XXXX - From the outside looking
in the career arc of Bad Touch certainly gives the impression of living the
dream. There’s been many plaudits and a whole bunch of sought after national
supports secured by the band.
Obviously none of that falls into
your lap though.
So what is the secret? Is it
simply a combination of hard work, talent and luck?
BT - Things have been going
really well for the band over the last couple of years and its difficult to put
your finger on why - It's probably a combination of the band constantly
striving to improve and write better songs, playing as many live shows as we
can, sound management and a huge slice of luck - hopefully opportunities will
keep coming and we will make the most of them
XXXX - Is there moments when you
are all on the road that the trials and tribulations of the reality of moving
from city to city, setting up, sound checking, crashing out and then doing it
all again slips into the background and you consider yourself rather blessed to
be doing something that you all so obviously love doing?
BT - Touring is without doubt our
favourite way to gig as we can focus on exactly what we are doing and get into
a good routine - and we want to keep on doing it for years to come.
Obviously as a young band we are
going to cities and venues we have never played before and meeting loads of
great people who support live music - how could anyone not love it.
We have also been really
fortunate to have toured with some great bands and really lovely people - The
Quireboys and Bonafide were just the perfect people to help us through our
first 2 tours - and having met both The Electric Boys and Tyketto in the past
we know that they to are great guys to tour with.
XXXX - In the hardest moments.
The nights when everything goes wrongs - as if we are honest every band has
battled through them - what is it that keeps you going?
BT - There have been nights where
everything that possibly could have gone wrong has gone wrong, and we've
thought we've played really badly because we've been battling with equipment
constantly going wrong.
But then when multiple people
come up to you afterwards and say how much they enjoyed it and that you played
really well despite the problems, it makes none of the problems really matter.
Because we all love playing and writing our own music and people enjoying the
music you've written is what it's all about and the good nights far outweigh
the bad.
XXXX - In every band there is
that one person who is the take charge type. The one who has an OCD approach to
covering everything and the rest turn to and ask anything from “where’s the set
list” to “is there a Mexican vegan restaurant near the venue” and they can
actually answer pretty much anything. In Bad Touch who is that?
BT - We are all a bit OCD but in
different area's. Rob is fussy about the songs themselves, Steve and George
about performing and putting on a good show, Seeks about image and artwork,
Baileys just too laid back - but does have in built satnav to find the nearest
Weatherspoons.- probably the only one with his priorities in the correct order
XXXX - Once this forthcoming tour
with The Electric Boys is put to bed what is the next move for the band? How
far ahead are you forward planning?
BT - Once the tour with the Electric Boys concludes
we will be looking forward to another short UK tour with Tyketto and several
one off gig's and festivals around the country including Hard Rock Hell and
Legends of Rock.
In January we are off the Sweden to record our debut album which we hope
to be ready for release in the early Spring - the plan is then to tour the UK
again to promote the release.
We expect to play several
festivals throughout the summer of 2015 - then perhaps tour again in the autumn
but beyond this we dont have any plans - just hopes.
XXXX - In the time frame of the
band being together you have obviously been gaining an insight into the music
business as you have forged ahead.
What sort of advice would you
offer other bands?
Is there one specific thing they
should avoid, one specific thing they must do?
BT - In the time we have been
together the music business has continued to evolve and has become ever tougher
for young bands to establish themselves and with the fall off in sales of
recorded music there are not many companies willing to take a chance on an
unproven band.
Never-the-less there are still
young bands such as Heavens Basement making progress so its up to us to work as
hard as we can and build up a following around the country and gigging as much
as possible is vital.
Advice to other young bands - Go
and see as many bands as possible and learn from the best.
Avoid - behaving like you are
already rock stars
Must - Write good songs and
practice and gig as much as possible
XXXX - As the gig in Glasgow is following the referendum vote for independence
has it dawned on you all that Bad Touch could unofficially be one of the first
English bands to play in Scotland
as a foreign country (I say unofficially as independence doesn't automatically
follow a yes vote). In a sense you could be forging the way for others to
follow.
BT - We just hope that we won't
be cavity searched at the border.
(XXXX. It’s not going to be compulsory,
but if you want to put some names forward we can see what we can do.)
XXXX - And finally do you have
any messages that you want to pass on to your Scottish fans?
BT - We've only played in Scotland a few
times and every time its always been a great and appreciative crowd, so I'd
just say thanks for your support and for making us feel welcome.
