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Purple Revolver caught up with James from Hadouken! to discuss all things futuristic: including jet packs, flying cars and the space age inspiration behind new track Mecha Love.
Purple Revolver: Hi James, how goes it?
James: It’s all good thanks.
Purple Revolver: So you are currently in the middle of a UK tour. How is that coming along? Swimmingly I suppose?
James: Yeah it has been awesome so far, touring up and down the UK is never dull. Every city we arrive in has a different flavour and vibe. The Swansea gig the other night really sticks in my mind, everybody there was just up for going mental. There was a real good energy.
Purple Revolver: Liverpool Music Week should be a fitting curtain closer for the tour, you looking forward to the show in the Stanley Theatre?
James: Oh yeah, of course. Liverpool is always like a carnival, it always has a real party atmosphere when we play there. I think this will be the first time we wont have played Liverpool on a Friday or Saturday so I am excited to see what the night brings.
Purple Revolver: What was the inspiration behind your latest track Mecha Love then? It sounds like you have really infused some old school dance elements into your sound.
James: Well the guys who produced it Xample and Lomax have really put their stamp on it. They come from a dnb background, so we definitely wanted to let them have their input. We wanted it to have that Sci-fi feel, something that sounds really futuristic.
Purple Revolver: I have been on your Myspace and seen an alternative video of YouTube clips for the new single. How did that come about?
James: Well it has all gone through the band, we love watching YouTube clips anyway and Dan is really hot on his video editing, so we generally just amalgamated all these clips originally for something to do and it ended up getting 8 million hits on the site. So we thought let’s do this again and overlay it with the new single, so again we collected all of these unbelievable different stunts and just tried to do what YouTube does best, and that is make an awesome video.
Purple Revolver: Any favourite YouTube clips at the moment?
James: Yeah, love all the Boxxy videos and the chocolate rain guy. Check them out.
Purple Revolver: Will do. Your original video for Mecha Love was animated. Do you think animation allows you to be more creative in videos?
James: Yeah I think so, of course. The thing about animation is you can really achieve that Sci-fi aesthetic, you can make leaps with your imagination and just go wild with an idea. I don’t think you can achieve that with the bog standard format video. I think the Mecha Love video really embodies what we are all about really, and visually it really matches up perfectly with the music which is what we wanted.
Purple Revolver: Speaking of the future, it was Back To The Future Day yesterday, 25 years since the release of the original film. So, if you could go back to the past Marty McFly style, what era would you go to and how would you alter the fabric of time?
James: I do actually muse over this question quite a lot, thinking about all the mischief I could get up to with that kind of power. I think I would go back to when I was 11 years old, but with my brain and what I know now and become some kind of computer genius. Then I would buy all the domains or create them myself before they have gone big, like pizzahut.com, and become a domain squatter basically. The money would flow in.
Purple Revolver: Purple Revolver is all about shooting the future, predicting the latest trends in fashion, music and culture years before they happen. What is your vision of the future?
James: I think jet packs will have an important part to play in the future, and flying cars. Then maybe the internet will one day be transmitted directly into your brain, that would be for the best I think.
Purple Revolver: Are there any playground fads from your school days that you would like to bring back?
James: I remember Pogs, I am not sure I would want to bring them back though, they were just shitty pieces of cardboard, literally the crappest things ever. Again if I could go back to when I was 11, I would probably invest in some shares for Pogs and make a killing. Or I could just tell all those gullible fucker kids that pogs are shit.
Purple Revolver: Are there any up and coming bands you know that we should be aware of?
James: I love what Everything Everything are doing, but I am not sure whether you can classify them as up and coming. I am sure there are loads about to break that we just don’t know about yet.
Purple Revolver: Halloween is on the horizon, what is your best memory from all Hallows Eve?
James: We always have a great time at Halloween in the band, everyone always makes a proper effort. There are plans afoot to dress up as Kiss this year which should be funny. I dressed up as the guy from A Clock Work Orange last year which went down a storm, that would have to be up there as one of my personal best memories.
Purple Revolver: Finally, what have the band got coming up in terms of releases?
James: Well our new single Oxygen will be out some time in Dec, which will again be a very dancey, techno oriented track. Then we will hope to have a new album out some time next year.
Purple Revolver: Sounds good. Well, thanks for chatting James.
James: No problem. Later.
Hadouken perform at Liverpool University on Saturday 30th October as part of this years Liverpool Music Week Festival. Tickets on sale now £12.50+BF / Age 14+ / Doors: 7.30pm / Info: www.liverpoolmusicweek.co.uk
Check out all things Hadouken! on their official website:
www.hadouken.com