letlive.
A few hours after they played the Lock Up Stage at Leeds Festival, we chatted to letlive. about their move to Epitaph, touring and festivals.
-How was the set earlier today?
It was great, man, a lot of fun. We were warmed up because of yesterday. We got a little more rested last night, so it was cool.
-How did it compare to Reading?
It feels like...well, it's the end of the festival now, everyone's a little worn out. It was a great response, though, I liked it.
-Is there something special about festival shows?
There is, it's a different energy compared to the intimate settings of a club show or something like that, a tighter space. It feels just as intense and passionate.
There's a different standard when you're playing a festival. You want to get there into the crowd. There's many more elements.
There's a group of kids in the centre, and they're the ones singing along. It's like a little layered. Behind that are the kids wanting to check it out, then behind that is people like - "who the f*** is this?"
-You played Download Festival back in June, so how did that compare?
We were just starting to gain some fans at that point. At this festival, I feel like a lot of these kids have heard of us. That was our first proper festival too, so we were just jumping into it. There were a lot more people here to see us this time. It was great, it was a lot of fun.
-What can people expect from your headline shows then, once you're back on tour?
More songs! Our element is usually a smaller setting. Some sort of substance on them, whether it's water, sweat, trash. We try to interact as much as possible, and get people involved. It's nice, a smaller setting makes that easier.
-Who are you influenced by?
There are a lot of people. In different genres, I have different idols. In respective to hardcore, I'm thinking in a punk realm, so people like Henry Rollins. In other genres, I loved Radiohead and Arcade Fire.
Beyond just music sonically, we're influenced by the principles certain musicians live by. The things that go with punk, like not giving a f*** and doing what you believe in.
When you're in such an expressive type of music, there's a lot of aggression. We're not a jazz band, but we're into all the jazz greats too.
-You mentioned Henry Rollins, and also Keith Morris was on the Lock Up Stage the other day. How does it feel sharing the stage with names like that?
It's crazy. There are a lot of bands that we're sharing the stage with that I respect. Just the fact that we're here is mindblowing. There's the Descendents on their too. It's cool to see the evolution of punk rock. It's not the same, but there's still bands carrying that torch. It's cool to see that, how much it's travelled in the past 20 years.
-What do you think of the state of the punk scene at the moment?
There's a lot of people who try to commercialise on it. They put an anarchy patch on their jacket, and say it's punk. Not as many people live by it or truly understand it.
Then, you go to shows and see kids singing along, I love it. You can tell, it's still that same thing. The ones that are genuine and have a passion show it. Currently, it's weening out the genuine people.
-You moved to Epitaph earlier this year. What prompted that move?
We were always shooting for the larger labels. The previous record label had said he wanted us to move on, and find something bigger. They didn't have the resources or budgets, so we moved on.
It was a cool time. Epitaph...it was very personal, it felt right, it was dynamic. We knew what they'd done in the past, we grew up on it. Everything just was exactly what we wanted. As a kid, you always want to be on Epitaph, and somehow we ended up there.
-Have you been able to retain the same amount of control, despite the move to the bigger label?
Entirely. That's actually the main focus of what they're doing. They won't execute anything without our consent, and most of the time we're the ones that call the shots, in a way. We both give each other ideas, it's a collective effort. They want us to be us. It was about what we believe in.
-Has the re-release of your last album on Epitaph pushed back any plans for your next release?
Yeah, somewhat. Not necessarily the re-release, but just the touring that goes into supporting that re-release. Just finding the time to write is a bit...not stressful, but it's difficult.
We're still adjusting to finding ways to write on the road, but it's not the same if we're not in the room together, jamming out. Hopefully sometime soon, or early 2012, we'll get the new record rolling.
-Are you excited about your upcoming tour with Enter Shikari?
Yeah, it's very exciting. We met them in the States after a show at South by South West. They're great guys, great band. It'll be great fun, we're excited to be in Europe for a few weeks, then the UK for a couple. The combination of a cool tour and countries, we're really excited.
-What do you have planned after that tour, for the rest of the year?
We're doing a State tour. We're booking next year now. We'd actually planned to get started on the next album, but it looks like it'll be next year. It hasn't come to us yet. Touring, that's about it for now.
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