With the release of their new album, The Best In Town, setting the UK rock scene alight, now seemed like as good a time as any to grab a chat with Sean from Welsh terrors The Blackout.

Planet Loud – How’s things going mate?
The Blackout – We’ve just got back from LA to shoot two videos but we had a bit of accident as our bassist ended up in Intensive Care for two weeks.

Planet Loud – Ouch, what happened there?
The Blackout – He was on the bus waiting to get on the plane and he fainted and fell out of the bus and smashed his head on the concrete and had a bleed on the brian which was a bit stressful. We found out he was okay which was great but he had to miss a couple of shows.

Planet Loud – Apart from that, how was LA?
The Blackout – LA was beautiful. It was the complete opposite of Merthyr Tydfill, South Wales. It was warm and the people there were beautiful!

Planet Loud – Would you move out there?
The Blackout – Maybe, if I had a billion dollars. Probably.

Planet Loud – The end of last year you signed to Epitaph, how did that come about?
The Blackout – There was a battle, well, not so much a battle but there was interest from a few labels but, when it came down to it, I think we realised that Epitaph would be the label for us. They seemed more up for anything we wanted, they liked all our ideas and we know they’re really good at what they do because they’re one of the most major independant labels around. They just seemed really excited by it and when we gave them the record they couldn’t do enough for us so seein’ them excited got us excited.

Planet Loud – Last year was a good year for you guys, what was the highlight?
The Blackout – Probably playing the Astoria as we’d never played it before. We’d played Mean Fiddler a bunch of times but to play the Astoria, unsigned, and sell it out was amazing. It was a big deal for us.

Planet Loud – Did it surprise you when you sold out?
The Blackout – Yeah because, at the end of the day, we’re just six average Welsh boys who didn’t think they’d play outside South Wales so for us to go to a different country and play to two thousand people doesn’t make sense to us. Every day we ask ourselves how we managed this. At one point we could play in our home town and play to nobody but now we can go to London and play to two thousand kids. So, yeah, it’s awesome, we’re very grateful to people who like our band.

Planet Loud – You’ve always come across as very confident do you still feel you’ve got a lot to learn?
The Blackout – Oh yeah. There are always other things we can try and pick up.

Planet Loud – What did you learn as a band over the last year?
The Blackout – I guess it was stuff like stage confidence, trying to refine our game. I guess we’ve kind of learned about money and the business side of it as well. At the moment all we want to do is put on a massive show with stupid lights and fireworks but our management is teaching is about the business side. We’re doing Warped tour this Summer and we’re going to lose so much money doing it that to do a tour now with the stage show we want would just ruin us. So, we’re kind of learning the hard way by having to pull ourselves back from doing stupid things.

Planet Loud – Considering the praise heaped on the band, is it hard to keep your feet on the ground?
The Blackout – Not really, like when we get to Warped we’re going to be nobody in a sea of bands. Like, now, I’m outside the cinema in Merthyr Tydfil and there are people in this town don’t give a shit what I do or say or who I am. To them I’m just another one of those goth kids milling around. I think, us coming from where we do, we couldn’t get massive egos. I think we’re always going to have our feet on the ground.

Planet Loud – You personally always get recognised at gigs. Does that attention bother you?
The Blackout – No, I love it. Obviously, if you start a band and do quite well, you’ve got to accept it and come to terms with it. I’m completely grateful for anyone who comes to see us so I will spend time with anyone who wants to come and talk to me about my band. There’s always moaning people though – like someone moaned about me being miserable in Glasgow but I wasn’t well and I got off the bus and it was surrounded by kids. You’ve just got to pull yourself out of it as those kids have paid their money to come and see you – they don’t realise that I’ve been me for twenty years and, when I look at me, I don’t really get that excited. For some reason though when we go to places some people get quite excited seeing my fat mop-head. For anyone who says they don’t enjoy the attention, they’re not being entirely truthful.

Planet Loud – Or they’re in the wrong game..
The Blackout – Exactly.

Planet Loud – Okay, tell us about the new record..
The Blackout – It’s the best thing we’ve ever done. If the people reading this liked the last stuff then this will blow their minds. It’s the best stuff we’ve ever done. It’s the catchiest stuff we’ve ever done. It’s the best sounding stuff we’ve ever done so hopefully people will like it.

Planet Loud – What did you want to change from the last record?
The Blackout – I think the whole writing process was different this time because the last one we’d just finished the mini-album and thought we’d have ages but the label came up and said you’ve got two months to write a new album so we kind of, I won’t say rushed it, but we were able to take our time on this record. I listen to this record every day, it’s awesome and, if I wasn’t in this band, it would be one of my favourite records. So, if I get kicked out, I’ll have a new favourite record but I’m hoping they’ll keep me to be honest.

Planet Loud – The Best In Town. Do you think people will see that as a fairly cocky statement to make?
The Blackout – I guess so but that’s the point of it I guess. It comes from a line in the first song on the album, Shut The Fuck Uppercut which is about people who have always got a bad word to say. We’ve met so many people who are nice and really kind to our faces but we find out they’re talking shit about us behind our back. You always get that with people, they come up and ask about the band and I’ll say something like “oh we’ve been to Japan” and they’ll come back with “oh, Japan, yeah, it’s alright..” No, sorry, Japan is fucking awesome. It’s a thing against all the negativity. It’s not us saying we’re the best band in town it’s more about being the best at ANYTHING in town. Kids can make of that what they will.

Planet Loud – Was the first single STFUppercut inspired by anyone in particular?
The Blackout – It’s just about the local attitude and why I think we have our feet firmly on the ground. There’s always this attitude of negativity and bringing someone down who is doing quite well. For some reason where we’re from you can’t be seen to be doing well because it’s not expected.

Planet Loud – Surely that’s a British mentality in general though?
The Blackout – Yeah, I guess it is. I’ve seen it with a lot of bands but I can only speak from where we’re from and it seems to be that way here. There’s no need for it. We’re lucky though because there is a really good community of bands who help each other out. If it wasn’t for Lostprophets we wouldn’t have had our break as soon. We took Kids In Glass Houses out on tour, Said Micheal, Attack!Attack! – it’s just a bunch of great bands who are all friends. What it is though is the people who are not even in bands putting down the bands for doing well and leaving their towns.

Planet Loud – Do you think it’s down to jealousy?
The Blackout – It’s got to be that, yeah. I mean, I don’t know what else it could be? You can’t hate somebody for doing well. It’s must be that.

Planet Loud – What advice would you give a band?
The Blackout – Be confident, don’t let anybody tell you what to do and just be nice to everybody who gives you the time of day. We try to be nice to everyone we meet from sound engineers to catering. Just because you’re in a band doesn’t mean that you’re better than anybody else. You just have to realise you’re nobody special just because you’re in a band.

Planet Loud – You mentioned Lostprophets, would you like reach that level of success?
The Blackout – We’ve got what it takes to be bigger! We’re going to take them out on tour with us. They’re going to open for us with Metallica as main support. Seriously, I’d like to say yes, we have the dreams and the ability to be that big but it’s not up to us though, it’s up to the kids to like our band and come out and see us.

Planet Loud – You’ve called the album The Best In Town but with Limp Bizkit reforming you’ve got some pretty big competition. Any message for Fred Durst?
The Blackout – Mail me back! I’ve emailed him to say we did a cover of My Generation because I thought he’d get some sort of money out of this but he hasn’t got back to me. If it wasn’t for Limp Bizkit, The Blackout probably wouldn’t have come to be. I was sixteen at the time and I got into Chocolate Starfish because I heard Fred Durst swearing loads so being an impressionable teenager, I was like “yes! This man is swearing. A lot. I want some of this”. So, really, Limp Bizkit is to blame for The Blackout. If someone is reading this and they don’t like The Blackout, blame Fred Durst, it’s not our fault.

Planet Loud – Okay, onto Warped Tour, what are you expecting from it?
The Blackout – I’m expecting it to be very warm and it should be a lot of fun. People have said you’re either going to love it or really hate it and I think we’re going to love it because we’re easy to get on with so I’m sure we’ll talk to anyone and get on with a bunch of bands. It’s basically going to be a massive party. We love to play live and we love to party so to turn up in a different city of America every day is going to be brilliant. It’ll be wake up, barbeque, play, get on the bus, party.. next town.

Planet Loud – Apart from your thirty minute slot what will you be doing to pass the time?
The Blackout – We’re just going to watch a bunch of other bands because we’re just going to be another band that nobody really gives a shit about at that time until we get a push out there. We’ll just play our set then mill about and talk to anybody who wants to talk to us.

Planet Loud – What can the Americans expect from The Blackout?
The Blackout – They can expect to have their faces melted off. I’m going to tan some Americans. I’m going to give them a lesson in British humour and I’m going to teach them how to rock.

Planet Loud – Do you think the Americans will get your sense of humour?
The Blackout – Probably not but it’ll be a laugh anyway. Well, for the six of us it will be. I’ve watched enough American comedy so I’m sure I’ll be able to pull something out of the bag anyway.

Planet Loud – And before Warped you’ve got Download..
The Blackout – Yes, I’m expecting to meet Mike Patton and I want him to punch me in the face. I want Fred Durst to fight me for no reason. Wes Borland will be upset with me for no reason. Seriously though it’s one of the best festival line-ups I’ve seen in years and that’s not just because we’re on it. If we weren’t I’d probably still be going, it’s that good. It’s going to be an honour to be on the same stage as bands like Limp Bizkit and Faith No More. Between all of us, I think Faith No More are probably our favourite band so I really can’t wait to see them.

Planet Loud – Ok, what is your view on the changes in the music industry and the shift to digital music over CDs?
The Blackout – I think it is good because you can put your music out there and it can be heard. Myspace is revolutionary as anyone who is in a band can get their music heard. It’s good for little bands but I think it means there won’t ever be a band who will be as big as Metallica or AC/DC come around again who will sell twenty million copies of an album because there are just so many smaller bands these days who do great music.

Planet Loud – Okay, just to finish, what are your goals for the future?
The Blackout – If the Best In Town does really, really well then we’re going to play in ports on the back of ships. We’ll turn up on aircraft carriers, play then fuck off.

Planet Loud – Will you dress up like Cher did in that video?
The Blackout – Probably for a laugh or we just might get Cher in the band instead. We might kick Gavin out and get Cher in instead. She’d be in tune and wouldn’t be drunk like Gavin.

Planet Loud – Awesome, well, it’s been great talking to you, thanks for your time.
The Blackout – No problem mate, take care.

Interview by Graham Finney