Ahead of their gig at The Garage in Glasgow tonight (21/03/17) we spoke with Irish rock band, Otherkin. Read below as we talk about Bad Advice, a Mad Max moment in Leicester and playing in a venue with tons of taxidermy.
Photo by Gregory Nolan
How did Otherkin form and what inspired you to pursue a career in music?
Otherkin formed after a summer living and working in Toronto. We’d spend our spare time jamming on our porch and decided that we should form a band. It took a year or two after that before we actually organised ourselves and found our drummer Rob; since then it’s been Otherkin all the way. We just wanna have fun and write great songs that people dig. Who wouldn’t want to tour around the world and play songs in new cities every night – we just want to bring people into that world with us.
You are mid UK tour? How has been it so far? Any standout moments?
Haha, OK, we have a doozy. We’re driving out of Leicester after a great show in the Cookie. Next thing this guy is beeping us frantically from behind. We stop at a red light and the guy pulls up beside in his Transit Van, when we roll down the window he starts calling us “Irish bastards” and every name under the sun. Our driver goes to push the man’s wing mirror in and it sets the guy off. He starts driving his van into ours and chasing us down the roads. When we stop at another red light he leans out his window and starts clawing at our door; when he can’t open it he grabs the wind-guard and rips it clean off of the passenger door. We manage to lose him on the outskirts of the city and it’s all gone quiet for a while. BUT HE FINDS US. We’re pulled in on the motorway 20 minutes later for a toilet break and he whizzes past us, blowing his horn like a maniac. We see that he pulls into a Shell up the road so we decide to take the back-roads home and avoid him altogether. It got pretty hairy for a bit though, proper Mad Max stuff.
You’ve recently released you single Bad Advice? How do you feel about the reception it has received so far?
The reaction so far has been class. We premiered the song with Consequence of Sound and received a lot of attention off the back of that. It’s since been spun on Radio One and Radio X along with loads of stations back home in Ireland. We’ll be putting out a video real soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
What was the writing process behind Bad Advice?
Bad Advice was one of those songs that came together really quickly, and everything clicked into place from the get go. We had just travelled down to a very remote area in the Irish countryside to do some songwriting and Bad Advice was the first idea we bashed out. Before we knew it, the song was complete and we were all super excited to get it into the studio and maintain the thrashed out vibes we were feeling in the room whilst writing it.
What do Otherkin have in store for the next 6 months?
Firstly we’ll be putting out a video for Bad Advice, directed by Finn Keenan, and we’re all super excited to share that with the world. After this we’re planning on releasing more singles, and then at some stage later in the year putting our debut album out. There’s also a load of gigs on the horizon, so keep a look out for us on the road.
We’re going to go onto a quickfire round! What was the first gig you ever went to?
I saw Backstreet Boys play an absolute stomper in Dublin; that was pretty rad. The first RAWK gig I ever went to was Ozzfest, I got to see System Of A Down tour Toxicity, that’s one I’ll take to the grave
What is the strangest venue you have ever played in?
We played a gig in the Stag’s Head in Dalston which was pretty bizarre. Three floors of taxidermy lions, butterflies and giraffes and stuff and the venue itself was a real sleazy, mirrored dance floor – it looked like we were playing on the set of a Pitbull music video.
What is your most embarrassing moment on stage?
It wasn’t exactly onstage but our drummer Rob got sick in alt-J’s tour bus after our set at Reading Festival last year. Good times.
If you could have written any song ever, what would it be?
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac
Who is your musical guilty pleasure?
Dua Lipa/Kid Rock
Club Decode 2017
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