PAUL: Hey Neil, how are things with you right now?
NEIL: Things are great , keeping busy, you know how it is.
PAUL: You’re currently on tour with Alkaline Trio, how is the tour going? Are you getting a good reaction…Alk3 fans are pretty hardcore, right?
NEIL: Yeah , the tour is going really well . We are playing some big venues with an amazing and inspirational band . Mike and Ryan in particular are in dreamland right now because the trio are one of their all time favourite bands so every night they get to watch them and hang out with them . They are super nice guys too which is nice. Yeah the fans are totally hardcore but that adds to the challenge for us, at the start of the show people are like who the hell are these guys and by the end we have a load of people clapping and bobbing their heads . I think we have made some new fans.
PAUL: What inspired the new single ‘Not Afraid’? Was there a single event that made you write that song?
NEIL: Will , our bassist , wrote the music and sent it to me over email . I loved the music straight away and pretty quickly came up with the melody . The words weren’t written about one particular event more about the feeling of not being scared of what the future brings , not being afraid of what lies ahead.
PAUL: Who came up with the concept for the video? Was it a fun shoot?
NEIL: We did the video through sitcom soldiers , they gave us the concept for the video. We read the treatment and thought it would be fun to record. Recording it was tiring , take after take after take , but it was a real laugh, the planes in the hanger were awesome too!
PAUL: How is writing for the new record going? How many songs do you have written for the album?
NEIL: Currently we have 3 songs finished , another 8 written ready to record in next week . We are hoping to write another 3 or 4 in June to give us a choice from 14 / 15 songs when release the album . It feels great to be writing and recording again , its been a long time for us since we recorded the last album !
PAUL: Do you have any confirmed song titles or a confirmed album title? When can we expect to hear it?
PAUL: At the moment confirmed titles are Not Afraid (obviously) , Blood on my hands , Best Mistake , No Excuses , Seen me lately , Everyone knows, the rest are just bizarre working titles . The album title has been 100% decided yet but we are liking the name “transitions” . We are hoping to release it in October.
PAUL: How are the songs sounding? Is it going to be a natural progression from the last album or a new direction? What’s been influencing you and the band?
NEIL: We think the songs are sounding great , there are the tracks that you would expect from us with slamming guitars and catchy hooks but there’s also something for everyone on the album, slower songs , darker songs , faster songs , heavy songs , melodic songs . We played a few new songs on our last tour and the A!A! fans seemed to like them which is great!
PAUL: You’re doing a tour of small Welsh towns in June, what inspired that?
NEIL: Basically we are very proud of being Welsh and it dawned on me a month or so ago that we have never done a proper tour in Wales . Sure we have played Cardiff a bunch of times but thats not all Wales has to offer. We are really excited to be playing places and venues that are never visited by touring bands , venues and places that we know will be amazing shows.
PAUL: What can we expect from the full UK tour in October?
NEIL: Well its the longest and biggest tour we have ever done so we need to do something special . We are planning pyrotechnics , fire eaters , jugglers , clowns and some rock and roll to top it off 😉 . We are also doing VIP tickets on this tour so we can get to meet and greet our fans in the shows which we are really looking forward to.
PAUL: Just a couple of Dopamine related questions…any plans for new music?
NEIL: We are recording 3 songs in August at longwave studios . slow and steady wins the race with this one haha , the longterm goal is to release album 3 . Todd from straight lines is on guitar these days so co-ordinating rehersals and song writing is tough but we always have fun when we do . When we do the tour in December we will have one of the new songs available to buy.
PAUL: Why no northern dates as part of the December tour?
NEIL: There will be one added , watch this space!
PAUL: What’s next for both bands?
NEIL: A!A! record in june then welsh tour at the end of june . We are all taking a 2 week holiday in july . August we have a few shows lined up . then A!A! tour in October / November , Dopamine have shows in December . busy busy busy.