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Interview with Dani of
Alestorm
April 25th 2009 by Chris Davison - Photos by Strawb |
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Currently riding a tidal wave of positive
zeitgeist, the Scottish buccaneers in Alestorm are taking the
jauntier end of folk-metal by storm. I managed to grab a few minutes
with Dani, six-stringer and all-round good egg about drinking,
guitar hero and obscene chewing gum.
Ok, I'm here with Dani from Alestorm. How you
doing?
Alright!...considering!
A good night last night then?
Oh yeah! It was a great big party! Yeah, we all went out and had a
good night and got very, very, very drunk!
As Alestorm do!
Exactly! A few friends of mine from home came down, so we all went
out, I started drinking silly things. I don't remember much...I do
remember getting kicked out from the backstage area. Actually, I got
kicked off the stage. I got up there while Powerquest were playing.
They're friends of ours, so it was basically alright, but the stage
manager was mightily pissed off with me! I'm basically avoiding him
today. |
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What
about tonight's show, are you excited?
Yeah definitely, I mean it's nice to be back in the UK. Yeah, we
have just done a US and European tour, and the US was amazing, I
mean indescribably good. We had great crowds, met great people. We
met a lot of new friends and hooked up with a lot of old friends
too.
And that was Pagan...
Pagan Nights. With TYR and Suidakra. Then we had the headline tour
across Europe.
What were the crowds in the US like?
They were good. They were really, really enthusiastic. Some of the
shows, there weren't many people there...but that was like in
bumpkin places on a Tuesday night or whatever, and then we'd get
about a hundred people. But then when we played in places like
Hollywood or New York? I mean, in Hollywood, the place was sold out
with like five hundred people. We had a bear on stage... |
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You had a bear on stage?
A live, dancing, crowd surfing bear. It was ace.
Could that be a regular feature for Alestorm?
If we could find a guy in a bear costume. Leviathan would be simply
renamed "bear".
So here we are, in Pontins! A British heavy
metal festival in a British holiday camp! These kind of indoor
festivals seem to be all the rage in the UK. What's your take on
that?
You can't get much more British! I think all festivals are
fantastic. I mean, we play some big festivals - outdoor is amazing,
you play to crowds that you could never imagine...but, indoor
festivals, there's still thousands of people but they're all our
fans.
We saw you guys at Bloodstock last year...
Yeah, that was sick. That was really fun. It was absolutely amazing.
I've never, ever played to a crowd like that. |
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Yeah, and since then you've had some line up changes?
Yeah, we had a temporary drummer, as Ian was finishing his plumbing
apprenticeship. Our original guitarist, Gavin, left the band. Now we
have...hell what's his name!...Gareth Murdoch from Waylander doing
bass for us now. He's full time with us now and has quit Waylander
to come in to Alestorm. It's really cool. The line up is the best
there's ever been. We're all very happy, and we all get on now.
How was the change for you from bass to
guitar?
It's not a problem. I knew all the songs anyway, it was just a case
of getting used to playing the songs live. Once I'd got
that...sorted!
And are you one of those guys that can play
the guitar live without sticking out the tongue of concentration?
No, I still do that! I can't stop doing that!
So Alestorm seem to be the Marmite of metal.
Critics either love you or hate you. Why is that?
I honestly don't know. It's funny definitely what happens. There's
so many reviewers that absolutely love us, and so many reviewers
that absolutely hate us. There's no middle ground. You never hear
anyone say, "Alestorm, yeah, they're alright". It's either "this
band are amazing" or "this band are shit". Will you please make up
your minds? |
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How are pirates coping with the recession?
Really well! We're on the news at the minute and it's all good
advertising!
Your music is pretty much perfect for
something like Rock band or Guitar Hero?
I play Guitar Hero and Rock Band and games like that a lot. I
wouldn't like to see my music there because I probably wouldn't be
able to play it! I am quite good at it. I'm a computer games nerd
when I'm at home. I've got two laptops with me now, for instance. On
Guitar Hero I play mostly on expert, and I've gold starred almost
everything on there.
As you are a heavy metal pirate, what's the
best way to handle wriggly seamen?
(Laughter)..oh you...(more laughter)...that is the best question
that I've ever been unable to answer! That sounds like a really
wrong kind of chewing gum! Wrigleys Semen! Oh, that's just wrong!
...and on that vein, are Alestorm exponents of
the angry pirate?
I just....(laughter)....oh God!
The interview has gone in a wrong direction.
You've changed, man! You've changed!
(rest of band enter the room)
Here are the rest of the arseholes. Guys, what's the best way for
pirates to handle wriggly seamen ?
(Gareth): What?
(Chris): Wriggly Seamen?
I think we'll draw stumps there! Thanks guys.
www.myspace.com/alestorm |
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