Interview Gustav Wood, Young Guns, 14. August 2015, House of Blues, Boston, USA

NS: How long have you been on the road this year?

GW: This year? This year hasn’t been too bad. Obviously the record came out fairly recently, but we still, having said that, went on the Kerrang tour in January and then we have basically been on tour since then. So actually, we have been on tour all year.  But it’s been pretty stress free and we are also delighted to have an album which took us a long time.

NS: Was your intention to make the new album heavier and straight forward?

GW: I think the new album is a bit heavier. I do think that there are a lot of bands, in particular in the UK, doing well and that’s fantastic. But you do have to be careful with rock music cos it is very easy for it to be homogenised, especially in the „scene“ which I suppose we are part of.  So we definitely wanted to articulate ourselves and our sound as a band a little more and step away from the pack a little bit. But fundamentally our only concern was writing songs, which we thought were cool. You know it’s not any more cerebral than that. And our definition ofwhat was cool maybe changed over the last couple of years. We wanted to approach decisions in a way that was new for us. You know, we may want a heavy song,  but it was like ‘how can we make it heavy but also sound even more new and interesting than what we did before?’ The album is less dense, less layers, not like a 100 guitar tracks and stuff and we wanted to make things feel a bit more real and sound like a bunch of guys playing. I think it is heavier in some ways and some riffs on there that are heavier, but it is just a more interesting album.  And that’s all we wanted to do.

NS: Has it helped being signed to a major label? Have you had more resources through that?

GW: We were able to make a mistake and that is something you don’t have the benefit of being able to make when you are on an indepentent label, but we are still ‘hand to mouth’. It does give you a little more freedom. For example we were able to test out recording an album with someone and we got a few songs in (with Dan the Automator) to say ‘this isn’t really working’ and then we didn’t have to make the (fucking) album anyway. We were able to step back and take stock, we had a little more freedom. We are still a band. It was nice, it’s been a good experience. There’s a lot of horror stories about being on major labels, but we found it relatively similar (than being on an independent label), but perhaps a little easier.

We are still an independent band and we were signed because they liked what we wanted to do,  so the English label Virgin facilitated that and let us get on with it. There hasn’t been a shadowy puppet man behind the scenes.

NS: It has been three years since you have been at the House of Blues- you’re very close to your fans; with the new album and the tour experience you’ve had, do you think your audience has changed?

GS: We have the audience and cool people that have been with us from the start, but one thing I have noticed, which has been really encouraging, is that the make up of our audiences is diversifying, which is cool. The audience is getting older, of course the people who first came to see us are getting older, too, I recognise a lot of people in the audience. But also new people, who I’ve never seen before. And we want to appeal to teenagers and adults and anyone in between and before and after that. I don’t want to be a band for one type of person. Rock music can be a little narrow in that way, so we have actively taken steps to not being in a place like that and I think that’s working.

NS: Festivals/Recent “Carolina Rebellion” with Slipknot. What kind of audience did you have there?

GW: It was a big festival, like Download. Not that unusual for us, because we have been doing Download from when we started as a band, but actually all these American festivals we are lucky enough to do are brilliant! They are literally amazing. I have so much fun. A. There are a bunch of great bands, like Slipknot. I used to absolutely love that band and still enjoy them. I think as a band, I say this before we play tonight, we are quite good live and I think we have an energy and people connect to that and just really fundamentally we just want to make sure people are having a good time and that transcends boundaries. We are not a metal band, but we are not a ‘5 Seconds to Summer’. There is something for everyone. There’s melody and a bit of melody, a bit ofheaviness, a little aggression. You know we get played on the radio a lot in the USA, so Carolina Rebellion, in particular was one of the better ones.

NS: What was your favourite festival been that you have EVER played at?

GW: Growing up in London, I grew up with Reading and Leeds, so for sentimental reasons it would have to be that. I remember saving up money to buy a ticket, when they were like 80 quid and it still amazing that I am now on the other side of the barrier.

NS: It is humbling then…

GW: Being in a band is generally quite humbling. And I don’t understand peoples’ egos sometimes, dealing with a proposterous life style against all odds, so it is humbling and also really great!

NS: Big UK tour coming up in October and UK Warped Show?

GW: I am really happy that we are busy and I love the fact that I have purpose and something to do instead of sitting on my arse and playing Playstation. Which I am also really good at! My favourite game is FIFA! My brother lives in Seattle and so we keep in touch that way, too. But yeah, I am looking forward to Warped UK and the tour in Octoberand to playing some new songs we havent played yet!”

NS Nicole Smith

GW Gustav Wood