Matt & Ben (The Sleeping Souls)
As Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls were preparing to play their biggest Manchester headline show to date, we caught up with Matt Nasir (keyboard) and Ben Lloyd (guitar).
Making up half of Turner's backing band The Sleeping Souls, we chatted to the pair about England Keep My Bones, headlining Wembley and Frank's upcoming hardcore project.
-How is it being back in the UK?
BEN: Insane - really, really cool. Big shows, lots of people, everyone's really enthusiastic. I suppose it's just nice to be home, as much as anything.
-How is it doing venues of this size again on a headline run?
MATT: It's amazing, you know, it's incredible to play such big shows and, like Ben says, have such enthusiastic crowds. I'd say the only downside is that when you play a bigger venue, for the guys at the front, there's a little bit less connection because they're a lot further away. I guess sometimes it's just not what we're used to.
BEN: I kinda like the challenge that adds, though, to still try and keep the intimate feel of Frank's show - try and scale it up so people still feel connected and involved. Hopefully, people are still having a great time and a great experience.
-Has it been good getting this level of production, compared to the more intimate shows?
MATT: They both have their bonuses. Ben was mentioning yesterday, he misses setting up his own gear and doing his own bits and pieces.
BEN: It's weird not having that much to do during a gig! I like setting up my amps-
MATT: And I like not knowing anything about it, walking out on stage and it's all there! It's great!
-Moving to England Keep My Bones, how was it working on that record?
MATT: It was a lot of fun. It was, I think, massively assisted by the fact that we did a pre-production record with Jim Ward of At The Drive In, in El Paso. Frank's quite good friends with him, we were passing through on a tour and he said "Come in, do some pre-production stuff".
BEN: That was 18 songs in a day, or something. We took those home and did demos, and just worked through it. It felt, basically, like the whole thing had been worked out a bit more, a bit more settled, than previous times.
-How much of an input did you get in terms of the arrangements this time round?
MATT: Arrangements are something that Frank has a really strong opinion on. If asked for our opinion, we'd say, or if we thought something was wrong. As far as parts go...I think I wrote all my parts for the album. So, it's nice to have that, a bit of a trust and leeway - it's really nice.
-Is it a bit of a collaboration then?
MATT: It's by no means a songwriting collaboration, but-
BEN: In general, the bits we play, we write. That's all under his auspice, making sure he's still happy with the songs.
MATT: He'll start playing away, we'll add bits and he'll say "I think that, but maybe not there". It's still his thing, but it's really nice that we're given the trust to sit there and come up with what we think is appropriate.
I think Poetry of the Deed was really hectic. With this one, I felt, it was a massive amount of input we were able to have. I think that shows in the results.
-It's been said that Poetry of the Deed sounded more like a classic, band record.
MATT: I think that's a common misconception. I don't know if Frank's been going out spreading lies-
BEN: No, I think it's just it sounds like that, because it was full-on. Whereas, bizarrely, it feels like we had more input, control and time to sort things out on this record. Poetry was more...let's go, Frank saying "do it right now, I want this out yesterday!"
MATT: We did three rehearsal days, and two gigs in Oxford. Then we went in, and we had five days to do the whole album. I think you can hear that, in the album. I don't by any means think it's a bad album, but I think if you put it in contrast to England Keep My Bones...
BEN: Hopefully we'll keep that progression going and make the next one better still.
MATT: It was great, it was really nice. We'd all fire in with different ideas for different things, taking care of our parts. I was particularly happy - I got to do some string and horn arrangements, which is what I like doing.
-The first time I saw you guys playing with Frank was the Green Day support show in Manchester (2010). How was it going out on that kind of stage, in front of that many people?
BEN: I thought I was going to be really scared, but I wasn't at all! I was really excited, just jumping up and down going "When are we going to go on? This is amazing!" Then you peak your head round the side and it's just this sea of people. It's like...this really is something completely different.
MATT: I think everybody assumes you're going to be absolutely cacking it. I never really experience nerves when playing with this band, I think, because I've got so much confidence in everybody around me - it's just fun.
-Even though you're technically hired musicians, you're very much embedded in the project. Does that make it easier being on the road, with the atmosphere?
MATT: Well...yes, but you say hired musicians - when these guys started, you weren't hired, were you?
BEN [laughing]: No, we weren't being paid a bean!
MATT: So, even though now it's certainly a full-time job for all of us, it didn't start that way for Nigel, Ben and Tarrant.
BEN: Don't make that sound like we're bitter!
MATT: No, I just mean they've been in it since day zero of Frank's solo career.
-How do you balance it with any other projects you have going on?
MATT: All other projects have been cancelled.
BEN: Pretty much. It's so busy. Since May, I've been home for two and a half weeks. Hopefully, January Tarrant, Nige and myself will be able to do something with Dive Dive - our old band that we've been kicking around for years getting nowhere. I'm hoping we can do some rehearsals and practice some stuff.
-Well, Dive Dive did the support run for Frank's tour last winter. How was it getting to do some shows with them again?
BEN: It was great. It's such a completely different beast. In a way, I felt that I'd become lazy with Frank. It's so much harder to play the Dive Dive set, just on a technical level, whereas with Frank I can-
MATT: Just concentrate on your dancing.
BEN [laughing]: Yeah, just swan around, and it can be a bit loose and free.
-You mentioned how there wasn't much nerves ahead of the Green Day shows - what about Wembley in April?
BEN: I'm excited. It's so far away - we'll have done, probably, almost a hundred shows between now and then, I'm guessing. I can't really believe it. It's weird, four years ago we were headling the Scala in London.
MATT: That wasn't four years...was it?
BEN: Yeah...a year ago was Brixton...no, it was three years ago! We headlined the Scala, and it was like...my god! We've done a London show that's sold out to 700 people! Now it's like...we're doing Wembley Arena.
MATT: I treated myself, actually, I bought myself a £22 bottle of wine for that show. That's how excited I was. It was good wine, too. But yeah, it's insane - we're now playing Wembley Arena.
-Before that, you're back on the road with Social Distortion. Are you looking forward to being back with those guys?
MATT: It's funny, it's kinda like what Ben was saying with Dive Dive, how it's so much harder and it gets a bit slack playing for Frank. I think, in a similar vein, you have to earn the crowd a bit more when you're doing a support slot, which I quite enjoy.
BEN: It keeps you sharp and focused, you can't just relax. Tonight's, what, 3,000? We'll go out and it's really easy to have a really enjoyable and good show, when you're going out in front of that many people who are all wanting to see you. The whole thing's just a joy, basically.
-It's a different mindset, going into a support show then.
BEN: Yeah, when you do a support tour, most of them probably don't know who we are. We've got to win them, and we've only got half an hour to do that. We need to make sure these people leave going, ideally, "My god, these people were better than Social D!"
MATT: You could certainly see the affect that the two support tours had. A lot of people said they saw us with Social D, or Flogging Molly, that kind of thing. It's clearly working, and Frank's certainly winning them over.
The other interesting thing is that as soon as we finish, he goes straight over to the merch table and literally talks to everyone all night - which is a bit difficult to do when you're playing to three and a half thousand people. It becomes a bit of a security and time issue - it takes a long time, even though he probably would if he could.
-Next year, Frank has his hardcore side-project planned at some point. Are you going to take that time to try other projects?
MATT: I'm in it!
BEN: Frank doesn't want me to play any more guitar for him, ever.
MATT: I'm sure that's not true. We're looking at trying to find time to start rehearsing for it. It's just finding the time.
-Any plans to tour it?
MATT: For now, we haven't even played in the same room yet. It's a little bit early to say yet, but it'll be a lot of fun.
BEN: I'm hoping for a new Dive Dive album next year - that's my plan.
MATT: I'd hope for a new Dive Dive album next year - I thought the last one was amazing.
BEN: Thanks man.
Female First - Alistair McGeorge (Follow me on Twitter @AlistairMcG)
As Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls were preparing to play their biggest Manchester headline show to date, we caught up with Matt Nasir (keyboard) and Ben Lloyd (guitar).
Making up half of Turner's backing band The Sleeping Souls, we chatted to the pair about England Keep My Bones, headlining Wembley and Frank's upcoming hardcore project.
-How is it being back in the UK?
BEN: Insane - really, really cool. Big shows, lots of people, everyone's really enthusiastic. I suppose it's just nice to be home, as much as anything.
-How is it doing venues of this size again on a headline run?
MATT: It's amazing, you know, it's incredible to play such big shows and, like Ben says, have such enthusiastic crowds. I'd say the only downside is that when you play a bigger venue, for the guys at the front, there's a little bit less connection because they're a lot further away. I guess sometimes it's just not what we're used to.
BEN: I kinda like the challenge that adds, though, to still try and keep the intimate feel of Frank's show - try and scale it up so people still feel connected and involved. Hopefully, people are still having a great time and a great experience.
-Has it been good getting this level of production, compared to the more intimate shows?
MATT: They both have their bonuses. Ben was mentioning yesterday, he misses setting up his own gear and doing his own bits and pieces.
BEN: It's weird not having that much to do during a gig! I like setting up my amps-
MATT: And I like not knowing anything about it, walking out on stage and it's all there! It's great!
-Moving to England Keep My Bones, how was it working on that record?
MATT: It was a lot of fun. It was, I think, massively assisted by the fact that we did a pre-production record with Jim Ward of At The Drive In, in El Paso. Frank's quite good friends with him, we were passing through on a tour and he said "Come in, do some pre-production stuff".
BEN: That was 18 songs in a day, or something. We took those home and did demos, and just worked through it. It felt, basically, like the whole thing had been worked out a bit more, a bit more settled, than previous times.
-How much of an input did you get in terms of the arrangements this time round?
MATT: Arrangements are something that Frank has a really strong opinion on. If asked for our opinion, we'd say, or if we thought something was wrong. As far as parts go...I think I wrote all my parts for the album. So, it's nice to have that, a bit of a trust and leeway - it's really nice.
-Is it a bit of a collaboration then?
MATT: It's by no means a songwriting collaboration, but-
BEN: In general, the bits we play, we write. That's all under his auspice, making sure he's still happy with the songs.
MATT: He'll start playing away, we'll add bits and he'll say "I think that, but maybe not there". It's still his thing, but it's really nice that we're given the trust to sit there and come up with what we think is appropriate.
I think Poetry of the Deed was really hectic. With this one, I felt, it was a massive amount of input we were able to have. I think that shows in the results.
-It's been said that Poetry of the Deed sounded more like a classic, band record.
MATT: I think that's a common misconception. I don't know if Frank's been going out spreading lies-
BEN: No, I think it's just it sounds like that, because it was full-on. Whereas, bizarrely, it feels like we had more input, control and time to sort things out on this record. Poetry was more...let's go, Frank saying "do it right now, I want this out yesterday!"
MATT: We did three rehearsal days, and two gigs in Oxford. Then we went in, and we had five days to do the whole album. I think you can hear that, in the album. I don't by any means think it's a bad album, but I think if you put it in contrast to England Keep My Bones...
BEN: Hopefully we'll keep that progression going and make the next one better still.
MATT: It was great, it was really nice. We'd all fire in with different ideas for different things, taking care of our parts. I was particularly happy - I got to do some string and horn arrangements, which is what I like doing.
-The first time I saw you guys playing with Frank was the Green Day support show in Manchester (2010). How was it going out on that kind of stage, in front of that many people?
BEN: I thought I was going to be really scared, but I wasn't at all! I was really excited, just jumping up and down going "When are we going to go on? This is amazing!" Then you peak your head round the side and it's just this sea of people. It's like...this really is something completely different.
MATT: I think everybody assumes you're going to be absolutely cacking it. I never really experience nerves when playing with this band, I think, because I've got so much confidence in everybody around me - it's just fun.
-Even though you're technically hired musicians, you're very much embedded in the project. Does that make it easier being on the road, with the atmosphere?
MATT: Well...yes, but you say hired musicians - when these guys started, you weren't hired, were you?
BEN [laughing]: No, we weren't being paid a bean!
MATT: So, even though now it's certainly a full-time job for all of us, it didn't start that way for Nigel, Ben and Tarrant.
BEN: Don't make that sound like we're bitter!
MATT: No, I just mean they've been in it since day zero of Frank's solo career.
Tagged in Frank Turner