We recently did an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in Russia for our upcoming gigs there! And here's a link to the article
http://www.rollingstone.ru/articles/Afisha/Kuda-poiti/9531.html
We love re-translating stuff back to English because the internet goes mental and totally twists your words, so here's what we
aaaaactually said, and you can compare and contrast!
Text by Dmitry Sirotkin.
You act like a crazy on stage and often do not get the strings on your guitars. Do you care about that?
Not at all. The strings hit us rather than us hitting them. We've never really been about precision or fantastic musicianship, it's always been about energy. If we go to see a band who just stand there and hit all the notes, that's brilliant for them, but boring for us to watch. I'd rather see a band act like the music was playing them. I want to see bands mess up - if I wanted note-perfect, I'd stay home and listen to the record. In fact, sometimes we hit the right notes by accident.
What is the first thought that comes to your head when you watch your shows on Youtube?
We cringe at how awful we are. But our live gigs can't be captured by conventional recording devices. You need to see us live with human eyes otherwise you'll never understand it.
Are you real physics or do you have different education?
We're THE PHYSICS. Actually, none of us have any formal education in physics whatsoever. But, we ARE them. Michaeldrum is a pilot.
Could you describe typical fan of WATP?
The good thing about WATP is that there is no typical fan - they range from all ages, cliques, scenes, and that's what we hoped we could do. If you don't align yourself with a particular style or genre or group, you'll gather people who really like you rather than those just adhering to a style. But, typically, blind and deaf.
As far as I know, you are very popular in Japan. What`s the difference between Japanese and British groupies?
People are just people, I suppose. But, playing in Japan is very different to say Europe or the UK - in Europe the crowds seem to go mental en masse, and in Britain there's often a reserved nonchalance towards most bands, but Japanese crowds seem to listen to every single thing you do. They're polite and applaud for exactly seven seconds after each song. It's great in Japan, we go out after the shows for a meal with the promoters and bands and it's all very civilised and friendly. Sometimes other bands won't even speak to you in Britain, so it's hard to imagine going for a meal with them. An amazing Japanese band called Hosome bought us some Japanese porn as a present. Which was nice of them in a creepy way.
Who is the best Trivial Pursuit player in WATP? Are you still plays Trivial Pursuit with your groupies, as you told about it in 2007?
The best Trivial Pursuit player in WATP is Answer A: Dmitri Shostakovich 1906-1975. Sometimes we take groupies back for Trivial Pursuit, but occasionally it's Scrabble, Ker-Plunk or Ghost Castle, but we lost the glow in the dark skull. Recently we've been going to hardware shops, buying screwdrivers, then taking groupies back to our hotel rooms to dismantle all the furniture through the night. In the morning we all reassemble it, but slightly better than it was before.
Do somebody from the band support "Glasgow Rangers" club? Or what kind of sport do you like?
Haha, no, there's a big sectarian divide in Glasgow so, at school, you either like Celtic or Rangers - but none of us are really interested in football. Although, the Rangers slogan is We Are The People, so occasionally we'll see WATP scrawled everywhere and pretend that people really like us. And in our original bio we wrote the word 'hail' twice to see if any Celtic fans would pick up on it. We're not big on sport, but we've got a song called Goran Ivanisevic about the Croatian tennis player. That's more because we loved his kamikaze spirit and drive. He could've been a professional hairdresser for all it mattered.
Did Russian promoters offer you russian vodka during your visit to Moscow in 2007? Do you have any special or funny story about it? Or you only drink Irn Bru?
I'm pretty sure we did get some vodka last time we were in Moscow. The fact that I can't remember if we did or not probably means we did and it's wiped my memory. We remember going out a few times, and drinking with some Moscovites and a guy called Illya gave Chris his watch, but it wasn't magic. We found Irn Bru in a kiosk in Moscow last time, which was excellent considering it's even hard to find in England! Russia and Scotland, buds 4 lyfe.
What reception do you expect this time in Moscow and St-Petersburg?
I'm not sure. Last time was a lot of fun - some people got us, some people didn't. But that's the same reaction we get the world over. I'm hoping some people from Moscow remember us from last time and come out to leap around - but I'm worried because we're playing in a museum in St Petersburg, and we're terrified we do something terribly un-arty like ruin the decor.
Do you know Russian indie-bands and how do you like them?
Because the internet's a massive conveyor belt of bands it's really hard to know where the good music is coming from these days, so we're not even sure we know any Russian indie bands. There's stuff we've known about like Auktyon and pop sensations t.A.T.u (I'm a big fan, but everyone always rips into me for it). I think any music that's organic and at least trying something new, not following a direct and obvious formula, that's for me. It doesn't matter where it comes from. But we're hoping to discover some new Russian indie this time.
How often do people confuse you with other bands starting with "We are..." – We Are Scientists, We Are The Union еtс.? Do you have any special story about it?
Generally if people ask us about We Are Scientists, we've all agreed to act totally confused and refuse to believe that band exists. But, they're lovely! One time they were asked on radio if they knew of us and they explained that we were all working together, hopefully we'll be creating a mega-science record within the next seven years. Although, the way it works in Glasgow is that we say we can beat up any of those other 'We Are' bands and that makes us the best.
You are always using a lot of unordinary sound effects. What was the most unusual technique that you used at the studio?
Well, right now, we're using an Atari Punk Console built into a shoe. We wanted to bring it to Russia, but we're not sure we'll risk taking it on a plane - it looks really dodgy. It basically makes a shoe sound like a raped Nintendo. It's amazing. We take a long time in the studio trying stuff that ultimately doesn't work. We tried to electrify a crisp.
I saw the message from one of the music forums: "I wish music of WATP played at my funeral". Do you think it is a praise or abuse?
If it was WATP that killed the person, that's a shame. But, i can't think of any depressing or maudlin WATP song that they'd want at their funeral, so that's bound to be a pretty cheerful occasion. In fact, if this dead person can get in touch, we'll play at it live for free. Provided we get some of the misery cake, and provided we can incorporate the corpse into the set like Weekend At Bernie's. That's a joke.
Do you remember the most unusual reaction to your music?
We don't have to remember it, we get unusual reactions all the time. One time someone stood right at the front and, after the first song, just said "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?". So, I proceeded to explain to him exactly what the fuck it was, and he sort of understand and enjoyed himself thereafter. Although, someone also once said that We Are The Physics made him want to punch babies. Which is a real shame because I sort of wish babies would've punched him.
What do you think of music critics opinion?
We're not really concerned. Critics are there to criticise, that's their job. Everyone's welcome to an opinion and if they like it, that's great and if they don't, that's fine! There are some bands who really take negative comments to heart, but they're the sort who believe everything good said about them. You can never believe hype, and good press can be bought. If we're consistently ourselves, then any criticism, negative or positive, is at least genuine. I honestly believe that some people have never been told they're shit before and we've grown up together, going to school in Glasgow, with everyone telling us we were shit at every stop. It's harder to believe someone likes us. You need to be told you're shit as much as you're told you're good. We're shit good.
Which one of the famous British bands do you consider your competitors?
It's not a competition - never will be. Because we'd beat everyone. There are no other bands anyway. There is only WE ARE THE PHYSICS.
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WE ARE THE PHYSICS play live in Moscow on 25th November and St Petersburg on 26th November with Victorian English Gentlemens Club.
