Jamie Campbell caught up with Belfast band More Than Conquerors ahead of the Glasgow leg of their UK tour to talk about travelling, sweaty reuinions and their new EP.
JC: Hi guys hows the tour going so far?
MTC: Hey. It's going really well. Some of us are starting to get a bit worn out, but we can't complain. We love it.
JC: What’s the best and worst part about touring?
MTC: The best part is the travelling. Getting to see really great places and getting to meet really great people. The worst part is how worn out it makes you. It may not seem like it but touring is really tiring. Not getting a daily shower isn't the nicest thing either.
JC: You’ve played with Dananananaykroyd on this tour, what was that like?
MTC: It was amazing. They're great guys and they put on a great live show.
JC: Are you guys looking forward to playing Glasgow?
MTC: Definitely, it's our favourite place to play. It's just a big, sweaty, loud reunion with all our friends.
JC: More Than Conquerors is a very grand sounding name, how did that come about?
MTC: More Than Conquerors basically means to rise above the bad things in life. So that's what we try to do.
JC: Your new EP Boots and Bones is out in a few weeks. How would you describe the EP in your own words and how is it different to your first EP?
MTC: It's a lot heavier than the last one...which we love. There's more riffs than there used to be and more hooks than a peter pan convention. The lyrics have a lot more meaning than the last EP too.
JC: The song titles for Boots & Bones include a bear, a deer, a fox, a whale, a lion and a man! What’s with the cool mammal theme?
MTC: I actually didn't notice that all the songs were about animals until we put them all together. I guess the whole animal thing is just another way of talking about us humans. However, animals have a bit more sense than we do.
JC: There always seems to be a steady stream of quality guitar music coming from Northern Ireland, and you guys supported Fighting With Wire on their UK tour last year, what’s the alternative scene like over there?
MTC: It's brilliant. There are so many great bands in Belfast. Being on tour we see lots of really good bands, but nothing compares to home. We owe so much to Belfast and the bands that come from it. It's raised us and taught us a lot.
JC: Apart from local stuff, who has been the biggest influence on you musically?
MTC: Our biggest influences are Mewithoutyou, Manchester Orchestra, Thrice, As Cities Burn and Elton John. (Elton's the reason our drummer ever picked up the sticks) Not all of us condone this.
JC: Do you have plans for a full length LP in the near future?
MTC: Yeah we do. We've started writing it and the songs we've got so far are great (if we do say so ourselves). We would love to have it out by early next year.
JC: Finally, and most importantly…what music is getting heavy rotation on the tour bus?
MTC: We've got 5 ipods going so it differs everyday. We've had a bit of Manchester Orchestra, Chad Van Gaalen and the new Bon Iver album…which is probably one of the greatest things to come out this year.
More Than Conquerors' EP Boots & Bones is out 7th November.