We managed to catch up with the lovely guys in I Divide after their recent sold out tour with Yashin.
Hi Guys, how’s life in tour? Hope it’s all going well?
It’s going great thank you. Just played some fantastic shows with the boys in Yashin. The whole tour sold out in the end, so it’s a honour to join them and play to so many people each night. This is our first run of dates since last year, so we’re really making the most of being back on the road and getting to play shows again.
Are you showcasing songs from new album on this tour?
We’ve been playing “Follow Me”, “Cold At The Bottom” and “Run Away” for a while now as part of our live shows, and all of those tracks are going to be on the new album. We’ve also introduced our latest single “I’m Not Leaving” for these dates with Yashin. It’s the first time we’ve added a brand new song into our set for a while so it’s definitely been a little more daunting playing that than some of the others, but it’s been going down really well each night! People are already singing it back, which is completely crazy!
The album is called ‘ ‘LAST ONE STANDING’ – what’s the meaning behind that title?
We picked the name as it summarises the themes of the album really well. We’ve had an amazing year but it’s also been really tough. Being in a band is a huge commitment and leads you to giving up a lot of the comforts of a normal life. This alone often leads to great bands ending up breaking up and not being able to continue to their true potential. We sing about the struggles of being in a band on the album quite a lot, and the phrase “Last One Standing” represents us all pulling together and trying to stand our ground as a band, and as cheesy as it sounds, just never giving up.
Are you nervous about the release?
Nervous and excited. None of us have released a full-length album before so we’re really excited to see what people say. We’ve already received some really positive feedback so that definitely takes some of the pressure off! We’ll have to see what the reaction is like when it finally hits the shops.
Where have you been recording it and how long did it take you? – Did anything funny/ weird happen in the studio?
We actually recorded at two separate studios but both with the guys from Outhouse studios (Ben Humphries and John Mitchell.) We start by recording for two weeks with them in Red Bull Studios in London. We then did another 2 weeks at their own studios in Reading. The studio was a great experience. We ended up taking over the Red Bull studios in London whilst we were there. They have quite a lot to do there like table tennis, table football and arcade games so we all got pretty good at that. They also have different events going on each night so we’d walk out of the main studio each night straight into an art gallery or exhibition. The best thing is that all drinks at the red bull bar are free ;) Outhouse studios was great too. It was ridiculously sunny the whole time we were there so we spent a lot of time sunbathing outside and playing giant chess in their garden.
What’s next for I Divide after this tour?
We’re touring with the boys in Blitz Kids and Fort Hope for a couple of weeks in April which we’re definitely looking forward to. We just can’t wait to get the album out and see people’s reactions. We’re hoping to just tour as much as possible for the rest of the year. We want to play to anyone who wants to hear us. Hopefully we can make it further afield and play to some of our fans abroad.
Do you have a bucket list as a band, and if so what’s number one on the list? (ie. festivals you’d love to play? bands you’d like to support…)
We’ve definitely ticked off a few items off our band bucket list already. Playing Download festival second stage was one of them, although I expect moving up to the main stage could be a pretty incredible achievement one. Playing Reading and Leeds Festival was another one, and so was touring with a band like Funeral For A Friend. There’s plenty more festivals we’d love to play like Warped Tour and Soundwave. We’d also love to release a single or album that could get into the charts. Playing a stadium show would also be a dream come true.
What’s on your tour rider?
Usually mainly beer ha! Although our singer Tom doesn’t drink so there’s normally a load of waters on there as well. To be honest, we normally smash through a couple of crates of water at each show because it gets so hot and sweaty on stage. Any sort of food is good with us. We love eating pizza and all that kind of rubbish, although we’ve been trying recently to try and eat less crap on tour. Doesn’t stop us from ending up at McDonalds most days though…
What do you miss most while being on tour?
I guess we always miss home a little bit whilst we’re on tour. Mainly sleeping in our own beds. But we’re usually not away long enough to worry about it too much. We always just make the most of being on tour and have as much fun as possible. We normally don’t even think about being back at home until we get back after tour.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, good luck with the tour and the album release!
‘LAST ONE STANDING’ – OUT NOW:
iTunes: http://smarturl.it/lastonestanding
Dstry: http://dstryevrythng.com/store
Check out their latest video to ‘I’m Not Leaving’ here:
