London Calling: It's Enter Shikari

Youthink catches up with genre-defying Brit band Enter Shikari.

Think screamo, rock, hardcore, trance, electronica with a dash of the I-don't-care attitude of punk and you'll just begin to have an idea of what British band Enter Shikari sounds like. Youthink was lucky enough to catch up with Enter Shikari's bassist, Chris Batten (pictured second from left), by phone from London for a chat about his band's new album, A Flood Flash of Colour, touring and how the band measures success.

YT: How do you feel the band has evolved personally and musically between your 2009 album, Common Dreads, and your new album, A Flash Flood of Colour?
CB: I guess the main thing is we had a lot of time to really write and record this record. So the production I think is much better - we had a lot more time to focus on the sound and the tones. Hopefully, as we've gotten older, we've become better musicians and better songwriters. I think now our songs are a lot more structured. Whereas before we would have just taken an idea or whatever and just chucked a whole lot of things in it, now, it's a bit calmer, it's a bit more structured. It's got some of the heaviest material that we have written as well as some of the most melodic and soundscaping kind of stuff.

YT: Which song on A Flash Flood of Colour are you most excited to perform live and why?
CB: Actually, it's a good time to ask that because we've been in the rehearsal room playing a whole load of new songs. So I think actually the first two songs: System which then runs into Meltdown will be one of my favourites to play live just because the way we got it sounding… it's going to be a great live track.

YT: You have just finished touring with Devil Wears Prada and White Chapel, what was that like?
CB: That was great! Yeah, was a great tour! We've known the Devil Wears Prada guys for a few years now because they actually supported us on our UK headlining tour a couple years ago now. So it was really nice of them to be able to invite us over and it's a long tour. Touring the States takes two months to do the whole North America thing, so for us that's always a bit of a shock. But, you know, you're doing it with such nice guys who made us feel very welcome, very at home. Yeah, we thoroughly enjoyed it.

YT: What have your experiences been like with Canadian audiences?
CB: Generally, Canada has been really good for us. You know, when we played Warped Tour, which went across the whole of North America, the Toronto date and the Vancouver date were some of the best memories we have from that tour. And so generally people just really, really enjoy seeing live music and yeah, it's really refreshing to see.

YT: What is the first thing you do when you get home from tour?
CB: Put the kettle on normally. It's hard to find good tea anywhere else in the world other than England. Yeah, no, the first few days, it's normally really strange. Because you're almost living where you know you just got a routine: you wake up and you sound check, you do some prep then you eat dinner, then you do this… So when you get home you kind of feel a bit like, “Oh, what am I going to do now?” and you feel really fidgety and anxious and you need to be doing something. That lasts a couple of days and I usually relax a couple of days, see friends, go out for a few drinks and just try to settle back into normal life for awhile. But it does take a few days, but you get there eventually.

YT: Enter Shikari has been nominated for and won many awards over the years. How does the band measure its success?
CB: It's always amazing even being nominated for awards and things like that 'cause… it's what people actually think. But I think for us personally, our achievements are more personal. As teenagers, we used to go to a festival called Reading Festival, and you know, to be able to get up on that stage where we watched some of our favourite bands play and be able to play on that stage is an amazing thing. Or even anything, like going into your local music shop and seeing your album in there, is an incredible achievement. So it's lots of different things that really stand out and have struck a chord personally.

YT: So you guys are pretty much living the dream?
CB: (laughs) Uh… yeah, well, we don't like to complain 'cause we feel very lucky to do what we do. It's hard as well, and we have to put a lot of work into it but, yeah, we love it.

YT: You have been in the music industry for over a decade. What have been some of the biggest lessons you've learned that you would pass on to a band starting out?
CB: I think the main lesson I've learned is that now, in the music industry, more than ever, it's not like it used to be. There's not a set campaign you have to run, there's not a set list of rules you have to follow in order to release an album or something like that. And with the Internet today, and the possibilities out there, you can pretty much do whatever you want. So I'd say, don't be afraid, if you think it's a good idea, maybe it probably is. You can do things by yourself and don't be afraid to try to.

Catch Enter Shikari live on their North American tour:

• Apr 15 @ WECC Winnepeg, MB
• Apr 17 @ The Den Calgary, AB
• Apr 18 @ The Starlite Room Edmonton, AB