Interview: Alright The Captain

We speak to Alright the Captain ahead of the launch night for their new album ‘Contact Fix’ at JT Soar this Friday.

Hi guys, first off could you introduce us to ‘Alright the Captain’ and give us a bit of background on the band?

Hi we are Marty (Guitar) , Todd (Bass/synths) & Jamie (Drums). We formed ATC in 2008 in Nottingham with our old drummer Ash, who has since left the band due to family commitments. We’ve always had a bit of spinal tap style revolving door with drummers, making Jamie our 5th. The others are presumed dead or playing jazz. We’ve since relocated to derby and have been touring with this lineup for almost 3 years now.

Your brand new album, ‘Contact Fix’ is about to be released, can you tell us a bit about it?

We’re pretty chuffed with how it’s turned out. 7 tracks, about 30 mins running time. But we pack allot of ideas into that 30 minutes! It’s straight to the point. We feel it’s the best thing we’ve done yet.

This is your second album, following ‘Snib’, how would you say your sound has developed in that time?

It’s been a while since Snib so our sound has definitely moved on. This is our first release writing with Jamie in the band so he has provided some new perspectives and Todd has got some new electronics to play with. I’d say it’s less abrasive on the whole, more melodic and with more electronic sounds but with the same short attention span. And heavy in all the right places.

You recorded the album with Rich Collins, from another great local band You Slut!, how was it working with him?

It was a real pleasure. You slut! have been an influence on us over the years. And Rich has a lovely beard. It feels like our first cohesive recording thanks to him and we feel it really captures our live sound. So Snug definitely gets the ATC seal of approval, if that means anything too you.

You funded the album via Crowd Funding – through Kickstarter – what made you decide to go down that road and how did you find the process?

We went down the kickstarter route as we had recorded the album so it was ready to go, and we really wanted to release It on vinyl but we were all broke so had to call upon crowd funding to make it possible. It was definitely a gamble but it paid off, we hit the goal in very short space of time which we we’re obviously very grateful for and the finished product looks great so, no regrets.

The artwork on the album is very striking and eye catching, who was behind that design and where did the inspiration for it come from?

Todd does all the band artwork. We ask him what his inspiration for his art is but don’t get much sense out of him. The cover was a piece he was working on at the time that just seemed to fit with the album. It felt right.

We understand the album will be released on vinyl, are you pleased to see that vinyl is making such a big comeback and why do you think people are turning back to it in this day?

I think things are polarising between physical and digital formats these days. And vinyl is a lovely physical product. It’s something we all have wanted to do, make a proper record, and with the apparent shift towards vinyl it seemed a good time to do it.

You have an album launch in Nottingham on 30th January at JT Soar, what was behind the decision to hold the launch night there?

JT soar is one of our favourite places to play in Nottingham, It’s a great DIY venue. Marty runs monthly buttonpusher shows there with Dan from Mountains of records which are always loads of fun so we figured why not have the album launch there as the first monthly show to kick off 2015. Who can say no to bring your own booze shows?

What can people expect from the launch night and can you tell us anything about the line up and what you have planned?

You can expect a night of loud music, booze and fun times as we’ve got some of our best friends bands playing so be sure to get down early to ensure getting in and catch Knifecutter, Cheap Jazz & Bear Makes Ninja who are all awesome.

We understand you will also have a Derby album launch the following week, what can you tell us about that show?

The Derby show is being held on the 7th Feb at Artsmith studios on Monk Street. It’s another independent place we love and want to support. We have the wonderful and absolutely mental Jazzhands, Cheap Jazz & Kusanagi from Liverpool playing, it’s worth it just for those guys alone. But you get us too. Artsmith is an art gallery predominately so we’re gonna display some of Todds artwork and we’ve got a few characters doing some live art on the night. We also have pictographik on board to project visuals, and plenty of hard booze at the bar. It can get a bit nippy in there in the winter though so be sure to bring a jumper.

You’re also out on tour at the moment, how has that been going?

It’s been going great! We love playing live so it’s always nice being back on the road. It’s a simple life on tour. We’re trying to visit as many new places as we can this year so keep an eye out for us.

What are you plans once the album launch shows are over?

Well we’ve a pretty hectic schedule between now and May with shows every week including visits to Scotland, Mainland Europe and a slot at Aloud festival in Barcelona. We’ve started writing new music for the next album too, we don’t want to leave it as long till the next record, so with that in mind we’re not thinking too much past the spring just yet, hopefully lots of festival slots over the summer and then another big Irish/European tour in the autumn sometime.