Interview: EastStrikeWest

EastStrikeWest are a 6-piece band from Essex, who are set to release their debut full-length, 'Wolvves' on Monday October 12th on Thirty Days of Night Records. A record that is a remarkable 50 minutes of progressive and stunning combination of indie, rock and shoegaze.

Sean spoke to the band about their history, the new album, how they became involved with Thirty Days of Night Records and getting praise from the likes of Steve Lomacq.

ATP: Can you introduce yourselves and your position in EastStrikeWest?
EastStrikeWest: We certainly can:

Tom Clark - Vocals
Liam Davis - Guitars
Steve Marciano - Keys/Guitars
James Saddington - Guitars
Ian Smith - Drums
Joseph Smyth - Bass

The roles sometimes change, but that would be a reasonable 'who's who' of eaststrikewest.

ATP: I understand you originally formed in 2007 out of a band called threemovements. Could you tell us about this?
ESW: threemovements were a sinking ship and we were throwing the rats off. When the time came to pick up the pieces we realised we had no singer and no keyboard player. So that was the end of threemovements. After a year of mixing and matching we went back to a winning formula and now 5/6 of eaststrikewest have threemovements on their C.V.

ATP: How does the 2 bands differ?
ESW: We are better, we have structures.

ATP: How did you become involved with Thirty Days of Night Records?
ESW: My half brother Frank is in a band called Gallows who used to be on Thirty Days of Night. He hooked us up via a man named Martin Ives. Martin took it to the bossman and they hammered out some deals from there. We had very little choice after that...

ATP: What can people expect from your new record, 'Wolvves'?
ESW: A very British record.

ATP: How would describe the overall sound of the record?
ESW: Ambitious. There are sounds we spent years talking about that we felt we should finally put on a record. You could also use the words 'shoegaze', 'indie', 'grandiose' and 'post-rock', (though we would rather you didn't use that one).

ATP: Are there any particular tracks you'd recommend?
ESW: 'Electricity' and 'Welcoming The Ghosts'. The latter being the unsung hero of our record.

ATP: How would you advise listeners to approach the album?
ESW: Listen with groups of friends and in one sitting using the suggested bass and treble positions of 2 and 5 respectively.

Keep in a positive frame of mind at all times.

ATP: Steve Lamacq has given you a fair bit of praise.. How does it feel to be recognised and praised by people with that kind of status?
ESW: It's frightening. When we hear people like Steve Lamacq or Zane Lowe saying nice things about we start to think 'well, what happens now?'. There's almost a worry that you've now got expectations on your shoulders or that you should be doing something. Steve Lamacq knows who we are, why don't you?

ATP: What do you have planned for the rest of the year and going into 2010?
ESW: We're into spontaneity, hence the lack of any substantial plans. Expect many shows towards the end of this year, a tour early 2010 and a follow up release just as soon.

ATP: Would like to add anything else?
ESW: Support us, support the wolvves. Together we can make the Editors a thing of the past...

EastStrikeWest's debut full-length, 'Wolvves' is released on October 12th on Thirty Days of Night Records.

Pre-Order 'Wolvves' here.

EastStikeWest on MySpace

Sean Reid