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Facts about iForwardrussia!:
It’s pronounced (i)ForwardRussia! (Exclamation optional)
On the keyboard you actually use ‘i’
Katie says the Aero chocolate drink is bubbly just like a normal Aero. I’ve seen the proof.
The t shirts are fucking cool
They don’t like to be asked about the numbers
They listen to Coldplay
They like power ballads
Whiskas likes ribeye steak
They’re more famous than they think they are
Rob would like a Meatloaf or Flaming Lips album
Tom would like to play Reading. Or Leeds. Or T in the Park. Or…
They’re actually half Goth
Debut album ‘Give Me a Wall’ is out May 15 on Dance to the Radio
Camdenites, residents and crawlers alike have once again converged onto the streets of North London for the ‘UK equivalent of SxSW’. Someone obviously hasn’t been here before then. Trailing iForwardRussia! down Camden High Street amidst the throng of revelers we pose the question “Do you get noticed on the streets much?” to bassist Rob.
“Not really. Never happens.” A passing punter gleefully shouts “It’s iForwardRussia!” to much clapping, enthusiastic fist pumping and raucous laughter as Rob informs the rest of the band. Tom bounds over in hysterics; “Haha. That doesn’t usually happen.”
No sooner have the words left his mouth than a mini fan photo shoot outside the Electric Ballroom takes place. We’ve only been in the band’s company for half an hour or so yet we’ve already hijacked a car wash for a photo shoot and been ejected from the Devonshire Arms – a self confessed ‘Goth Pub’ for being under dressed. Admittedly Rob and Tom passed the stringent black dress code but the rest of us weren’t ‘acceptable’. Outside contingency plans are being drawn up as Katie tries to convince us all to don some eyeliner and try again. “They never want to do anything like that” she dejectedly mumbles.
“Somebody was singing one of our songs whilst they were having a shit!”
Tom excitedly announces as he takes a seat in the Lloyd’s we eventually settled in. We resist the urge to ask which song it was as the main talking point swiftly moves onto ordering food. “Will it mess the interview up?” Rob enquires before the first serious band discussion takes place and appetite eventually prevails. Tonight the band play the Artrocker venue as part of the crawl but it seems band-magazine relations need ironing out already. “It’s all going good at the moment and we’re looking forward to playing tonight”
It’s the first time they’ve played the Camden Crawl and it seems they haven’t been informed of the infamous queue’s wreaking havoc on the best laid of plans, although they seem to have selectivity down to a tee. “I’m hoping to catch (pulls out a scribbled piece of paper) Howling Bells and the Sunshine Underground because they’re mates of ours” muses Whiskas. Katie wants to see “The Automatic!” and 65 Days of Static are the only band Tom’s interested in seeing and Rob seems to have momentarily disappeared on a ‘condiments run’.
Rigorous touring saw them support We Are Scientists on their recent tour, whilst a SxSW appearance and prospect of a mammoth tour schedule in support of debut album ‘Give Me A Wall’ seems to have taken their toll on Rob: “SxSW was good but in a shit way if that makes sense. The gigs were consistently shit because they weren’t really proper gigs but that made them good if you get me because there was nothing to compare the shit ones to.” Hmmm. Whilst most bands enjoyed a smooth stateside visit, iForwardRussia! took the kind of scenic route associated with an illegal immigrant as Whiskas explains;
“We ended up in Eastern Europe with no connecting flights, random flight times and my girlfriend paid for the hotel. We ended up about 3 miles away from the main street.” Katie adds: “It was like a week before we probably thought we should book some flights which wasn’t very good.”
It’s the kind of DIY ethos that has inevitably seen the band release the album themselves through Whiskas Dance to the Radio label and is hard working progression they’re fiercely proud of as Tom sarcastically explains: “It’s like the Raconteurs aren’t a super group. They’re first tours on a tour bus and selling out the Astoria. They’re just trying to make it like everyone else.”
“Not a bad first gig” Katie cheekily adds
“Sell out tour and a tour bus is a good start” sees Whiskas jump on the bandwagon
“Our first gig wasn’t bad…” as Rob tries to rescue the situation
“…with Preston’s Ordinary Boy’s and Wilson’s Chiefs. We went down like a right sack of shit.” Whiskas smiles,
“Although some bloke in a car said I really like your band” Rob grins as he reenacts the moment.
It’s a firebrand attitude that has stood them in good stead and kept their feet firmly on the ground. They’re a band with personality. Four of them to be exact; Rob’s pensive and considered, Katie’s chirpy and bubbly, Tom’s animated to the point of blunt and Whiskas is opinionated and intelligent which makes it impossible not to see they wholeheartedly believe in what they do and have a great fucking time doing it. Playful to the point of serious, they also have little problem in voicing their opinions. “Everyone makes a big deal about Lamacq and his support for us but he said our song name wrong on the radio and that’s a fact. If we were such favourites of his then I don’t think he’d have done it” Rob deliberately points out, “We sent in a demo just like everyone else so he probably just picked it us out a stack of demo’s and liked it.” Katie continues. So the music speaks for itself? “Exactly.”
Between mouthfuls of pub grub, they chew over everything asked of them. For a band with their fair share of music press coverage, critical industry acclaim and burgeoning fan base where was the record company clamor for their signature? Why wasn’t there the same free for all that accompanied the Arctic Monkeys transition from the interweb to the shelves? Whiskas considers the question for a second before answering; “We got fed up of waiting about 6-9 months ago. I knew some people through promoting in Leeds and eventually, after two years got us into a position where we could do it ourselves. I was sick of hearing ‘we love your sound and what your doing but it’s just not for us’. I spoke to a few close friends and they said ‘just go for it.’ It wasn’t a natural progression but we thought we should just do it.”
Public and press expectations far exceed the bands own expectations for the album but it’s good to see consideration of the finer points. Tom leans back in his chair with the content smile of a man who’s enjoyed a curry; “To unite the world in peace and harmony. (Quizzical look from all) Only joking. Just for it to mean something to someone like Radiohead’s ‘Ok Computer’ did to me,” whilst Whiskas succinctly sums his up “I hope people will like it and it will have a ‘place.’” Do you harbour any ambitions for it to become a seminal album? Tom continues;
“No not really. If you look at a lot of bands like that there’s been a lot of pressure.”
Kind of like The Vines way back when?
“Yeah except their first album wasn’t that good and they’re shit.”
Whiskas interjects before Tom finishes;
“Plus he wasn’t right in the head in the first place.”
Avoiding an in depth discussion on Craig Nicholls health and The Vines credibility we stumble upon the scourge of legitimate gig tickets and promo CD’s alike; Ebay. As a result of an unscrupulous hack it seems, the band were forced to unveil the track listing for their forthcoming debut ‘Give me a Wall’ a tad early to the clear annoyance of the band, who for the first time of the afternoon remain decidedly reserved when discussing it.
Tom – “It was a journalist…”
Any specific names?
Tom – (Casts a glance across the band) “Can we say?”
Whiskas – “It wasn’t him…”
Rob – “The publication?”
Whiskas – “No we can’t say because we don’t know for definite.”
Tom – “It happens I suppose. All we know was that it was a journalist because no one else would have had the album by then. It’s just journalists feel the need to share whatever it is with the world and sometimes you don’t need to.”
Despite the leak, the band remain cautiously optimistic about the album and hope it’ll signify another step as Rob reveals “Just getting the album done and out there is going to be good.” As far as defining moments go, for once Whiskas and Tom don’t have an immediate answer. “I couldn’t say really. There’s been a lot of things we’ve done in a short space of time” Whiskas considers whilst Tom is a little more candid and replies “Ask us in a year.” Rob would like to “reach Christmas” and “play some bigger venues” whilst Katie is torn between “paying my rent this year so the phone bill can wait till next year” or “being able to buy enough drumsticks to give to the kids. They’re expensive.”
It’s a conversation straddled with references to the paper industry, papyrus, Neil Young doing keynote speeches and plenty of honest, blunt opinion. From the random to the ridiculous it seems they’ll never go hungry or homeless whilst Whiskas has a plan;
“We need to do that” he exclaims
”What?” enquires Rob
”A Test Icicles. Split up and make a half arsed mini album and a final tour to make some money.”
“That was a bit pathetic that Whiskas!” Rob seems a little insulted.
“I wasn’t having a go at Test Icicles” Whiskas replies incredulously.
“It’s just their way of leaving it isn’t it? Rob tries to reason as Whiskas reiterates;
“I wasn’t having a go at Test Icicles”
But it’s Katie who has the final say;
“Serves Domino right for not believing they were gonna split up.”
As time swiftly moves on and the first acts of the Crawl approach the question that separates the pretenders from the true visionaries’ hits home; Sum up iForwardRussia! In three words;
Tom – “Ugly fucking bastards”
Katie – “Hang on! I’ve got one. Nothing. But. Smashing.”
Whiskas – “Rock and roll.”
Tom – “Two thumbs fresh. Wait! Singer is hot.”
Whiskas – “Two. Just two; Wicked sick. This one’s just one word; Dope.”
Do you want me to leave the Dictaphone with you?
Whiskas – “Someone did that once to record our thoughts once”
Katie – “Oh no!”
Tom – “Totally unprofessional guys.”
My maths may not be the greatest but even I know that Thirteen + Twelve + Fifteen pt I+ Nine +Nineteen + Seventeen + Eighteen + Sixteen + Seven + Fifteen pt II +Eleven = Vital.
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