Modestep are hitting the big time right now: not only has their second album ‘London Road’ gone down a storm since its release a few weeks ago, but they’re hitting the festival circuit hard this summer. We had a chat with the guys to find out how it’s all going for them.
Hey guys! You’ve just released your new album, ‘London Road’. What can people expect from it (if they haven’t heard it yet)?
Hello! They can expect a continuous piece of music that represents a bunch of very UK specific sounds. It represents where we come from and the British music that has influenced us.
How do you think your second album compares to your earlier material?
We think it’s a lot more refined. We spent a lot of time on this record compared to the last one.
Do you have any personal favourite tracks off the album?
I think for most of us our favourite track is ‘Seams’ because it was the first track we made for the album. It was a real soundscape for the rest of the record.
How are you feeling about having some new material at shows? Will you play a lot of the new stuff live?
It’s all been going down so well. It was written for our live show, and we’ve been playing most of it out in our new live show.
How have your fans been reacting to the new material? Are you happy with the response?
It’s split our fans down the middle, those who just wanted a bunch of material sounding like the old stuff are a little upset but I think we’ve gained a whole bunch of new fans who like it slightly heavier and more rock orientated.
You uploaded one new song every day on the run up to album release. What made you decide to do that? How did the fans respond?
It was a decision I made as I think it’s much better to give them it bit by bit than just throw the whole thing up to stream before it comes out. The response was amazing, we’ve had over a million plays of the songs so far.
How did the album launch party go?
It was insane. It was the first time we had a load of the artists from the record in the same room and it was pure London vibes all night!
You’ve got a big summer tour coming up, including dates at Glastonbury and Reading and Leeds. How are you feeling about getting back on the road?
We can’t wait! It’s what we do this for. We love being in the studio but the stage is where we are most at home.
What are you most looking forward to this summer?
Reading Main Stage is a big moment for our career, we went to that festival for years as kids! Also, we’re playing to half a million people in Poland this year for Woodstock festival.
You’ve done some pretty cool things. What has been your favourite thing you’ve done in the band to date?
We do all sorts of strange things that I can’t believe we get to do. The other day we were on Playboy TV in the USA! I always just think how on earth have we got ourselves into this position?!
LAIS MW
Modestep are currently acting as judges and mentors for the Relentless Here To Be Heard competition, where the winning DJ will play Leeds Festival.
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