City And Colour
After more than a decade on the road, Dallas Green is coming to the end of City And Colour's first proper UK tour.
A reserved - sometimes shy - man, the former Alexisonfire frontman opened up to us about being on tour, leaving the band and the problems he had with Glastonbury.
Enjoying his time back in the UK, Dallas notes that the crowds have been fantastic.
On his recent Paris show, the City And Colour front-man says: "it was probably one of the hottest shows I've played in my life. I mean, I stand pretty still, so I can't imagine playing in a punk band in that place."
Dallas plans to do a more extensive run of dates, particularly after his sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall, something that understandably stands out as a highlight.
"I don't think I understood the weight of the situation until I walked into the building, and noticed how overwhelming it is to be inside that place, to know that all the people were coming to see us play," he admits.
Dallas remembers the April show as a beautiful experience, although it was initially set up just to get his name out there to people who weren't familiar with his rock past.
He admits: "A lot of the festival promoters and press in the UK, aside from what knew me from Alexisonfire, none of them were really interested, or just didn't know me."
Drawn to venues with real character and personality, Dallas doesn't have much praise for Manchester Academy 1 as a room, although he's more than grateful for the showers and facilities.
Whilst a lot of touring musicians complain about the conditions, even those at thise level, Dallas feels these complaints aren't really justified.
"If you start out touring on a very small scale, like Alexisonfire did in a van that we slept you, you learn to adapt very quickly to that lifestyle - you have to," he explains.
Dallas is a definite journeyman, having been on the road for over ten years with minimal time off to record.
"So, to go from that to getting to a point where you're on a tour bus, playing places that have a shower, it's easy. You just do it."
That's not to say it's smooth sailing now: Dallas was less than pleased with his Glastonbury experience.
He says: "The show was really good, but I was very surprised at how filthy it was! I guess you put that many people in a field and give them booze, they'll get pretty dirty."
On the organisation of the festival, he shockingly notes that "people didn't know we were playing," adding: "Somebody brought us to the stage, because we couldn't get any passes. So, we couldn't leave the stage when we were playing, because we wouldn't have been able to get back in. So it was a pretty interesting experience."
The live environment is integral to Dallas' music, and being just as good on record and in this setting is something he prides himself on.
Of his ambitious, he reveals: "I want to be able to sing and go on stage and do better than I did on the record. So many people can't sing what they recorded, cos it's not them - they just used autotune."
Dallas feels that a lot of mainstream music falls into a trap of people wanting to make a record before they think about actually being in a band, an attitude which ignores live music as key in the industry.
"I've always been that way my whole career," Dallas explains. "I would never have been in a band if I relied on making money off records."
After over a decade of depending on touring to make a living, he finds it funny that there seems to be a focus on that now, with certain artists complaining that illegal downloading means it's harder to make money off album sales.
"It's like...you should've been f****** touring in the first place, you know?" He continues with some advice to those artists: "Go and play music for the people who are interested in you - that's what it's about."
The last 12 months have been eventful for Dallas Green and City And Colour as a project.
In August Alexionfire announced their break-up, with news that Dallas Green and guitarist Wade MacNeil would be leaving, with Wade replacing Frank Carter as Gallows front-man.
Dallas is supportive of his former bandmates switch to the UK hardcore act. "Wade's a great singer, and he's got a good stage presence. I think he'll do just fine."
He admits that being a true front-man isn't for him: "I need a guitar to be comfortable. Even when I play shows like this, I stand over on the side, you know?"
His decision to leave Alexisonfire was revealed to his former bandmates in 2010, and Wade's departure left the remaining members with no real choice.
"I think George, Steele and Jordan just kinda decided...ok. We'll end it now, while it's had a good run and preserve the legacy of what once was."
As with any band breaking up, Dallas admits there's some animosity, but was keen to point out that the former Alexisonfire members are all still friends.
"I think at first, everyone was hurt by the decision," he admits, but explains: "We're all men, we've all spent ten years with one another, and seen each other at our worst and our best."
In a revealing moment, Dallas talks of his mental state, about how he was starting to lose his mind, trying to balance City And Colour and Alexisonfire.
"It's where my heart is, where my heart was leaning towards. Yeah, it felt good once I made the decision," he remembers.
Dallas continues: "My heart was leaning more towards this style of music. It's not that I don't like Alexisonfire anymore, it's not that I don't like aggresive music - I still listen to it a lot. I just couldn't write it anymore, or not right now."
"I was trying to come up with new ideas, and I just didn't have it in me," he admits, although he doesn't rule out writing more aggressive music in the future, if his mood dictates it.
"Right now, it just doesn't seem to be working," he explains. "If I tried to write a riff now, I don't know if I could."
Check back tomorrow morning for the second part of our feature. We'll be talking to Dallas about new album Little Hell, WWE and writing on the internet. Our live review of City And Colour can be found here.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
After more than a decade on the road, Dallas Green is coming to the end of City And Colour's first proper UK tour.
A reserved - sometimes shy - man, the former Alexisonfire frontman opened up to us about being on tour, leaving the band and the problems he had with Glastonbury.
Enjoying his time back in the UK, Dallas notes that the crowds have been fantastic.
On his recent Paris show, the City And Colour front-man says: "it was probably one of the hottest shows I've played in my life. I mean, I stand pretty still, so I can't imagine playing in a punk band in that place."
Dallas plans to do a more extensive run of dates, particularly after his sold-out show at the Royal Albert Hall, something that understandably stands out as a highlight.
"I don't think I understood the weight of the situation until I walked into the building, and noticed how overwhelming it is to be inside that place, to know that all the people were coming to see us play," he admits.
Dallas remembers the April show as a beautiful experience, although it was initially set up just to get his name out there to people who weren't familiar with his rock past.
He admits: "A lot of the festival promoters and press in the UK, aside from what knew me from Alexisonfire, none of them were really interested, or just didn't know me."
Drawn to venues with real character and personality, Dallas doesn't have much praise for Manchester Academy 1 as a room, although he's more than grateful for the showers and facilities.
Whilst a lot of touring musicians complain about the conditions, even those at thise level, Dallas feels these complaints aren't really justified.
"If you start out touring on a very small scale, like Alexisonfire did in a van that we slept you, you learn to adapt very quickly to that lifestyle - you have to," he explains.
Dallas is a definite journeyman, having been on the road for over ten years with minimal time off to record.
"So, to go from that to getting to a point where you're on a tour bus, playing places that have a shower, it's easy. You just do it."
That's not to say it's smooth sailing now: Dallas was less than pleased with his Glastonbury experience.
He says: "The show was really good, but I was very surprised at how filthy it was! I guess you put that many people in a field and give them booze, they'll get pretty dirty."
On the organisation of the festival, he shockingly notes that "people didn't know we were playing," adding: "Somebody brought us to the stage, because we couldn't get any passes. So, we couldn't leave the stage when we were playing, because we wouldn't have been able to get back in. So it was a pretty interesting experience."
The live environment is integral to Dallas' music, and being just as good on record and in this setting is something he prides himself on.
Of his ambitious, he reveals: "I want to be able to sing and go on stage and do better than I did on the record. So many people can't sing what they recorded, cos it's not them - they just used autotune."
Dallas feels that a lot of mainstream music falls into a trap of people wanting to make a record before they think about actually being in a band, an attitude which ignores live music as key in the industry.