Who the hell are Watch Commmander?
JS: Watch Commander are four shitface fuckers who decided to be in a punk-rock band. They like playing shows, eating biscuits and playing Fifa.
SR: I think what J is trying to say is that we're four guys from Worcester who swear a lot. More specifically, J plays guitar, Cloud plays drums, Powelly (Simon Powell) plays bass and I (Si R) play guitar and do the singing stuff mostly.
SP: Plus there is only one shitface fucker in this band....
SR: Stallwood?
Why Watch Commander and not Watch; Commander?
JS: When me and Si were in Red; the Resistance, we were still fairly immature in our approach to being in a band. We were almost happy to have a pre-show rehearsal in a living room, unplugged, no drum kit. We had a lot of fun as four friends playing some songs that we liked (SR: kind of liked), but we've learnt from the negative experiences and hopefully they'll remain in the past along with the semi-colon.
SP: It's also not grammatically correct and we are all about grammar here.
SR: Yeah we were in that band. We were at uni and whatever else at the time, plus I went over to the US for a year, that didn't really help either. It had its time. I went away again for a year and a half and was so fucking ready to start something up when I got back. So we did, and it's been pretty good so far. As far as the actual name is concerned, it just stuck during a period of trying to come up with a band name. I could probably say more about it but... I dunno, coming up with a band name is kind of bullshit, and it pissed me off having to do it - trying to find some meaning in a collection of words or a single word. I guess the good thing about it is that after a while people see past the words and automatically associate the name with the music/people. I'd like to be able to achieve that. What was I saying again? Yeah man, that's our band name.
You've been pretty busy to say the least, what have people got to catch up on?
JS: We formed in January this year and spent the first three months rehearsing, making sure our first few songs were really drilled into us. Since then we've recorded twice with Bob Cooper, played five shows with some good bands, and already had a change of lineup (Simon Powell replaced Lee Jackson due to his commitments in Worcester's Fights & Fires). It's been hectic at times but worth it.
SR: We recorded our first demo in March, which we put online for free download. Since then we've been looking to play shows. We just finished a fairly busy week of playing in Worcester, Leicester and Le
Your 2nd show was at manchFESTer, you guys were great. How has audience response been so far?
JS: Really positive. With our previous band we had the occasional nice comment, usually from other bands we played with, but now it seems like every show a few people are taking notice and giving us some great feedback. And hopefully that'll mean we can get famous and make loads of money.
SR: That's very kind of you to say Kieran, what a nice man you are. We really enjoyed that show, and are glad we were given the chance to play it - loads of great bands and good people. But yeah, it's been encouraging so far, people have been supportive. As close as we are to our hometown of Worcester, there isn't much support there musically, so it's kind of difficult to know how much of what we're doing is hitting the mark. Makes my day if someone ever says anything positive about the band though, genuinely.
SP: The response has been brillant. People do seem surprised that we are such a young band which makes the positive comments even nicer. Seriously though, we are looking forward to all the money and press attention - I have heard J is dating one of the Saturdays, will that help?
SR: Depends which one I think
JS: I don’t know her name to be honest. I just refer to her as “the one who does all the coke”.
Who are some of the bands that have caught your eye so far?
JS: We've been really lucky in that although we've only played five shows, we've had the privilege of playing with some really cool bands. The likes of Stay Home, Without Fire, Standfast, Leagues Apart, Radicus have all been great to play with, as well as being downright cool people.
SR: There are some awesome UK bands doing their thing at the moment. If I was to put together a show of bands I thought were fucking rad, I think it'd be a pretty lengthy all-dayer. Apologies I Have None, Bangers, Above Them, Great Cynics, The Living Daylights, Dividers, Caves... all very good bands. Kieran, you put on shows - get us on a lineup with ALL those bands. Yeah?
What is the "mission statement" so to speak, of WC?
JS: It's difficult to answer exactly what Watch Commander is about. Is it too much of a cliche to say we're just passionate about music? (SR: Yes. Loser). I guess it's hard to pinpoint what we're about when we can't go five minutes without calling each other shitface fuckers (see question one).
SR: No mission statement in particular. I want us to be playing songs that are honest and that I give a shit about when I'm singing them, I think that's all it pretty much is. It's always a fairly... organic process when I put songs together. I want it to be a natural result of that creative process, rather than some contrived attempt at constructing a particular sound. However it ends up is how it ends up. So I guess that's it - the song stuff.
SP: Don't forget our longing to be in the News of the World, guys.
What's next in the works then?
JS: Well we've literally just finished recording the third and fourth tracks that we'll be releasing on a second EP, which will be free to download once the mixing is complete. We've also got a handful of shows in July and August, including a return to Manchester on August 31st to play with The Menzingers! It's a show we're incredibly looking forward to, and hopefully a fair few people will turn out and have a great night with us. Other than that, we'll be figuring out how we can get on the Fest 10 lineup without bribing anyone with sex.
SR: I'm not ruling anything out. But yeah, in the immediate future we've got another set of four songs we'll be making available online. Two of them have been on the internet for a little while, but we'll be doing a digital EP package with a bit of artwork and some lyrics and other shit that I haven't thought of yet. But that's happening really fucking soon - our second EP. In fact if you're reading Moving North right now it might already be done, so go check that out. I definitely feel like there's been a progression with these new songs - even though it's only been just a few months since our first demo. And I'm proud of how it's all come together. So it'd be great if people could give it a listen and/or download it. After that it's just going to be shows, as many as we can. Like J said, we're playing with The Menzingers in the summer, and later in the year we're on one of the Red City Radio dates too. Should be good. Further down the line there'll be a physical release sometime, maybe at the end of the year. I'd love to put something out on vinyl, maybe do a split EP, but we've got plenty of time to think about that stuff.
Tell us something that not many people know about Watch Commander?
JS: Three of its members are secretly in love with the other member.
SR: I'm not even going to speculate on J's comment. Something that not many people know about Watch Commander... we'd be the best 4-a-side band-only football team out there. Fact.
JS: True story.
SP: In fact if anyone would like to challenge us we welcome the opportunity to prove it. Oh and Si, don't deny your feelings, Cloud is a beautiful man.
SR: Italian. 'Nuff said
--
So, if anyone wants to challenge WC to a 4-aside football match I'd be interested in watching. I personally reckon Above Them even as a 3-piece could give them a run for their money. Punk Football Fest needs to happen by the way.
Check back for the stream of their new record on here before anywhere else on Monday! That's right we're getting some badass exclusives here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment