Thank you for taking the time for this interview. Remember the moment of your first rehearsal as NEX. What was it like?
„Our first rehearsal?… Ha, I can’t really remember! It was a long time ago… I remember the first show though – it was in the back of a lorry in a car park, and we didn’t have a backdrop to introduce our name to everyone so we wrote the name Nex on a whiteboard and put it on the stage!“
Later the Kerrang! said „First step London…next the world.“ Your two albums will be released in Germany at the end of September. Will you come here to perform them?
„We’d love to! We’ll have to see whether we can get the money side of it sorted as we’re all skint at the moment, but if we can figure it all out then we’ll be there.“
You´re from Huddersfield in Northern England. Explain our readers around Hannover how life is in your hometown. What joys and fears have people there?
„Well we’re from Northern England as you said, so we’re pretty familiar with rain. And people are pretty drunk – that’s a British stereotype that’s based on the truth! But Huddersfield is a friendly town, and the music scene’s great here. All the bands are friends and people are generally happy. I’m not sure what people’s fears are, maybe that the ‚credit crunch‘ will mean no one can afford to buy food any more…“
Without doubt your music reveals many influences. Who inspired you the most?
„I don’t think there’s one particular band or artist that inspires us the most. You’re right, our music is the result of a LOT of different influences. We love all kinds of music, from Jeff Buckley to The Dillinger Escape Plan. So I’m going to say our biggest influence is Basshunter…“
Let´s get to the „crossfire“ part of the interview
(10 questions that are always the same in each interview):
At home:
01.)
In which way do you write your songs? Does anyone of you have kind of an initial idea, or do you just play on and on until something sounds interesting to you, or another way?
„Usually one person comes up with a part or idea, and then we jam with it until it starts to become a full band thing instead of just an idea. Then I guess we decide how the whole song’s going to come together. It varies though, sometimes the whole song’s pretty much finished in an hour or two, sometimes it’s a week or two!“
02.)
Except playing music, what do you do in your free time?
„Work our shitty day jobs, haha! I guess we’re pretty boring, we just like to hang out with our friends and girlfriends, watch movies, play a bit of football, and make MORE music. I could pretend we all have amazing hobbies though… ok yeah, we’re all into BASE jumping and free running.“
03.)
Is NEX job, vocation or hobby?
„Definitely a vocation. It doesn’t pay enough to call it a job yet, but it’s a hell of a lot more than a hobby. It’s what we all want to do for the rest of our lives, and I can tell you for sure that I will always make music in some way, no matter what. If I was stranded on a desert island I’d be trying to make some drums out of a coconut or something!“
On the road:
04.)
Vegan, straight edge, or rather sex drugs and rock´n´roll? What does a perfect catering look like?
„Well we aren’t vegan or straight edge! I guess if we had to lean one way it’s good old fashioned sex, drugs and rock’n’roll! A perfect catering is lots of nice healthy food, and lots of nice unhealthy drink.“
05.)
If you could choose, who would be your favourite support band on a headlining tour / who would be your favourite headliner you would support?
„If we’re headlining it’s just good to take a band we’re friends with. They’ve got to be good though, haha! You need a band that’ll make you worry about being blown off the stage every night – that makes you play better. And for us to support… I don’t know, we’d play with anyone! Muse would be good – awesome band and a shitload of people for us to play to!“
06.)
What was your greatest event live or on tour by now?
„I’m going to pick two – the Manchester date on the Head Automatica tour last year was a phenomenal night. It was sold out, but no one had heard us before and we still got a great reaction. And the other would be a night we played a while back in a cinema in our home town that doubles as a music venue. It was the biggest headline crowd we’ve ever had and it was all our friends and fans so the atmosphere was incredible.“
Curious:
07.)
Imagine you are stranded on a secluded island and your I-Pod has a defect. It only will play one song (which is none of your own ones). Which one?
„Just one song? I’d be tempted to throw it into the sea…Ok, I’m going to pick Superstition by Stevie Wonder. I could hear that a million times and still love it.“
08.)
If you could start again at the beginning of your band, would you do anything different than you did?
„These are good questions! Ok, if I was exactly the person I am now, then yeah I’d loads of things differently. We’d have more songs for a start! But we always did the best we could with the knowledge and experience we had at the time, so what can you do?“
09.)
How much does the music you are doing mean to you? Are there limits in what you would invest (time / emotions / finances)?
„Well just making music is something that you can do on a smaller scale with limited funds, so we’ll always do that in one way or another. But to do huge extensive tours you need some backing – I don’t think we could do that completely on our own money. Obviously the ideal is to get some backing. But if that never happens, maybe we’d just have to work and save for a bit, then tour for a bit. It’s tough, but you find a way!“
The very last question:
10.)
If there was a question you always wanted to be asked, but never were asked yet, what would it be and what would be your answer?
„The question is ‚Hey, you guys are sweet! Shall I arrange it so you can do nothing but play in this band forever and get paid for it and never have to compromise your music in any way at all?‘ And I would say… ‚Ok!'“
Thank you for your patience, all best wishes for the future.
Rock´n´Roll ain´t no noise pollution (AC/DC)
Thank YOU, best wishes to you guys too!
ED