Young Guns Interview

Interview with Gustav Wood of Young Guns

Words by Brendan Monteiro / photo’s by Marcus Maschwitz

Young Guns are a band that need no introductions whatsoever, having risen from the fathoms of High Wycombe they have achieved more than most bands could ever dream of, and all in the space of a year. Their work ethic is diligent and this shows in their rigorous touring schedule, yet at the same time Young Guns are a band that enjoy every minute of it. These are five guys that totally deserve everything that is happening for them, they have the music to propel them to great heights, they have energy about them to put on amazing performances and most importantly they have the right attitude about it all. With their EP ‘Mirrors’ ranking up numerous amounts of plays on my iPod it’s no wonder that I am eagerly awaiting there debut album but in the mean time we managed to get some time with Gus and found out a little more about the phenomenon that is Young Guns

It’s been a whirlwind start for Young Guns, can you give us a little detail as to how all of you came together to form the band?

It’s a bit convoluted but basically we’ve been playing together in bands in one form or another for six years or so. I originally met John Fraser and Ben through a mutual friend when and ended up playing bass (for some reason) in a really old, really shit band that shall remain nameless, that had formed out of the ashes of the even older (and actually good) band Last Out. The singer, Liam, John and Ben left to form another band, so me and Fraser started what would later become the Young Guns of today. We asked a mutual friend, Tom (who was in the hardcore band Awoken) to play guitar, Simon ( who was in the Not Katies) to play bass, and two other friends Pete and Joe to play on drums and keyboards (retch) respectively. After a year or so of jamming, demoing etc, Joe, Pete and Simon left, and we temporarily had our friend Alex (who was in Last Out, My Dad Joe, and an early incarnation of Gallows)play drums, before getting John (at this point playing bass for us) and Ben back, after their band had broken up. We started playing shows and trying to get our name out, but after a year or two Tom left, so John moved to guitar and we got Simon back in on bass, and that is when we consider the band to have started. We wrote a handful of songs, one of which was Daughter of the Sea which we demoed up and used to get management on board and went straight out on tour. This was in ’08. We refined the songs then went to record them in the later months of the year, and put out our first single In The Night the following February. We released the EP that summer, then Winter Kiss towards the end of the year, and that is where we are today. Things have been really great and moved really fast for us, but we’ve definitely put in years of hard work in one form or another to get where we are now.

You came out of the gates storming with the Mirrors E.P, tell us a bit about that debut recording and what it was like working with Dan Weller and Justin Hill?

That was a great experience. We were still in an embryonic stage as a band and it was a great way to kick things off properly – Dan and Justin were and are fantastically talented guys who really helped us to get the best out of ourselves at the time. They’re also just great dudes and we count ourselves lucky to be able to call them friends now. Since that EP we’ve only recorded at Wellerhill. As for the songs themselves, they were simply the most finished out of the first handful of songs we had written as a band, but luckily they were strong enough to get people to take notice of us.

Would it be correct in saying that the amount of time spent on the road in your first year has assisted the interest in the band? The band must of by now toured the UK extensively.

We all truly believe that at the end of the day, no matter how much press, no matter how much you are spoken about in the media etc, the only real way to get people to listen to, and hopefully become fans of, your band is to get out and tour. We’ve played every dive possible, often to nobody at all except the other bands, just like every other band trying to get somewhere. We were fortunate enough to be picked for some great tours and we’ve just tried to keep things progressing.

Your sets are full of energy and I myself have witnessed this first hand a couple times, how do you psych yourselves up to deliver such intense energy?

Ha, thanks! We all grew up going to small shows, be it punk or hardcore or whatever, and we just try to bring that same kind of energy and passion that we used to see and feel to our shows now. I want there to be a physical connection between us and the audience. small club shows have to be like that, in my eyes. We don’t do anything in particular to psych ourselves up, except maybe listen to some Your Demise or Architects or something similar while we’re warming up before we play.

What other attributes do you feel have helped make Young Guns have such a successful first year?

I would hope that it’s a combination of a degree of song writing ability mixed with determination and a genuine love for what we do. I’ve met a lot of people in bands that just don’t seem to care, and while I know that this isn’t for everyone, I just can’t understand being blase about something that means so much to me and us. I also think that sonically, we don’t fit into any particular sort of vogue sub genre, and i think that in the current musical climate that helps us to stand out. Plus we’ve got Ben Jolliffe who is such a dish.

Your currently un-signed if I am correct, have any deals been thrown your way and if so are you holding out for the right label, one that the band can in a sort of way call home.

-We’ve spoken to people yeah, but in the end we decided the best way for us to retain the control that we want to have over our band and our music was to stay unsigned, and instead get somebody to help us distribute it. We’re control freaks and have been fortunate enough to get a small group of people working with us that really care and we get on with. That is important to us. Things just aren’t how they used to be, and labels aren’t as important as they once were. We’re happy how we are right now.

how important do you think it is to the bands future, in choosing the right label?

Well, as i said, i think that there are a whole host of pitfalls that can await you if and when you sign up to a record label, especially when you’re a new-ish band like we are. What we’re doing so far certainly hasn’t hurt us, and we’re in no rush to align ourselves with anyone really.

You recently released a FREE download only single, why?

It was just our way of saying thank you to everyone that’s gotten involved with us and helped us to get to where we are today. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for people coming to see us play, buying merch, spreading the word etc, so we felt that we to give something back would be a good thing to do, and obviously the only thing we actually are in a position to be able to give to people is music, so we did.

Will Winter Kiss be used in the forthcoming album?

Yes, it will. It’s one of the 12 tracks on the record.

Winter Kiss is still very much Young Guns but there is a bit of extra depth with the piano and strings, is this a field that you want to explore more?

When we wrote the song, we felt that it had a strong character to it, that it was slightly darker and a little more theatrical than the EP in some ways, so the arrangements felt like the right thing to do. I’m proud of the EP but in no way do i think it defines us as a band – I think we have a lot more to offer and a lot more that we want to play around with, so yeah we want to explore that field and a few others too.

Your lyrics are very emotionally charged, in a live setting they make a person want to scream their lungs out and in the comfort of home the delve deep and touch the heart, I myself can best describe them as beautiful, the question is where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and do you have any idols that you look up to when it comes to lyrics?

Well thank you, that’s very rewarding to hear you say that. I see my lyrics as a stab in the dark, I don’t consider myself a natural lyricist or to have even remotely honed my lyric writing ability, I just write as honestly as I can and hope that people will understand what I’m talking about. I draw my inspiration from the only sources I have which are basically the experiences that make me the person I am today. I try to balance the direct with the more creative. I’m not really a fan of my lyrics, I definitely feel like I can improve, and i don’t find it an easy process.

We have seen similar situations of bands leaping up from out of the blue and suddenly headlining say The Brixton Academy or The Apollo, what venue for yourself would be the point where you can look at it all and know that the band has made it?

God, it’s difficult because the notion of having ‘made it’ is a peculiar one because the goal posts always move. When you’re inside the band, your perspective is totally biased. Two years ago just to be doing an interview like this would have meant to me that I had made it, whereas now although I love doing things like this, I know the reality of our situation, which is that we are definitely still a small band just trying to make an impact. I pore over every ticket sale, every merch balance etc. Being in a band is really, for me, just learning how to live day to day with the fear that something you’re excited by and love doing is about to fall apart in front of you. God that sounds gloomy! I am so happy to have things how they are right now, but am well aware that this is a fickle industry and tastes change, sometimes over night, and I find that the better things go the more I worry bizarrely. Perhaps this is natural, I dunno. We have a show booked to headline The Garage in Highbury in July, if that show were to sell out or just even be a busy hectic show, that will easily be the best night of my life, I grew up going to shows there and that would be a real moment for me. I’m crossing everything I can.

Lastly, if you had control of Clink Magazine for a day, what bands would you want to highlight and give exposure to?

I’m currently really enjoying a few bands: Straight Lines, Deaf Havana, Outcry Collective, More Than Life, Save Your Breath, there are tonnes of quality bands around right now in the UK.

Posted on Thursday, 25 March 2010 in Interviews, Mainarticles | 4 Comments »
Tagged as Ben Jolliffe, Fraser Taylor, Gus Wood, Gustav Wood, John Taylor, Mirrors, Simon Mitchell, Winter Kiss, Young Guns