Interview with Hindsights

Located under a bridge, the cramp-arched room was decorated with every punk bands dingy presence, essentially Planet Sounds is built for the underground.

Joined on tiny stools were the four bright faces of Hindsights, an Alternative Rock band from Buckinghamshire who decided on their name by “picking it out of a hat” according to bassist Miles.

Forming in 2011, Benio and Miles used to be in a band together, followed by Jack and Billy also, who were from the same area decided to join forces and make Hindsights.

The band have an upcoming album titled ‘ColdWalls/Eyes set to be released in Febuary, but where did the inspiration from this full length come from?

 “It’s all me I guess.” Lead vocalist Benio begins, “It is just a release of all the shit we have been through as a band over the 3 years. Everything that has gone on in our personal lives. It’s all-personal.”

The album takes an upbeat sound, following their slightly dampened EP, The Thoughts That Weighed Me Down.

“We didn’t go in saying we want this record to sound like this, it just happened. I don’t think there was any sort of reason behind it; it was just a natural progression from the EP,” Benio explains.  “If we like something we will use it. We spent a lot of time on the writing side as well, it was very instrumental and we did go through a lot of things.” Miles adds, “We’re all still getting better as musicians. It was just a very healthy environment to record the record in, and it’s really sort of come through as well.”

Following the new record, there has to be a favourite track that everyone loves, but what ones stand out? Starting off, Benio says “Cold Walls.” Followed by Miles’s favourite  “Colour, Blind because it’s a fucking banger!” Jack then adds, “I would probably say ‘Daze’ because it’s kind of mellow, just chill and that is how I want to be right now.” However if you’re a Taking Back Sunday fan then ‘Cloudy Eyes’ is a great track, “because the chorus reminds me of Taking Back Sunday,” according to Billy.

From hitting the road with some of the UK’s finest bands such as Creeper, Gnarwolves, Richa and Grayscale the four-piece have had their fair share of stories, but who would the band really want to play with? “This is hypothetical right?” Billy jokes, “Taking Back Sunday.” While Billy likes to dream big, Miles tells us about The Cold Harbour, who “was a fun bunch to tour with.”

Currently on the road with Milk Teeth, Jack tells us a bit about how that’s like to revisit a band.

“Milk Teeth were jokes so far on this tour, again they have been fun, last time was silly and this time is already silly. It is good to go back again without any awkwardness, we all know each other, we have all played a bunch of shows with each other before and toured so we know what to expect.”

Following all the positives of touring with bands, there seems to be some conflict along the way, however Hindsights have been fortunate enough to pass this but only just as Miles quiet seriously expresses, “The one thing I would hate is being in a band with Jack Perry isn’t a fun thing to do.”

Which was followed by an awkward line of laugh by everyone. It’s good to know that the band still have a lovingly humour presence between another.

It’s the start of a new year, which means big things for bands, as for Hindsights nothing is yet set in stone, but you will be sure to be seeing a lot from them. From the release of their record they hope to

Springboard of it and keep themselves on the road for as long as possible.

With dreams still in the air, the band open up to us with their dream festival line up for a main stage. One thing is for sure, “We’ll open it, the main stage,” Benio adds. The guys joke around and Jack backs up his point, “We will headline it, every night.”

Keeing it on a serious note, “ Slipknot would headlining, Brand New would follow, then Circa Survive, Taking Back Sunday, AFI, and then us.” However Miles still seems to think, “They’re all supporting us.”

With three years of experience, Hindsights have had their fair share of  stories when on tour and how it has changed them as people, but what does it bring to a band and each member?

“To be patient with each other.” Benio starts off,  “That’s all you can really put it down to, just life experience. Touring has probably taught me to be a lot more outgoing. You have to be, otherwise you will just be a hermit in the van.”

For Miles, touring has given him more of an insight to the world. “You’ve been to every city in the UK, some people have only been to three or four in the entire country and we’ve seen others. Just the experience of going out and seeing all these places that you never thought you would.

The saying in the music industry is that ‘You will always go to every arsehole in every city’, and so you will always see part of a city that you wouldn’t on holiday. It’s really different in environment with different places and countries. It’s a really good experience, I think personally.”

It is not just about playing shows when you’re touring it’s the little things that really matter and make a difference.

“You also see the smaller things.” Jack says, “You don’t just go to big cities, you see the smaller towns, you drive through and stop off at cool views.”

In the time Hindsights have been together which is still not long enough, there are always goals in which bands see themselves to work towards, to see themselves progressing. It would be perfect for them if they didn’t have to work and being in the band would be their carer. However as Benio says,

“That is a really hard line to draw. I’m not sure.” He then carries on, “Most bands really aren’t satisfied. They always want more, I feel. The main goal would just be progressing, just carrying on and see what happens. I wouldn’t want to settle, I want to keep going and push it as far as we could.”

Miles then explains about his views on the bands goals. “When we first started this band, I thought as long as we can go on tour I would be well happy. Then we’ve got merch now, little things like that get bigger and bigger. Same with towns you play in, you have a list of places you want to play, when you have played them all, you’re like oh you want to play these places now, the list goes on and on, it’s endless.”

There you have it, Hindsights are not a band that set themselves limits but instead choose to grow from each opportunity no matter how big or small. Their views towards music are considered very positive despite their dampened lyrics, the band have high hopes which are achievable by their talent and hard work, which is soon paying off.

However there is just one last question that we are all dying to know. Will Hindsights ever stop being sad? “Writing sad lyrics is what keeps me happy in day to day life.” Benio starts, ”It’s the release of it.” “With any sad band its not, you write sad lyrics to gain a positive out of it. It would be weird if we had a t shirt that said Happy since ‘11 wouldn’t it?” Billy then adds followed by Miles laughing, “Possi since ‘11.”

So the answer is no.

Interview with Dan Brown - (Guitarist) The Amity Affliction

THE AMITY AFFLICTION were finishing up the last date of the UK tour at o2 Academy Islington, London after being on the road for some time now, the quartet have had their fair share of stories to tell from this journey. Dan Brown, guitarist of the band had some time to sit down and answer a few questions about the band.

Hello Dan, so how are you?

“I’m good today, I’ve been a little bit sick but we all got sick. We’ve got today, then we’ve got four shows left back in Europe.”

Have you even played in O2 Islington before?

“No, we haven’t, well I haven't. It looks cool, we just did the meet and greet out there with a few kids and its big and got a cool balcony. We did a sound check before and it sounds good so looking forward to it.”

Who would you want to go on tour with?

“Theres a few I would want to go on tour with, obviously Architects, they're our good friends but there is a few I guess that wouldn't suit our bill. Me and Joel, we’re all hardcore kids, growing up  with that stuff and we’re not really a hardcore band but I guess whatever you want to call it, full of hardcore kids so we’d basically want to be on tour with hardcore bands. One of my favourites are from Belgium I think, Rise And Fall, they’re like an older band but really good. As soon as we have the offers come up, Joel said we could take Rise And Fall, but we can’t because it just wouldn't make sense.”

What are your favourite venues around the UK?

“It’s hard to remember them all, cause its like a whirl wind, The Underworld was a good venue, I really liked that one. There's no barrier and it had all the different levels to it so there was crowds here and there. Paris was cool, last time we were there we played on a boat.”

Things you Love/ hate about the UK?

“Me and Ahren  will always go to get a kababs and chips, that's the main thing, as soon as we get here we want to eat that. It’s usually food. We’ve got an American playing guitar for us now, he's filling in and we get to take him out, we had fish and chips and roast dinners, he doesn’t have that in america. Australia is pretty similar so we just take him around.”

Are you going to get anyone to fill in for Troy Brady?

“There is Kyle who was our guitar tech, he’s a good guy and knows how to play guitar and he's just filling in presently now, he's not a member but he's going to be in that spot the whole time.”

There has been a lot of controversy about the Chasing Ghost album, artwork, what is the meaning?

“Well if you only look at the front cover then you would assume but if you flick through the booklet its actually not, its more of a metaphor, Joel goes with these lyrics, its all about being in the ocean and being cleansed and you come out the other end. We all talk about the album work, but Joel gets the concept. He writes all the lyrics. The answer phone message ain’t real, we wrote the script for it, the guitarist in Deez Nuts said it, and figured he's got a cool accent so we asked him. Because it ties the two songs together. We knew we had a happy song, then the repack after was heavy and if we just went from one to the other it would sound a bit odd so we needed something to tie it together, and him talking about it was brining both the lyrics and meaning.”

How do you feel about having such a large and supporting fanbase?

“Yeah that’s great, its mainly Joel and his lyrics, because he's been through the same thing when younger, and he wants to help and tell people that it’s alright and just stick with it. Everywhere we go we get people saying, oh you helped my friend or you helped me, its weird but its good.”

Would you ever change the sound of your band to fit into Hardcore?

“No, we also like metalcore, we like the stuff we play and its working for us so we wouldn't change, it’s gotten a little bit heavier, Ive started writing songs with Ahren so the sound has changed, just a little bit. But we would never be a hardcore band, we’d loose a lot of fans probably.”

What does 2015 hold?

“We’re full, we’ve got touring and writing new things, there is a lot of stuff we cant announce yet but it is a full year. We will be writing for a new album, it depends when we get it done to record it.”

Goals for the band’s future?

“Keep going the way we are going, as soon as we start going backwards we will start asking ourselves why we doing this, its cool at the moment, it pays us enough to be the only thing we do. When you've got to work a job and do a band its hard, so now our job is our band. It takes a long time though, you’ve just got slug it out. Ahren has been in the band for 10 years now, I’m going on two so I am fairly new but still I was doing other bands for another 8 years before that. You start off as an apprentice like any other job, then eventually things grow if you're doing the  right thing and making the right decisions then.”

Best food here?

“Nandos is better here, Australia cost way more and its a fast food thing. Australia has a better subway. I get the Italian BMT, with mayo and I always get all the salads. Food is cheaper here, but once you do the conversion it costs us a lot. You can’t just eat junk food all the time you do get sick.”

Shows you are looking most forward to?

“We are looking forward to London because its a bigger room and London always cool so, the next one is cologne and its a big one and sold out and last day of tour.

Who is the messiest on tour?

“The plot in you or Napoleon are the messiest, so we know not to annoy each other and just take care of our own stuff otherwise  we have these little fights.”

Any fights break out on tour or rowdy stories?

“We usually get along with most bands nothing major if something happens anyways. We all know how to treat each other and how each other works, some days someone will have an off day and you know just to leave them alone, it’s like living together so you get used to it. We are very close.”

Would just like to thank Dan Brown for giving me 11 minutes to do this short interview and the rest of the Amity guys. Thank you and great show.