Long John Silver, Captain Hook and Jack Sparrow, all great pirates, but terrible musicians. On the other hand Pete & the Pirates are a great band, but don’t look like the sort of bunch usually found terrorising the High Seas. They don’t even have a parrot.
They are however quite popular with the ladies…
One Thousand Pictures seems more eclectic than Little Death, are you continually evolving as a band?
A stranger in a pub recently told me that from listening to One Thousand Pictures it’s obvious we’d listened to lots of hip hop after we released Little Death. This album definitely marks an evolution in our sound, but we’ve always tried to concentrate on the particular character of each song rather than trying to achieve some sort of overall ‘sound’.
Are your songs based on real life experiences?
Of course, in some way. But mostly they are not literal descriptions or reactions to specific events. It’s important for us not to try and ram meaning down people’s throats. We’d rather have people find their own interpretations for songs. For me this makes the listening experience more personal. Sometimes lyrics just appear without even the author knowing exactly where they came from.
Is it hard to write unpretentious lyrics?
One mans pretentious is another mans profound. Is that pretentious or profound? We just write them only way how we know how.
Do you enjoy touring?
Usually we have a bloody brilliant time meeting the fans and playing our music to new people. It can be hard work sometimes but it’s always worth it if we know our fans are enjoying the shows.
Organising everything can sometimes get messy so we stress over it a bit, but only because we want it to be as good as possible. We’ve met some really friendly and hospitable folk over the years and wouldn’t have missed that for the world.
What is on your rider?
The usual I guess, stuffed lobsters and a goat’s head.
Any plans to tour the US again in the near future?
We’d love to get back over there soon, I think it should happen early next year, but what do I know? (Laughs) Certainly in the long term it’s the plan. For now we’re focusing on Britain and Europe. We’ve loved America every time we’ve been there and try to go whenever we’re invited.
I heard you are all working on solo projects, will this be a bit like the Solo Records Kiss did in the 70’s?
Almost exactly like that.
What song do you think sums up the band best? (yours or someone else)
Crazy Nights by Kiss
You get involved in all aspects of the industry from T-shirts to directing videos.. do you enjoy doing these other sides of the business?
We’ve always loved making videos for songs. It’s one of those things that you do when you’re a kid for fun and now we get to do it instead of a job. We’re lucky to have Jonny (Drummer) as our in-house artist; he has a unique style which complements our music well. I think we’d all prefer this than someone coming up with generic, run of the mill artwork.
Have you seen any money yet?
My Dad found a fifty pound note once, it was MASSIVE.
What has been your best gig / experience with the band so far?
Probably still has to be Reading Festival 2007. We played on a The Carling Stage to a full tent, then went round playing gigs in the campsite with a megaphone and a mini drumkit. It was sort of a realisation of a dream as most of us used to go to Reading when we were little and fantasize that one day it would be us on the stage, and then one day it happened.
What is the next record going to sound like?
It’s too early to say right now – we have some ideas but can’t really talk about them yet.
Is Ricky Gervais funny now he hasn’t got a beard?
His performances to the Hollywood elite at the Golden Globes have been hilarious. He recently had an interview with Piers Morgan where he got told off for being a naughty boy. Ironic? Also, Gervais is from Reading, just like us, so anything is possible, right?
Catch the band on tour in September, click here for tour dates, their latest record One Thousand Pictures is out NOW.