As I said a few posts back one of my recent uni assignments was to create 1500 word profile on a band of my choice. After alot of set backs I finally got a reply from Hitchin based band Exit Avene who I have been a fan of for a long time. Since recieving my mark back yesterday which was a very pleasing B, I am now alot more confident in my abilities after originally thinking that I hadn't done very well at all.
Here is my final interview with the bands bassist Mitch:
The beginning was much like any other band; friends coming together with the intent of playing music and having a good time. However over the last couple of years Exit Avenue have gone from strength to strength and have rapidly built up a following of dedicated fans. With a hectic 2008 behind them Kerrang! caught up with the bands bassist Mitch to find out what 2009 holds for them and how exactly jet packs and bouncy castles fit into their future plans …
Hitchin based Exit Avenue formed in 2002 after members Nick [backing vocals/drums], Sam [drums/backing vocals] and Neil [lead vocals/electronics] met at school with Neil then going on to meet Mitch [bass/backing vocals] at a music group over the summer. Their 2007 release of E.P “A Thousand Odd Lines” put them on the map and gained them a substantial amount of commercial success which saw their fan base explode all across the country.
‘We owe everything to our fans! As far as I'm concerned we don't get a chance to say thank-you enough’. When Exit Avenue formed in 2002 they clearly weren’t expecting to achieve such a phenomenal amount of success without even releasing an album. But like many other bands of today this is a band that has proved that with the support of your fans behind you anything is possible. Since starting to tour a mere 3 years ago the boys have developed a relentless attitude to touring and have had the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Pendulum, Wolf Am I (previously Kill The Arcade), Enter Shikari and You Me At Six. This isn’t something that they take for granted and Mitch is eager to point out that they are extremely grateful for the opportunity to tour with anyone. Although given the chance Mitch wouldn’t turn down the chance to tour with Queen or James Brown ‘They were always the best performers out there. Even in my eyes’. But with all this touring can we expect anything else from the boys any time soon? Mitch explains ‘We have always got something exciting going on, but until anything is confirmed we don't try our luck, you'll just have to keep checking back because you never know. But what I can tell you for certain is that things are about to get hectic!’.
With their influences coming from old school bands such as Metallica, classic artists such as James Brown, Happy Hardcore, Nu-Metal and Hip Hop with a bit of Bob Marley thrown in for good measure it’s fair to say that Exit Avenue can probably cover every genre of music in some way or another. ‘We’re inspired by almost everything that we see around us and anything that we come across in our lives. We try to paint a picture with our lyrics so to speak’. With a pretty impressive collection of singles and their first two E.P’s ‘A Thousand Odd Lines’ and ‘Made For The Arcade’ selling impressively on ITunes, can we expect a debut album from Exit Avenue anytime soon? ‘We have been talking about bringing out an album, but I think we're just gonna keep recording and see how it goes, maybe instead of an album we might release a string of extend play E.P's instead’. Exit Avenue’s passion for making music and doing what they love for their job is rivalled only by their drive and hunger to better themselves as professional musicians although Mitch still can’t put his finger on what sets Exit Avenue apart from the rest. One thing’s he’s pretty damn sure of though is the bands onstage presence ‘We take pride in our stage show and the energy we can create, we love performing and we hope people like us performing as well’.
In some ways 2009 could be seen as a fresh start for Exit Avenue as things took a turn for the worst for the boys last year with a band member leaving and then seeming to do everything in their way to ruin the band. However Mitch is optimistic about this and points out ‘As the saying goes what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’. So with this fresh outlook on life what are the bands plans for 2009? ‘Well the plan is to push ourselves as far as we can in the music industry without killing ourselves or anyone else and just to have fun while we are doing it. We don't know what to expect by the end of 2009 but we will be grateful for anything that we get done and get chance to do’.
Having the opportunity to be in a band with 4 of your best mates and travel the world must be one of the best feelings in the world right? Mitch agrees but also believes that the buzz Exit Avenue receive from their army of fans is pretty amazing too; ‘No drug can even come close to how amazing that sensation is and how amazing it is to see the fans singing along with Neil’. Aside from their fans Mitch also likes to reminisce of a certain time in London; ‘I pulled Nicks trousers down in front of a coach load of our fans that came to see us play at the Mean Fiddler, and then Sam ran up and pulled down his boxers, the best bit about this was it happened on Tottenham Court Road’. Oh and not forgetting about a certain time at Hitchin’s Rhythms Of The World festival; ‘I stole Sam's line of "the summer starts here", He was really excited he came up with it but I stole his thunder good and proper that day’.
Throughout their short but so far successful career Exit Avenue have managed to achieve many things that young bands just starting out can only dare to dream of. But Exit Avenues ultimate aim as a band is something even Metallica might find a little difficult; ‘The ultimate aim for Exit Avenue is to be bigger than Queen! Just watch them live at Wembley stadium on YouTube and you'll know why!!’ Mitch was also happy to mention that the bands probably more manageable aim is to make a living from something they love but to make sure they have fun whilst doing so ‘The music industry can suck your life and soul away if you're not careful. So it’s very important to keep the good people in your life as close as you can!’
So with future plans to be bigger than Queen just where exactly would Mitch like to see Exit Avenue in 10 years time? Well the answer is pretty damn simple; ‘I would have liked us to have got to the top and then wasted it all away on some really cool jet packs. By 2019 I’m hoping they would have invented jet packs in hoping if not then bouncy castle hire’.
With only 2 weeks left before the end of my first year we only have one exiciting uni project left which is to create, film and edit a 3 minute clip of a programme of our choice. We have our hopes set high and hope to create a live music / chat piece and are aiming to interview eirher Tubelord, Abe Vigoda or The Mae Shi after our original plan to base the programme of The Virgins fell through.
In other non related uni news I am looking forward to the summer with a holiday to France coming up in the next couple of weeks as well as attending Reading Festival.
___________________________________________________________
Songs Of The Moment
- Check out http://www.myspace.com/leohumphries
- The King Blues - I Got Love
- Noel Gallagher - Half The World Away
- Radiohead - Thinking About You
- Anything by Alanis Morrisette
No comments:
Post a Comment