Music > Interviews

Lower than Atlantis

30/03/15

Mike Duce, the singer from rock band Lower than Atlantis is chuffed. Chuffed to be going back on tour, where he and his bandmates feels truly alive. Following some label-based troubles they’ve found their mojo again, and even built their own studio to record their latest self titled album, a real statement of who they are in 2015. I spoke to Mike about selling out their last Norwich gig in 2014 and what the new album’s like.

How did you first start singing?

By default really. We had a different singer when we started out; we were a thrashy punk band.  On our first self-booked tour, through MySpace, there was an argument and we decided to kick the singer out in Newcastle. I sat in the front seat of the van learning how to play guitar and sing at the same time and I never looked back really!

Had you been in other bands previously to LTA?

No, it’s my first proper band. I’d been in one other band but it wasn’t what you’d call a real band. I stood in for the guitarist in the band that some of LTA’s members were in previously. I’d been playing with them for a while, and they sat me down and said it was time for them to pick the permanent replacement “Listen mate, we’ve all come to an agreement. We’ve picked this other guy to play with us.” and I was like “Are you joking?!”.  I was so annoyed. But then that band broke up and me and Ben started this one.

What music were you into growing up?

A lot of hardcore stuff; Go It Alone, Screeching Weasel, The Queers. The Foo Fighters, Blink 182…I’ve always listened to all sorts of music but mostly it’s been guitar based. When I was younger I liked The Smiths, The Cure and The Police, and I still do.

The band’s toured almost constantly since you started in 2007.  Do you feel like slowing down yet?

I can’t bloody wait to get back out there! We have a lot of touring coming up. That’s where we belong really.  As we’ve got bigger over the years, the record company have suggested we do less gigs and concentrate on only good ones, which sucks as it means we have more time sitting at home. We don’t want to slow down; we’d rather speed up!

You played Soundwave Festival in February in Australia, on the same bill as Slipknot, Faith no More, Smashing Pumpkins and Soundgarden! What’s the best festival experience you’ve ever had?

Yeah the line up was amazing! I didn’t want to miss seeing anyone. It’s one of the only big things that go through Australia really, that and Big Day Out. Probably our best festival experience was Reading last year. We’d been away for two years and it was the first thing we did when we came back. It was nuts; there were a lot of people.  We didn’t think anyone would want to see us as we’d been away so long!

Your latest album is self titled – why?

We were essentially a touring band before, and this album is the first time we actually took time off to write and record the songs. Before we were like “Right! We’ve got two weeks off! Let’s write an album and release it!”. This time round we took a lot of time to craft the songs and meticulously work out what we were going to do. If this were to be our last album, we would want people who were checking us out for the first time to check this one out first.

Criminal, from your latest album, feels like a statement of who you are as a band, with a huge energy and strong rhythm to it; would you agree?

Yeah, definitely. We had a bad situation with Island Records…we had a real DIY ethos to our work before that, and it all got taken off our hands by the big dogs. We assumed they were doing the best for the band, but it almost went to pot. That song is about us saying that we’ve learnt from that situation, we are who we are and if you don’t like it you can fuck off.

For what I’ve read, it seems that Island didn’t want you to develop or change your sound, but just wanted the same music over and over. Was that the case?

Yes, that’s exactly what happened. We were given such a short amount of time to write and record the album as well. They wanted to keep the momentum going, and were like “Quick! Let’s release another record!” and we didn’t feel like we have to rush, we felt that we had all the time in the world. They were telling us we were going to be the next Beatles; we just couldn’t see it and it didn’t happen either. The whole thing was a bit horrible.

I read that the band nearly split up over this situation. Do you think, if that had happened, you’d still be a musician or would you have tried a different career?

I probably would have killed myself! I’m not exaggerating; I’ve put all my eggs into one basket and I have nothing else except for this band.

You built your own studio didn’t you?

When the whole thing happened with Island they wanted to drop us but they couldn’t because we’d already been signed for an album. They gave us two options; either they would release the album but not publicise it or work on it at all, or we could take the money and run. We took the money, spent it making the studio, spent time recording this album and when it was finished we signed to Sony.

Can you tell me about this album? Is it different to what you’ve done before?

Lyrically it’s more open; people can take from it what they want. The words mean something to me but they might mean something different to someone else. Previously lyrics were more reflective and personal.  I guess musically there’s an electronic element, because we had so much time we could play around with different things. That’s only how we sound at the minute though; we’ll sound different again in a year’s time because people change.

What’s been on the LTA stereo lately?

Our friends The Excerts have just released an album, which we like, and Marmozets too.

You played at Epic, Norwich last July, this time around it’s sold out again so more tickets have been released. Do you have more ardent fans in England or is there another country where you are equally appreciated?

We’ve toured internationally but not a lot. We’ll be focusing on doing that more for the next couple of years. We’re a very English band and I guess it’s a hometown show every night in England. We did a one off headline show in Canada ages ago and there were like 400 people there which was pretty nuts. We’ve never headlined anywhere internationally, we’ve just been support. So it’s about bloody time we got out there!

What’s on the cards for this year for the band apart from touring?

We get the rights back to our first albums this June, so we might rerelease some of our early stuff and tour those songs, so people who haven’t heard them can do.

Lower Than Atlantis play at Epic on 23rd April. Tickets from www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk