Hadouken! have always been known for their varied energetic sound. Their first album ‘Music For An Accelerated Culture’ was released in 2008, followed by 2010’s ‘For The Masses’. The band were constantly associated with words like ‘grindie’ and ‘rave.’ The London five-piece are now signed to notorious dance label Ministry of Sound and have an exciting new album in the pipeline. But for now we’ll have to make do with impressive new single ‘Bad Signal.’ Is it time for Hadouken! the become the notable dance act they’ve always strived to be?
We spoken to Chris Purcell (bass), Nick Rice (drums) and Alice Spooner (synth) about the new Ministry chapter, this summer’s festivals and what we really can expect from this new record.
‘Bad Signal’ EP, featuring remixes from Wideboys, The Prototypes and Xilent is out 19th August.
For more inforamtion visit their website HERE
HTF: Your music has always crossed off lots of genres. Indie, grindie, dance, rock etc. Now you’ve recently signed to Ministry of Sound do you want to be perceived as more of a dance act?
Chris: There’s always been that dance element anyway since the inception of the band. We just naturally over time progressed more into that world. Probably from the second album when we went in and worked with Noisia it started taking shape that way. So Ministry was just a natural home for us really after stepping more and more into that world.
Nick: I think the music went that way first and then Ministry came as a result of that. It wasn’t like we signed to Ministry and thought ‘we better start making dance music now!’ (Laughs)
HTF: How did the deal come about?
Nick: I think we thought that when the second album finished, there were a couple of tunes that were written which maybe caught their attention. There was a long period where we started talking to Ministry of Sound.
Chris: And they came down to see the show and things like that. It just continued as conversation on from there really and it’s been pretty good.
Nick: When did we sign?
Alice: I think it was like a year ago now. We’ve got the same A&R guy as Example (also signed to Ministry) and I think he told them about us so that’s how it came about.
HTF: Are you fans of Example?
Alice: Yeah we know him from years ago. We played a lot of shows with him back in the day, did a few tours; he’s a fun guy. He’s a character.
HTF: Both tracks you’ve showcased (‘Parasite’ and ‘Bad Signal’) both have a different sort of sound. ‘Parasite’ has been likened to Pendulum while ‘Bad signal’ is more of a club track. Can we expect a varied album?
Chris: Yeah I guess so; it’s pretty across the board. Parasite was more of an underground drum and bass thing; there’s not masses of drum and bass on the album. But there is a mix of more sort of house stuff and some dubstep half-tempo stuff, which Bad Signal fits into the category of as well. It’s just a spectrum of dance-influenced sounds, that’s probably the best way of summarising it.
HTF: Who have been your influences for the new record?
Chris: Hmmm….
Nick: There’s so many different sounds, each different sound has so many inspirations I guess.
Chris: It’s hard to say (laughs)
Alice: A lot of it comes from working with different producers, more drum and bass producers and more dubstep producers. So that’s where we’ve got all our different sounds from.
HTF: ‘Bad Signal’ uses a sample of The Supremes. How did this come about?
Nick: I think James just kind of…
Alice: I think he was just testing things out and seeing what worked and he thought actually ‘yeah.’
Chris: It was one of those things that even from the first demo, it was a strong idea and it was all in place basically from the first demo. That was in development for a long time, that tune but that sample really made it stand out.
HTF: Have you got any other samples like that on the album?
Chris: Erm… no we don’t
Nick: Well there’s a tune possibly in the works with a cheeky little sample, it’s not a vocal sample though. We’re not sure whether it’s going to be shelved or not.
HTF: ‘Bad Signal’ has already had a lot of airplay and love from Zane Lowe and Radio 1, does that make you excited or nervous about living up to the expectations for the new release?
Chris: Erm excited really. I mean it’s really good to obviously have Zane Lowe speaking so enthusiastically about the music and it’s what we’ve trying to do for so long in the studio. So yeah it’s just exciting going forward really with the future release and everything. We’re all pumped to go.
Alice: I think it’s a little bit scary every time you release a new song because you’re kind of like putting something out there and getting people’s reactions and it is something quite a bit different from stuff we’ve done before.
Nick: The thing with ‘Bad Signal’ is that it was definitely a change for us having an entire chorus as a vocal sample. But it’s been really well received amongst the fans. You know sometimes you put a track up on YouTube and you get a load of dodgy comments. But it’s been fairly positive with ‘Bad Signal.’ I was definitely worried to put that out. Not worried but just a bit hesitant in a way.
Alice: It’s a lot slower tempo than a lot of our other stuff too. But it’s still been going down well live so that’s always a good sign.
HTF: Your music seems to have matured a lot since your last release over two years ago and your first album. Was this something that has occurred naturally or were you conscious to move away from the ‘rave’ label for a wider audience?
Chris: We got older (laughs). It’s been what five or six years since the band started and I guess the first album was kind of crazy and a bit schizophrenic and everything. But that’s just what the band was at the time. Then we went out and toured it and played shows with loads of shows with massive great dance acts, and that was a big inspiration moving forward. Again, we toured the second album and it’s really kinda going out and touring it and seeing what works that has shaped us in the biggest way. And just getting older as people… (Laughs)
HTF: Do you still enjoy playing tracks from the first and second albums?
Chris: Yeah absolutely. I still enjoy playing everything basically, still love playing shows. It’s the people that come to the shows that make the shows; we’ve always been really lucky with really great responses.
HTF: What’s your favourite track to play live?
Nick: Currently ‘Parasite’ for me. Sometimes you have to work at it a bit to make it go from the studio to a live show. It was ‘Bombshock’ on the last album, we just started playing it and it was like ‘yep that’s working.’ ‘Parasite’ is kind of the new ‘Bombshock’ for me.
HTF: You’re playing a fair few festivals this year, including Reading and Leeds. Are you looking forward to getting involved?
Chris: Definitely!
Alice: Yes, as long as the weather stays like this. We’ve been to a few this year, like Wakestock was extremely muddy.
Chris: Oh god yeah.
Alice: But it was still a great show, but y’know it does dampen the spirits a little bit. Whereas when you’re playing in the scorching sun, nothing beats it really.
HTF: Have you got any in Europe to play?
Chris: Erm not so many this year, we’ve played a handful and they’ve all been really great. Last year we were really lucky to go and play quite a few more, so hopefully next year again we’ll get out to play more. We really enjoy doing Europe. I mean you get a lot of people travel over from the UK to go to European festivals now anyway and the audiences are great and you just have more reliable weather. (Laughs)
HTF: Are the fans still as enthusiastic there?
Chris: Yeah absolutely, it’s really great they’re really vibrant.
Alice: It’s great across Eastern Europe particularly. The festivals they really are something worth going to. We did one in Hungry this year, Skrillex was playing and it was absolutely brilliant.
HTF: Can we expect more high-energy performances or do you have any surprises in store at these festivals?
Nick: Cramming in as many tunes as we possibly can. It’s very relentless, that’s kind of what we go for with the live shows anyway. But at least when you do headline shows you’ve got a bit longer to get some more tunes in. But our attitude with short festivals shows is just to cram in as much as possible.
Chris: Yeah and just keep it moving
Alice: If you’re lucky you might get a headstand from James. Or he’s planked on stage before as well, he likes doing that. (Laughs)
HTF: What’s been your favourite festival to play ever?
Alice: I’d still say personally Summer Sonic festival in Japan. Just because it was the biggest festival we’d ever done at that stage in our career, we’d only been going a year. It was like a room full of 20,000 people and it was just amazing to go to that part of the world and experience a completely different kind of audience.
HTF: I suppose it was also a surprise seeing how many people has heard of Hadouken! out there.
Alice: Yeah that was the biggest shock of all! You go to the other side of the world and there’s actually people singing along
Chris: That was good.
Alice: We’ve been back there 4 or 5 times, we’ve done our own tour over there and that festival a couple of times. It’s always great.
HTF: What artists have you been listening to at the moment?
Alice: Skrillex!
Nick: I’ve been listening to a lot of Bastille actually. Not quite in the same world as us but he’s absolutely incredible.
(Try to think of other acts…)
Nick: We don’t really like music, nobody else’s music anyway! [laughs]
Alice: We saw Ben Howard the other week, something a bit different and he was absolutely amazing live at Ibiza Rocks. It probably isn’t the best place to see an act like that as the crowd are really lary and shouty but he’s amazing.
HTF: Have you got a release date for the new album yet?
Chris: No we don’t
Nick: Unfortunately not
Alice: Early next year
Chris: Yeah it’s coming out early next year, but we haven’t got a specific date yet but it’s definitely coming out next year.
HTF: Are you worried that by releasing lots of singles this year you’re building up to something may not exceed expectation?
Alice: That’s the way that Ministry tend run their campaign. They’ll release three or four singles and then the album whereas other labels will release one single and then the album, so that’s just the way it works with them. It has worked for Example, for Wretch 32, DJ Fresh and for a lot of people so we’ve put our trust in them.
Chris: Yeah totally and they’re basically just really keen for us to keep on the writing as well. There’s loads of tune done and the writing process still wasn’t finished, so it’s just going to be a continual thing I can imagine. It’s not like we’re just going to release the album and then take loads of time off to write new stuff, it’s just going to be a continual process really from here on in.
HTF: Will you release the album and then tour it or will there be any tours before?
Chris: Yeah I think we’ll release and then tour it around the same time.
HTF: What does the next year and beyond hold for Hadouken?
Alice: Who knows! Well we’d like to go back to different parts of the world. I’d love to do Australia again, South America would be great. More travelling.
Chris: Just touring properly again off the back of an album and being able to go back and do our own big shows, where’ve got control over the production and everything like that. It’s stepped up so much since last time, it’ll be nice to take that into big venues, which is what it’s all about.
HTF: Do you make sure you have a lot of control over what goes on?
Chris: Yeah well festivals are great because you play to loads of people, but you’ve only got to get on and off within half an hour. It’s kind of nice to get in to venue and have all day to make it sound great and then just do a great show, that’s what’s on the agenda… (Laughs).
Interviewer: Hayley Fox
