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Wednesday 9 October 2013

Interview: Tonight Alive.

Tonight Alive Q&A Session 


‘‘We became different people and the people that we want to be’’ Wakkhio Taahi, Tonight Alive



After recent release of their second studio album ‘The Other Side’, Aussie, Pop Punk band Tonight Alive are due to play their 4th performance of 9 date UK tour. Since forming in 2008 whilst still at high school, the band have gone from strength to strength maturing together with a passion for what they do.
Fronted by 21 year old Jenna McDougall, Tonight Alive have not only been busy writing and recording new album but have toured relentlessly promoting their first studio album ‘What Are You So Scared Of.’ Unfortunately, in 2012 exhaustion hit, band members became ill and they cancelled the rest of their upcoming commitments. Perhaps this time around things will be easier.
I chatted with the two guitarists Jake Hardy and Wakkhio Taahi before the bands gig at Manchester Academy 3 on the 3rd October. It is only 3pm and a group of young fans are already outside the venue anticipating the night ahead.

Who do you feel your music speaks to the most? Who do you think your target audience is?

WT: I guess we never really think about who our target is, but I think on this album there are a lot of personal things that Jenna has written about and I feel that a lot of young girls are really grasping onto it because it’s something that they can relate to. Growing up and going through things, this was our way of giving back to our fans that had the stories.

Who/what are your influences when it comes to writing and recording?Do you look up to anyone?

WT: Yeah, definitely, it’s changed a little bit. This album was influenced not so much by other music but by personal experiences, especially touring with bands we really look up to. We wanted to resemble what they were doing in a sense and what worked for them. We had a lot of growing up to do in that time because we were still young. We’ve grown up literally with the band so we became different people and the people that want to be.

You’ve done a couple of international tours now. Who has actually been your favourite band to tour with?

WT: We have a couple. Young Guns, they’re a really good live band and the most decent bunch of lads. Pierce The Veil are a really professional band too. That’s what we want to do, their kind of stage show.
JH: Oh and Bring Me The Horizon,they were on Warped Tour with us and they just like sounded phenomenal, it was incredible. So I’d say those three bands at the moment.

You recently released new album ‘The Other Side’ did you come across many challenges when it came to writing/recording it. How is it different to other records you have released?What did you learn about yourselves in the process?

WT: Definitely, as much as you can come across I guess. We went through a manager change which was really hard for us. We were all really burnt out ‘coz we’d been touring so much. Jenna was sick with her eczema, it was just a rough time for us as well, we were still opening for people and yeah I guess it was just a really kind of challenging time in our lives and the bands career but we ‘made it out the other side.’I think the main difference though is that we matured a lot more. We had more to write about because Jenna was still in high school and we hadn’t really encountered much. When we did ‘The Other Side’ we had been around the world a couple of times so we had a lot more to write about.

Is there a big difference between the music scenes in Australia as opposed to shows you play in America and the UK?

JH: Yeah, when we were first starting we played at a lot of youth centres but many of those have closed down. You get a couple of international bands every year but then other than that, there’s not much else for them to play at if they’re a young band. It’s more just clubs and stuff. Whereas over here there’s so much music press like Kerrang magazine, Kerrang Radio and BBC Radio1 that are more than happy to play rock music whereas back home our radio doesn’t really play Australian rock music.
WT: We have one rock show called Short, Fast, Loud. We never get played on it.

I was actually going to ask how you felt about being the main feature of Kerrang magazine.It must gain you a lot more fans?

WT: Well yeah, I couldn’t believe that they did it really to be honest it’s amazing really. We were so honoured to kind of be a part of it like that; it’s a huge step to take.

As young musicians there was a time you couldn’t get served in bars despite playing gigs in some, what did you do for entertainment whilst on the road? Have you got any eventful stories to tell me?

JH: The drinking age in Australia is 18 so we were all alright but Jenna had to wait outside and be escorted on stage in some venues.
WT: She had to wait in the stairwell until she could play and then she had to go out straight away. And then when the majority us weren’t 21 in the states so we would just hang out in the van.
JH: The drinking laws are pretty relaxed over there so you could always get someone else to buy it for you.

You had to cancel some of your tour a while back because Jenna was ill. This time you’re on tour till mid-December are you doing much after that?

JH: I think we might be getting a month and a half break at home till after Christmas then starting back up.
WT: We recorded the album at the start of the year and then we have just been touring so we haven’t really been home this year at all.

Talking about tours, is there anything different you’re expecting on this tour than the previous UK one you did?

JH: We’re not expecting anything, but the kids have been incredible, I think we’ve doubled in crowd sizes than the last headline tour we did here and it’s incredible because every night we’d go out there’s so many more than we’d expect.

What impact do you think social networking is having on the music industry? Do you think it’s a good medium to talk to fans/promote singles/albums, or just a just a place for internet trolls?

WT: I think it’s a double edged sword really. It is really good way to keep in touch and everyone worldwide knows what’s going on. Even if you haven’t been to their country for a while you can still talk to them and for that side of it it’s good. There’s also the sense of entitlement I think. The internet is so reachable that fans tend to feel like they owe so much more. Then you get the people that can just say whatever they want with no repercussions because they’re on the internet.
JH: I think you just have to find a good balance, between the two.

We’re at that age where social media is a massive part of music and the media, I know you must have had this question so many times but the double edged sword must come into illegal downloading too?

JH: So many people will find out about new music obviously through downloading it and they’ll learn the words but usually will be asked to buy the CD however it does cripple the music industry as well.
WT: We still have our really dedicated fans that buy our stuff and support us, there’s not much we can do, we’ve just got to record our album.
JH: Kids always want to have something that they can bring in to sign. It’s nice to have memorabilia. So I think there will always be a market, it’s getting better. I love CD’s I love reading the booklets and stuff but I guess kids that are born in the 2000’s have never really had that as much. They’ve not grown up with that and those are the kind of fans that are coming through now and they want everything online. These days everything is so accessible.

Thank you for the time.

WT: Thanks for having us.

'The Other Side’ is now available to order on Tonight Alive’s official website: