So how did The Blackout get started?
We were pretty much were all friends in school and we’ve known each other for a good while. We pretty much decided to start the band just to have something to do to be honest. Yeah, where we’re from there’s not a lot to do, so to be in a band was probably the only thing we could do without ending up in jail.

You’re from Wales aren’t you?
Yeah.

Lots of sheep and rain.
Uh yes many sheep and rain all the time, every place, and everywhere.

So who plays what instruments in the band?
I’m one of the vocalist, there’s another vocalist called Sean Smith. We’ve got Matthew Davies on guitar, James Davies no relation on the other guitar, Rhys Lewis on bass and Mr. Gareth Lawrence on drums.

So how did you guys name the band?
We pretty much put a bunch of names in a hat and pulled one out.

Are you serious?
Yeah, pretty much.

What were the other names?
I can’t say the other names.

So what type of music would you classify yourselves as?
I’d classify us as just a rock band to be honest. Too much people find the need to pin down a rock and roll band. If you listen to the album, there are a lot of different songs on it. We’ve got some really heavy stuff and some really mellow poppy records.

So you have a new album coming out?
Well we’re actually in the studio where we’re writing a little bit. We should be recording at the end of the year in December if all goes well.

That’s exciting, I can’t wait.
Yeah we can’t wait; I always like this part, writing music. It’s one of my favorite parts about being in a band.

I’m looking forward to it.
As you should.

Do you think people can relate to your music?
I suppose they do we’ve got a lot of messages on the internet and stuff saying our music got a couple of kids through some bad times. That’s amazing to me. I imagine it does relate to a few people.

Who writes the songs?
We all come together with different ideas, and then write them all down then we’ll chip in our two cents.

Which of your songs that the band has written is your favorite?
Which of the songs that the band has written? Aw, that’s a tough one. To listen to, I think “Life & Death in Space” is probably my favorite, but to play “I’m a Riot? You’re A F – ing Riot.”

Say a line from your songs that describes how you feel right now.
Line from a song that describes how I feel right now. You know what; my mind is all blank from all my lyrics now. Well it’s raining where I am, so “I apologize to the summertime” or the lack thereof.

I love that song. That’s my favorite song.
That’s your favorite song? That’s my mother’s favorite song.

Yeah. When you guys sang it in Greece I just feel in love with it, it was amazing.
Oh yeah. Did you enjoy the show in Greece?

Yeah. I was very surprised to be honest, very pleasantly surprised.
Pleasantly surprised, that’s good.

Very good. I think some of the crowd was a bit rude.
You have to expect that at a big show like that a lot of people were there just to totally see Linkin Park, which is fair enough, because it was their show.

Did you leave after you played for Linkin Park in Athens?
No, not straight after we played, we stuck around to watch Linkin Park, and then we left.

Are you serious? When came round to see and tell you guys you were really good and they told us you guys had left ages ago.
No we were still there; we wouldn’t have missed Linking Park for the world.

Aw those little liars, evil people. So what was your first gig like?
Our first gig, it was in a small pub in the small town where we’re from and a lot of people came to watch us fail, I think. It was probably the scariest show I’ve ever played so far, because it was the first band I’ve ever been in. Although it wasn’t my first public singing performance, it was the first one in a proper band, I say “proper” in the looser sense of the word. It was good fun though, we enjoyed it.

Did you mess up?
No, I don’t think I messed up once.

You should be proud.
Our drummer is informing me right now that he was quite, quite drunk that night. He may have messed up, I don’t know.

Are you with the whole band now?
Uh, no there’s just four of us at the moment.

I thought you were coming home from singing from your band.
Our master guitarist is driving us all.

Oh, nice chauffer.
Yeah, so far he hasn’t killed us yet.

Have you ever seriously messed up on stage?
Messed up on stage, plenty of times. Too many to mention, no, one time I think it was our first headline tour it was the last show and I got really excited and had a bit too much to drink and ended up falling over all on stage. So from now on I’m not supposed to drink before I go on stage.

Yeah, drink it afterwards in celebration.
Yup, that’s the rule now.

Do you have any pre-gig rituals?
Apart from warming up, we don’t have someone going to the toilet or something like that. We all really just get together backstage and just sing a song.

No group hug?
Yeah, group hug and then we go rock the faces off people.

Nice. So why did you choose music? There are so many other careers, how did music come to you?
I pretty much always sung, as cool as this sounds, I use to be in like the school choir. Yeah laugh it up.

Aw, cute.
My parents and my uncle pretty much got me into music by giving me Queen LPs and Guns N Roses CDs and stuff like that. So it was pretty much forced upon me at an early age.

Oh, blame the parents, huh?
Yeah.

So you’re about to go on tour aren’t you?
Yep, we leave for Japan next Monday.

Are you seriously excited? I mean Japan is like amazing.
Japan is like one of my all-time destinations, because I’ve also been fascinated by Japan. It’s going to be amazing, I can’t wait.

And then you’re doing a European tour aren’t you?
Yeah we fly straight back from Japan to London and then drive straight to Vienna our first show in Austria. We’re gonna go to Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Nagaland, Belgium I think.

You’re skipping Greece?
I know, no Greece.

Shame on you.
It’s terrible, blame our booking agent.

I will. And then you’re going back to England?
Yeah, back to the UK then to do two weeks in the UK.

Nice. I might actually come to London to see one of your shows hopefully.
Really?

Hopefully, yeah.
That’d be cool, well, if you get to come in, make sure you definitely tell us. This is the London show, yeah?

Yeah, hopefully I think the one on October 10th you’re playing with the Medic Droid.
Yeah.

I know them, they’re my homeboys.
There your boys, yeah? Say ‘hi’ to them if you see them before we do.

Somehow doubtful, but okay. So which tour date are you most looking forward to?
The last tour we did Shadam, was a really good show, because a lot of people came from a lot of different places. Like a lot of German people came, British people came, French, it’s like all of Europe just went to this one location and came and partied with us. I’m looking forward to Amsterdam and the Tokyo show and London. The London show is like the biggest headlining show we’ve ever done, for 2000 people. Scary for me.

Aw.
Yup, scary, it’s gonna be fun though. It’s gonna be good.

Yeah, I can imagine. Big group hug before that.
Yeah big, big group hug.

So what’s the best thing about touring?
The best thing about touring is being in different places every day, and meeting new people every day. It’s amazing to just wake up somewhere and then to just walk around town. There’s just places I’ve seen being in a band, that I have never ever been before. Like I’ve seen most of the major cities in Europe now, I would’ve never had the opportunity to go.

You must do a lot of shopping?
Uh, yes if I had some money I would do the shopping, but pretty much taking pictures, that’s all I can afford.

Well you have to do some shopping in Japan, I mean it’s Japan. Just go for it.
I’m definitely saving some money for Japan.

So where can people buy your music?
I don’t know I’m not the distributor. I think the only place you can buy it in Greece is from our online store which is on www.myspace.com/theblackout and Itunes. In other countries from the shops and stuff.

Choose one word to describe each band member including yourself.
Rhys Lewis would have to be mental, Gareth Lawrence would have to be indecisive, Matthew Davies would have to be lumpy, James Davies would have to be angry, Sean Smith is I have to be brutally painful or brutally blissful, I’m gonna say loud and for myself I would say, well I can say anything I’d like to, I’m gonna say fantasmagalago, it’s not an actually word but, you know.

You’re very modest.
I know, I do try.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
I’ve done some stupid things in my time, like I went to get my passport the other day and I actually throw away some of my documents with my bag of chips, I thought they weren’t together, but they were and they ended up in the bin.

Genius, absolute genius.
But for crazy, uh I’m not sure. If I think of crazy, I think of really insane things like I don’t know jumping out of an airplane in a car or something, which I don’t think I’ve ever done or ever will.

Well you must’ve done something slightly crazy, perhaps when you were drunk.
Well, if I did it when I was drunk I cannot remember.

Tell me a random fact about yourself.
I once openmouthed kissed a horse.

Are you serious?
No.

You lie; you took that from “Austin Powers” didn’t you?
A random fact, uh, I’m trying to think of something interesting. I once played the butler in the school version of “The Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Ironically my name is ‘The Butler.’