Hello Blue was the soundtrack for Everton’s F.A. Cup Match Preview versus Liverpool and Manchester City’s March Goal of the Month featured Moviemaker.

MetalChroniques: Can you introduce the band in a nutshell?
Chris Owen: We’re Exile Parade, north-west of England, we have just released our debut album Hit The Zoo with 11 titles focused on guitars, powerful vocals, interesting lyrics … I hope everyone will agree with that!

M.: And the band members, how the group has mounted so.?
C. O.: It started 6 or 7 years ago, I met another guitarist Phil [Hennessey] because we played football together regularly. We finally discuss and play together, make oxen, everything went well! We were three at the time, with Dave [Hennessey, bassist and brother of the above]. We tried to take someone to the drums, but it was not very good. Finally, he did what he could: he had a night job, and they were sometimes not see him for three, four weeks, until there is a concert. And that, that’s not good in a group! During this time we found our singer, Lomax. I saw him singing playing acoustic guitar, and I offered to join our group and he did some rehearsals with us. And finally, we recruited our new drummer [Gary Mutch], after advertisements in magazines: he has seen one, joined us, rehearsals with him have gone very well. And here are five of us, obviously we have our ups and downs but so far so good, we do not hate! (Laughs)

M.: Another traditional question: what are your musical influences?
C. O.: I got interested in music in the mid to late 90s, that’s when I started playing guitar. I listened to my “gods”, as Oasis or the Beatles with the double red and double blue [compilations, 1962-1966 for the red, blue for 1967-1970], I listened mostly old songs, more pop as “I Saw Her Standing There” and “She Loves You”. I was also a big fan of Led Zeppelin, I remember I was listening to Led Zeppelin IV, with of course “Stairway To Heaven” but the last song “When The Levee Breaks,” with the drums … This is my biggest influences, after there are also bands like Nirvana or the Velvet Underground. Right now I love a band called The Kills, Jamie Hince what [guitarist of said band] on guitar, the sounds he draws from. We all went to see one of their concerts in Manchester a few months ago, it was giant. Well, I’m here right now, there is not really much new groups that I like.
M.: Yes, you seem to listen to much music, that it quite a bit dated …
C. O.: Yes, and then we all phases, is not it? Outside Kills I love U2, but I mostly listen to Joshua Tree right now. It’s the same with everything, after a while you get tired, and it’s been ages since I had listened more because of it. And then I emerged recently and I remembered … it’s very, very, very good, no wonder I’ve listened to all the time! It’s like looking at a series, you look at it constantly, or at least I do, and ultimately I ended up hating it … well we do not necessarily hate it, it’s just that you no longer want watch it because you know every line! And then you go back six months or a year later, and you do: “nah, it’s really good. “(Laughs)

M.: It says everywhere that you love Oasis, so working with Owen Morris [Oasis producer of so-called] has been like a dream come true, but more importantly, what he brought to music ?
C. O.: Well … it’s just crazy! And one of the best producers in the world. He came to one of our concerts in our area, it took us aside after we had a few drinks together and he told us he wanted to save us! After a few months time to gather some money, we went into the Real World Studios in Box, studios of Peter Gabriel. This is an absolutely fantastic with a huge recording studio we wanted to use. Because at first you go to small studios to make demos, but they are not large enough for the drums and guitars playing together: we really wanted to play as a group, to “bounce back”. We ended up going there, it was great, and when we finished recording we pécoutions Led Zeppelin or the Beatles, for example, I remember that we listened to “Yellow Submarine” a lot of times, very hard! This is a very good memory. Obviously we would sometimes play badly, but he knew motivate us. For example he would sometimes say, “oh yeah, you remind me of George Harrison and Jimmy Page! “(Laughs) Of course behind my head I thought,” I know you’re lying! I know you’re lying! But … you say something good! “I felt good with that.

M.: And it seems that recording this album took much longer than expected?
C. O.: Well, when we went to Real World Studios we recorded a half dozen songs, and we had pretty good feedback on it. And then time passed and we realized that some of the songs we recorded were not good enough. So we have written others, and they are even worse (laughs). We sent them to Owen and he replied: “No, I do not register it. “After 18 months or two years, we finally had 5 or 6 other songs and we went to Monnow Valley Studios in Wales. Again, this was a very intense experience, we recorded all our new titles, I think there were 7 or 8. And when we were leaving after all this long, we were all in a state a few second due to lack of sleep, and they told us that it cost so much. We told them that our management should take care, but they had not received anything, our former management elsewhere, and in fact he refused to pay for us. But we could not leave the studio with the master without paying rent, we were sent there without money even though it was the studios to several thousand pounds per day, we wanted the best studios in the world.

It took us maybe 2 years to pay this sum and retrieving titles, return to the real world and save our own money back with some Migliari Marco, he has worked with Kelly Jones of Stereophonics example. And he worked as sound engineer on our first record, so he knew us, knew our sound. We made the last 4 songs to that point. But even then the album was not finished in one week, it took us another 4 or 5 weeks. But here, we had to finance everything ourselves in the end, that’s why it took 3 or 4 years. In fact, before returning to the real world with Marco, we were not in studios cheaper, and when we came out the sound remained “light” [or "cheap" in English, literally "cheaper" often means "not very good "]. I remember someone telling me: “you have a sound that hard! “Because it looks like a big wall of sound, and you have a large recording studio to do that, you can not do in a small studio. But we went back to Marco for it mixes it, because he knows us, and ultimately it seems that it was recorded in two weeks.

M.: It is certain that you sound like an “independent English rock band”, but you also like experimenting here and there?
C. O.: Yes, but it’s just a natural process, in fact we play on the album as we would live, there is nothing particularly thoughtful. Sure there are some adjustments to correct errors, but that’s it! But ideas grow naturally, just buy an odd instrument, try to play, not sound comes out, then an agreement, then you try to put the battery in different places … For example there with Marco worked great detail, by adding random cymbals, playing with effects pedals, things like that. They came in saying, “Oh Marco, I found a new trick, is it possible to try it like this? “He plugged, and it was gone. But it is natural, it’s just playing music in the end, even if it can give us on this side a little more experimental. And it will certainly be like that until we finally make an album entirely acoustic or such! (Laughs)
M.: Maybe one day?
C. O.: Yes, among the 17,000 that already exist! (Laughs)

M.: But even if every song has its own little experimental side to it, on the last song, “Shadows” is very, very, very experimental: Do you think that in future you will remain on some something fairly light like that, or will you rather go in the direction of “growing” as in “Shadows”?
C. O.: I do not really know. To be honest, it will perhaps not as extreme as on “Shadows”, but still the main aspect of our music and music in general, in my opinion anyway, it’s the melody. It takes a melody from a song in the voice, the guitars, in the accompaniment on the chorus, all these things. But yes, it can become a bit more experimental than what is already on the album, evoking scenes, things like that. But there will always be songs without all these mixtures, we are not trying to create a revolution with each song, it’s not for us. Not yet anyway, but who knows?
M.: Nevertheless, you did it for a song!
C. O.: Yes, yes, that’s enough, no doubt! (Laughs)

M.: Even if it is only your first album, you’ve already released many videos I think?
C. O.: Yes, it’s something that has always interested, make videos. We just finished “Movie Maker”, with one who had done “Hello Blue”, and he’s a thing we like to do. This is another form of art after all and we are all creative people.
M.: What is actually surprising is that it gives the impression that you are interested first in the videos, and album or studio release comes second. As if the video was more important than the album?
C. O.: Well, I guess with everything that happened with the release of the album we mainly looked for a way to print our name in people’s minds. Especially that nowadays, people watch more videos, there is more than that so many people who sit down to listen to an album. That’s why the visual is important, I think it’s why we got involved there.

M.: Speaking of video … what is that weird this photo on the cover of the album? What it is supposed represented?
[Well, it's part of the questions in more dry than expected, at the base that was more in the spirit, "the English bands have a rather unique aesthetic sense, he has to see Coldplay they are easily spotted because of that there ... you wanted your claim on the British side coverage so special? "This is not necessarily better elsewhere ... but fatigue, stress, and widgets-widgets!]
C. O.: The obvious explanation would be that this is a link to the album title, Hit The Zoo, to fight a wild animal. But it is not a simple image made to mark people. When we released an album, especially when it’s your first album and nobody knows your name, you must leap out of the mass, and if we could afford it’d be in 3D to really blow you in the face. But yes, it is also a literal translation of “Hit The Zoo”, although you can also see things differently. That’s what’s interesting about the music after all, or with any art, and even if I do not know how we practice “art”: someone may cry genius and that this is fantastic, while its neighbor will tend not to agree! (Laughs)

M.: Looking through various interviews, you seem very proud of your music [besides his modesty displayed in this interview surprised me? Or if the writers like select passages where they brag!], Did not you afraid people will perceive it negatively?
C. O.: It is necessary to have confidence in what you do? Because if it is not the case, who else will believe it? It is not because this is our music that we support it as much, honestly if another group was we would be the first to say that it’s great. But fortunately for us, we make it! We love doing this, it takes us much time and money. But if someone wants to say that it’s worthless [censored powered], make yourself happy … or let me put you in one? (Laughs) But seriously, it’s just a matter of opinion, just have the kindness to stay away from us! (Laughs)

M.: Is it me or is it a note [a do what I feel] very slightly serious about “Astronauts”? Is it voluntary [from the group]? [It is absolutely certain that this note is a little severe hair, although quite accurate; it is mainly whether it is a choice of cellist or group.]
C. O.: Well, as I said before, there may be some mistakes, and it was fine as they were kept.
M.: I’m not sure whether it’s a mistake to be honest!
C. O: No, but even such small things happen, otherwise there would be more than the manufactured pop to the computer, with perfect timing every time etc.. There was nothing particularly deliberate with that, it’s humans making music, not computers. But I’ll be listening, I will check!
M.: No, but it magnifies the melancholy side of the song, maybe it’s just the cellist who did it voluntarily! Because it’s always the same note and play the same way.
C. O: You never know!

M.: Something you want to say but I did not ask, or last words for our readers?
C. O.: Since you are reading this, take an ear to the album, and if you like it come see us when we get around? That’s it. And if you do not, stay out of our way! (Laughs)

*Thanks to Metal Chroniques* http://metalchroniques.fr/wp3/2012/interviews/exile-parade-chris-owen-fevrier-2012/

Lighting by Chris http://www.dbs-solutions.co.uk

Starring Miss Lily Stark http://www.lilystark.co.uk and Karen Sant http://www.kntdanceworks.co.uk

Related Gig

• Artist: Exile Parade
• Tour: Hit The Zoo
• Date: Wednesday, February 1st 2012
• Time: 8:00pm
• City: Exile Parade in Amsterdam
• Venue: Winston
• Country: Netherlands
• Admission: TBC
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Exile Parade
• Tour: Hit The Zoo
• Date: Thursday, February 2nd 2012
• Time: 8:00pm
• City: Exile Parade in Haarlem
• Venue: Patronaat
• Country: Netherlands
• Admission: TBC
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Exile Parade
• Tour: Hit The Zoo
• Date: Friday, February 3rd 2012
• Time: 8:00pm
• City: Exile Parade in Den Haag
• Venue: SuperMarkt
• Country: Netherlands
• Admission: TBC
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

• Artist: Exile Parade
• Tour: Hit The Zoo
• Date: Saturday, February 4th 2012
• Time: 8:00pm
• City: Exile Parade in Weidum
• Venue: Roek Rock Festival
• Country: Netherlands
• Admission: TBC
• Add to Google Calendar | Download iCal

http://exileparadeuk.bandcamp.com/track/white-christmas

The second session features Lomax doing The Verve’s ‘On Your Own’ in the bathroom.

Now up, Phil covering the bittersweet tune, ‘Twilight’, by Elliott Smith.

The final session is now available to view! Full band version of Bob Dylan’s ‘Shelter From The Storm’.

Visit http://www.youtube.com/exileparadeuk or http://www.exileparade.co.uk/ep-tv/ for an exclusive look

Also, you can still listen to our top 5 Manchester tunes from Saturday nights session at BBC Manchester http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00j93ll

Ronnie Thompson, author of Screwed, has given Exile Parade a glowing report in the press.