Young Guns
We sit down for a chat with the soon-to-be-massive rockers
The rise of High Wycombe lads Young Guns is an exciting one - they've gone from being virtual unknowns last year to supporting rock legends Bon Jovi at one of their recent massive London gigs. Having just released their debut album 'All Our Kings Are Dead' to massive acclaim (stay tuned for our Rocklouder review of it) and tipped to be one of the biggest British exports for years, we were lucky enough to have a chat with the band's Gus last week.
Your great debut album's out and it's all kicking off for you. How does it feel?
Thank you! It feels great. We're really excited and relieved to have the album finally out there, for better or worse. There's so much anxiety and stress and worry preparing to put out your first ever album and for it to have been received as well as it has is a dream come true. Every kind word said about the album is appreciated so much. I'm a pessimistic bastard at the best of times, and always believe that the end is just around the corner, but we're trying to just enjoy the moment, to stay busy and work hard, and to not think too much about the future. We've been really privileged so far, and now we just want to put our heads down and move onwards and, hopefully, upwards. There were plenty of times when I honestly thought we'd never be here now, so it's just amazing.
You supported Bon Jovi recently which is obviously a totally mental thing for a new band. Any gossip?
Ha! Sadly not, we didn't meet them or anything. I managed to sneak in to their closed sound check and watched them play 2 songs before getting kicked out by security. We were plonked in a little dressing room in the warren that is backstage at the o2 Arena and just sat there like good little boys not wanting to touch or disturb a thing. I half expected security to stop me at every little check point in the building, of which there are millions. We had a tough time even getting catering to give us any food, but truly it was an experience I will never ever forget. Playing a place of that size... well, the wait was excruciating, and it kinda felt like we were playing on the moon, or maybe doing a gig in orbit, but the response was actually really good and despite feeling at times like I was about to spontaneously combust, it was actually really fun. I didn't really digest that we'd actually done it until we'd had some beers and were watching Bon Jovi play. I was totally hooked on the experience, I want to play the o2 again so badly. We definitely celebrated that night. It was incredible.
You're doing a bunch of festivals this summer. Any one you're particularly looking forward to, or bands you want to catch?
I'm really excited about playing Pukkelpop as I grew up reading about it and hearing about it but never had the opportunity to go. It's absolutely massive and has a great variety of bands, from Marina & The Diamonds - who I love - to Thrice, and as a festival in Europe is just a really exciting thing to be able to say we've done. Really though, it has to be opening the main stage at Reading festival on the Friday, and Leeds on the Sunday. We're the very first band on at Reading 2010! Sharing a stage with Guns 'n' Roses! Insanity. Getting to see Blink 182 is going to be pretty awesome too, even though they always sucked live.
You're heading out on a massive headlining tour later in the year. Anything special planned?
Well, we're really trying to put together a great touring line up, and if it comes off like we hope it will then it will definitely be special. We always get stuck trying to decide who to take on tour, as asking someone to support you feels somehow wrong, especially if they're a band you admire, or/and have been around longer than you have. The venues are amazing as well, we don't feel like we belong in them! Just kidding. But both things do come down to us still just feeling like a bunch of friends blagging it, we still find it hard to accept that people actually seem to like our band. I've seen so many bands I love and look up to headlining venues like The Electric Ballroom so to be headlining there... well, there are no words man. It's just unreal.
High Wycombe's not really known for being a hotbed of awesome rock, is it?
Well, there's Futures. They're from not too far away, they're very cool. Our friends in Out of Sight too, they're rad, and our mates from Oxford-ish in Francesqa. Some great metal bands around Reading too.
We're doing a playlist of some of the best albums released so far this year. What'd be your picks to put on there?
Circa Survive 'Blue Sky Noise', Kvelertak 'Kvelertak', Deftones 'Diamond Eyes', The Dillinger Escape Plan 'Option Paralysis', Jonsi'Go', Rolo Tomassi 'Cosmology'... loads more, but I can't remember! It's been a good year for music though.
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