Altsounds - The Lowdown: With Sean and James of The Blackout

Last minute I was asked to interview The Blackout. Technically, I found an exclusive on their loves of heroin and racism, and the fact that they think my editor hates them, but not a lot else. And considering they were joking [I think] about the Class A usage and the racism, I'm not sure this interview was much of a success. They were really funny and quite sweet though but I think they may have come off better on camera!

Altsounds: So can you please describe your music style to me?
Sean: Crap!

Altsounds: Yeah, I've got a friend who says you’re crap.
Sean: Is it a boy?

Altsounds: No.
Sean: It's a girl?!

Altsounds: What, do all the ladies love you?
Sean: No it's just that usually it's the guys who say were crap. Our music is kind of just a mixture of everything we like from really heavy metal to gay pop ballads, I guess. It's a bit of everything really.

James: We just try and write big songs in whatever genre we like. So if we write a song that ends up being really poppy, then that’s cool. If we end up writing a song that’s heavier its still going to have a big chorus in it. We do that with no talent whatsoever and that’s why it sounds crap. According to your friend.

Altsounds: Oh no, you said that. I was just backing up your opinion.
Sean: Is your friend in a band?

Altsounds: No.
Sean: Tell her to come back when she is.

Altsounds: So only people in bands can have an opinion?
Sean: Yes, yes.
James: No! But yes.

Altsounds: So what other genres do you like? Do you like rap?
James: I like a bit of everything.

Sean: We did a festival last weekend called Pukkel Pop and we watched NERD and they are fucking fantastic. I'm a big fan of Dizzee Rascal. I might be wearing a Dizzee Rascal T-shirt on stage tonight actually.

James: It's a great t-shirt, It's just his head with one eye slightly turned in. It's great, absolutely brilliant.

Sean: I like a lot of dance music.
James: I don’t.

Sean: He doesn’t, he only likes guitar based music because he’s a massive racist.
James: That’s the third time today I've been accused of being a racist.

Sean: I’m just putting it out there so people start believing it. You know like, Gavin is on drugs. He’s our lead singer, I mean, he’s not...but.
James: This is enforced baldness not ideological baldness.

Altsounds: Is that [his balding head] why he’s a racist?
Sean: No its just because of his opinions and the things he says and the way he treats other people.
James: I've got a massive hatred for immigrants or something.
Sean: He’s got a swastika tattoo on his head and nobody knows.

Altsounds: Ok, so obviously you guys are Welsh.
James: How did you guess?
Sean: Are we??

Altsounds: Actually I read it.
James: Oh...
Sean: So its not the accents or the fact we're thick as shit?

Altsounds: No, I read it beforehand and your accent obviously just confirmed it. So where about in Wales are you from?
Sean: A coal mining village called Mwyndy.
Sean: It's more of a town than a village in fairness.

James: It's rubbish.
Sean: Terrible.

Altsounds: So where would I go to rock out there?
Sean: You wouldn’t.

James: You actually can't any more, there's nowhere. There have been a couple of good rock clubs over time, but all have closed down for whatever reason. You’re better of driving if you get stuck in Mwyndy. It's only 20 miles to Cardiff - where there is not only a train station that will take you back to places that you like but there are far more places to go in Cardiff to enjoy things too. My mother lives in Mwyndy so I love it because of that.

Sean: Same here. Well, put it this way, one of The Blackout is racist but we all love our mothers.

James: I'm not a racist!

Altsounds: OK.
Sean: So if you could write that, it would be fantastic.
James: And I'm not racist.

Altsounds: Ok.
Sean: He bloody is.

Altsounds: So have you heard of Altsounds before?
Both: Yes

Sean: It's got Chris on it? Chris Maguire? Chris hates us!

Altsounds: Why?
Sean: I dunno, I don’t know what we've done to him. He’s from Wales right? He hates us.

James: Yeah. He hates us.

Sean: I read the review for our single that came out two years ago called Hard Slamming.

Altsounds: It might have been a bad single? [Editor: It was.]
James: No no no.

Sean: This is it, the whole review he wrote of it was personal attacks. Except at the end it said, the song is quite good. That’s not a review!

[Editor: There are no personal attacks in this review and I still stand true to my opinions on that particular single. Read for yourself HERE.]

Altsounds: I can't comment because I haven’t read it.
Sean: Is he the editor of this?

Altsounds: He is yeah, I haven’t met him but as far as I’ve heard he's very nice.
Sean: But he doesn’t like us.
James: Doesn’t like us.

Sean: I don’t know what it is, I know his brother is in a band called The Story So Far and I don’t know if its something to do with us doing well. Basically, everyone at Altsounds is very bitter and I hate them all. Especially you!

Altsounds: Ok, So what I was going to say was, you've heard of Altsounds, it's run by the people for the people...independent journalism.
James: Sometimes I wish the man would just take over.

Sean: Sounds like communism to me and we all know what happened there...

Altsounds: Do you have a message to our readers who may have read some bad reviews of your music?
Sean: Just check us out for yourself. Whether its live or our new records and then make up your mind.

James: We’ve never said we were an important band, or that were changing music or the world but we do write the songs and have a laugh and a good time so if that sounds like something you’d like...

Sean: Yeah, so if you enjoy fun and rocking music, which you probably do if you have a life you will like The Blackout.

James: You know, jumping about and knocking yourself on the head. We never had any grand designs to make some massive mark on the world or anything.

Sean: But we have!
James: Yeah.

Altsounds: So at what point did you decide, this is it, this is what I want to do?
Sean: Are you cold?

Altsounds: I am cold, I'm just gonna put my jacket on.
Sean: I was gonna give you my jacket, but no. Well in school I was the class clown who everyone didn’t like.

James: Its true because my mother taught him.

Sean: She did teach me, badly, I did fail my English GCSE and she was my teacher. She told me I'd amount to nothing and now I’m taking her son around the world on my lyrics! Bit strange that eh??

James: Yeah cos its all about Sean. It's Sean plus The Blackout.

Sean: We were going to call the band Sean Smith but because he’s massively racist we had to call it The Blackout. What was the question?

James: I dunno, something like, Sean’s a knob, one of them...
Sean: Oh yeah.

James: I guess we've always wanted to do it, we never expected that we would be able to do it.

Sean: Every day we wake up and are like, why are we allowed to do this? Why do people come and see us, it doesn’t make any sense. To us we are just like every other shitty pub act you’ve ever seen. That’s exactly what we are but somehow we’ve been able to con people into buying our record and coming to see us in stupidly big venues, so...sorry Chris!

[Editor: Don't be sorry, good on you guys.]

Altsounds: OK, so which do you prefer, Reading or Leeds?
Sean: Reading, sorry. It's just that he hates Northern people.
James: It's true, I'm racist, remember?

Altsounds: Do you hate Southern people cos I’m Southern.
Sean: Do you hate the Welsh?

Altsounds: I don’t really have an opinion on the Welsh.
Sean: I do, I hate them!

Altsounds: I went on a holiday there once while all my friends went to Italy or other exotic places.
Sean: You’re a fool love! Where did you go?

Altsounds: Up that mountain...
Sean: Snowdon? 'Up that mountain' Ha ha! So where are you from?

Altsounds: Brighton, well I’m half Canadian.
Sean: Half of you was born in Canada? That’s a long labour?! That’s like the biggest splits in the world from Brighton to Canada, that’s massive.

Altsounds: Do you guys drink then?
Sean: Three of us do, three of us don’t.

Altsounds: Wow, six of you...
Sean: We're like Slipknot but not as cool.

Altsounds: So what’s you recommended hangover cure?
Sean: Don’t drink.
James: Bacon sandwich. It's got salt in it that replaces all the salt that you’ve lost which is a diarrhetic.

Sean: Heroin!

Altsounds: Heroin?
Sean: I do heroin, but I don’t drink.

Altsounds: Oh right.
James: ...In fried bacon there’s a lot of salt, and when you eat it the fat absorbs any alcohol left in your system and the salt replaces the salt that you’ve lost. So it's scientifically proven.

Sean: There you go then. I just like heroin.

James: He loves heroin, cant get enough of the stuff he cant. You had heroin today?

Sean: You KNOW I have! Loads of it!

James: Always on heroin he is, don’t look at his arm!
Sean: It looks like a polka dot dress.

Altsounds: So what’s your best festival tip?
Sean: Take heroin!
James: Keep Sean away from the heroin

Sean: We were talking earlier about food. That makes a big impact, cos you don’t want to go to the toilet more than you have to cos they’re terrible. But you have to keep the food as sensible as well. Don’t go for anything that will loosen you, if you know what I mean.

James: Like anal sex.

Sean: Well that as well. You take that on a case by case basis don’t you.

James: Ha ha ha!

Sean: Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
James: Or bum.

Both; Ha ha ha!

James: Don’t look a gift horse in the bum! That’s what my mother always used to say to me. Anyway, eat well, don’t drink so much that you collapse in a bush. Don’t take too many drugs, leave your stuff somewhere safe.

Sean: Don’t take stupid stuff to festivals like i-pods and laptops, [I point at my camcorder etc] Not you, cos your working.

Altsounds: I am camping in the 'peasants area'.
Sean: Well you’re a fool yourself then.

Altsounds: You wont even see this in print because it will be gone before I can even play it back. So if I was a princess trapped in a tower surrounded by dragons...

Sean: Welsh dragons?

Altsounds: Oh yeah! I've got a Welsh dragon cuddly toy actually.
James: [Laughing] In fairness one cuddly toy couldn’t surround a castle on its own could it?

Altsounds: No, not a cuddly toy a welsh dragon, and there’s thorns all round the tower, how would you rescue me?
Sean: Helicopter and a rope ladder innit.
James: You could use...
Sean: I want some heroin.
James: Don’t worry I'll get you some now boyo.

Sean: Is there any heroin in your tower because I probably wouldn’t go if there wasn’t, I'd just get some heroin.

Altsounds: Yes, I have all the heroin left in Wales.
Sean: I'd find a way! I'd take the thorns on! I'd fight the dragon, I just love heroin!

Altsounds: Ha ha ha!
Sean: I'd head-butt the tower down, GIVE ME THE HEROIN! LET ME IN, I NEED THE HEROIN!

Altsounds: I don’t know how I'm going to write this to be honest, if it were video it would be OK because they can see you’re joking.
Sean: Joking?

Altsounds: Well you don’t look like a junkie, let me check your arms...
Sean: No!

Altsounds: They’re well covered actually aren’t they.
James: They’re always covered up.
Sean: And my trousers. I did all the Warped Tour which was like 45 degrees in trousers so people couldn’t see the track marks.

Altsounds: Ok.
Sean: It might be a lie...
Sean: What will you be editing out, ey?
Sean: Don’t say about the heroin.

Altsounds: That’s all you talked about to be fair!
James: Oh come on!

Altsounds: No you [to Sean] will sound like a heroin addict and you [to James] will sound like a racist but we all know you're actually joking.
James: Well anyway I'd kill the dragon and rescue you like Beowulf or something!

Altsounds: Ok ok, interview over!

The Blackout's album 'The Best in Town' is out now on Epitaph Records.