Enter Shikari are a rock band like no other. Live, they put on an audiovisual spectacular - a rush of energy that perfectly reflects their restlessly creative spirit. On record, they defy genre and pull influence from far across the musical spectrum, as well ideas from politics, culture, art, film and beyond.
Naturally, it should come as no surprise that the band come from myriad influences and interests. As the Enter Shikari machine continues to tear up the road on their current UK arena tour, we sat down with frontman Enter Shikari to find out what makes him tick, and what music and books he's been enjoying lately.
ALLUSONDRUGS
"I went to see ALLUSONDRUGS the other week. I really like them and the direction they're going on - they're really good and standing on their own ground. They're not punk, they're not anything, they're just doing they're own thing."
FATHERSON
"Fatherson too - I've banged on about them a lot. Scotland has a really good knack of just pumping out really good rock bands. They've got really good songwriting, great melodies, and they're going to do great things."
FREDERIC ROBINSON
"Other than that, I've been into a lot drum n' bass basically. Everyone on The Mindsweep Hospitalised remix album, a lot of that stuff. Frederic Robinson too - it's not like traditional drum n' bass, it's very classically influenced and very sample-based and textural - like violins versus a stone being dropped."
JON HOPKINS
"Jon Hopkins and his house and synthy stuff too, I've been listening to that a lot. I get my influence from hip-hop and spoken word a lot more these days, that's the new punk. UK hip-hop is the most frank and direct."
MUSE
"Yeah, my brother has always been a huge Muse fan and I was when I was about 15, then I think after that I started to get into hardcore punk and our local scene and it wasn't cool to like an arena band. I fell out of love with them a bit then a few years after that they got back on my radar and I've always thought they were great songwriters."
KURT VONNEGUT
"I've been reading a lot of Kurt Vonnegut - he's one of my favourite authors. I've read a lot of his diaries and non-fiction stuff, now I've just been reading a lot of his fiction. I've just finished Breakfast Of Champions, which made me laugh out a lot and attract a lot of strange looks on the train."
NAOMI KLEIN
"I've also been reading Naomi Klein's new book on climate change, This Changes Everything. It's really interesting - it kind of confirms a lot of what we've all been saying; that to tackle climate change we're going to have to tackle capitalism. It's bloody huge and quite full on, not easy reading but worthwhile."
Enter Shikari embark on a full UK tour in February 2016. See remaining dates below. For tickets and more information, vist here.
FEBRUARY 2016
MON 22 - BOURNEMOUTH - INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
TUES 23 - CARDIFF - MOTORPOINT ARENA
THUR 25 - MANCHESTER - VICTORIA WAREHOUSE
SAT 27 - LONDON - ALEXANDRA PALACE
