The Eastpak Antidote Tour is currently shredding it's way through Europe, with headliners Alexisonfire and support coming from Anti-Flag, Four Years Strong and The Ghost Of A Thousand. I caught up with Tom Lacey, singer for TGOAT for a chat at the Manchester gig, about being on the tour, and for his thoughts on the current punk scene in general.
Luke Griffin: You're a few dates into the Antidote tour now, what has the reception been like for you guys?
Tom Lacey: Yeah its been really cool; its been nice because it hasn't really felt like we've been opening as such, because the bill is so strong that everyoneís been turning out for every band; its not just Alexisonfire's tour with 3 support bands.
LG: So there is fans for each band?
TL: Yeah which has been really cool. I think itís a good cross section of different styles of the hardcore and punk genre. Four Years Strong fans are a little bit younger than ours so they get a few more girls, and Antiflag get more old school punks which is cool.
LG: You're 2 albums in, and establishing yourself as major players on the live circuit, but who would you say is the most important live punk band at the moment?
TL: I think we do alright, but I think the Bronx live are still one of the best bands on the planet, they're amazing.
LG: You did a split EP with Reuben and Baddies, so what would you say is the importance of underground bands doing split EP's?
TL: It's cool I mean that was a weird one anyway because they asked us to do that and they were just like can we have a few demos for the tour. It's a cool thing to do, I guess it depends on who is the bigger band and whether it benefits them or the smaller band; its just a bit of fun. Its not vital I don't think, and you still have to stand on your own two feet. There's an awful lot of pointless backslapping going on now, like loads of people guesting on your records and it can get a little inbred I think sometimes, which is a bit shit. We've never done covers or had guests on our records, I don't know if that will change but at the moment we're enjoying being the only hardcore band on the planet that doesn't do covers!
LG: Is it getting easier to get noticed and pick up steam as a punk band, as opposed to the last couple of years? I think the scene is maybe picking up a little bit!
TL: Its doing alright, I think the Mosh/Metal thing is still massive; the thing about Punk Rock is if it's done properly its always going to be too abrasive for your average scene kid to completely go for it. You see when we come out and play there are all these girls at the front who are there for Four Years Strong and Alexis and they're just freaked out when I go and sweat on them! I think the problem is now that there's so many bands that do it, like 3 years ago there was no one that did it, well not in this country, and now certainly it's the done thing. You can just be in a rock n roll hardcore band and that immediately means you're gonna get press or get signed and you get on tours and stuff so its more difficult in a way to stand out; although I think that's why we ended up making the record we did. We decided we had to just move away from what was sort of created with the first record becuase everyone is now going down that route.
LG: It kind of brings something new to it I suppose, which is what you've done with the last record obviously. Your music, especially the new album, New Hopes, New Demonstrations, seems to have the attitude of every note counts, as opposed to a slurry grunge - do you think that's in the same vein as the scene picking up more attention?
TL: Yeah I think its quite a minimal record so I know what you mean about trying to make everything count for itself. The scene is doing OK, I still thinks there's a lot of bands that do really badly that probably need to sit down and kind of listen to older records rather than listening to bands that are out there at the moment. Like bands start and we're like 'who are your influences' and they're like 'erm, Every Time I Die and Gallows and Us (The Ghost Of A Thousand)'. when they ask our influences we say Joy Division and Refused and Nation Of Ullyses and The fucking Stooges. I think it would do kids a lot of good to go listen to the bands that their favourite bands were influenced by and they might make there own style rather than sounding like everyone else.
LG: Is that the kind of influence you take then, like Joy Division?
TL: Yeah and obviously The Hives on the new record (which was produced by a member of The Hives), and this amazing German band called The Beatsteaks, and if you haven't heard them you should because they're huge over there and no one gives a shit about them over here. There's a lot of good classic stuff out there that still sounds great and was recorded so well it still sounds really heavy and cool.
LG: Where do you think the best kind of punk is coming from at the moment? Obviously Canada is doing pretty well.
TL: Yeah Canada's doing pretty well, I mean the States is always a good place for heavy music, and Sweden has still got some of the best bands on the planet, but the music scene is not so international anymore. Because of the internet you can be a band that comes from a tiny little town and be big in a country thousands and thousands of miles away so it doesn't really matter so much where you're from, as long as youíre doing it for the right reasons and doing it because you love it. Because its not cool when you're sat in a van for 6 months playing to ten people, because that is when you realise even if the genre you're playing in is the next big thing, it doesn't mean your band in particular is going to go anywhere!
LG: Fair enough! You come from Brighton so how do you compare to the music that comes from Brighton?
TL: We've got lots of friends that are in bands from Brighton like Blood Red Shoes and The Maccabees and Architects. The thing about Brighton is it doesn't really have a style as such, its just a lot of creative people end up living there because it's a nice place. There are a lot of rehearsal studios, good music stores and a massive music college.
LG: I know you were saying some current punk bands only influences are Every Time I Die and Gallows, but as you'll know Gallows signed a £1million record deal for Grey Britain, so what do you think that says about punk music in general and is it a step you'd take?
TL: I can't imagine it happening to us anyway, but I think its worked out really well for them. In terms of Gallows, whether Warner Brothers was the right people to take care of them is a different point, but having millions of pounds is quite cool. The reality of it is, is if you're a musician you've got to pay your bills somehow! I don't think they compromised anything on their new record, which is the most important thing, they spent a long time writing it.
LG: They seemed to keep it real.
TL: Yeh, its heavier than the first record so you can hardly say they have compromised.
LG: No, it's hardly an album of singles.
TL: No it's a pretty dark record so its pretty ballsy of them to do that. It is tough on them, I mean Anti Flag signed to a major for a few albums and they got a load of shit for it. I think it all depends on where you stand on it before you sign. Against Me had the same thing, for years they said they'd never sign to a major, then they signed to a major. I think if you put yourself in that position then you have to expect people to be like 'oh for fucks sake', but if you're like 'bring the money, we don't care as long as we're playing the music we love', then you cant really have a go at them if they are being honest about it.
Words: Luke Griffin
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