Colt 45 are a three piece alt-rock band from Cumbria and they’ve just released their debut album ‘The Tide Is Turning’ which is out now through Visible Noise.
Check out more about the band at www.facebook.com/wearecolt45
We had a chat with the band, check out what happened here.
HTF: Hey guys. You recently played Camden Rocks and Download Festival, how was that for you?
Colt 45: Yeah it was pretty amazing. We played Camden Rocks last year so to be asked again was real nice. We love playing down in Camden, it’s such a great vibe down there. We even played twice – an acoustic set in Brewdog before heading to the Enterprise to play our main slot. What’s more, we managed to play in London without getting a parking fine, so it was a great day for us!
Download festival was unreal! We all grew up going to this festival and to be asked to play was a dream come true for all of us in the band. The tent was packed and the crowd was amazing. It couldn’t have gone any better…. Well maybe if we were on main stage, but I won’t be too hasty!
HTF: Do you prefer playing the bigger or smaller festivals?
C45: To be honest we don’t have a preference we treat every gig/festival the same.. giving 140% and making sure everyone’s having a good time. It’s where our true passion lies. Our live set is very important to us, it’s where every band starts off and we intend it to continue in that way for years to come.
HTF: Have you got any surprises in store for the next few festivals you’re playing?
C45: Well we have a new album being released this month on 28th July entitled ‘The Tide is Turning’. So we’ve been working hard on getting these songs ready for our live set. So yeah, expect some new songs but obviously we will have some old favourites in there too.
HTF: How do you pick your set list?
C45: Well it depends on the type of gig/festival and the crowd that it brings. For example at Camden Rocks, we made sure the set was very upbeat and rocking. So it just depends of the crowd really. Sometimes we will make up the set as we are playing. It really just depends on the crowd.
HTF: Have you had chance to see anybody playing the same festivals as you? Have there been any highlights for you?
C45: We were pretty busy on the Saturday at Download so didn’t get to see much but on the Sunday we managed to watch Ritchie Sambora and Joe Bonamasa. Sambora finished with Wanted Dead or Alive which is a great tune and Joe Bonamasa…. Well what can I say this guy can play.. And sing. He was definitely the highlight of my weekend. Oh and Adam got talking to Ritchie after his set. We still haven’t heard the end of that one.
HTF: The album is due out soon, what can fans expect from it?
C45: Well this album is pretty much a progression from the last album. We’ve all grown up a lot since the last two ep’s and spent a lot of time on the road together. I think that shows on the new album. We signed to Visible Noise last year and this will be our debut album through the label. It was also the first time we actually sat down to write songs for the purpose of featuring on our debut album, as previously songs have grown slowly from jams in the practice room, to tracks on our set list. Coughing Up Confessions saw the compilation and re-releasing of our two original EPs, which we self released earlier in our careers but this time through Visible Noise. So we feel that The Tide is Turning really documents our journey and progression from earlier times, compiling together a more positive vibe whilst maintaining our roots. Basically, there’s more light at the end of the tunnel these days.
HTF: What is your song writing process like? Do you tend to all get together or piece your own stuff together?
C45: We pretty much all bring a part to the writing process. However Neil writes the lyrics the majority of the time, he has to sing them after all, and we all feel that it’s important he feels passionate about the words he is singing. Although overall it’s a pretty organic process, in which we all contribute to, most of the time one of us will bring an idea or riff to practice, and then we will jam it out adding and adapting as we go along. So in the end we finish with a piece that is representative of all of our ideas and personalities.
HTF: We see you have pretty much all the social media covered, do you like to communicate with your fans?
C45: Definitely, although this is pretty much Adam’s area of expertise. After all his day ‘job’ pretty much comprises of dossing on Facebook all day. Sorry we mean, he’s in ‘marketing’ so is able to cover that base well.
But in all seriousness, we feel very privileged to have the fans that we do, and are always appreciative of all the support we receive. So obviously communication is key, it allows us to keep in touch with them, and our roots, which in turn allows us to continue to grow as a band.
HTF: Would you guys ever consider Vlogging your experiences as a band(like Jono from Blitz Kids), or do you think that’s too personal?
C45: For us, at the minute, our main focus is of course on the album, practicing, promoting and touring it. We do like to document our tours by means of video diaries that we post on our YouTube channel. However Vlogging isn’t something we’ve considered so far, however now you come to mention it, Adam and Neil do enjoy messing around with impersonations and accents, Adam does a mean Chopper impression (although hasn’t quite mastered a Christopher Walkin) and I’m pretty sure we could collectively recall the entire Big Lebowski script. Personally, I think if we were to do some sort of ‘Vlogging’ it would end up turning into Who’s Line is it Anyway? Rather than a personal account of our days.
HTF: What plans do you have for the rest of 2014?
C45: Pretty much promoting the album and playing anywhere/everywhere.
In the coming months we have a lot of festivals and we will be doing a tour around August/September to support the album.
All of our news and tour dates can be found on the on our website wwww.wearecolt45.com, Facebook (wearecolt45) and twitter (@wearecolt45)……So watch this space.
Check out the band’s brand new video for O.K right here
