Welsh rockers Lostprophets rose to fame around ten years ago with their nu metal debut The Fake Sound Of Progress. But they had already formed a hardcore underground following since their inception three years prior. The hard work touring the gig circuit had paid off as Fake Sound of Progress spawned massive hits including Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja, Kobrakai as well as the title track; and gained them critical acclaim, headline slots and awards along the way also. I for one remember the band playing a youth centre car park at underground music festival Uxfest in my hometown Uxbridge when I was 17. This was way before their debut had even hit the shelves, but even then I knew these boys were destined for great success.
The band followed The Fake Sound of Progress with Start Something in 2004 which experienced more breakthrough success with the likes of Last Train Home and Burn Burn. But as the band graduated to playing arenas, purist fans started to turn on their success. The boys remained less prominent than before on the scene but maintained a following and produced another record Liberation Transmission in 2006. They also lost founding member Mike Chiplin left the group to pursue other musical opportunities. Since then, Mike Chiplin joined another band called The Unsung, and is currently in a band called Accident Music, which also features Chris Morgan of Midasuno. He has also opened up his own practice studio for young people to start bands.
This year sees Lostprophets return to the forefront of the music scene with the number one album The Betrayed, chronicling the uphill climb of the band's musical career. Already they have received critical acclaim and a hit single with It's Not The End of World, which I'd say is back up there with the likes of Shinobi. However, the album wasn't actually the original recordings meant to be released. The band recorded a whole album but then decided to scrap it all as they were unhappy with the outcome. I caught up with guitarist Lee Gaze picking his brains on the ins and outs of the band, his loves and hates and why they scrapped that first attempt of The Betrayed.
Has there been like a pinnacle weird moments since being in the band?
Playing Reading Festival blew me away! Playing live is always awesome – we get to the point where we’re pretty much dragging ourselves off of stage!
Your new album is out now, I have read that this one is meant to be a lot darker to your previous work. Was this a conscious move? And if so, why?
I guess it’s a lot darker. Ian sings a lot of his own personal stuff and he has been more open and honest on this record than previously.
Did anything motivate this album lyrically or musically?
I guess the major thing is all the crap that we had throughout the process of making this, and by that I mean when we started out it wasn’t so dark but after all the crap we went through, it just took that tone. I mean it’s still uplifting in a positive and musical sense, but it’s just got a bit more balls to it.
How come you scrapped the first attempt at the album?
Basically when you’re in a band and you’re on a major label, you just presume that’s the way to do it; just to go into the studio with some guy… I mean when you think about it it’s a weird way to go about things, especially if you know what you’re doing because it’s like saying ‘I’m having some guy stand over my shoulder saying I shouldn’t do it like that, I should do it like this.’ We’ve worked really hard on this band and learnt what we were doing so we were like, ‘Why are we having this guy direct us and obviously he’s not necessarily going to have the same ideas as us.’
Working with another person worked well for the first record to help us get a feel for the whole thing, but after the failed attempts of working with other people on this record we started to think that if we couldn’t do it ourselves, should we be doing it?
You have played with loads of amazing bands? Who have been your favourites and why?
We always support our friends in Kids In Glass Houses – they’re good guys and a great band.
What stupid rumours have you heard about yourself?
People always talk about what genre of music we are and I’ve heard some crazy things like emo, punk, pop… If I had to pick a genre I’d just say we’re a rock band, lets not complicate things.
What should we expect from the forthcoming tour?
We love playing a mix of songs. We always want to play our older material for the buzz, but it's exciting to play our new material to a crowd as well and see how they receive it.
Quick fire round:
Shinobi or Dragon Ninja? Shinobi
Sega or Nintendo? Nintendo
Dungeons and Dragons or Defenders of the Earth? Defenders of the Earth
Tom Jones or Funeral for a Friend? Funeral for a Friend
Bill and Ted or Wayne's World? Bill and Ted
Star Trek or Star Wars? Star Wars
Things you didn't know about Lee:
Phil from Motorhead lent him his first guitar amp.
He knows no guitar chords and cannot read music.
He wanted to be a drummer.
He quit school early because he was convinced he'd be in a successful band.
He has an obsession with anything to do with aeronautics.
He wanted to be a zoologist but when his school put him on work experience in a pet shop he changed his mind.
He has a bad temper and no patience which Lee puts down to his small man complex.
He drove Brian Johnson's (AC/DC) E Type Jaguar.
He almost drowned in Hawaii when they recording Liberation Transmission.
He is a loner and love exploring new cities by myself.
Lee's Loves:
Family
Lostprophets band members
The Internet
Space and its mysteries
Horror movies
Video games
Shopping for new clothes and particularly in Selfridges
Good coffee
Top gear
Tokyo
Lee's Hates:
The band The Beautiful South
The Internet
Sport
Politics or lack of
Lists about things you love/hate
Internet acronyms
Complacency and a lack of passion
The price of Blu Rays
Traffic
People with no manners
Lee's top ten favourite bands:
The Police
Metallica
The Cure
Slayer
Iron Maiden
Megadeth
Anthrax
Pantera
The Prodigy
Duran Duran
The Betrayed is out now and the band are on tour throughout February.
