Kids In Glass Houses have had a busy
summer playing at a variety of festivals up and down the country. Their 2012
touring schedule is soon coming to an end but not before they take to the stage
at Darlington ’s newest venue- The Hub.
Est.1987
caught up with the Cardiff
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| Kids In Glass Houses bassist Shay |
Hey guys! Have you played in Darlington
before? What can we expect from tonight’s show; we heard you’re testing out new
songs?
JOEL [Fisher, guitar]- No, we’ve never ever been here before.
ANDREW [“Shay” Sheehy, bass]- We are playing one new song, yeah. It went down
really well last night in Glasgow, so hopefully it will be the same this evening.
How’s the summer been so far for Kids?
You’ve been playing smaller more independent festivals; have you enjoyed it?
SHAY- Yeah, we’ve done a lot of those this year; it’s been
a bit different playing festivals that we hadn’t even heard of, but they’ve all
been great and we’ve done a lot of writing for the next album. So we’ve been
kind of busy in our own way.
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| Kids In Glass Houses in Darlington |
You played some of the Olympic Torch
gigs- did you get to go to the actual Olympics?
JOEL- We didn’t get to go, no! We got to hold the torch,
that was about it, when it was un-lit as well [laughing]. The gigs were good
though because it was a chance to play to a slightly different audience; it was
full of families really, but it was good.
SHAY- It was great to play for people that would never get
to see us, and all the shows were fun and we had the best weather of the whole
torch relay.
JOEL- And we had like a four song set; pretty speedy,
shortest set we’ve ever done.
SHAY- We’d get there early in the morning because of
security and stuff, sunbathe all day and play for twenty minutes.
You’ve just released a special vinyl
pressing of “Smart Casual”, your debut album. Vinyl is becoming popular again;
what are your thoughts on it, of having that physical copy with all artwork?
JOEL- Sleeping Iain [Mahanty, rhythm guitar] is the biggest
vinyl collector of them all; wherever we go he has to pick up a big haul...
SHAY- Drags us round the shops [laughing]. It’s always
something that we’ve wanted to do and this company came up to us and asked us
if we were keen and we couldn’t really turn it down. We played some shows to
support it and it’s had a really good response and it looks wicked as well;
nice for us to keep.
 |
| Lead guitarist Joel Fisher |
Your most recent album “In Gold Blood” was
the first time you’ve incorporated the styles of the bands that you listen to (into
your own music); Do you feel that it’s the album that’s most true to your
roots, especially with it being recorded in the studio live?
SHAY- I don’t know, it’s kind of a hard one to say. We
definitely set out to achieve what we did with it; whether that was the right
thing to do or not I don’t know, but we went out on the line with that one. It
was a lot of fun to record. We feel really comfortable doing it like that;
setting up a little room and bashing it out live and seeing what happens. It’s
just an album that I think you have to make to move on as a band; I think it’s
always been in us to make that album.
“The Best Is Yet To Come” was a song on
“DIRT”; do you feel that with every record you are getting better and better?
JOEL- Yeah, we always like progressing, I don’t think we
like turning backwards and going back in time.
SHAY- We don’t like to cover old ground. We’d like to think
that we get better with every album, better with age! [laughing].
You’re headlining the Merthyr Rock
festival in Wales Wales
JOEL- Yeah, we’re really looking forward to it; we went
last year. It’s a new festival and last year was really good. Our friends in
The Blackout headlined it last year and we’re doing it this year, so it’s a
really nice way to end the album cycle and get all the friends and family down.
Then as soon as we do that we’ll be really focussing on the next album and
getting in the studio and see what we come up with.
What else is next for Kids? You’ve
changed labels now and as you said are going back into the studio. You worked
with Jason Perry on your two previous records; are you going for a hat trick?
JOEL- We’ll be trying to find a new label towards the end
of this year and just writing for the rest of this year.
SHAY- Yeah, Jason, we don’t know yet. We loved working with him and he does bring out good things in us.
JOEL- We don’t want to repeat ourselves so we’re not too sure yet.
SHAY- We’re just going to see how it goes. We’ve got a bunch of songs written
and really know where we’re going to go with this record.
 |
| Kids In Glass Houses front man Aled Phillips |
Will the vibe change again?
BOTH- Yeah!
SHAY- We never want to repeat ourselves and we have a strong idea of where we
want to go with this record and we’ll just see what happens and who wants to do
it and who’s most keen I guess.
Aled [Phillips, lead singer] and Philip [Jenkins, drums] enter the room
JOEL- How was your swim Phil?
ALED- Shay got in trouble
PHIL- [laughing] Yeah, Shay got in trouble He was trying to
take a picture of us in the pool. It was like children’s hour; kids on floats
and all these massive inflatable’s and Shay was taking photo’s!
ALED- I know you’re not meant to take pictures but we
thought he’d get away with it and I don’t think the siren was for us but it
seemed like it!
PHIL- There was a siren to tell the wristbands that they’ve
had their time in the pool…
SHAY- I thought f**k! Was ready to run.
Thanks guys!
And here's what happened when Kids In Glass Houses took to the stage...
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| Shay on stage in Darlington |
Thunderous
screams erupt from the crowd even before the band takes to the stage and as the
distinctive opening chords of “Give Me What I Want” begin they become
deafening. Lead singer Aled Phillips is already in amongst the crowd and Kids
In Glass Houses aren’t even on the second song; the night is set to be riotous.
The audience screams at the opening chords of every song; they know this band
inside out and they are guided through classic album tracks such as “Artbreaker
I” and “Youngblood [Let It Out]”.
The band then bring things a little more up
to date with “Animals”, from the newest album “In Gold Blood”. Typically
anthemic and catchy, it however has a noticeably different vibe to songs from previous
records; much rawer and grittier but just as captivating. “So
far, so good”, announces Aled four songs in and then challenges the crowd to
give more; “Let’s see if any of you can f*****g sing”, before bursting into
“For Better Or Hearse” using the mic stand as a baton to conduct the audience’s
participation.
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| Kids In Glass Houses lead singer Aled in the crowd at The Hub |
Older favourites, such as “Undercover Lover”, are played alongside
newer offerings including a brand new song which Kids are playing for only the
second time. If the twanging guitars and infectious hooks are anything to judge
the new album by, then fans are in for a real treat. And after the new song
interlude, Aled is raring to kick start the crowd’s energy. “Let’s ruin some
smart clothes”, he shouts and as “Fisticuffs” breaks in so does the pit at the
front. By the end of the song Aled has the entire crowd kneeling on the floor,
ready for the song to kick back in and the crowd to spring back up in unison.
The vigour throughout is unrelenting and Kids In Glass Houses deliver an
endless amount of catchy choruses. “Let’s just get hot and sweaty” encourages
Aled. And by the end of tonight’s set, which concludes with the soaring
“Matters At All”, it is fair to say that the audience has obliged Aled’s wish. Kids
in Glass Houses delivery a magnetic performance pulling in the entire audience
here in The Hub tonight.
With their 2012 touring cycle coming to an end it cannot be denied that the
To see even more photo's of Kids In Glass Houses at The Hub click below...
Photo credit: Danny Peart Graphics
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