Photo : Greg Nolan Nominated for this year's Indy Awards and given a leg up by News of the World, of all people, things are looking very rosy for Captain Black right now. Read on to find out how Camden's coolest new band are taking all this, straight from the horse's (or, er, front man Keith Austin's) mouth.
Hello Captain Black! You’re originally from Hampshire, which as far as I’m aware isn’t that well renowned for its musical heritage (please do correct me if I’m wrong). What sort of scene have you got going on down there? Is it a good place for young bands?
Places like Southampton have a scene I think but Hampshire is a big place so I couldn't really comment on the whole county, if we're talking about where we grew up then no.
So you’re now currently residing in Camden, the Capital of Cool. Did you find it hard at first to get yourselves noticed there?
Kind of, we sat in pubs on our own for a while with nothing to say to each other as we lived with each other and knew exactly what had gone on with our days, then we made some friends and they saved us from our own personalities.
How did you hook up with your record label, Bumpman? What was it about them that made you want to work with them?
They are owned by the guys who run the Hawley Arms and we played regular sessions on monday nights there so they asked if we would consider releasing the next single with them, we said yes because they are all massive music fans and had a vision for how the label would be seen by other people and wanted to do things properly.
You had your launch party for ‘Sister’ the other day. Why did you choose to release that song?
Sister quickly gained a lot of attention live and was the first song after 'Come On Up To Our House' that captured peoples attention. So many people asked for a copy of it we had to release it. I think its our best single so far.
What are your plans for an album? Is it all recorded and ready to go or have you still got to get in the studio and do it?
All the songs are writen, there are plans on the way to get in to the studio soon but it could be the end of the year before we see any signs of a release. There will be another single/EP before that though.
You have two brothers in the band; I’m guessing there’s the occasional period of tension or friction? How do you deal with that as a group?
Yes, Mark is my brother, we do argue a lot and everyone else just deals with it, that's just the way it is.
News of the World made you one of their top bands for 2008 and put you one place above the Courteeners. Was it a little weird seeing yourselves being tipped for success in a national newspaper?
It was weird, especialy because of the terrible picture they used of me! Really nice to get some exposure in a nation paper though and to be listed up there with Laura Marlin and Black Kids was an honnor.
You were nominated for this year’s Indy Awards but alas, didn’t win. What do you think of the band who beat you to the prize, The Brent Flood?
We have no idea what the Indy Awards is really about and I've never heard of Brent Flood. I'm sure they're great, are they from Brent?
Things seem to be really going well for you at the moment. You’re supporting Brakes soon and playing the 2000 Trees Festival with Art Brut next month, which must be pretty exciting. If you could play with anyone ever, who would you choose and why?
Yeah things are going really well, If I could choose anyone to play with I would choose Art Brut and Brakes, thats how well things are going for us.
And finally, what are Captain Black’s plans for the not too distant future?
We are going in to the studio next week to produce our new single, we have a great producer called George Shilling, he has worked with Primal Scream, 2220's and loads of other people so we are really looking forward to that, we're just getting straight on with the next release after the summer.
Rhian Daly
