Christopher Bowes & Dani Evans (Alestorm)
September 2008
I wonder how you came up with the pirate image? Too many Johnny Depp movies? (Laughs)
Christopher: (Laughs) Yeah! I just love the whole cheesy silly pirate thing. We're not really into it in a serious way or anything. Just having a bit of fun.
Were you ever influenced by Running Wild? They used to have some pirate lyrics in the old days.
Christopher: They've got the pirate lyrics on a few songs, yeah... but their lyrics are even worse than ours. (Laughs) Germans have never been very good at writing lyrics in English. Plus, their music is more stylistically similar to ye-olde heavy metal, we've got more folky and epic elements to our sound.
So, what do you think about their music?
Christopher: I think they suck, if I'm being honest! Their music doesn't do anything for me.
What was the basic idea when you formed Alestorm together with Gavin?
Christopher: We just wanted to have fun playing a bit of power metal... we had no idea it was gonna get this far. But it's all good.
How was it possible to play as a two-piece?
Christopher: We didn't play live at all. It was pretty much confined to being a studio project. Gavin did guitars and bass, I did keyboards and vocals. With our crappy drum machine, we were unstoppable!
So then you got two more members. How did you hook up with them?
Christopher: It was mostly through word of mouth in the local music scene. The first time we ever met each other was three days before our first gig, in a rehearsal room! That gig was a bit of a disaster...
Doug left Alestorm since then. What happened?
Christopher: Doug was a shit drummer and a bit of an asshole. Nobody liked him anyway.
Was Ian the first choice to join the band?
Christopher: Yeah, absolutely. Gavin had been recording Ian's other band "Catharist" in his home studio, and asked him to be in the band after being impressed with his drumming skills.
What were the criteria to be a member of Alestorm? To be able to play and drink?
Christopher: Neither, really. None of us are any good at our instruments, and I get wasted after two drinks. (Laughs) We just want people in the band who are cool to be with. That's the main concern when you're spending months at a time with someone on a tour bus.
After a couple of EPs you were offered a record deal by Napalm. How did that go?
Christopher: We just sent them off a couple of songs, and within a day they wanted to give us this multi-album deal. I was totally fucking surprised by that.
Are you satisfied with the work they do for the band?
Christopher: Yeah, they done good. They hired a fancy photographer to do a photo shoot, and got an awesome artist to draw our album cover, and sent us off to Germany to record the album. They've thrown more money at us than we're worth! (Laughs) Napalm have treated us really nicely so far, yeah.
The band was named Battleheart before joining Napalm. Why did you change? And why Alestorm?
Christopher: Yeah, changing name was the record label's idea. And to be honest, they were right. Battleheart was a shit name, totally generic and uninspiring. I came up with Alestorm one day, and it just seemed so perfect. The rest of the band loved it, so it stuck.
The album became quite successful. Did you expect anything like this?
Christopher: Nobody expected anything like what has happened. The label would have been happy had we sold 3000 records, but we've sold something over 15000 now, and it's still rising. Strange people must be buying this CD!
What could be the secret of Alestorm's success?
Christopher: It's just pop music with guitars and accordions! (Laughs) Catchy choruses and everything. People love that shit.
The album touches upon many different styles. How would you describe the music you play?
Christopher: TRUE SCOTTISH PIRATE METAL!
Any Alestorm songs that you like more than the others?
Christopher: I love the title track, "Captain Morgan's Revenge" the best. I think it's got the coolest lyrics, and an awesome singalong chorus. I love singalongs! And Nancy the Tavern Wench is the most amazing song to play live. I don't even have to sing most of the time, the crowd is so loud singing it back at us. Really makes me happy to play that one. Plus it's easy to play. (Laughs)
What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor is also part of the Alestorm setlist. Will it be always like this?
Christopher: Well, we've only got one album, and it's only 40 minutes long. And a lot of festivals and gigs demand that we play for 1 hour. So we must do little improvisations like this to fill up the time. When the 2nd album comes out, I'm afraid What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor will disappear.
What was the best show you performed so far?
Christopher: Gotta be Graspop in Belgium. It was our first big gig, we had no idea that so many people wanted to see us. There was even a guy crowdsurfing in an inflatable pirate ship. (Laughs)
I've seen you in Lillehammer, Norway in August. What kind of memories do you have of that gig? If any.
Christopher: Ahhh, Lillehammer was great. I remember jumping in the swimming pool after Twisted Sister played, that was amazing fun. (Laughs) One of the security guards at the front of our crowd was a big fan, so we got him up on stage to sing a song, that was cool too. I hope his boss didn't mind...
Dani: It was probably the most unusual setting for a festival right in the grounds of fancy hotel. We got there the day before and had a wander around Lillehammer. Taking in the culture and naked dudes walking around, as they do. The show itself was pretty good, from what I remember. I do remember Gavin ending up at the sound desk finishing the set as he was testing out his wireless kits range and interacting with the crowd. Getting to watch Twisted Sister and Kamelot from the side of the stage was a total honour for me too as I'm big fans of both bands.
How about Slovenia's Metal Camp? I've heard that it was quite a gig too...
Christopher: Oh yeah... 4 o'clock in the morning, in the rain, up a mountain, on a beach, with fire-breathers roaming the stage. That sort of thing doesn't happen every day. And we loved it. Most festivals we've played have been absolutely fantastic. Festival crowds are always very nice to us.
Dani: Metal Camp was great. We got the worst slot possible. 3 am on the second stage but that was so made up by the number of people who turned up for it. We had recruited 2 fire breathers from the bar who came up and did a fire show for us during the set which was amazing. All in all, a very fun show from something we didn't expect to be that amazing.
It seems that you are drawing a lot of people in Europe but how about your local scene in Scotland? Is it healthy?
Christopher: It sucks mostly. There's something strange about the crowds in Scotland. I can't quite figure out what it is, but it's not good. Hopefully the local scene will improve, and some decent bands will surface.
Dani: The Scottish scene has only a few bands coming out of it(Attica Rage, Sons of Slaughter to name a couple). Hopefully, more up and coming bands from Scotland will attempt to make it onto the bigger stages and start playing more gigs around the world.
You're going out on tour with Tyr, Hollenthon and Svartsot in October. What do you expect from this tour?
Christopher: Alcohol poisoning.
Dani: Nah, this tour is going to be fantastic. We've played with all the bands on it and they all seem very cool and very talented so it'll bring out the best in Alestorm's performance and it'll be a lot of fun to be back with the guys drinking around Europe again.
What do you think about the other bands on the bill?
Christopher: I think they're all great! I own and enjoy CD's by Tyr and Hollenthon, and Svartsot are great guys to party with. We'll all get on very well, I'm sure.
Dani: They're fantastic musicians and the bands themselves are great. I am a fan of all three bands going on this tour and I'm very glad that we have been chosen to play on it too.
You're going to play in Hungary too. Ever been there before?
Christopher: No, but I can't wait! We get to play on a ship (A38)! How cool is that? It's the perfect venue for pirates. We promise not to steal it.
What are your plans after the tour? When can we expect the next studio album?
Christopher: Recording for the album begins in November. I've written a few songs already, and they're fucking cool. You're gonna love this one, I guarantee it!