Fresh from the release of their critically acclaimed third album, Acts of Fear and Love, UK punk duo Slaves featuring Isaac Holman (drums, vocals) and Laurie Vincent (guitar, vocals) are bringing their anthemic songs to Australia, smashing up festival stages and venues alike in a joyous, celebration of big riffs, big beats and even bigger choruses. We talk to Laurie about the band’s first trip to Australia, Download Festival and more.
Andrew: So we are excited to see you in Australia for Download Festival, how are you guys feeling about it?
Laurie: I’m really excited. I was just talking to my partner and I’m quite excited for the flight because it will be the longest time I won’t have to do anything for ages, I get to chill [laughs].
Andrew: [laughs] Yeah it is a long flight! Have you guys been to Australia before or will this be your first time?
Laurie: It’s our first trip as a band, yeah. Isaac’s been to visit before but I’ve never been so I’m quite excited.
Andrew: Awesome so you obviously have the Download Festival in Sydney and Melbourne and you have a couple of side shows as well. Festivals and club shows are quite different from each other, do you personally have a preference between the two at all?
Laurie: No I really like mixing them in together so you get the best of both because sometimes at festivals it can be hard to go and meet people because of schedules or whatever but when you are in a club and you have your fans face to face with you and you get to walk through the crowd and hang out and actually meet the people, it’s a different experience. Obviously we’re playing really early on in the day at the festivals so it’s nice to play at night time and it’s a different vibe.
Andrew: Yeah definitely and because you are playing early on you may have a bit of time to check out some bands later on. Is there anyone in particular you might have noticed on the lineup that you are keen to see live at all at the festival?
Laurie: Yeah I’ve seen Ozzy is playing but I’m not sure if he’s on the same day as us or not. I’ve keep meaning to check that but if Ozzy Osbourne is on the same day as us, I’m going to find him!
Andrew: [laughs] I’m sure he’s an interesting character to hang out and meet! It’s going to be great, good to see you coming down here for the first time then. Obviously with the headline shows in Brisbane and Perth are going to be a different experience so what will you be bringing to the shows? What do you have planned for the fans down here?
Laurie: I think it’s quite a unique opportunity where we get 7 years worth of live shows, we’ve honed it to as good as it’s ever going to be I think and then you get to unleash that on a new audience. There’s no learning with you, it’s lets go smash people in the faces with what we are. No amount of researching us really does justice to what it is to experience it live. Someone once said to us we’re kind of like an art theatre project and I kind of relate to that because it’s just as much about the crowd participation and interaction and the feeling of our shows as it is about the music.
Andrew: Yeah you definitely give off a strong sort of vibe as far as the live shows from what I have seen in video footage and stuff and you guys have been sort of dubbed as a bit of a punk rock sort of band but there’s more to your sound outside of that label. How would you describe your style of music to people who may not have heard of the band before?
Laurie: I would say our roots are ingrained the punk rock ethos but then we’re very informed by late post-punk and we go into Brit-pop and bands like Blur. It’s a real British sensibility but it’s starting to sort of flirt with melody and then there’s also a comedy aspect. We get comparisons drawn to bands like Madness, not necessarily for the sound but for the humour inside some of the music so I’ve always felt that we are a band for the people sort of vibe.
Andrew: And that sound has evolved into the third album that you had out last year “Acts of Fear and Love”. Tell me how that sound has evolved on this album and what kind of feedback have you been getting from fans so far?
Laurie: It’s been really good! I think we went off on a tangent on our second album and we sort of went darker, I think the subjects are heavier on “Take Control” and then we definitely turned a lot of people off. A lot of people loved it still but I think we sort of won back and gained new fans on this album, it was just a way more considered approach. I love punk and hardcore but I sort of have this ambition to see what melody I can find and make people sing along and dance rather than just jump into each other, I really had an ambition to make our shows even more dynamic than they already were and it worked. So the feedback has been amazing!
Andrew: When you go into recording for studio stuff, how much of the live sound do you try to incorporate into the recording?
Laurie: On this album I kind of wanted to not worry as much. I read a lot of artist biographies and I think it’s really important to get to a point where you have a consciousness about the fact that an album and a live show are two seperate things. So sometimes to approach them as the same is detrimental to the outcome, we want it to sound raw but at the same time you want people to be able to put your music on and enjoy it and appeal rather than…not everyone wants that screeching feedback, gnarly recording and I kind of want to make the recorded version as good as it can be and the live version as good as it can be and sometimes playing it live in the studio doesn’t always end up in that result. But all the takes are live, there’s no loops and not much electronics so it is live but with overdubs and all sorts.
Andrew: Yes of course and since the album came out last year and now that some time has passed and you have played these songs a bunch of times live on stage, how do you feel about those songs and have they evolved at all as far as the live performances?
Laurie: Yeah there’s some definite favorites, songs like “Magnolia” and “Photo Opportunity” and “The Lives They Wish They Had”. The crowd reaction that we got is something we hadn’t seen since our big songs off of the first album and just seeing the whole crowd, I don’t know if it was the tempo we wrote the songs, they are a tiny bit slower and a bit swung like they got more rhythm to them. You could see the reaction of the crowd, a whole sea of people jumping up and down or singing along. They have more swagger to them which has been really fun to play and then songs like “Photo Opportunity” has this real deep moment and Isaac sort of went deeper in the lyrics and exposed himself more than I’ve seen him do in the past which is always really good to watch that unfold live.
Andrew: Yeah and I guess when you first rehearse these songs before going on tour, you don’t really know how people are going to react to them. Were you surprised or were they expected how they would go down live with the fans?
Laurie: No it took me back when I first saw the reaction because I walk out and were were playing songs that had only been out a couple of months and they were getting as big a reaction as our big tunes from the past. It was just surreal so hopefully we’ll get the same response down under!
Andrew: Yeah definitely! While you are in the country since you mentioned it will be your first time, I’m sure you may not have a lot of down time but if you do, is there anything in particular that you would like to do down here that you have always wanted to do?
Laurie: Well my best friend moved to New Zealand a couple of years ago so he’s coming across and just getting to hang out with him is pretty special because he’s so far away. We are good friends with DMA’s and I just want to see them in their own environment, it’s always weird seeing people you know across the other side of the world so I’m excited for that. I just want to soak in the sights, if I get to walk past the Sydney Opera House I’ll be happy but I’ve learned with touring a lot [that] if you don’t put any pressure on it, it usually ends up being more fun.
Andrew: Yeah and it’s going to be a bit different from where you are I suppose, it will still pretty much be summer here and still quite hot so I suppose you will be looking forward to getting out of the cold as well.
Laurie: Yeah I’m really looking forward to that. I’ve lost a bit of weight this year and I’ve started to really feel the cold. I never used to be that bothered by it, now I’m wearing vests and all sorts so I can’t wait [laughs].
Andrew: Well you can get rid of all that as soon as you get down here then [laughs].
Laurie: Straight into the Hawaiin shirts!
Andrew: Well anyway we are looking forward to seeing you down here for the first time, it’s going to be absolutely fantastic. The side shows will be just as much fun as the festival shows I reckon so we are looking forward to it. Thanks for your time, really appreciate it and I really hope you enjoy your time down in Australia.
Laurie: Cheers mate, see you soon!
HEADLINE DATES
Amplifier Bar, Perth – March 6th
The Brightside, Brisbane – March 7th
Tickets: www.secretsounds.com
DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL
Sydney Saturday March 9 || Parramatta Park
Melbourne Monday March 11 || Flemington Racecourse
Tickets: www.downloadfestival.com.au
