ONE ON ONE: AN INTERVIEW WITH YOUNG CULTURE!

THIS IS HIVE MAGAZINE, I’M DANNI BAKER AND TODAY I’M HERE BACKSTAGE AT KEY CLUB WITH THE GUYS FROM YOUNG CULTURE, HOW ARE WE DOING TODAY GUYS?

Alex: I'm good. How are you Danni?

I’M GOOD THANKYOU. VERY WARM! IT’S BEEN CRAZY THIS WEEKEND! NOT TYPICAL BRITISH WEATHER, AND CONSIDERING THE LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE WAS LIKE WINTER!

Alex: Yeah, and it was pouring outside. We did the same venue too and I remember it was so rainy that day, right?

Gabe: Yeah, yeah we were here in February

THE WORST TIME!

Gabe and when we were coming back, I kind of just always had it in my mind that it was still going to be cold and like dreary outside, but like the last two days have been so gorgeous and sunny and nice. Yeah it's great.

YOU GUYS GLAD TO BE BACK OVER HERE?

Gabe: 100%

Alex: Couldn’t be happier

HAVE YOU HAD ANY BIG CULTURE SHOCKS BEING OVER HERE? OBVIOUSLY I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE BUT WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CULTURE SHOCKS FOR YOU?

Gabe: We were leaving the Airbnb today and I couldn't figure out how to lock the front door because apparently you have to push the handle up? And then turn the key?

YEAH A LOT ARE LIKE THAT!

Gabe: Yeah, that was new for me. I felt pretty dumb because I was like, I had to ask our driver to come help me lock the door.

Alex: Yeah, I mean, obviously the driving on the other side of the street thing is like, yeah. Our bassist, Mac, it's her first time here and she was freaking out about it for like the whole first day.

HAVE YOU DONE MUCH SIGHTSEEING YET? I KNOW TODAY’S THE FIRST SHOW OF THE TOUR, BUT IN THE ENTIRE TIME YOU’VE BEEN OVER HERE HAVE YOU DONE MUCH YET?

Gabe: No, no, not this time. Last time we definitely went big touristy mode, but I think this time we'll try and do, we asked our driver to bring us to really cool spots and stuff.

Alex: He was saying that, tomorrow's Newcastle, and he was saying that like the Hogwarts castle might be up there or something? I don't know! Our drummer Simon’s a big Harry Potter fan.

Gabe: He loves Harry Potter. He really actually wants to go really badly. Yeah, so we might go there. Cast some spells, He'll cast spells!

Alex: Wingardium Leviosa!

Gabe: And I will say, we were outside yesterday and I asked somebody for a lighter and he was like “That's a crazy accent you have”.

Alex: Yeah, he asked if he was from Texas! I was like, that's awesome!

WAS THIS HERE IN LEEDS?

Gabe: No, it was in like a small town somewhere. We got picked up at the airport and then we drove to right outside Nottingham? Somewhere around there.Yeah, I don't know. I don't know where I am in the States! So over here, I just go completely like it goes blank.

IT’S ALL JUST UK, ALL JUST THE UK!

Alex: It's all just beautiful, and I'm so happy to be here. Yeah.

SO YOU GUYS ARE ALSO DOING YOUR FIRST HEADLINES OVER HERE, AS WELL AS SUPPORTING ARROWS IN ACTION WHICH IS WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY, WAS THERE ANY REASON THAT YOU DECIDED NOW WAS THE TIME TO DO YOUR FIRST HEADLINES?

Gabe: Well, like you said, we came over here with Between You and Me last year, and that was just the most incredible experience. When it came to venues over here and the people at the shows, it was a totally different vibe than in The States. People seemed to really care and the venue staff care and there were some cities we didn't get to do, we weren't going to get to do on this tour and we were like “Well we're already here why not tack on some extra dates and stuff?”. Which is funny because we haven't even headlined in The States yet so we're so we're doing our first stab at it in Manchester and Nottingham!

Alex: Yeah it's pretty it's pretty crazy doing like our first like real headliners over here, but I mean, how sick is that?

SO FAR AWAY FROM HOME AS WELL, HONESTLY THAT’S INCREDIBLE, THAT’S AN ACHIEVEMENT IN ITSELF!

Gabe: I think it's crazy that people are buying tickets. I was like “Oh. Alright, cool, sweet!”. It'll be a lot of fun. It'll be a lot of fun.

WELL I MEAN, AS SOMEONE FROM MANCHESTER, WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO HAVE YOU THERE!

Gabe: That was one of my favorite shows of the last tour, so I definitely wanted to get back.

I REMEMBER THERE WAS A FAIR FEW PEOPLE IN THAT CROWD THAT WERE SINGING ALONG, AND WHAT A PLACE TO DO YOUR FIRST HEADLINES! IT’S AN INCREDIBLE CITY. WHEN YOU ARE TOURING, DOING A MIX OF SUPPORTS AND HEADLINES, HOW IS IT REHEARSING TWO DIFFERENT SETS? I IMAGINE IT’S JUST A SHORTER VERSION OF THE HEADLINE SET?

Gabe: Yeah, it's like we rehearse the headline set and then strip back what we're cutting some of the fat. Luckily, right before this tour started, we got to do a longer set opening for The Maine. So we kind of got to rehearse that way, support here, and then we'll just hopefully not forget it when we do the last two shows!

I’M SURE YOU GUYS WILL BE ABSOLUTELY FINE! HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT SONGS HAVE TO GO, THAT MUST BE SO HARD WHEN YOU HAVE SO MANY INCREDIBLE TRACKS! HOW DO YOU DECIDE?

Alex: Honestly, I think that out of anything, that's what we disagree on the most! Some of the songs, this time I think I got my way a little bit more!

Gabe: Last year I got my way a bit more, so we give and take on what we like to pick.

Alex: Honestly, I feel like the best way to go about it most of the time is what songs the crowd reacts to the most, you know? Like obviously coming over here it's like okay, I want to play the songs like that everyone wants to hear, and kind of maybe like put my pride aside and and not do ones that I like want to play more, you know? But it's all fun, I mean, I love playing all of them so it's not really an issue doing it because I still like, even the songs from like five years ago and stuff, I still really like playing them which is great.

DO YOU GUYS HAVE A FAVOURITE TO PLAY LIVE?

Alex: (To Gabe) Ooh, you go first!

Gabe: I mean, I love playing, we're doing some new songs on this tour and those are my favorite to play.

Alex: Okay, besides the new songs.

Gabe: Besides the new songs, I still love playing Drift. I love playing Drift.

Alex: I was going to say Drift too! Which is crazy because that's one that we wrote when we were, like, maybe, 19 or maybe even younger. I don't know.It's just fun, and I like the way it feels. Yeah.

YEAH YOU GUYS AGREED ON SOMETHING THOUGH THAT’S INCREDIBLE, SEE WE ARE GETTING THERE!

Gabe: We did! We're still best friends!

SO WE KIND OF ALREADY TOUCHED ON THIS BUT OBVIOUSLY YOU GUYS HAVE JUST OPENED FOR THE MAINE RIGHT BEFORE YOU CAME OVER HERE. FIRSTLY, CONGRATULATIONS THAT’S MASSIVE IN ITSELF! HOW WAS THAT, PLAYING TO SUCH A BIG CROWD AND HOW WAS THE RECEPTION FOR IT?

Gabe: Oh, it was a lot of fun and it was really cool. It was definitely one of those like full circle moments I think, like before we even really started this band, that was one of our favorite bands. Alex showed me The Maine, it was one of the songs off ‘Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop’ was first song I learned how to play on guitar, and like, yeah. So it was really cool, they were really, really, really sweet it just felt fun more than anything, more than like even playing a gig. It was kind of like, “Damn, we really get to enjoy this moment”. Right before we came here too. It was really cool, yeah. I mean, incredible, incredible. They have sweet fans and like I think there's always been a lot of crossover and we never got to play a show together.

Alex: Totally yeah. It was two shows for their album ‘American Candy’ which is the ten year for it, and genuinely, I feel like when we started this band they were such a huge influence on us and that album in particular. So again, full circle moment.

OF COURSE, PROPER PINCH ME MOMENT AS WELL! YOU CAN HEAR IT IN YOUR TRACKS AS WELL. YOU GUYS ARE A PERFECT FIT FOR THAT! WHAT I’M HEARING IS THEY NEED TO BRING THAT TOUR OVER HERE! SO THE MAINE, IF YOU’RE WATCHING, YOU NEED TO COME BACK OVER HERE AND BRING YOUNG CULTURE WITH YOU!

Gabe: We'll just stay here. So we'll just stay here, we'll speed up the process!

I LIKE THIS PLAN, I LIKE THIS PLAN! I MEAN YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN NONSTOP FOR A WHILE NOW IN TERMS OF TOURING, BUT IN TERMS OF THE RELEASES OF YOUR MUSIC IT’S BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE THE LAST ALBUM. I WAS GOING TO ASK WHAT’S NEXT BUT YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY TOUCHED ON THE FACT THAT THERE’S SOME NEW SONGS IN THE SET! BUT IS THERE ANYTHING MORE YOU CAN TELL US?

Gabe: Yeah, it’s time! It’s so time for us to be putting out music! Yeah, we have a record, it’s on it’s way and I think it’s honestly the most real and sort of, intense music we’ve ever made. There was a big gap and I think we did a lot of growing up in that time.

Alex: I'll definitely say this too. Like, you know, I think it was like much needed. Since we started this band, we had put out a project pretty much like every year, and you know, I think this time we really gave ourselves the grace of figuring out like “Alright, what do we want to be, what do we want to sound like?” And some time to grow up a little bit. So like Gabe said, it's some of the most serious music we've ever done, but it feels so genuine and real. And yeah. Got stuff coming soon. Yeah.You can keep your eye on it.

I THINK IT IS HARD WORK AS WELL. LIKE, YOU GUYS DON’T WANT TO RUSH PERFECTION YOU KNOW?

Gabe: We also hate saying no!

I FEEL THAT SO MUCH!

Gabe: We hate saying no and we hate being home. So, like, anytime a tour came in, we're like, “Yeah let's fucking go on the tour!” To our maybe detriment. I don't know. Like, it's just a lot. Last year we toured, I don't want to say the world, but we got to do here and we went to Australia too, and did America like four times. Just wonderful really. So I think that took up a big chunk of our year last year, but this year we've spent just working on the record, finishing it.

I’M SO SO EXCITED TO HEAR IT. I MEAN, I’LL GET A LITTLE TASTER OF IT TONIGHT HOPEFULLY AS WELL. SO THAT’S GOING TO BE EXCITING!

Gabe: I'm going to go “Danni these are the two of my favorite ones!”

JUST POINT THEM OUT TO ME AS YOU’RE PLAYING I LIKE THAT! YEAH, OK I’M EXCITED FOR THAT! SO BETWEEN THE LAST ALBUM, YOU GUYS HAVE DONE A COUPLE OF COLLABS AS WELL. OBVIOUSLY YOU’VE HAD THE IN HER OWN WORDS TRACK, THE COLLAB WITH DAISY GRENADE, BOTH INCREDIBLE BANDS AS WELL. ARE THERE ANY OTHER DREAM COLLABS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE POSSIBLY? WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE FEATURE ON A TRACK OF YOURS OR HAVE LIKE AS A FEATURE?

Gabe: Wow. I guess I haven't really been thinking that. Damn. I don't know!

Alex: Well, this is kind of, you know, loops back to like the last thing, too, but it's not necessarily like a collab. I guess it is a collab yeah. But one of my good friends, Eric Egan, who sings in Heart Attack Man, was living down in Nashville for a bit the same time I was, and we were writing a lot of music together. And yeah, we wrote a couple of songs together that will end up in the new music. That was a really cool collab right there.

YEAH ANOTHER INCREDIBLE BAND, I MEAN, I SPOKE TO THEM AT SLAM DUNK AS WELL! IT’S SUCH A NICE LITTLE COMMUNITY HERE IT’S GREAT!

Alex: Yeah, totally, totally. I mean, honestly, The Maine would be sick.That would be really cool!

AND THEN ALSO, DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY SMALLER BANDS YOU’RE LOVING AT THE MOMENT THAT YOU’D LIKE TO GIVE A SHOUTOUT TO POTENTIALLY?

Alex: Bike Routes. Bike Routes is a band from Jersey, and I think that they're super awesome. Gabe actually put me onto them, and then the other day he put me onto this band that's on Run For Cover called Armlock, and their new song is like, something I've just been listening to on repeat this whole trip, so yeah, fucking crazy.

Gabe: Actually, there is a band from here I'm like forgetting their name right now (Opens Spotify)

Alex: Not a true fan, you guys heard it here first!

Gabe: No, I think they only have like one song.

Alex: Real deep cut.

Gabe: Keo, do you know a band called Keo?

I CAN’T SAY I’VE HEARD OF THEM.

Gabe: Sick band.

Alex: Cool name!

Gabe: There you go. But they're kind of popping right now, so I don't know.

INCREDIBLE! SO MY FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU GUYS IS WHAT’S ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO ACHIEVE BY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR?

Alex: Me personally, I want to have you know, new music out and I want to be headlining on it, and, you know, just being able to play shows where people can come just to see us, for us, and stuff. I know that It's cool that we're doing these headliners here for the first time and you know like we haven't been able to give people that, this far yet, at least in a big capacity. So that's what I'm excited for.

Gabe: I'd like to play Slam Dunk. That'd be sick.

THAT WOULD BE INCREDIBLE! AGAIN SLAM DUNK, MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Alex: Yeah, if they do Warped Tour again too. That's like a, I don't want to call it a pipe dream, but yeah that'd be cool.

I MEAN, WARPED IS BACK IN THE US NOW RIGHT? I THINK THE FIRST ONE WAS A COUPLE DAYS AGO OR SOMETHING I BELIEVE? SO THAT’S DOABLE! I’M SO HERE FOR THAT! WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH ME GUYS! IT’S BEEN INCREDIBLE!

Gabe: Yeah, just thank you for having us, and I hope everyone's excited for the new songs!

OF COURSE, OF COURSE, WE’RE ALL EXCITED!

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