The Plight
The Leeds Punk Rockers signed to Visible Noise take time out to talk to Rocklouder about music, life, and teabagging...
Rocklouder: As crazy as it might sound, some people still don't know you. Who are you and what are you about?
Lewis (guitar): We are a punk rock band. Black Flag meets Thin Lizzy according to anything you read about us. We got equal parts classic rock and old American punk and hardcore influences. We formed in December 2004 with the intention of playing to filthy rock 'n roll. '05 was demo year, '06 was self titled E.P on Thirty Days Of Night Records and then Oct '07, Visible Noise records released our 6 track E.P 'Black Summer'. In between that we've been touring a lot and enjoying the rock 'n dole lifestyle' Double Dutch, Cider and B & H. Sweets for John (our drummer).
John: Haha, yeah... mainly Jelly Tots and Tooty Fruities. But yeah, you might not know us as The Plight, but maybe as the band that just followed the Alexisonfire tour round the country playing the same town as them, every night for nearly two weeks. .... but a different venue down the road, about 2 minutes walk away. It was great.
RL: What's the most distinctive thing about your music?
Lewis: Probably Al's vocals. It's the first thing you notice anyways.
John: I'd say the Shakira and Britney Spears influences.
RL: How did you all meet/decide to form a band?
Lewis: John and I met through our old bands. Decided there wasn't enough rock 'n roll influenced punk bands. Found Al through hearing his old bands demo, who sucked, but thought his voice was awesome. Our old bassist Liam and I used to be in a thrash band called Broken Access, he left The Plight earlier this year, just after Richard joined on 2nd guitar, then Sean took over on bass. This all happened at the start of '07 but we managed to get our shit together, to record 'Black Summer' then do a couple of DIY tours on the UK in the summer, then a headline tour in October/November.
John: Yeah, that's it really. Lewis added me on MSN because my old band has a website that was better than his... we arranged to meet up for a cup of tea in town but he never showed up. Al was living in an attic room at my friend's house so I got to know him better from being round there all the time and then I told him about the band. He used to be obsessed with really shitty Playstation games like Ratchett and Clank.
RL: We're in an age where a lot of bands make it big through the internet. How important has the myspace community been to your success?
John: For us I think it has helped... not massively though. I guess it's been a lot easier to have people hear us and keep updated on whatever we have going on so that's cool. But I dunno... at the same time, I've had a million messages from a million shitty indie rock bands trying to get some kind of fan base by just spamming the fuck out of that website while sitting on their dad's laptop. 'Hello JOHN, I saw you are a fan of...blah blah'. Some people get a little bit misguided I think, purely because they see bands becoming huge on the site, and think that musical stardom is as simple as a few private messages and friend requests away, but don't see the bigger picture... playing outside of their home town, touring, losing loads of money, losing your job, real life... reality.
Lewis: I think bands shoot themselves in the foot if they don't have one. Saying that, some bands seem to generate interest purely because of the members, aesthetics, merchandise all set in place, without any songs uploaded. That's just weird, but I guess it's a natural progression. The internet is so easily accessible I guess it's bound to lead to over-saturation of everything. Style over content.
RL: Your motif contains upside down crosses. Are you Satanists? If not, what do they stand for?
Lewis: Because they can't sit down. I don't know, they just look gnarly. Plus I guess organized religion isn't the coolest of ideas. Upside down crosses don't denote Satanism do they? Pope John Paul rocks them on his chair, because he was best mates with St. Peter (who was crucified upside down). We're not referring to that either though, thank fuck. You can get what you want out of the logo, it's not a big deal. Anti-faith in humanity would be a good one though.
RL: As well as your contemporaries like the Gallows and SSS, you've been compared with much older bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat. How do you feel about those comparisons? Is that what you wanted to sound like?
Lewis: Black Flag yes. Minor Threat no. Not in terms of sound but maybe in an overall work ethic of the band. We're not as fast as Minor Threat, although Richard and I discussed ideas of covering 'Cashing In' to piss people off. Black Flag are much more of an influence, especially circa 'Family Man', which is Sean's favorite record of all time. Not really, it's pretty sketchy isn't it? I like it though. I like the fact they just kept on and did their own thing without much regard for its marketability. Who does that these days? Rollins Band are fucking cool as well.
John: I think it's cool but I'm not bothered really. We sound how we sound.
RL: I gather none of are you older than 22 or 23. How did you get in to bands like Thin Lizzy and Deep Purple?
Lewis: This is because if my music taste was limited to music written and released during my life (1986 onwards) I'd be fucked. I got into them by appreciating rock and roll, I don't really know how...
John: My dad goes through stages of obsessing over certain bands and when I was younger Deep Purple was one of them. That's how I got drawn into it I guess. Apart from that, Metallica kind of opened me up to a lot of older music, through the 'Garage Inc.' record. I remember going to my friend's house, most nights after school, and listening to Metallica and playing on GTA 3. Even the GTA Vice City soundtrack had some awesome stuff on it if you got the old rock station tuned in. Lazlow was cool too. Plus the 'Punk Goes Metal' compilation. That had a few cool songs on it like AFI covering GNR and Death By Stereo covering White Lion. White Lion are amazing.
RL: As we touched upon, you've had some line-up changes with Richard coming in and Liam leaving earlier this year to be replaced by Sean. How has this affected the sound of the band in the studio and on the stage?
Lewis: 2 guitars meant we got louder and we can pull off the lead parts live, and I don't have to play everything in the studio. Sean's a good bassist and his neck is made out of rubber. His tash is a nice addition to the band.
RL: Where do you see the Plight going, artistically?
Lewis: Lost in rock. Not sure how to answer this. I don't think there's much point thinking about what might happen, artistically or whatever. Only time will tell. Doubt we'll drift too far from our sound right now.
RL: What are your aims for the next couple of years?
Lewis: Tour everywhere. It would definitely be cool to play some festivals. Get the album out when she's ready, hopefully late 2008 sometime.
John: Yeah, tour and do the album and then who knows what. Doing an album will be amazing so I can't wait for that. Also gonna be touring with some cool bands hopefully.
RL: What is your stance on the War in Iraq? (Optional serious question to make you look like intellectuals)
Lewis: Answering a question to seem like an intellectual undermines the whole question. Anyone who thinks we had any right, morally or otherwise, to invade Iraq is a fucking idiot. This country has become so passe when it comes to protest because we already live in a police state, and they're comfortable with their lot. People power can't change anything in the UK We're led to believe that one day the World will live in peace, somehow we'll evolve enough to avoid conflicts. Utopia will never happen; personally I can't see an end to wars anytime soon. We need them to maintain the status quo. It's not the last and we'll probably get to see a load more shit boot off within our lifetime. Humanity is fucked...
John: The world is fucked. There are no excuses for innocent lives being lost or the mentality of trying to fight or kill someone, but we are just a band. Realistically there is nothing we can do. Some bands feel differently I guess, and that's fair enough, but whatever. Maybe World War III is looming? However... even if it did happen, it will probably be a sanitised fake war that some huge global corporation can film and record and then make money out of by selling on to people in third world countries who have AIDS. So yeah... the War in Iraq/Afghanistan/wherever is a joke, but who didn't know that already? Bin Laden... Bush... Blair... Brown... when it comes down to a head to head online on Call Of Duty 4 I would kill you all and then tea bag you. I will also beat you all at Pro Evo too if needs be, one by one...
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