INTERVIEW: Hadouken!
- Posted on July 7, 2008 12:09 PM
- 0 comments
Hadouken! Interview
Daniel "Pilau" Rice
By Katie Spain
One glance at Hadouken’s 2008 festival schedule is enough to give your average non-gym-goer a coronary. With Wakestock, Zoo Thousand and Eight and Glastonbury firmly behind them, they’ve got a schedule ahead that’d make Madonna break out in a sweat. According to Daniel "Pilau" Rice, it’s all good fun and although they don’t get as much time to see other bands as much they’d like, so long as they fill the floor, they’re happy.
We caught up with Dan for a natter about Jay-Z, mosh pits, pirates and their stonking new single ‘Crank It Up’. Make sure you check out the free Hadouken mixtape and see them at a festival this year. Get in there quick though… floor filling it seems, is a Hadouken! speciality.
How was Glastonbury?
It was good, we were only really there for a few hours but it was good fun and we had a good crowd. We had to shoot off afterwards because we had another gig that evening, which was a shame. Wakestock was nice but it would have been noce to see a bit of Glastonbury as well.
I know you were gutted you didn’t see Jay-Z.. Have you watched the footage back?
Yeah I have, we were home by the time he was on so we watched that on the TV. I thought he was awesome; I think he nailed it. I think everyone’s starting to realise as it got closer that he was bound to go on and just absolutely smash it. I think he rose to the occasion.
You’re doing Z008 too.. are you ready to party with the animals?
(laughs) Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully we can see a few bands and a few giraffes and that.
Your festival schedule is hectic… your feet must never touch the ground.
It actually works out a little bit easier than normal touring. I think we’ve got a couple of shows every weekend but we get most of the week off so it’s not actually too strenuous. We enjoy going to the festivals and meeting up with other bands that we know. You know, like going to see other acts when we can.
What’s the best fest out there?
Um… for me I think it will always be Reading; just because that’s where I always went when I was growing up. I’ve been going there for years and I think they can always put in the big headliners like Rage Against The Machine (who I’m really looking forward to). So it’s Reading for me I think.
Do you have any Reading advice?
I think reading has always been really strong on booking the new bands as well. If you look back at the Carling Tent from a few years ago, there’s always a good few names that have just absolutely rocked it up since then. When I was going as a punter I always spent most of my time in the Carling Tent or the Radio 1 Tent. There’s heaps of new talent…
What’s the best thing about Hadouken! life?
Generally just being able to make a living out of something I pretty much enjoy all aspects of; the touring and the studio and the recording. We all enjoy all aspects of it.
What’s your first musical memory?
Um… ah… I don’t know. The first gig I ever went to was Soulfly I think. It was a bit of a mad gig. I’m sure that as I kid I listened to just as much embarrassing stuff like Spice girls or whatever anyone else my age did. But, I never went to see any of them in concert. So yeah, my first gig experience was metal.
Were you a hard nut as a kid or was the mosh pit brutal?
Not really, I was a small kid but that was all I used to go and see in those days; Soulfly, System Of A Down, Deftones and all that sort of thing. I think maybe when you’re small in that situation people look out for you a bit more and you’re safe.
What’s the worst job you had to do before getting into music?
I did AQA – the school examination board. I worked there once and you get the exams sheets and they’ve already been marked but you have to go through and check that the person who marked it has added the numbers right. So you’re spending all day adding five, to seven, to twelve… from eight-thirty to six pm.
‘Crank It Up’ is upon us… it has been described as a punk-rock rave monster. What’s the lyrical story behind it?
I think it’s a quite basic hype-track really. It’s just about getting everyone moving. There’s quite a few contemporary references to itunes and music and things like that but I guess it’s more of a dancefloor track than it is one to think too much over the lyrics too much.
How did it go down for the Glastonbury set?
It’s been going down really well. We started playing it out in Europe before the album came out and we were all really amazed because straight away it was going down really well. That’s why we picked it as a single; it stood out in the live set straight away. It was like ”Well, if it’s working now, let’s try releasing it”. It’s something we all look forward to in the set now.
You mentioned you guys are all reading ‘The Pirate’s Dilemma’. What’s your view on the sharing generation?
I think there’s not really any easy answer. I don’t think we can ever come out and straight out condemn it, Metallica style and say it’s a huge big problem. A band like us wouldn’t exist really if there wasn’t that type of climate one way or the other. We got to where we are quickly because loads of kids were logging onto our MySpace and downloading tracks and sending them all to their mates. So, we can’t really complain. Also, the genres that we listen to, James’ background is in Garage and Grime and that whole thing is an internet based scene of people sharing tracks. We probably wouldn’t exist without it but at the same time, we now have an album out and if we want to record another one, we’ve got to make some money off it somehow; to make back the money we spent on the first one. It’s difficult but I hope it’ll eventually work itself out naturally.
You’re off to Australia soon.. have you spent much time there?
No, we’ve never played there and I don’t think any of us have ever been there. I’m really looking forward to that.
Is there anything you particularly want to get up to while you’re there?
I’m not sure... what would you recommend?
Well, some Vegemite and Coopers beer is a must. But really, just make time to meet the locals and down a few decent outdoor BBQs in the sun.
What bands out there make your heart skip a beat?
There’s an Australian band that Nick was talking about the other day… I don’t know how you say it; ‘Pnau’;. Nick went to see them the other week at YoYo in London and said it was phenomenal. Definitely want to check them out. Over here, bands like Does It Offend You Yeah?, friends of ours that we’re big fans of are The Ghost Frequency, Rolo Tomassi, there’s quite a few new bands that are quite exciting; it’s a good time really.
What else can we expect from you this year?
I think after festivals we’re going to do some small venue shows around the UK. I think some kind of University shows, something like that we’re sorting out now. They might be more kind of club night style things rather than traditional gigs, we always feel a bit more natural in that type of environment. After that, straight down to the second album which we’re already writing at the moment. We just want to get it recorded and get it out there as soon as possible.
What's the most memorable concert you've ever been to – as an audience member?
Chirst, er… I don’t know. I saw one of the very early Arctic Monkeys shows on one of their first tours. It was pretty amazing just to see that kind of huge excitement from everyone. It was mad… I bought my ticket a few days before for about £4 or something. It was just a local venue and by the time it got to the day, they were selling for £40-£50. That kind of excitement was amazing… seeing that kind of band so early on.
I think a lot of memorable gigs are not really any type of big names. I mean, there’s a band that we used see called ‘Shut Your Eyes and You’ll Burst Into Flames’ and one of my best gig memories is seeing them play to a massively undersold all-ages gig with about twenty young kids there. The band just absolutely giving it 110% and totally going for it regardless of how many people are there or whatever. That was really inspiring for us.
Related links:
Win tickets to see Hadouken at Reading Festival
Download the free Haduoken! mixtape.
Hadouken! MySpace.
Hadouken! concert tickets.
Sign up for the Seatwave newsletter for your chance to win free gig tickets.
Sign up to the Seatwave Facebook group - yep, more free tickets!
Hadouken! recommend:
Shut your Eyes and You'll Burst Into Flames
Pnau
Does It Offend You Yeah?
The Ghost Frequency
Rolo Tomassi
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