Life On Standby talk to eFestivals

Download Festival 2014

Friday 13th to Sunday 15th June 2014
Donington Park, Donington, Derbyshire, DE74 2RP, England MAP
£195 for five nights with camping

Daily capacity: 111,000

Following their appearance on stage at Download Life On Standby paused to answer a dew questions from eFestivals.

How was it playing to the Download crowd?
Insane man. We were absolutely bricking it before we went on. As we walked on stage, all of that was shook off pretty quickly and we just went for it. The crowd turnout and response really took us by surprise as well. Can safely say that was the best 25 minutes of our lives to date (insert sex joke here if you can't help yourself)

How would you describe your sound?
We're usually coined as Melodic/Hardcore but I dunno... We guess that's pretty much the idea but we're going for something with a bit of a positive edge. 'Create To Inspire' to us is more of an idea rather than just a name. It sounds like such a cliché but we want people to feel what we're doing & hopefully find inspiration in it as well as enjoy what they're hearing.

Can we expect to see you touring the UK soon?
We've actually got something in the pipeline but we can't really announce any dates just yet, but it's coming up fairly soon so once we know the dates we'll be sure to let everyone know. It'll be our first tour and our E.P release tour so we really can't wait to get out there.

Did you have chance to catch any of the other bands at Download? If so, who?
We managed to catch a good chunk of the bands but like most festivals there's always a handful you end up missing. We saw; While She Sleeps, Aerosmith, Avenged, Heart In Hand, Martyr Defiled, Life On Standby, Malevolance, They Say Fall, letlive, Breathe In The Silence, Fall Out Boy, Royal Blood, Chasing Cadence... All of which were so, so awesome, but the highlight of the weekend has to have been letlive for sure.

Do you have any new material due out soon?
We've just dropped a new single which is the title track for our debut E.P coming out August 18th. It's called 'Halfway Home' and we really can't wait to get it out there. We've had it recorded since February which is pretty frustrating, but it's finally ready & we hope everyone finds it worth the wait!

Is there any particular band that you would love to be on the same bill as?
The 1975. Haha, imagine that... Realistically (well, sort of realistic) we'd say letlive. We know we've already mentioned them, but they're probably one of the best live bands on the planet right now so it's hard to not want to play with them. Other bands that'd be pretty cool would be The Ghost Inside, Every Time I Die and While She Sleeps to name a few.

Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to start a band?
In all honesty, it's not easy; you'll have some of the most nerve wracking, stress inducing moments of your life and sometimes you'll be temped to just say 'fuck it' and launch your guitar/drum kit/whatever into the garden, and your bank account's going to hate you... But you'll also have the time of your life. Getting to make & play music with some of your best friends and getting to travel around the country & if you're lucky the world, is honestly the best thing ever. Do it.

Do you ever get fed up with being asked the same interview questions by music reviewers?
To be honest we aren't at the stage where we've done like hundreds of interviews, so it's still pretty cool but we guess it does get on your tits after a while, but we guess it's generally what people want to know so you can't really get annoyed at reviewers for doing their job.

In your own words why should someone start to listen to your music?
If you're into your heavy riffs, pretty choruses and dirty stomps & feel like you need something to (hopefully) motivate you and get out there, grab life by the balls & get what you want the most, then give us a listen... You might just like us.

Who is more important in a band out of the drummer or the guitarist?
Ooosh... That's harsh. We've got a feeling somebodies going to be owed some flowers by the end of this answer... We'd probably say the guitarist, purely because it adds that little melodic touch to back-up vocal patterns n what not, and you could go all Andy McKee on it and add a drum beat to the mix anyway!

Have you ever had any spinal tap moments whilst playing live?
We genuinely wish we were THAT cool. We've had a few hiccups; accidentally hit a couple of people with chairs (not throwing them, don't worry), falling over, breaking drum stands and our fair share of technical faults... We aren't quite up to the standards of turning up to 11 just yet though.