Interviews : Alestorm (Christopher Bowes) – 21/05/2010

Pioneers of the recent pirate metal genre, Scotland’s Alestorm will be making an unexpected stop on our shores in mid June and we had the privilege of chatting to the slightly intoxicated vocalist and keyboardist, Christopher Bowes.

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Christopher Bowes: YELLO!

Metal Obsession: Hello there.

CB: [rummaging sounds] Ssshhiitt… hello hello, it’s Chris, hello hello.

MO: Hey Chris, how are you going?

CB: I’m umm… I’m drunk. It’s like 1am here and I’m wasting the night away with a crate of cheap beer and a bottle of whisky.

MO: Ah, it’s only 8:30 am here.

CB: Oh I can’t deal with that haha.

MO: Looking forward to your Australian tour?

CB: Totally man. It’s going to be an experience of a lifetime, as they say in the movies.

MO: Did you ever think you would actually be touring here so quickly? I know the tour surprised a lot of people here.

CB: We never thought we’d be touring outside of our own fucking home town, but now we’re going everywhere!

MO: Back in the earlier days, did you ever think the whole ‘pirate metal’ thing would take off like it has, with the success of bands like yourselves and Swashbuckle?

CB: Not really. When we started out we thought we’d end up as just another crappy power metal band with a crowd of people dressing up in silly costumes. But yeah, it’s all good.

MO: You guys don’t wear costumes live do you?

CB: No that’s gay. We prefer to make it more about the music, and it would get too damn sweaty on stage wearing pirate hats and all that stuff.

MO: I noticed on Facebook that you got yourself a new keytar.

CB: Yeeaaahhh. The old one is seriously, totally fucked up. It nearly snapped in half last weekend at a festival. The new one is all shiny and white so I’m going to go crazy with a tin of paint and customise it to fuck this weekend.

MO: Does it annoy you how seriously underappreciated the keytar is?

CB: Yes, yes. We get mocked so much for it. I mean, you can play keyboards while running around and being awesome and badass. It’s a very undervalued instrument.

MO: Onto your music. You released your second album ‘Black Sails At Midnight’ last year. Did you go into that album any differently than your debut?

CB: Well we only had like one month to write it. Our record label didn’t tell us that we were booked in to the studio and we were like “Oh you’re fucking kidding me. SHIT.” So we had to write the entire album in the space of a month. And we also got real brass instruments and other keyboard players and all that.

MO: How long did your first album take to write?

CB: The first songs were written in 2003 or something. So we had to do a much quicker job the second time around.

MO: How do you think the second album is an improvement over the first?

CB: Well the songs are less childish. Like I said, we wrote some of the songs when we were only like fifteen or something. Fifteen year olds can’t write good music! So yeah, it’s more mature, and a bit more dark. I think saying our album is ‘dark and epic’ is the most generic thing you anyone say, so yeah sure, it’s dark and epic, whatever haha.

MO: I remember reading somewhere that none of you are really power metal fans anymore. Does that mean we can expect your music to get even darker?

CB: I’ve been tempted to open the next record with some really heavy brutal death metal riffs, with blastbeats and stuff. You know, just because we can. Power metal is a stupid genre. It’s all a bunch of faggots in frilly shirts, and unicorns… frilly unicorns. We’re totally going to go in some weird directions. As long as the music stays fun, we can do whatever we like, I guess.

MO: When you’re writing songs, is one of your main goals to make them perfect for the live setting?

CB: Oh yeah definitely. I’m always thinking like, “Will the crowd be singing along”. The best feeling is when you play a song is when the crowd sings it back to you. I like catchy sing-a-long choruses and bits where you can go “hey, hey, hey” and all that stuff. It just makes it so much fun to play live.

MO: You have released a fair bit of material in a short amount of time; 2 albums and an EP in 2 years. Can we expect anything new soon?

CB: The current plan is to record a new album in January… tentatively. And then it’ll come out at some point after that, after the record label stuff. I actually started writing a new song today. It’s called “Rum”. Good name for a song. It’s going to be epic.

MO: Do you ever get sick of writing about pirates? Do you have any side projects to break things up?

CB: I’ve got about three million side projects. I’m working on a ridiculous power metal band called GLORY HAAMMERR! It’s all about everything that is dreadful about power metal. It’s got all these harpsichords and concept album stuff, and princesses. There are three demo tracks up on Myspace, so yeah, google ‘Glory Hammer’ and ye shall find.

MO: Seeing as drinking seems to be a big part of the band, what’s your favourite drop?

CB: Uhhh, ummm… I’m a sucker for cocktails. Anything with a parrot in it, or an umbrella. Or if you can get a sparkler in it, then that’s good.

MO: On your last album you recorded “Wolves of the Sea’, a cover of a Eurovision song. Have you had any feedback from the people that performed the original?

CB: Yeah. Actually, the people that wrote it are from Sweden, and we’re playing the Sweden Rock Festival next month. So they want to come and meet us or something and I’m scared. They might beat us up for ruining their song or something. I think they approve of what we did, but I don’t know. I’d like to meet them, and they can buy us beer. [laughs]

MO: Well that’s about it, any last words for your Australian fans?

CB: Drink beer and get naked.

MO: Haha ok then. Thanks for your time, and I’ll see you at your Melbourne show.

CB: Thanks. Love you, bye!

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You can catch Alestorm live in Australia on the following dates:

17th June 2010
Alestorm @ Amplifer Bar, Perth
w/ Claim the Throne and Born Into Suffering
Tickets available through Moshtix.

18th Jun 2010
Alestorm @ The Factory, Sydney
w/ Claim the Throne and Bane of Isildur
Tickets available through Moshtix.

19th June 2010
Alestorm @ Corner Hotel, Richmond
w/ Claim the Throne and Be’lakor
Tickets available through Moshtix.

20th Jun 2010
Alestorm @ Globe Theatre, Brisbane
w/ Claim the Throne and Aeternitas
Tickets available through Moshtix.

Interviewer: Mitch Booth
Date: 21/05/2010