People come to Reading and Leeds Festival for three things: good times, huge tunes and memories - all of which come by the bucketload with Panic! At The Disco.
Before they took to the main stage for their first R+L set in five years, we caught up with frontman Brendon Urie to talk to him about being the band's only original member, their huge new album, their crazy fans and the beauty of making a record while naked...
How would you describe 'the magic' of Reading?
I think it started in the beginning. When we first started the band, everybody knew about Reading and Leeds as the biggest festival in the world. The second we knew we'd made it as a band was when we were invited here. We were completely knocked out - it was fucking amazing and the coolest experience we'd had up to that point, it still is. It's pretty great that the crowd stays young. You're constantly getting waves of new fans - I'm guessing that most of these people don't know our band, and that's awesome. It's kind of why we play festivals.
'Hallelujah' was a great track to come back with. How reflective would you say it is of the rest of the new material?
It's reflective in the sense that it introduces a change for the album. With every record, I try to do something that I haven't done before. 'Hallelujah' sounds very much like itself, and nothing like anything else on the album. There are songs where I try to croon like Frank Sinatra - and I say 'try'. There are songs where I try to scream at the top of my lungs and do Queen harmonies - it's kind of all over the place. There's a lot of hip-hop influence, a lot of classic rock influence, Sinatra, and that's really exciting to me.
Where would you say it takes the Panic! sound from Too Weird To Live?
There's very much an electronic influence. When I'm producing, I'm just building beats. There's a lot of me messing around in the studio and then trying to go back and make a song out of it. It's not very much 80s electronic like the last album, it's kind of bizarre, I was listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar and hip-hop.
Each of your records do have their very own personality - how would you describe the character of the next one?
It's like if a crooner smoked a lot of weed and screamed at the top of his lungs - that's what I tried to do. I tried to sing out of my range for this one, I'm hitting notes that I've never hit in my life. It demands a challenge out of me to hit all these fuckin' notes. It's going to be a blast, but come watch me crack my voice live. It's going to be awesome.
How was it making the album without Spencer?
It was a little similar to the last album, when Spencer going through all of this stuff and when he didn't show up I decided to take the reigns and take the lead. I wrote that album alone as well, and this time it really was me all alone. I have a weird thing where I have a tough time writing songs with people I don't really know. I tried to branch out and do songwriting sessions for other bands, and it's worked out OK but I don't feel as comfortable doing that. I can be personal and have a conversation, but to try and create something and be that open and honest with someone I don't really know is a little strange.
The most potential comes when I'm in the studio alone - I can just get up and dance, I can be naked writing a song, that influences things! This was very similar to the production of the last album - it was me branching out on my own.
Was a lot of the album made while naked?
Yeah! It was! Actually like half the album was me naked in the studio, just hanging out. It gets warm in there!
Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett
When do you think we can hear it?
Well, it's done. It's mixed, it just needs mastering where they compress the shit out of it so it can go on radio and be loud as fuck. Hopefully by the end of this year, but really that's up to the label. I have no idea when they want to put it out. I'm saying end of this year, hoping that I force their hand and make them fucking put it out. I really have no idea.
There's a lot of hardcore Panic fans out there. They're pretty intense. Does it ever play on your mind what they might expect of you?
That's interesting, I've actually never been asked that before. I'm starting to sweat now! Oh Jesus! The pressure! I'm hoping they expect something unique. What I really hope people pull from something I've made is that it's something original. That we own this piece - it's like that with my favourite artists. Some of the newer ones like Kendrick. You hear his voice and know it's him. I hope people take that away from listening to us: that there's a sense of originality, of humanness, that I actually give a fuck about what I'm doing. That's a very important thing.
Photo: Gigwise/Justine Trickett
And on the flipside, what do you think the greatest misconception of you as an artist might be?
Oh, that's interesting, I've heard that we don't write our own songs and that I don't write anything. I think that's hilarious. I might start going along with that - "I don't know where these songs come from! People just email them to me!"
Tell them it's Pitbull.
Hahaha! Ah shit! Yes! That's the new story!
Or Sean Paul...
Haaa! "Sean-a Paul" That's the shit! I'm going to start saying that! This one was written by Pitbull and Sean Paul.
Can you remember the first song you ever wrote yourself?
Yeah! I think I was like 12 or 13-years-old. I was listening to a lot of System Of A Down at the time, and I wrote a song about all the foods that I liked, screaming them. I think it was called like 'Chicken Tequito' which is fucking insane. Maybe it would have been big in the punk community, like some NOFX bullshit but I don't know. That was the first song, how fucking embarrassing. Maybe I'll bring it back.
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