Photo by Joe Dilworth
ENTER SHIKARI
Interview with Rou Reynolds
By Brendan McBrayer
ENTER SHIKARI have made quite the name for themselves in the farthest reaches of the globe by being generally hectic with their lavish light infused performances, but they also happen to be some of the sharpest dudes when it comes to the real matters of foreign policy and how to treat the general populace of the world like human beings. Check out this conversation I had with vocalist and synth man Rou Reynolds as we talked about chilled out music, recording in Thailand, and what to expect from the bands upcoming full length A Flash Flood Of Color in terms of flow.
Hey dudes! So here we are right before the release of your third album A Flash Flood Of Colour. The album was recorded in Thailand and the UK, was the approach of this album any different than 2009’s Common Dreads and 2007’s Take To The Skies? And did Geography play any part in finding the sounds?
Well our 1st album was very much a rush to get down previously toured material down and out as quickly as possible. Common Dreads allowed a lot more time for experimentation and even writing in the studio. This album was probably our most relaxed and focused album yet that’s for sure. Not only did we start from scratch building on riffs I’d begun whilst touring Common Dreads, we allowed ourselves a good few months practicing and developing the songs before we hit the studio. Thailand enabled us complete dedication to the record, with no outside distractions (other than a swimming pool on site) we could concentrate 100% on creativity. In terms of whether being in Thailand overtly influenced our music, I don’t think any oriental sounds made it onto the album, but certainly being in the “land of smiles” helped keep the flow of positivity and sense of confidence in humanity strong throughout the album. Everyone was so welcoming, giving and peaceful… a far cry from where we started the album in central London!
One thing you guys have been really great at is supplying your fans with tons of material. In between your full- lengths you have been releasing not only amazing B-side collections, including tons of remixes, but also singles with songs like “We Can Breathe In Space,” “Destabilise,” and “Quelle Surprise.” Please, for the love of god, tell us that we can continue to expect this dedication to releasing tons of high quality tunes in your downtime?
Thank you! Well yeah I certainly hope so. I’m always writing music and we’re too fidgety to let any song sit idle for too long once completed! We always want to share it as soon as we’re happy with it. It’s a great positive point to being an independent band too, (that) you can put music out when and how you want without having to answer to your A&R guy who has to present any idea to his boss who has to run it past ‘upstairs’ who will ultimately be a group of shareholders completely disconnected from you and your music, etc etc.
Photo by Dan Bassini
A noticeable difference that stuck out when the tracklisting to A Flash Flood Of Colour was revealed was the lack of instrumentals that you guys have been known for pulling off so well with the 4 Interludes on Take To The Skies and the “Havoc” tracks off of Common Dreads. Was this a conscious decision to make a shorter album experience with the 11 tracks on this release compared to the 17 and 15 song tracklistings of the others?
Yes, we concentrated on each song as single entities for this album, without spending too much time deliberating on how the album will roll as a continuous experience. Every track is so different as we stretch to cover every inch of our musical influences that we just wanted to focus on addressing each one separately.
What as a band have you guys not yet accomplished that you hope to on this album cycle? Is there anything left to experience that you guys haven’t already done with your pension for traveling the world and playing to sold out endless crowds at events like Reading and Leeds? There has to be something you guys still are yearning for with future successes.
Well we’re a rather strange group of people in the fact that this was never a dream that we yearned for, it was just a hobby, playing music in a band, practicing in our drummers bedroom, playing the odd gig at weekends whilst still at school. It’s now just a hobby that’s got out of hand! We’re truly thankful for every show we get to play and every place we get to visit. I think we’re planning on touring more of the Far East and possibly going to South America too, which would be amazing. At the end of the day we just want to present our music and ideas to as many human beings as possible.
Photo by Dan Bassini
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