Monday, 06 July 2009 12:25
“We didn’t exactly play it safe on this record,” explained Stone Gods Dan Hawkins concerning their debut album ‘Silver Spoons And Broken Bones’. “There was definitely a possibility that we would confuse the fuck out of everyone and it could’ve really backfired but we wanted to put out the best songs that we had written and that was the main agenda really.”
It’s certainly a chord that has struck with their fans over the last twelve months, from supporting Velvet Revolver to a stunning slot opening for Airbourne towards the end of the life of London’s legendary Astoria Venue, to heading back out on the road on their own headline tour alongside Hate Gallery and the Black Spiders. At every stop this band win people over, and surprise more than a few who perhaps expect the band to sound akin to The Darkness, for it was out of the ashes of that band that the Stone Gods were forged.
Tazz Stander spoke with Hawkins on the final night of their UK tour in London, looking back on the past, and into the future with one of the UK’s brightest ascending stars.
Lets start off with your tour. It’s the last night of your tour tonight, how has it been?
Dan: It is yeah, yeah. It’s been awesome, it really has. The last headline tour we did, the venues were generally about half full, maybe a bit more than that in places and a bit less in others but on this tour there has only been 2 venues that haven’t sold out and those have been pretty close like 20 people short of selling out. It’s been great and this is probably the last headline tour we will do on this album so we are just enjoying it really. The last bunch of touring we did the album hadn’t yet come out so we had our fans come along and they still didn’t know the album so this time around, everyone has got the album and they’re all singing along and just enjoying it really. It’s nice to hear people singing the songs back.
Can you tell me what the plans are for a new album yet?
Dan: As soon as this tour finishes we will be cracking into it. Last week was the first time we showed each other our ideas as we all write separately and then bring all our ideas in together and then work on them from there. I’m really happy with the stuff that I have been writing and I’ve made a conscious decision not to leave it because I have made that mistake in the past where I have waited until it was time for the new record and then you have to rush into it. Every spare second I have had for the last year I have been writing.
So you have quite a bit of a back catalogue then?
We have got a lot more ready to go before we have even got together than we had for the album we are on at the moment.
Awesome. Musically, is it going to be much of the same sounds or very different?
Dan: I think so yeah. I mean, it will still have the identifiable traits you know. We are not going to go on a musical journey and change to a prog rock band – when we made the last record we got it together in the studio and it was at the end of it when we were looking back that we were, ‘ah right, so that’s what we sound like’. Since then we have changed a lot. The dynamics in the band have changed – we have got a new drummer, Robin and we have toured loads. You get a much better idea of what people are best at. In the end, basically, when the next record comes out, people will immediately be able to say, ‘oh right, that’s Stone Gods’. It will have more of a defined sound probably.
If the Darkness was a roller coaster ride how would you describe your Stone Gods success so far?
Dan: More of like a Ferris wheel I suppose, a very gradual ascent to the heady heights we hopefully will achieve. I suppose it has only just started so …
It’s gathering momentum.
Dan: Exactly but it’s moving – that is the main thing.
How challenging has it been for Richie to move from bass to vocals?
Dan: He has found it pretty effortless really. He surprised me and if he surprised me then it would surprise a lot of other people involved. I knew that he could do it but I didn’t realise how quickly he would get it. I remember looking at some of our live footage from one of our earliest gigs and it was the first time that I was watching him as a front man and he has got that thing were he immediately puts the audience at ease. He is not like a rabbit in the headlights or not trying too hard. He has just got this thing about him which just instantly shows that he is in command of what he is doing. You cant buy that – to be honest, I don’t even think you can build up to that. If you’re a musician, someone like me, I spent years until I was comfortable being on stage and I think Richie from the get go was born to do it.
Fundamentally, I know you have had a few changes in the line up but would you agree that Stone Gods is the Darkness without Justin?
Dan: It’s not, no. Not at all.
Was there no way that Justin would’ve joined band when he came back into the public eye?
Dan: No, no way at all. The band is a collection of the influences of the people that are in the band and we would never sound anywhere near as heavy if Richie was in the band. A lot of the big riffing comes from him and we probably wouldn’t sound as punky as we do if Toby wasn’t in the band and also, you can never build and write songs to build around Richie’s voice. Its not like we are playing a bunch of backing tracks. It was always going to be a new venture.
Have your influences changed from when you were in The Darkness?
Dan: I think my influences are still the same. I don’t think you can underestimate the influences of the people in the band regardless of it I am a main song writer in the band – to be honest, on this album it’s pretty level pegging really and everyone contributed. I have had to change the way I play because I am not a rhythm guitarist anymore whereas in The Darkness I was very much a rhythm guitarist. Occasionally I would step out to play a bit of lead, it was always something that demanded a little bit of a more melodic sound and I would then do the lead solo at that point but I’m not really playing rhythm in Stone Gods, its a new thing for me to play actual lead guitar – I’m still getting used to it to be honest.
You enjoying it though?
Dan: I am, its a completely different challenge. It’s taken a while to be perfectly honest to feel comfortable initially because I’ve always been more inclined to stand in the back and just hammer out the riffs.
Progress!
Dan: Absolutely yeah, so where my rhythm guitar sound was a key part of The Darkness now Richie’s heavy rhythm guitar sound and that heavy kind of chugging and the more metal sound is the key part to Stone Gods so you can see how the musical shifts have happened.
What do you think of Hot Leg?
Dan: I think they’re ok. I went to see them in Brighton and I really enjoyed it. We are on good terms now and he will hopefully be down here tonight. There aren’t enough decent rock bands out there for me anyway so regardless of what kind of guise they’re in as long as they’re doing something that is good I tend to like it.
Musically, who would you compare Stone Gods to?
Dan: That’s a tough one. I couldn’t say one band I think. I would say Metallica, AC/DC possibly in places but not really, I don’t know, there is a 3rd band missing there, like a tune missing, that I would add to that list. The amount of melody that we have in verses, the hard rock is quite unique I think.
I would’ve have said Thin Lizzy, The Cult and Metallica. I think it was Metal Hammer that said Thin Lizzy, The Cult and Wolfmother but I don’t get the Wolfmother bit?
Dan: I don’t get the Wolfmother bit either but then again I don’t get Wolfmother (laughing). A song like ‘Defend or Die’ is quite hard to pinpoint really. There are really heavy elements to what we do and then there are also tracks like ‘Lazy Bones’ which is like American High School fucking stuff so its quite hard to pin it down really.
Mentioning ‘Defend or Die’, you have a riff in there that sounds just like ‘Am I Evil’ from Diamond Head …
Dan: Which riff is that?
(Drummer Robin is squatting in the corner digging in his bag and he turns around and sings out the riff for me …. saved by the drummer!!)
Dan: I’m not familiar with Diamond Head.
(Robin then climbs over me saying that he just needs to get something out of his ‘man bag’ next to me)
Talking a bit about the album though, I just enjoy it for its diversity, even the breakdown in ‘Don’t drink the water’ is ingenious.
Dan: Exactly yeah. We didn’t exactly play it safe on this record – it has covered a lot of ground. There was definitely a possibility that we would confuse the fuck out of everyone and it could’ve really backfired but we wanted to put out the best songs that we had written and that was the main agenda really.
I’m really looking forward to the next album. On this tour you have had support from Hate Gallery and Black Spiders. What have you thought of both of them?
Dan: They have been brilliant, they really have. I’m not just saying it but we are really big fans of both bands, we are now. We were given options by our Agent as to who would be suitable in support and we picked them so we obviously liked them enough to have them on tour with us and they are just brilliant. I really like Hate Gallery’s last single New God.
New God is their next single to be released – The idiots was their first single that was released off this album.
Dan: You do know them well then! (laughs) but yeah, I really like the song New God, I fucking love it, its awesome. Black Spiders are just a phenomenal band, filthy fuckers. There aren’t many bands like either of them in this country at all.
What would your ultimate tour line up be?
Dan: Some of my favourite bands have been some of my favourite people and there is a really good camaraderie with these 3 bands on tour together so at this level I would definitely not have changed this line up for anything really but at the higher end I couldn’t really say for sure right now.
You playing Download this year?
Dan: Yeah. Are you working it? There is fucking chaos in that press pit.
ZZ Top, I just want to sit on their laps and stroke their beards (laughing)
Dan: (laughing) I’m sure they wont mind that.
Any other festivals booked?
Dan: It’s still early days. It is around this time now that bigger bands are being confirmed for festivals but the smaller band like us are very last minute, its a bit of a dog fight, its a scrap for the bottom bills. I know our Agent will be pushing as hard as he can for Reading and Leeds, Isle of Wight and T in the Park but we just have to see really. It’s tough out there now because so many bands take advantage of the festival season rather than tour as its not cost effective to tour and that is why you have so many good bands on the bills for festivals whereas it used to be bands that you might not have heard of up until about 4pm in the afternoon, whereas now, maybe the first band is one that you have not heard of and the rest are big names.
Any European tours?
Dan: Definitely. We are hoping to do a Scandinavian tour towards the end of the year …
Hate Gallery could take you …
Dan: Hopefully yeah, its looking positive
(at this point Hate Gallery start sound checking and they play New God – Dan then gets a bit vague as he sings along to the song!)
Dan, anything else you want to depart with me on?
Dan: Just come and see us play live as I think we have won a lot of people over with the live shows.
Tags: Interviews