UK
05 April Plug, Sheffield, UK
06 April The Deaf Institute, Manchester, UK
11 April Mama Roux’s, Birmingham, UK
12 April Dingwalls, London, UK
13 April Sub89, Reading, UK
29 April Live At Leeds 2017, UK
25 -27 August Leeds and Reading Festival 2017, UK
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