Twin Atlantic Interview by Rachel Hacken

wearethekidsblog:




As I walked down the stairs to The Studio in Webster Hall, I knew that the crowd waiting outside the doors was in for a treat. Soon, three bands from the UK and one American band would play the sold out the 300 capacity room. I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to interview a band I truly admire, hailing from Glasgow, Scotland : Twin Atlantic. I sat down with frontman Sam McTrusty to learn more about the band, their upcoming tours, and most important, their music.

Rachel: So, tell me the story about how Twin Atlantic formed?

Sam: Ross(bass/keyboard/backing vocals)  and I went to high school together. We became friends because we liked the same bands. Later on in high school, Ross learned to play guitar. When we were younger we went to gigs and it inspired us to start a band. Just like everyone else, we used music as an escape from the terrible Scottish weather. As we started to write songs, we began to play in small venues in Glasgow and started to take it more seriously. Now its become a full time world wide affair!

Rachel: That’s great! Who are your biggest musical influences?

Sam: Everyone in the band has completely different influences. One of my biggest influences is Nirvana, because of the heaviness and its very melodic. I’m a big fan of memorable vocal hooks. The other band that influences me is Bruce Springsteen. I have a Bruce Sprinsteen tattoo too. He’s a great lyricist, but he is never pretentious about it. He is just an honest, real guy even though he is a world wide super star.

Rachel: Those are fantastic choices! If you were to collaborate with any musicians today, who would they be and why? 

Sam: Bruce Springsteen for the same reasons. I try to learn a lot from him.


Rachel: Do you have any crazy fan stories?

Sam: Yes. I feel bad because it’s not that crazy but it seems crazy to me because in my head, I’m still a ten year old, stupid little guy. I’ve got a tattoo on my wrist of a triangle. Its actually the first tattoo I’ve ever gotten. I got it because I didn’t really know what to get. Well, a fan of the band got the exact same tattoo and when we were playing a festival in the UK they asked me to sign it. I thought they wanted me to sign it for a memory type of thing, but they got it permanently inked over.

Rachel: Does that tattoo mean anything to you?

Sam: It does! I got it when we were recording our first album during the first time we were in the States. When I look at it, I think about all those memories, but its just a triangle.

Rachel: Speaking of albums, what is the biggest difference between Vivarium and Free in your opinion, both lyrically and musically?

Sam: Its hard to narrow it down musically because I still think it’s loud rock music, parts of it are pissed off, parts of it are a bit floaty. The main difference is probably the fact that I’ve changed quite a lot as a person. Before we wrote Vivarium, I hadn’t really been out of  Scotland, besides to go on vacation with my family. When I start traveling and I started writing songs, I had to go outside my own mind. It began to change me as a person. When we started developing a fan base, it was a really humbling experience and we poured that into the second record. So its probably the fact that I was a few years older and I changed.

Rachel: What inspired you to write the song “Free”?

Sam: It’s partly inspired about things I hate, not from being in a band but as a music fan. Being a music fan there’s not too many new bands that give me the inspired, excited feeling about music that made me want to be in a band in the first place. The chords came first and they just made me feel uplifted and I thought, ” What could match this feeling with the music?” The word free conjures up a lot of different things for different people and I thought it was a great universal idea. 

Rachel: I think “Free” is a very well written song. You recently released a new music video for “Making a Beast of Myself”. Can you tell me what the concept behind that video was? 

Sam: We didn’t put too much thought into it. That was the problem with our other music videos. The director put way too much emphasis on us being really pretty and everything being perfect, but we aren’t really like that as guys at all. We just wanted to make a video that we thought of in two seconds. It’s meant to be that I’m stuck in an infinite loop and that’s why everyone in the street is freaking out. We thought if we kept it open for interpretation it would be more interesting.

Rachel: Right, so people could figure out the meaning of it for themselves?

Sam: Exactly.

Rachel: How did you feel when Skrillex remixed ” What is Light? Where is Laughter” and how did that go about happening? 

Sam: It was pretty cool! We met him at the Bamzoozle festival in California a couple years ago. It was before he had really taken off. When the idea of having the song remixed came up, we just suggested him. At the time he hadn’t really remixed any bands, in fact we might have been the first band he ever remixed! To us, it was cool to have one of our friends remix it, but then he got massive! Now the video has millions of views, its insane!

Rachel: Are you looking forward to this current tour with You Me at Six, The Swellers, and We Are The Ocean?

Sam: Yes. It’s weird because the tours we usually do back in the UK and Europe are more varied because we usually try to not be part of a (particular) scene, so that’s something we are trying to adjust to. 

Rachel: Do you mean varied as far as genre-wise?

Sam: Yes, and the people that come to the gigs are different. Its not in a bad way, its just a completely different experience for us to play for a really young crowd. I mean, everyone loves music, so it’s cool to play to whoever will listen. We’ve played with  so many different bands. We’ve supported Blink-182, Smashing Pumpkins , and even underground metal bands, which keeps it open for us.

Rachel: While on the UK Free-ze Tour you covered ” Where is My Mind” by The Pixies. What are your top three songs to cover, and will you be covering any songs on this tour?

Sam: I wish we had enough time to even play a song where I could use an acoustic guitar. ” Where is My Mind” is definitely in my top three. Probably “Imagine” by John Lennon as well.  ”Come As You Are” by Nirvana too but I cant play it yet. I can play everything guitar and sing, but I can’t do it together. At soundcheck I’m always practicing, but its really difficult. He’s a genius.

Rachel: Well luckily you have another guitarist to help you out with that! It was recently announced that Twin Atlantic will be playing this years Vans Warped Tour for the first time. What are your expectations?

Sam: Probably that its going to be a logistical nightmare. I’m so excited to do it because when I was 13 or 14, when the whole American pop-punk explosion happened, I was really into that whole scene. I remember I wanted to get a job in the summer and save up to buy a plane ticket to go to it. It’s a dream to go as a fan , never mind play. We are excited, but all the other bands we know that have played there have said it’s one of the hardest things to do, but we like a challenge!

Rachel: Have you heard any rumors about Warped Tour that you are afraid of?

Sam: Nah , we have no fear! Being in a band is one of the greatest things you can do. We are really lucky to be able to what we do. We don’t really take ourselves, as people, really seriously. We take our music seriously, but if someone were to say that they were really nervous about how they were going to get our drum kit on stage, we’d all burst out laughing and say, ” Come on man, relax, it’s just a gig.”

Rachel: That’s a really great way to live though!

Sam: It is! Otherwise, I’d have to be put into a mental hospital. Because there are so many stressful things and if you let it get to you, you wont be anything.

Rachel: That’s very true. In your opinion, what is the key to having a successful show?

Sam: Spontaneity. Just treating every show differently. If your too formulated about it, it becomes stale and it loses it soul. The whole point of music is to connect to the soul, not in a religious way though. That feeling the music gives you, you just need to go with it.

Rachel: If your parents were to come on tour with you, what do you think would surprise them the most about tour life?

Sam: My dad hasn’t been on tour with us, but he lives in Toronto. He used to never see me in Scotland because we were always on tour in the UK and Europe for a few years. When we first came to the US he came to five or six dates in a row. So he’s almost been on tour with us from hanging out in dressing rooms and all that sort of stuff. I can tell you that that changed him because now he’s open to all these different bands and heavier music. I don’t think there’s anything really that would shock them, I have pretty rock n’ roll parents!

Rachel: What do you miss most about Scotland while you are away on tour?

Sam: Obviously my family, friends and my apartment. I have about 10 or 11 guitars at home and over here I only get to use three. I know that makes me sound really spoiled but I miss my guitars . The things I am usually embarrassed about at home I miss. If a Scottish person gets on the national news back home, and its shown all over the country, it always makes us look like lunatics! When I’m at home , that stuff makes me cringe, but while I am away, that’s the stuff I love. I love to hear someone be an embarrassing Scottish person.

Rachel: Okay, my last question is if you could tell your fans anything right now, what would you say to them? 

Sam: We still have room as band to grow but we are on a mission to prove that real rock music isn’t dead.

Rachel did such an awesome job on this interview! Be sure to check out Twin Atlantic on tour with You Me at Six and The Swellers when they come to your area! More info here.

Source: wearethekidsblog