Alice Rose also contributed to this report.
Following hit singles “Give Me What I Want” and “Saturday” in 2008, Welsh rock band Kids in Glass Houses have come a long way. 3 albums later, they’re back on tour to promote their new album Peace. The Linc had a chat to guitarist Iain Mahanty before their gig at The Engine Shed.
How do you find Lincoln, do you like the crowds?
Yeah it’s really strange because we recorded the album in South Thoresby; which obviously isn’t too far from Lincoln town. Since then we’ve back about 3 times so yeah it’s been wicked. The show we did earlier in the year was awesome and we’re really looking forward to tonight because it’s part of freshers. Hopefully everyone’s up for a party!
What was it like to record your new album Peace in Lincolnshire?
It was cool. We wanted to make sure that we were well away from Cardiff so we didn’t have any home distractions. Dan, our producer of the album said he’d recorded in Chapel Studios before and said it had the most amazing sounding drum room. So yeah, we gave it a go.
So this is your third night of the new tour, how have you been finding it so far?
It’s been really good. We haven’t done anything so long as it’s been about 2 years since we did our last headline run. We’ve been playing our new songs and people seem to be into them which is always a positive.
As you guys are touring from city to city, what do you all do to pass the time between your shows?
We just hang out with each other really. Hang out, play Fifa and listen to music. That’s about it really. We went for a walk today in Lincoln and went up Steep Hill which was nice.
Your new album has been premiered on Kerrang!, but for those who didn’t listen, what can they expect from it?
I guess we always try and do something different. We’ve gone back to our roots of song writing and tried to make an album where each song could be a single on its own. We’ve also incorporated a bit of synth into the songs and it’s just a fun pop rock record really.
Will you mainly be playing songs from Peace on this tour?
We have a healthy mix of our songs. Obviously our record isn’t out yet and even though we’ve had the stream on Kerrang! it’s only a few people who have listened to them all. We’re doing all of our favourite songs off the new album as well as Peace and Drive and the rest of our hits. With our last tour the Gold Blood tour we wanted to promote this theatrical tour to promote the album and it became a chore in the end. On this tour we want to have fun and enjoy ourselves again.
What are your favourite songs to play from the new album?
We enjoy playing the singles Drive and Peace. We’ve been playing V.I.P. which has been really good. We’ve been sound checking and want to play them all which is a bit selfish but sadly we can’t.
Have you had a good response to your new songs?
Yeah it’s been really good! Because we haven’t played in so long it’s a little bit strange, and people are just stood there listening rather than singing along. We’ve met everyone after the show and everyone’s come up and said they like them so it’s all good.
Kids in Glass Houses have been together for about 10 years now. Would you say that Peace is a celebration of your time together as a band?
I guess so. The title sums up that we’ve found peace with ourselves as a band. On this album I think we’ve found that we know who we are and where our strengths lie. It’s our best record, easily, and I think it sums up us as a band.