The Answer have been a prominent name in the world of rock
music since their debut release, Rise. Raise a Little Hell is the next installment in The Answer's discography, with hopes of it reaching it's the
charts more than the previous albums have done. As they are ready to set sail
around the world playing venues and drinking exquisite beer, I managed to have
a chat with bassist Mickey Waters - I like having chats.
~Matthew Clewley
Raise a Little Hell has been released, have you enjoyed
making this album like you have done with the previous ones?
I have, more than most to be honest, this one didn't have
any agenda going into the studio it was very much just taking off with a bunch
of fresh ideas and making the most of hanging out in a comfortable studio. It's
definitely the most honest record I've ever done because we pretty much trusted
ourselves to come up with strong ideas and under the pressure of the studio
atmosphere, but not forcing it as it was a cool idea to jam for an hour and hit
the record button.
Why did you record it in Spain?
We did, we chose the producer of this record is called Will
Maya, who's an old friend and worked on our first record with us almost ten
years ago, and since then he worked in the background with us with b-sides and
live albums. He really wanted to do the record and he owns a residential place
an hour north of Madrid in the mountains, it looked like a theme from a
spaghetti western! It was a really cool atmosphere and a different place with a
lot of inspiration to think about what we are doing.
Did he produce the rest?
Yeah, he has credits in pretty much everything what we do.
We used to be pretty fussy by going to meet producers and pick someone who will
bring something to the album. What he did bring to the album is that he knows
us so well and can bring the best out of us. He was trying to put his own stamp
on the record and wanted to get the best out of us performance wise.
What was so difficult about recording this album?
I guess asking ourselves “How good can we be?” or “Are we
good enough?” to be put on the spot and come up with ideas. When you turn on
the red light and you come up with a chorus and a melody, and musically we're
coming up with these ideas on the spot was very challenging. I think that's why
this record has more edge because the last couple we rehearsed like hell in the
studio a month before we went the studio to know where all the riffs were, the
bass line were as they were all marked out, but with Raise a Little Hell it has
more edge than our previous records because it's all kind of new, I did a
session now in Belfast and I had to rehearse the single because I was like “did
we change that a little?” and it's never happened before, but it keeps everyone
excited and on edge, and that gets a better performance I think.
How long does it take for you guys to write a song?
I think I am what I am has wrote in 10 minutes, it's been
knocking about for a while and that was started on the last album and wasn't
quite finished and then shelved it. We've done that a lot in the past, like the
song Renegades, some of these have been two years in the making whilst some have
been made in five minutes.
You've consecutively charted in the UK and Japan since Rise,
are you expecting the same reception?
I mean, touring is pretty good and hopefully with the album
I will get top 20 in the UK and we do well in the European charts as well,
Germany, Spain, France and we want to do well in the States as we have been
getting a lot of press there recently and we're going to tour there for six weeks. We want to make some sort of impact, with rock n roll we have got to get
touring, and for the next 6 months we will be hitting the road to see what
happens.
Are they your favorite places to tour?
We love playing the UK because we have so many friends there
and we've done it so many times and we know somebody we're gonna get a beer
with, but when we tour across America, you know that dream you have as a kid
where you go on a tour bus and you're going to places like San Francisco,
Seattle and you have to picture yourself doing it, and it's our favorite place
to tour.
You guys have stuck with the same line up since day one, how
does that feel knowing that?
Yeah we have for over 10 years now since we were teenagers.
Have you had any arguments?
Ah yeah we fight like hell all the time, we've had fist
fights and a drunken brawls regularly, but the next morning it wouldn't occur.
It's kind of like a marriage to be honest, having fights all the time with
creative business and you're never out of each others pockets when you're touring,
and we've been touring a lot. At the end of the day, it's our job and we've
been doing this, we love what we do, when we have a good show everything is
fine, but we're hard on ourselves and if we aren't performing well it gets us
down. We're working as hard as we can, and people are buying tickets with their
had earned money to our shows, so we want to give it our best.
What's the key to your live performances?
I think we are passionate for rock n roll music, and if
you're honest with yourself and know your capabilities and you have that gel,
it wasn't easy to find. We locked ourselves in rehearsal rooms in school every
day for years just to practise and practise until we knew what we are doing. I
already look at James and know when he's doing something, it's that natural
instinct we have for each others playing and we know what we want to do next
that makes it a little bit of magic when it goes well. Sometimes it doesn't go
well when there is something going wrong in your life, so we try to keep things
consistent.
Are
you booked for supporting bands like AC/DC again?
Yes and no, I think we felt for a little while we were a
support band as we supported bands like The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Aerosmith,
and in a way that pissed us off a bit because we wanted to do our own thing,
but on your first album and these opportunities come you have to cease them as
you;re spreading the word on a regular basis, it got us noticed, but we wanted
to do our own thing a little bit more.
You were featured on the Black Ice tour, was that the best
tour experience you've ever had?
We knew when we were on that it was the biggest tour in the
world because of the figures coming in every night, I knew it was special and
they knew it was special. I think they couldn't believe how well this tour has
done, the right things happened at the right time. It was an amazing
experience, everyday was an adventure.
Have you listened to Rock or Bust?
I've only heard the single, I've got a few ACDC fans that
are friends and they think it's the best thing since their last record. I've
heard the single, and I think it's a strong record.
Are you influenced by AC/DC?
I think AC/DC influence every rock band, they influenced
modern rock as I played AC/DC to death
when I was a kid, we all did, and it's impossible not to be influenced by that infatuate groove they have. The sound is so good, Back In Black still sounds
like the best sonic rock albums ever. Of course, I'm massively influenced by
AC/DC, The Who, Whitesnake, we all still listen to it.
Would you play into your 60s/70s?`
I think we're only getting warmed up to be honest, we're
getting more focused with what we're doing.I think in the past when we come off
tour we get out of each others hair for a few months we go and write songs
ready for the rehearsal room and then go to the studio, now we write all the
time, everyone is writing everyday. We have more to write about now.