Black Peaks are back! newly signed to Rise Records, they’re hard at work on the follow-up to 2016 debut, ‘Statues’. They’ve already shared their massive comeback track ‘Can’t Sleep’, but what else do they have up their sleeves? Vocalist Will Gardner and guitarist Joe Gosney fill us in.
Hey Joe, Will, we hear you guys have a lot of news – a new single, a new record label, lots of tour dates. Are you ready for a busy year?
Honestly, we are so ready! Although our last UK show [2000trees Festival] wasn’t all that long ago, it feels like forever since we have been out on the road. We all thought that after a crazy few years touring our debut album ‘Statues’ that we’d need some down time before getting stuck into writing for the second record, but it ended up being only a few weeks after the last tour that ideas started bubbling and the whole creative process kicked off again.
You’re right out of the studio, aren’t you? Does that mean your new album is imminent?
It is coming we promise, and we could not be happier with how it all went down in the studio. I think you can do as much preparation as is possible prior to going in to record an album but there’s a certain amount of magic that needs to happen to create the right overall feeling for it.
How do you think it compares to your earlier material?
I think it’s a more concise version of Black Peaks. We spent a lot of time on ‘Statues’ working out how we wanted to sound, as most new bands do. There was a lot of finding our feet as musicians and working out what felt good to play live and where musically we wanted to take things. So in that sense, when we started to put the pieces of the puzzle together on the new material, I think we had a much better idea of it all, the whole sonic picture. I don’t want to give too much away, but for me this is the best record any of the four of us could have made at this time, and I feel like with the help from Adrian Bushby [producer, Foo Fighters/Muse/Black Foxxes] we have been able to capture it perfectly.
Has the line-up shift made a difference to the band’s creation process or sound?
It really has given a whole new life to the band. We all had certain demons to face after adjusting to being home properly for the first time in a few years, and I think after Andrew decided to step away from the band it made the rest of us realise how precious and delicate this thing that we have created can be. Once we brought Dave into our rehearsal space and started jamming and everything clicked I think it put so much fire in all of us to make this work which in turn has had this awesome effect on our sound. Black Peaks are here to stay, and I’d like to think that this album will solidify that for us.
How did you feel going into this record, were you more confident in what you were doing?
Definitely more prepared and confident, for sure. We know what Black Peaks is and sounds like now, and have really honed in on the details and developed it stylistically. Our band’s sound has always been a result of our eclectic and broad influences, but we’ve narrowed in on certain parts of those, and that has resulted in it becoming its own beast. We feel like we more control of that beast now, which is very exciting.
What can you tell us about your new single, ‘Can’t Sleep’?
‘Can’t Sleep’ is our way of saying “Hello world, did you miss us?” The song is just the perfect choice for our first new material back, crushing riffs, huge melody and aggression. The rest of the album definitely holds some surprises, so we felt ‘Can’t Sleep’ bridges the gap between two albums. The reaction has been great from everyone who’s heard it – and obviously if you haven’t yet you know what to do!
How did you come to sign with Rise Records?
As a band we are always writing, and in some down-time after our final touring cycle, we decided to demo some of these new songs and start thinking about the next steps. After our previous deal ran out, our awesome managers put out some feelers using the demos. Our genuine number-one choice was always Rise, and we were over the moon when we found out that they loved the demos and were interested in working with us. Their roster is pretty insane to be honest [PVRIS, Of Mice and Men, At the Drive In]. Fast forward a few months, and we were signing and joining their team. We are very very excited to be working with them, and to see what the future holds.
Are you going to be airing much new material on this tour?
Fuck yeah! 100%! The whole point of this tour is to play in much smaller venues, get really up close and personal again with our fans, give them a taste of the new album, and get people hyped on new material. We’re going to be airing at least two-three new tunes, and I cannot wait to melt peoples faces off with some of this new shit. I hope people are as excited to hear it as we are to play it!
What are you up to over the summer? Do you have festivals and stuff?
At the moment, we have this new single and the tour which we are so excited about, and there’s plenty of other stuff going on… We just can’t say much right now, but it’s going to be a busy summer for Black Peaks. Just watch this space for some MASSIVE ANNOUNCEMENTS coming very soon…
Taken from the April issue of Upset – order a copy or subscribe below.
