As Frank Turner embarked on his biggest UK headline tour, he was joined by contemporary punk icons Against Me! - as the tour rolled into Manchester, we caught up with their bassist Andrew Seward.
The run was quite short, only lasting six dates, but Andrew seems to have enjoyed every minute. 'It's going great. We like touring with Frank,' he says, adding: He's such a genuine person, it makes this whole tour just loads of fun.'
This support run comes after a stint in mainland Europe with Xtra Mile Records label-mates Crazy Arm. 'Plymouth's finest,' he jokes. 'No, no - they're a great band.'
Going from full sets each night to support slots is something Andrew admits is quite easy. 'It's still the same amount of energy and sweat, but it's about half the time.'
He adds: If we were playing the smallest Academy [in Manchester], or playing a little bar - we play exactly the same at the Apollo in front of God knows how many people.'
The Frank Turner tour hasn’t always been easy for Against Me!, who had two set-backs that would damper the enthusiasm of any less-travelled band.
Vocalist Tom Gabel was struck ill for the Newport show, on the same day the band’s tour manager had his MacBook stolen.
'Tom's voice was just shot,' Andrew explains. 'We were riding round on a stinky German bus that smells horribly of p***. The rock star life isn't all you think it is!'
Fans who see bands in huge tour buses are getting the wrong idea of life on the road. Andrew laughs: 'It's like living on a submarine. You get people farting all the time, a f****** smelly toilet, and usually a crazy driver. That's the bus experience!'
Gabel was put up in a hotel by his band-mates to rest, and it meant Against Me! fans there missed out yet again - something the band seem genuinely sorry about.
'We cancelled our tour last year with some unforeseen things going on in all our lives. Basically, we've double-f***** Wales, but not on purpose - we love our Welsh friends,' Andrew says.
Crazy Arm were meant to join Against Me! on that tour, so the chance to go round Europe with them last month was a nice moment for both bands.
Andrews says of that tour: 'We had a great time frolicking around Germany, Austria, Switzerland, stuff like that. They're great companions.'
After splitting from Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros, Against Me! started their own label in the US (Total Treble), and signed with Xtra Mile in the UK, becoming label-mates with Frank Turner and Crazy Arm, amongst others.
Problems with the major label led to the quartet leaving, which in return resulted in their UK tour being cancelled in 2012.
'[The split from Sire] was kinda one of the reasons that we s***-canned the tour last year. All this stuff was going down - everyone we worked with either quit or was fired,' Andrew explains.
He continues, revealing that a new regime of personnel came into the label: 'No offense to them, I'm not saying this in a bad way - it wasn't a good fit. We wanted to go, they let us go and they gave us White Crosses back.'
Total Treble sees Against Me! self-release their music in the United States, although Andrew admits he doesn’t have a great deal to do with the company.
'More of the pressure's on Jordan and Tom,' he says. 'I'm like the cook of the ship, or...I'm trying to think of another ship analogy. No, I'm like the cook!'
It’s a pleasure to see Andrew in such high spirits - as he explains, the last two years have been the best and worst for the band, with member-changes thrown into the mix.
'It's like my eyes have sunken back in over these last two years, cos it's been such a roller-coaster. We had the Warner split, and other things we can't even legally talk about.
He continues: 'Basically, every kinda thing you could throw at a band, in the past two years it's happened - and we're still here!'
The band are looking ahead to the future, with founding member Gabel constantly writing new material, which Andrew hopes will surface sooner rather than later.
The direction of that eventual record is, as with all of Against Me!’s material, up in the air, with Andrew believing that the band aren’t all that easy to define.
'It's just...I don't think we're an odd band...I don't think Against Me! was ever even a punk band. It's just...a band.'
Despite that, older fans have labelled them as 'sell-outs' for changes in style with New Wave (2007) and their most recent record, last year’s White Crosses.
'Against Me! has been getting the "sell-out" card thrown at them since they signed with No Idea,' Andrew laughs.
He points out that a defining feature of the quartet has always been that no two records will sound the same - there’s always an ambition to evolve and improve.
'It sounds like a cop-out answer, but it is what it is,' Andrew ponders, agreeing that the 'punk' influence is more in the band’s ethos rather than musical style.
He was quick to lay to rest any fears of a big departure in style.'We're not going to start making a dubstep record, or s*** like that. It's still going to always be Against Me!, but it'll never be the exact same thing.'
For Andrew, the sell-out debate isn’t something he even considers with other bands, providing the music is good.
He explains: 'I try to separate, and just enjoy the music sometimes. I get my politics and stuff from actual politics, real-world.'
Bands are becoming more open to licensing their music to adverts or films, something that Andrew agrees isn’t as evil or corporate as fans make it out to be.
'I will not judge bands for having to pay their mortgages and bills, because sometimes real-life gets in the way of a punk ethos,' he says.
He also points out a definite distinction in what the music is licensed for: 'If you sell your song to the US Army for recruitment...yeah, that's a bit too far. If you put it in a film by a director that you like...that's f****** awesome!'
As Against Me! begin to look ahead to their next studio album, the conversation shifts to the nature of the band’s songwriting, and whether it has become a collaboration over their career.
Andrew compared it to Creedance Clearwater Revival, which had John Fogerty as their primary song-writer Tom Gabel comes up with the bulk of the band’s material, with everyone else offering their suggestions.
'There could not be Against Me! without [Tom]. Hopefully that doesn't make me sound like some weird hired gun or something,' he joked. 'I love being in the band, and I like the songs that come out of his crazy brain.'
So, would he ever consider a side-project? 'I could start a kick-ass surf band pretty quickly and be a one-man-band. There's no real temptation. Against Me! fulfills me.'
The future is definitely looking bright for the quartet, with a new album not too far away, if Andrew’s hopes are to be realised.
'The band's prolific. Something will happen - it won't take that long.' he says, knocking on wood.'I think the focus is to stay sane.'
FemaleFirst Alistair McGeorge
As Frank Turner embarked on his biggest UK headline tour, he was joined by contemporary punk icons Against Me! - as the tour rolled into Manchester, we caught up with their bassist Andrew Seward.
The run was quite short, only lasting six dates, but Andrew seems to have enjoyed every minute. 'It's going great. We like touring with Frank,' he says, adding: He's such a genuine person, it makes this whole tour just loads of fun.'
This support run comes after a stint in mainland Europe with Xtra Mile Records label-mates Crazy Arm. 'Plymouth's finest,' he jokes. 'No, no - they're a great band.'
Going from full sets each night to support slots is something Andrew admits is quite easy. 'It's still the same amount of energy and sweat, but it's about half the time.'
He adds: If we were playing the smallest Academy [in Manchester], or playing a little bar - we play exactly the same at the Apollo in front of God knows how many people.'
The Frank Turner tour hasn’t always been easy for Against Me!, who had two set-backs that would damper the enthusiasm of any less-travelled band.
Vocalist Tom Gabel was struck ill for the Newport show, on the same day the band’s tour manager had his MacBook stolen.
'Tom's voice was just shot,' Andrew explains. 'We were riding round on a stinky German bus that smells horribly of p***. The rock star life isn't all you think it is!'
Fans who see bands in huge tour buses are getting the wrong idea of life on the road. Andrew laughs: 'It's like living on a submarine. You get people farting all the time, a f****** smelly toilet, and usually a crazy driver. That's the bus experience!'
Gabel was put up in a hotel by his band-mates to rest, and it meant Against Me! fans there missed out yet again - something the band seem genuinely sorry about.
'We cancelled our tour last year with some unforeseen things going on in all our lives. Basically, we've double-f***** Wales, but not on purpose - we love our Welsh friends,' Andrew says.
Crazy Arm were meant to join Against Me! on that tour, so the chance to go round Europe with them last month was a nice moment for both bands.
Andrews says of that tour: 'We had a great time frolicking around Germany, Austria, Switzerland, stuff like that. They're great companions.'
After splitting from Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros, Against Me! started their own label in the US (Total Treble), and signed with Xtra Mile in the UK, becoming label-mates with Frank Turner and Crazy Arm, amongst others.
Problems with the major label led to the quartet leaving, which in return resulted in their UK tour being cancelled in 2012.
'[The split from Sire] was kinda one of the reasons that we s***-canned the tour last year. All this stuff was going down - everyone we worked with either quit or was fired,' Andrew explains.
He continues, revealing that a new regime of personnel came into the label: 'No offense to them, I'm not saying this in a bad way - it wasn't a good fit. We wanted to go, they let us go and they gave us White Crosses back.'
Total Treble sees Against Me! self-release their music in the United States, although Andrew admits he doesn’t have a great deal to do with the company.
'More of the pressure's on Jordan and Tom,' he says. 'I'm like the cook of the ship, or...I'm trying to think of another ship analogy. No, I'm like the cook!'
It’s a pleasure to see Andrew in such high spirits - as he explains, the last two years have been the best and worst for the band, with member-changes thrown into the mix.
'It's like my eyes have sunken back in over these last two years, cos it's been such a roller-coaster. We had the Warner split, and other things we can't even legally talk about.
He continues: 'Basically, every kinda thing you could throw at a band, in the past two years it's happened - and we're still here!'
The band are looking ahead to the future, with founding member Gabel constantly writing new material, which Andrew hopes will surface sooner rather than later.