Music Critic Bas Bevan chats with The Amazons, discussing their upcoming music, returning to live shows and FIFA
Reading rock band The Amazons are currently supporting Royal Blood on their UK and European tour. They have become one of my favourite bands so I was delighted to have the opportunity to talk to singer and guitarist Matt Thomson and bass player Elliot Briggs before their show at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena about the tour, their new single ‘Bloodrush’ and upcoming album How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?, festivals and FIFA.
First of all, how’s the tour been going with Royal Blood?
Matt: It’s good. So this is the second English date, we started in Swansea about a week ago and then we did a few dates in Europe and kind of just got back into the groove of playing together, on stage and touring and everything, and the lifestyle that comes with that which we haven’t done for a good two and a half years. It’s been great we’ve had such an amazing time and we feel really lucky.
Has it come back to you quickly after over two years?
Matt: Yeah it actually does. You settle back into your habits good and bad really.
Elliot: First night we were all pretty nervous just because we are just raring to go more than anything else but as soon as you get playing it all comes back.
I suppose having done it for many years it’s not really going to go too far away?
Matt: No honestly, such an old cliché but it’s like riding a bike, playing with the band.
I imagine it’s great getting to watch Royal Blood every night?
Elliot: Oh yeah man.
Matt: Yeah we’ve been fans for such a long time. To the point where, it must have been 2013 or 2014 and me and Elliot actually did merch for Royal Blood in Reading. They played at a venue called the Reading Face Bar.
Elliot: A very small, little dungeonous room.
Matt: A cavernous little room.
Elliot: I was round your house and you got a call maybe about two hours before saying ‘would you like to come down to the show?’
Matt: It was just a Reading promoter just like ‘Oh I’ve got Royal Blood tonight, do you boys wanna do the merch?’ And we were like ‘Hell yeah let’s do it!’
Elliot: Beats playing FIFA doesn’t it.
Matt: Yeah exactly we were literally playing FIFA at the time. It was like fifty quid, split it between the two of us and yeah it was amazing. Imagine telling ourselves then that we were gonna go on an arena tour with them in 2022.
It must be a real full circle moment?
Matt: Yeah it is, it really is.
So obviously you’ve just announced your new album and brought out a new single ‘Bloodrush.’ I thought it was amazing, I really liked it. How indicative would you say it is of the whole record?
Matt: I think it is pretty indicative of the record in spirit really more than anything. I think ‘Bloodrush’ is really about just getting back to the basics of feeling human and feeling alive and just stripping it back to the basics of the primal urges of release. And yeah I think that’s a feeling that kind of is across the record really. And it’s been amazing playing at these shows cause we’re doing just that, we’re getting back to what maybe a couple of years ago would be passed off as kind of trivial or luxuries of just being communal and seeing friends and letting your hair down and all that stuff I think now is much more integral to feeling yourself.
Exactly yeah. And I imagine it’s quite exciting as well getting to play it so soon, with it coming out and then getting to play it that night or the night after?
Matt: Yeah. And we were in Bournemouth last night and there were people singing it and it’s like cool. That was a really good feeling. We don’t have to wait around for people to hear the song and see it reciprocated in real life, we can literally see it the next day.
You say about a lot of inspiration coming from the previous two years now and I think with a lot of new music that comes out you find you can hear that inspiration with nearly every band. Is that just natural really that such monumental things come into your song writing?
Matt: Yeah I think what’s interesting is seeing artists attack it in different ways really and I think what we wanted to do at least musically was kind of fight back against the monotony of the daily life that we were in when we were in quarantine and stuff. It was quite a quiet existence, we didn’t go out, we didn’t do anything and instead of making music for that moment we saw festivals and playing on tour and being a band and seeing each other as like this light at the end of the tunnel and we wanted to write music and create music for that kind of light at the end of the tunnel, that moment, that festival set. We wanted to kind of fight back against the kind of life we were living.
Yeah I think that’s the best way to do it cause I suppose, you’re maybe not necessarily looking back at it in a positive way but you’re approaching it in a positive way, you’re not dwelling on it?
We were gonna write for the future, and what we wanted out of life and what we were missing out of life
Matt: Yeah definitely. But there’s definitely artists like Lana Del Rey for example who did a record called Chemtrails Over the Country Club that was super introspective and very quiet and beautiful and I think that was a record for quarantine really. Or even Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher, that felt right to listen to on the daily when we weren’t doing anything. It didn’t feel right really at the time to just have huge f*****g rock hits. But we knew that we were in the middle of it and we were gonna write for the future, and what we wanted out of life and what we were missing out of life.
I suppose that almost helps you through it doesn’t it really cause you’ve got sort of a goal that’s there it front of you.
Matt: It’s cathartic.
Elliot: Yeah for sure.
Me: Definitely yeah.
From what I’ve read about the new album I saw it’s about your long-distance relationship Matt. Would you say it’s maybe a bit more nerve-racking to put out music that’s quite that personal?
Matt: I think so yeah, yeah it is, it is pretty nerve racking because it is coming from quite a vulnerable position but I don’t think we could’ve made our best record without me going to that place and finding that way of communicating. And the way a lot of the songs were written were to that person as a means of communication because you know when you haven’t see someone for six or seven months, for me text messages or letters or FaceTimes just didn’t quite cut it and the way I kind of processed life was by writing songs so a way of communicating and building a bridge between us was writing music. And it just so happened that that was the kind of spine, the kind of like foundation of what this record was all about.
I suppose what we were mentioning before about coming out of everything I suppose it almost makes it better even cause it’s just very personal and then that translates to other people who can sort of interpret it in their own way. It’s sort of like your perspective on a shared experience?
Matt: Definitely.
I really like the new album cover, what’s the picture of and what’s the inspiration behind it?
Matt: Well, it’s kind of just a depiction, it’s not actually my house or anything like that but it’s a depiction of me in my bedroom at 1am writing.
Elliot: And conspiring, plotting your escape.
Matt: Yeah it’s that. It’s that feeling of kind of the darkest hour before the dawn really. It is definitely night time but I wanted the bedroom light to feel like a light at the end of the tunnel.
Elliot: And warm. It’s all quite dark and moody but that light from the room is quite warm and hopeful, and something that can be maybe a positive kind of light.
Me: Yeah that makes a lot of sense. I thought it was just a really nice image for an album cover.
Elliot: It’s quite cinematic we thought as well.
It’s obviously getting towards summer and festival time coming up. You guys are playing at The Isle of Wight and Neighbourhood Weekender. How do festivals compare to arena shows like this? Is it two different things or would you have a preference between them?
You feel like just by writing music that you’ve got this key to the castle, it’s amazing
Matt: They are different.
Elliot: Much different yeah.
Matt: Well best thing is being able to do both. I think the best part of festivals is two things: trying to like win over crowds is just fun and it’s not too dissimilar to actually the support slots actually that we’re doing with Royal Blood and secondly the really fun, unique thing about festivals is honestly just hanging out with other artists. It’s almost like these weird conventions of lone wolfs.
Elliot: Cause you hardly ever see anybody cause everybody’s touring at the same time, crossing like ships in the night. When you get a line up of all your mates it’s a good time.
Matt: It’s basically a pirate convention.
Elliot: Yeah like Tortuga.
Matt: It’s Tortuga, the best festivals are like Tortuga in Pirates of The Caribbean.
Yeah I can imagine if it’s great as just a normal person going there as a fan then being an artist must be even better?
Matt: Well the same way you feel about The Arctic Monkeys I do too, so being able to be back stage or whatever and then f*****g spot whoever you’re like ‘woah’, it’s just cool to be around. You feel like just by writing music that you’ve got this key to the castle, it’s amazing.
Speaking of The Arctic Monkeys, obviously you guys are from Reading will you be going to Reading this year?
Elliot: Yeah always, we always try and go no matter where we are we always try and make it there.
Matt: Every year.
Would your ultimate goal be to headline Reading one day?
Matt: I would love to make the music that would lead to us headlining Reading Festival. That’s it that’s all you can hope for because of course you wanna achieve things like that but I’d also love to achieve the music that would connect with enough people to get there, do you know what I mean? That’s what actually matters, that’s what it all boils down to.
But I think you can see that in your music, it’s got that sort of, I’m not sure what the word is but that sort of like festival quality, like big choruses, sort of anthemic if you know what I’m saying?
The music reflects that, the way we write music is to connect with lots and lots of people
Matt: Yeah, not to get too deep in the self-psychoanalysis but I’m definitely someone who feeds off energy of other people, I hate being alone, so I think the music is that you know? The music reflects that, the way we write music is to connect with lots and lots of people and festivals are…
Me: Yeah it’s one community really, of music lovers.
Matt: Yeah big time.
You mentioned your show in Swansea the other night. I was reading that significant inspiration for Future Dust came from being in and around Swansea and then you were the first group to play at the new arena weren’t you?
Elliot: We were the first musical act to play that, on that stage.
Matt: I actually got corrected on Twitter when I said we were the first ever band I think there was actually a like quote unquote house warming thing with local bands which is awesome. In terms of like the first billed event I guess so, so it was cool.
Yeah I bet it was. I suppose like with Royal Blood it was another really full circle moment?
Matt: Yeah it’s amazing. You don’t get that many opportunities in what we do to like be right at the beginning of the story of a venue, it’s kind of amazing. Think about how many great shows are gonna happen and how many great nights.
Me: Yeah and you started it off.
Matt: Yeah it’s cool right?
Elliot: A lot of these venues we’re at at the moment, you go through catering and you go through the hallways and they have like all these amazing gigs have come through out the years and to be one of the first on that stage was pretty special actually.
Do you have a favourite place to play in the UK?
Elliot: Manchester’s always fantastic.
Matt: As a city yeah, absolutely amazing.
Elliot: Barrowlands in Glasgow, unreal.
Matt: Yeah, amazing. Well, I’m actually really looking forward to playing The Roundhouse in London. That’s what’s happening in October it’s our tour.
Elliot: We’ve never played that venue but we’ve visited it and frequented it as punters tonnes of times, it’s a bit of a prestigious venue.
You already mentioned FIFA. My first exposure to your music was from ‘Stay With Me’ being on FIFA 18. A few years on from that looking back how much of an affect has that had? Do you think that’s brought you new fans to an extent?
Matt: Massively. There’s very few like dead certain kind of promotional opportunities, there’s very few dead certain kind of opportunities to be heard by millions of people and FIFA is very much one of them. And FIFA are incredible because they take chances on such new acts. FIFA is so big that they could just go with the normal huge acts that are already established to almost like sell it. But they don’t do that they go with like new and upcoming music, really interesting sounds with an international outlook as well. So forever grateful to FIFA, we grew up playing that game.
Elliot: Yeah. I’ve discovered a load of acts on FIFA.
Matt: Oh yeah, they’re legendary soundtracks.
This was right at the beginning of the first album kind of journey and it was just the biggest buzz ever to get FIFA
Was that kind of a, not necessarily a goal but something that was like ‘wow’…
Matt: One, it wasn’t expected, two, it was a massive milestone when we did get there. It was like ‘Holy s**t’. This was right at the beginning of the first album kind of journey and it was just the biggest buzz ever to get FIFA, for free…
Elliot: During a world cup year as well.
Matt: During a world cup year.
Me: Yeah that’s the best time.
Matt: It was great.
Another festival you’re playing at is 2000 Trees in Cheltenham. Is it a different experience at a smaller festival?
Matt: Yeah we actually played one that’s probably similar called 110 Above Festival last year and actually we felt that smaller festivals are maybe more in touch with maybe that festival spirit in terms of the real community and stuff and it’s not that corporate.
Elliot: And they’re all on like farms and there’s like real mud.
Matt: And real music enthusiasts I would say cause you have to really seek out the acts that play these festivals. I think Barn on The Farm is also a small festival that’s amazing.
Do you ever get time to go and experience a smaller place or are you too busy?
Elliot: Yeah we normally try to do it.
Is that quite a fun element of touring that as well as playing music everywhere you get to see all around the country, and Europe and the world?
You just gotta get up and go and explore and soak it all in
Matt: Well yeah, dude honestly there’s a massive difference between touring and travelling and travelling is definitely a choice. Sometimes it’s out of your control but other times when you’re feeling s**t and you’re just stewing in a dressing room but you have the opportunity to get on like, you know the train into central Amsterdam the other day you just gotta get up and go and explore and soak it all in. Because if you tour you can very easily just see the backstage areas and dressing rooms forever and it just never changes you know?
Me: Yeah, and I suppose they don’t vary from place to place.
Matt: No exactly, exactly.
Elliot: Yeah but we are lucky to be able to travel around and just see stuff.
Matt: Yeah it’s the dream man.
Terrible news today obviously about Taylor Hawkins from The Foo Fighters passing away. Being a band I presume you guys are fans of theirs so how was it hearing that?
Matt: Yeah it’s hard to find the words to say really with this, there’s not that many words in the vocabulary to kind of even process it at the moment cause you know, we got the news this morning in our bunks at like 7am just looking on our phones and there it is. Like it’s kind of unfathomable and yeah it’s just difficult to process. Like showering him with plaudits now is almost too accepting of the situation and I don’t want to accept the situation.
Me: Like you said when you read it it’s just one of those things that’s like…
Matt: It doesn’t feel real. Like we shouldn’t even be doing this. We shouldn’t even be talking about it at all. It shouldn’t even be a topic of discussion, it’s bulls**t. But of course one of the great drummers, one of the great drummers. He was the beating heart of that band.
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