We sat down with Neck Deep to discuss their upcoming career-defining show at Alexandra Palace, the success of 'December' and how swapping LA for their Wrexham roots gave rise to their self-titled fifth album
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00:00 Again, it's just like we're at that point now where we've been doing this for 10 years
00:03 like we know how to write a record, we know how to make a Nek Deep record.
00:07 We've been doing it for 12.
00:09 Oh god.
00:10 [Laughter]
00:11 Oh god.
00:12 Well we lost two years somewhere along that.
00:16 [Music]
00:24 Hey guys, I'm Rishi and today I'm joined by Ben and Matt from Nek Deep for the latest
00:29 in NME's In Conversation series.
00:32 How's it going guys?
00:33 Very good, thank you.
00:34 Yeah, made it down here in one piece.
00:36 We are up bright and early from Chester.
00:39 Had a little road trip together.
00:41 Yeah, well thank you for coming down.
00:43 This is a regular stop for you in London, you were saying.
00:46 Duke's covered in Soho.
00:48 Yeah, we are purveyors of fine vintage clothing.
00:53 Duke's tend to provide.
00:55 I think I've bought one of my favourite vintage t-shirts from here which is a Titanic bootleg
01:00 shirt with Leonardo DiCaprio's name spelt wrong.
01:03 Leonardo DiCaprio.
01:04 DiCaprio, yeah.
01:05 So yeah, found that here.
01:06 So yeah, we do stop by whenever we're in Soho.
01:13 Well first of all, I guess, happy new year.
01:15 Are you chilling into the year?
01:18 Is it like, ah, it's album month, what's kind of the vibe in the run up?
01:22 We're prepping.
01:23 Yeah, not for nuclear apocalypse.
01:25 Prepping, yeah, but so...
01:27 We've got a bunker and everything now.
01:30 Yeah, bunker.
01:31 No, we're getting ready for the record to come out on the 19th.
01:36 And then we're going on tour soon as well.
01:39 Pretty soon, yeah.
01:40 We're off to America pretty much at the start of it.
01:42 I mean, I've been kind of chilling into the new year a bit because of all the madness
01:46 coming that I've kind of been having quite a chill one at home and just trying to get
01:50 into some good habits.
01:51 It's not on anything like New Year's resolution, anything because I know I'll just pressure
01:56 myself into a period.
01:57 There are big scary things.
01:58 Yeah, exactly.
01:59 It's more day by day, isn't it?
02:00 Yeah, so I'm just trying to chill into it a little bit.
02:01 Just try to eat a bit better and get out a bit more and just spend time with my fiancée
02:06 and my dogs before I'm away for a while.
02:09 And what's the plan for release day?
02:11 Any specific party?
02:12 I know you've got the Tacos event in the build up.
02:15 Yeah, well on our release day is our drummer Pals' 30th birthday.
02:18 Ah, lovely.
02:19 Some would argue that could be more important than that.
02:23 But his mum would anyway, bless her.
02:25 Yeah, his mum's very excited for it.
02:27 Yeah, she's looking forward to that as are we.
02:30 I think there'll be a little something for that.
02:33 I think he booked a table at a place next door because we're doing some acoustic sets
02:40 in the lead up to the record coming out and his 30th falls on one in his hometown of Nottingham.
02:45 So we're going out for some dinner before that and I'm sure there'll be a cake or something.
02:50 Yeah, we're not crazy.
02:52 I think our days of any excuse for a party are behind us a little bit.
03:00 We're pretty chill and don't want to set ourselves up for the first few days of an American tour.
03:05 Wait, do we fly out to America the next day?
03:07 I think it is actually the next day.
03:09 Pass.
03:10 Maybe.
03:11 Soon after anyway.
03:12 Done a hungover flight before.
03:13 Yeah, that's a great way to start the tour, isn't it?
03:15 Yeah, great start to the new year.
03:17 Trying to be healthier, just battered on a flight is not how I saw that.
03:22 Well, album five, I guess the self-titled one.
03:26 Often that's something fans will do on their debut.
03:29 We've seen some bands do it a bit later on.
03:31 What was behind that decision?
03:32 Because it's quite a statement, isn't it?
03:34 This is neck deep by neck deep.
03:37 We had loads of album titles floating about.
03:39 There were a bunch that we were stoked on that we were picking out from albums.
03:42 Some of them were funny, some of them were serious, some of them are introspective and
03:46 all this.
03:47 But there wasn't one that was really sticking for everyone.
03:53 I think just because of the process of how the record was made, we ended up having to
03:57 pivot what we were doing and had to start again.
04:01 We'd initially gone out to LA to make the record and then that didn't really turn out
04:07 how we wanted it to.
04:09 We ended up doing the record ourselves in our own studio.
04:12 The idea of a self-titled was floating out.
04:15 It was like, "Well, yeah, we literally built this from the ground up.
04:18 All of it was done ourselves, kind of the way that we used to do it as well.
04:22 We've got a nice studio.
04:23 We're not in Seb's bedroom anymore, but it's still very much Seb at the helm and all just
04:29 prying away at it.
04:31 I think it's the most involved we've all been collectively.
04:34 So if any album's neck deep, then this is the one.
04:37 I think when it was suggested, it was just like, "Yeah, it feels right.
04:41 Probably got to do a self-titled at some point."
04:43 Just get it out of the way, innit?
04:46 Yeah.
04:47 It is about as classic as neck deep as you get some of the songs on there.
04:50 You can hear bits of all what's come before and what's the newest sound on there.
04:56 So I guess, talk me through that decision.
04:58 You're saying you're out in LA and things weren't going as planned.
05:01 Was that over a period of time you realized that or was it all at the same moment, "Guys,
05:06 we need to reset this a bit"?
05:08 I think it's one of those situations where everyone was feeling the same thing, but no
05:12 one wanted to be the first person to say anything.
05:15 The minute someone said something, everyone was like, "Fuck that."
05:19 We just all came to the decision collectively that this isn't really where we need to be
05:25 taking this.
05:26 We were picking apart songs, I think, that we felt that we didn't need to pick apart
05:30 or change or just being like, maybe just because of the environment we were in, we were like,
05:36 "Oh, maybe if we change this part, we're in reality."
05:38 We don't need to change anything.
05:39 We just need to make sure this sounds good.
05:42 It's the way that we want it.
05:44 Yeah.
05:45 It was tough.
05:46 I think it was about a week into the trip.
05:49 We'd had a few days in the studio that were maybe quite slow and maybe some songs that
05:53 we were really stoked on in their demo form, then going into the studio and putting them
05:59 down and not being so stoked.
06:01 I mean, you can get demotitis anyway.
06:03 Demotitis, that's brilliant.
06:05 Yeah, where you get hooked on the demo and that's how it is.
06:09 But we knew that there's something that's missing from this that is this intangible
06:17 thing.
06:18 I think that is just all of our input and feeling as though...
06:22 Because we're all pretty telepathic with that sort of stuff.
06:25 We know when it's sounding right and it just wasn't really there.
06:30 I think even though it was tough, we definitely had a few pretty stressful conversations,
06:37 essentially setting ourselves back a month or so.
06:42 But it was for the best.
06:43 As soon as we got into our own studio and we started sort of re-piecing the songs together,
06:47 it was like, finally, yeah, this feels a lot better.
06:51 For as much as we've traveled, everyone's a homebody.
06:54 Everyone likes just being in our own environment.
06:58 So I think having the ability to go to the studio and then just go home at night was
07:04 a nice new experience that we've not really experienced before.
07:08 Unless you're Seb, in which case the studio used to be his home and his bedroom, but not
07:12 anymore.
07:13 No escape.
07:14 Yeah.
07:15 Has that happened before in any of the other albums where you sort of hit a bit of a brick
07:19 wall and was it kind of a bit more seamless?
07:21 Because the turnarounds were a bit quicker, sort of two years, but this one, you let run
07:25 its course until it was ready.
07:27 I mean, every record has a point.
07:31 I think that's part of the creative process, going through a period where you're hypercritical
07:36 of yourself because otherwise you are just kind of going to settle for that.
07:40 If something's not right, then you want to keep going and keep going.
07:44 You will always question, "God, does this just suck?"
07:46 And then a little bit of perspective or a little tweak here and there.
07:51 Or for me, anyway, sometimes it's just getting the right lyric and it's like, "All right,
07:54 cool.
07:55 These are exactly what we need them to be."
07:57 Every record has that, but no, we've never been in a position where we would feel like
08:02 we'd have to restart doing a record.
08:05 But I think, again, it's just like we're at that point now where we've been doing this
08:08 for 10 years.
08:10 We know how to write a record.
08:11 We know how to make a neck deep record.
08:13 We've been doing it for 12.
08:16 Oh, God.
08:17 Well, we lost two years somewhere along that.
08:24 But we know ourselves better than anyone.
08:28 We have a great producer in his own right in Seb.
08:31 So, yeah, we have all the tools to be able to do it ourselves now.
08:35 And whether we do that going forward, we're not opposed to going and working with producers
08:39 and stuff, but we know full well that we can do a record totally off our own back and be
08:45 happy with how it turns out.
08:48 Yeah.
08:49 You said everyone's a bit of a homebody at heart kind of thing.
08:51 Did it feel, making this record, that it rolled back the memories a bit, especially for you
08:55 guys because you've both been here since the very, very start?
08:58 I thought it was nice.
08:59 I thought it was nice to be like...
09:01 It was good to be working with Seb again.
09:02 I think like Seb obviously has been...
09:06 The secret weapon the entire time.
09:08 Yeah.
09:09 When he joined the band, it wasn't like a new member to us.
09:13 It was just like, "Oh, cool.
09:15 Seb is just stepping into a more involved role, I guess."
09:20 Everyone was just stoked because it's like, "Oh, he actually just gets to experience the
09:23 really, really fun parts that we get to experience as well now."
09:27 He gets to travel with us.
09:28 He's your brother.
09:29 He's one of my best mates.
09:31 It's just like, "Oh, cool.
09:32 Now he just gets to come with us."
09:33 Yeah, it's just seamless.
09:35 But working with Seb again was like...
09:37 I think he is the sort of one of that secret ingredient.
09:43 Me and Seb are very...
09:44 We grew up on the exact same music taste.
09:47 If anything, I would just listen to whatever he was listening to.
09:50 And so from that, we picked up a lot of the similar taste in things and a lot of the same
09:56 songwriting things.
09:57 We both kind of hear things in our ears.
09:59 We both love the same things about music.
10:01 So if I have an idea and I'm explaining it in some weird, long, convoluted way because
10:08 I can't really explain it, he'll be able to go, "I know what you mean.
10:12 Let's make this happen."
10:13 Whereas sometimes when you're working with someone new or working with someone from outside
10:16 of the band, it can be a little tough sometimes.
10:19 You can kind of rub.
10:20 Maybe they've got their way of doing things.
10:22 You've got your way of doing things.
10:23 And yeah, that can be tough sometimes.
10:26 But it's nice to not compromise for anything.
10:30 And so, yeah, I think it did kind of feel like going back to the old days where we didn't
10:34 really have anyone telling us what we could or should do.
10:38 It was just, "Sweet, let's sit in a room and work on this until it feels good and just,
10:43 yeah, not have to hold back or compromise."
10:47 Yeah.
10:48 And like, as you're saying, you sort of did it on your own terms in your own space quite
10:52 near Rex and Chester sort of area.
10:55 Is that like a space you're hoping to just keep forever kind of thing now?
10:59 Yeah.
11:00 Is it fun sort of building it up from the ground?
11:01 Yeah, it's fun.
11:02 It's also daunting realizing how much shit you've accumulated.
11:05 12 years of absolute rubbish, some of it.
11:08 So it's like, "What are we going to do with that?"
11:11 And it's just nice having everything central.
11:13 It's like walking distance from my house.
11:15 It's like right near yours, near Seb.
11:18 It's a nice...
11:19 It's like a dream, isn't it?
11:20 It's like every band's kind of like...
11:23 It's like a weird boyhood dream of having like a little...
11:26 Clubhouse.
11:27 A clubhouse.
11:28 Yeah, you know what I mean?
11:29 That's kind of how it feels.
11:30 And we've been slowly renovating it and doing some bits and bobs to it.
11:33 And yeah, it just feels like a place that is ours.
11:36 And yeah, it's awesome.
11:39 It's been in the pipeline for a long time.
11:41 And luckily, the perfect spot came up.
11:43 Like I said, it's right by all of our houses and everything that we need.
11:48 Dead private.
11:49 And yeah, we can just do whatever we want in there, which is the dream.
11:53 Pretty cool.
11:54 Yeah, it's a dream.
11:55 So yeah, we're working on it now.
11:56 Actually, the studio is getting renovated right now.
11:58 We're having it...
11:59 We're having the live room redone.
12:00 Yeah, we haven't been able to...
12:01 Which needs to be done in how many days?
12:02 Two or three days?
12:03 It needs to be done in one week.
12:04 Turn around.
12:05 Four days, I mean.
12:06 Yeah, it needs to be done in one week.
12:07 Turn around.
12:08 Four days, I mean.
12:09 Yeah, no, it needs to be done by the 14th.
12:10 Yeah, no, we've got like five days.
12:11 Yeah, we'll be fine.
12:12 Yeah.
12:13 And Wrexham's having a bit of its moment now, isn't it?
12:14 I know.
12:15 It's what, locked and open?
12:16 Let's go.
12:17 Do you feel the buzz?
12:18 Yeah, probably.
12:19 Massively, yeah.
12:20 You guys are the forefront of the Wrexham music scene in a way.
12:23 Yeah, well, I think it's...
12:24 Tell Ryan and Rob.
12:25 Yeah.
12:26 Racecourse ground one.
12:27 I know.
12:28 Yeah, well, that's always been the aim.
12:29 Like, you know, we've always said we'd rather do the racecourse over Wembley.
12:33 Like, we've played Wembley a few times and like, yeah, Wembley would obviously be awesome
12:37 and it's a milestone and it's this great thing, but it'd be so much cooler to be like the
12:42 hometown band that sells out the racecourse would be unreal.
12:45 And it is big, man.
12:46 It's like a big ground.
12:47 So, yeah, that would be the dream.
12:49 But, yeah, definitely feel the buzz for sure.
12:51 Like, for the first time ever, there's like some positivity about Wrexham.
12:54 Like, you know, for the first time ever, you could say, "Oh, in 10 years, Wrexham may have
12:59 grown into a bigger city or like, it'll just have a better reputation and, you know, the
13:04 football team could be this and that."
13:05 Whereas you haven't been able to say that about Wrexham for...
13:07 Well, it is a city now.
13:09 Since the lines are closed.
13:10 Do you know what I mean?
13:11 It's actually a city now.
13:12 I mean, it's still the town.
13:13 Everyone's still...
13:14 It's still a shagging town.
13:15 Like, that's all, you know, and even Wrexham, we got made a city and it's...
13:19 I think everyone was kind of like...
13:21 We got made a city.
13:22 Really?
13:23 Yeah.
13:24 Because of the boys, I think.
13:25 Yeah.
13:26 The boys and Disney.
13:27 I'm surprised that we've been trying to get city status for like 20 years and then as
13:30 soon as Hollywood comes along, it's like, "Is it a city of Wrexham?"
13:34 One click of the fingers and you're a city.
13:36 Yeah, but it's good.
13:37 I'm really stoked.
13:38 It's really sick to see a place like Wrexham kind of having its day in the sun because
13:43 it is like a beautiful place outside of this kind of rowdiness of it.
13:47 Like, it's beautiful.
13:48 The people are like super down to earth, salt of the earth people.
13:52 I think maybe it gets a bit of a bad rap and it's kind of similar to how Neck Deep have
13:57 kind of been really.
13:58 Like, we've kind of always had a lot of people kind of naysaying and kind of like didn't
14:05 want us to succeed and Wrexham has a lot of that too.
14:08 It's like every little town and area around it are all pretty buddy-buddy but then when
14:13 it comes to Wrexham, everyone's just had this big aversion to it and so now this success
14:18 has come along, it's like, "Oh, now everyone wants a piece."
14:20 I love Wrexham, though.
14:21 Yeah.
14:22 We've always kind of, I think being from Wrexham kind of gave us that attitude anyway in the
14:27 first place.
14:28 If you ain't with us, then kick rocks.
14:29 So now it's cool to see not only us doing well but the town doing well as well.
14:36 Yeah.
14:37 Well, watch this space, Racecourse Ground, but what is happening is Ali Pali.
14:40 Yes.
14:41 28th of March, massive show.
14:43 Biggest headline show ever.
14:44 How long have you had that in the pipeline for?
14:47 A while.
14:48 A while.
14:49 A minute.
14:50 A minute.
14:51 Well, the aim was to kind of do it around the last record.
14:53 The vid got in the way of that and then...
14:55 It put on that plan.
14:57 Yeah, and it kind of just, it did take us a while to bounce back from that just to catch
15:03 back up with, it felt like we were still doing all the backlogged shows from that for a couple
15:10 of years afterwards.
15:11 We literally, end of last year, just did a rescheduled one.
15:15 Yeah, yeah.
15:16 We're only just ticking off rescheduled shows.
15:18 Like a rescheduled install for the release of that record.
15:21 It's like, we're not doing songs, we're just going to play a set.
15:24 Yeah, yeah.
15:25 No one wants to hear four sounds in two sets.
15:27 No one remembers that this is even an acoustic set.
15:29 We didn't even remember this was happening and barely anybody there did either probably
15:33 at that point.
15:34 So it was like, we'll sack that off.
15:35 Yeah, but it's been in the pipeline for a while.
15:38 Definitely been in the sights for a while and I think now's the right time to do it.
15:42 I think this new record has so much energy to it and I think fans are just going to love
15:52 this record for, have you already seen a few comments about it?
15:57 I don't think we ever lost form, but people are saying, "Pretend to remember."
16:02 And all this, and so I think there's a nice swell happening at the minute.
16:06 And so, yeah, if we can jump on that and do Alipa.
16:09 Alipa is actually one of my favorite venues too, just because a flat 10,000.
16:13 That's a big open room.
16:14 Yeah.
16:15 Fine by me.
16:16 I was saying about like Webley as well.
16:17 Webley's cool, but the seats kill it a little bit and it's always tough for us sometimes
16:22 in those big rooms to sell the seats because people want to march, people want to move,
16:26 they want to get involved.
16:27 And so 10,000 just straight front to back is ideal.
16:30 Fine by me.
16:31 Yeah.
16:32 And is it sort of, as well as showcasing the new album, kind of a bit of a celebration
16:36 of Neck Deep to this point?
16:38 Like how on earth do you go about curating the set list, pleasing everyone?
16:43 Yeah.
16:44 Show is massive.
16:45 Yeah, we can't even please ourselves.
16:46 What are the conversations of this?
16:48 Oh, God.
16:49 Miserable.
16:50 Yeah.
16:51 Well, it's like, you know, we've got a new album that we're dead proud of, but then it's
16:55 like, "Oh, we can't just play the whole new album and kind of neglect everything up to
17:01 that point."
17:02 And I think when we're doing a show that's that big, it is our biggest headliner to date.
17:07 I think it makes more sense for it to kind of be that celebration.
17:11 Yeah.
17:12 So, yeah, it's a good mix.
17:14 I think all the hits, a lot of stuff that we haven't played before.
17:17 We're playing a lot of songs, I'll tell you that much.
17:19 There's something off every record as well, which I think fans are going to love too.
17:22 We always get asked to play stuff of Wishful Thinking and we always get asked to play like
17:26 a lot of Lights Out to Get You stuff as well.
17:29 And so we're throwing in a few of the deep cuts off that record, stuff that we haven't
17:32 played either in a long time or ever before.
17:35 So, yeah, it's going to be good.
17:36 It's going to be a big celebration.
17:38 And you've just done Rain in July in full.
17:40 I know you're doing Lights Out to Get You in full at When We Were Young Festival a bit
17:44 later in the year.
17:45 Does it like, do you feel differently about the songs, like rehearsing them again, especially
17:49 for songs you haven't played in a number of years?
17:51 I feel fucking old.
17:52 Yeah.
17:53 That's what I feel.
17:54 I feel my age.
17:55 So, yeah, that's the one thing.
17:56 It's like 10 years since we did that.
17:58 It feels like the last week.
17:59 Yeah.
18:00 Especially the fact that we're coming up on an anniversary of Lights Out to Get You
18:04 is insane.
18:05 Yeah, yeah.
18:06 Yeah, like a 10 year as well, not even like a five year.
18:09 That is, like next year will be the 10 year of that, which is batshit.
18:13 Time moves, goes.
18:15 It moves fast.
18:16 Yeah, it's only a minute.
18:17 I think when we first started like practicing for a lot of the Rain in July stuff, it was
18:24 sick to play those songs again for the first time.
18:27 And I think the first lot of shows that we did for them were really sick.
18:31 And genuinely did.
18:32 I think for me personally anyway, gave me a kind of a new perspective on our live performances.
18:39 Like, because we've been playing some like bigger shows, a lot of barrier shows and stuff.
18:43 And so to like fully throw ourselves back into how we used to do things was like a really
18:47 nice reminder of like what our show should feel like and kind of the core elements of
18:52 it.
18:53 So I definitely, I think it gave me a bit of confidence to like, you know, be a bit more
18:57 involved with the crowd and to, you know, just a nice reminder of that.
19:02 But I will say by the end of playing those songs, because we ended up doing like how
19:07 many shows in total?
19:09 A few runs.
19:10 The initial plan was like, we're doing three shows in the UK and we're doing three shows
19:15 in America.
19:16 And my mindset on it was, if you don't get a ticket, tough shit.
19:20 Like, sorry.
19:21 But you're very mean.
19:22 That's what fans thought.
19:23 Fans thought we were all very mean.
19:25 I was very mean.
19:27 We had to do more and more.
19:28 And it was kind of like by the end of it, it's like, it's still really fun.
19:31 Still really enjoyed doing it.
19:33 But it was like, it's time to put this to rest.
19:37 If I never play Silver Line and ever again in my life, I'll be fine.
19:41 It just got to a point where it was kind of like, I don't know, it started to lose its
19:48 like special.
19:49 Yeah.
19:50 Like it didn't seem as special because we were kind of like throwing them in as like,
19:53 you know, just cool things to do as like little filler shows or whatever.
19:56 But then it's like, nah, we should keep this as a special thing.
19:59 We can't just start doing this as a bit.
20:01 It's in the box now.
20:02 Yeah.
20:03 I got a bit sick of it.
20:04 Because I listened back to some old lyrics and stuff and I'm like, God, you're a cringe
20:07 bag.
20:08 What the hell are you on about?
20:09 Like there's some lyrics that like I just won't sing live because I'm just like, that's
20:12 cringey.
20:13 I was thinking that about like just like bits of the songs.
20:15 Why did we slow it down?
20:16 Yeah.
20:17 Yeah.
20:18 This doesn't mean like...
20:19 Why is there a tempo change in the song?
20:20 Why has this song got four verses?
20:21 Why is this a double?
20:22 What is the point?
20:23 Why am I like...
20:24 You're too harsh on yourself.
20:25 You're too harsh on yourself.
20:26 I know, yeah.
20:27 But, you know, like I said, we've come a long way since those days.
20:30 And, you know, I think we'll always be critical of ourselves.
20:34 I don't think any of us can listen to music in the same way anymore.
20:37 It's one of them.
20:38 We're always going to be analyzing.
20:39 But it was really, really sick.
20:40 But yeah, definitely put in its bed for a bit now.
20:43 Are we playing some of that?
20:44 I think we're playing a couple of songs.
20:46 We're playing them.
20:47 For Ali Pali.
20:48 Just a few, yeah.
20:49 Just a couple.
20:50 Not the full thing.
20:51 Not all of them.
20:52 We're just doing Silver Line in 26 times.
20:55 Zero tickets sold.
20:57 Your worst nightmare.
20:59 It does sound like a fever dream.
21:02 No, but I'm sort of building on that a bit.
21:04 From the inside, as a band, nostalgia for fans is obviously such a big thing.
21:08 People love hearing those old songs.
21:10 But, like, do you think playing those records...
21:14 A festival like When We Were Young sort of embodies that,
21:16 everyone's doing those old school records in full.
21:20 When you're such a forward-thinking band,
21:22 is it as enjoyable to just get caught up in that moment and let it be special
21:26 when you're obviously so thinking about the next thing at the same time?
21:30 Yeah, and I think, like I said,
21:33 I think that's kind of why at the end of the Rain In July stuff
21:35 we were a bit like, "Phew," because you want to be moving forward.
21:38 But nostalgia, whether we like it or not,
21:41 is a huge part of our genre specifically as well.
21:45 I think our genre plays on a lot of nostalgia
21:48 because it's had its peak in important times for people.
21:52 I think when we were growing up and when we were kids,
21:55 along with, I'd say, the majority of our fans,
21:57 that was at its peak.
21:59 And so I think, again, whether we like it or not,
22:02 we're always kind of going to be calling back
22:05 to plucking some nostalgia strings.
22:07 That's kind of how we operate.
22:11 But I think it's cool because Life's Not Hard to Get You
22:15 is a special record for us.
22:18 It was arguably the record that kind of got us out there.
22:22 And so, yeah, to pay homage to that is cool.
22:25 And to be doing it alongside a bunch of other bands that are doing it too.
22:28 It's kind of like, "Well, if you're doing it, we'll have a go at it."
22:32 Yeah, no, it's cool. I think just doing it too much,
22:35 I think as long as it can be kept special
22:38 and kind of like this special thing
22:41 rather than just a little party trick or whatever.
22:46 Yeah, so I'm stoked.
22:48 When we were young, genuinely,
22:50 one of the best-run festivals we've ever been to.
22:52 It was great last time.
22:53 Because we played the first one and we were kind of skeptical about,
22:56 "How are they going to pull off this many massive bands all in a day?"
22:59 And they did. And they did it. It was great.
23:01 Yeah, brilliant. Best of two, round two.
23:03 Yeah, it's going to be sick.
23:04 Sort of on that nostalgia, I guess December is a song
23:07 that kind of has its moment every year.
23:09 You sort of come to realise, like, it's January now.
23:12 It's just maybe coming off people's playlists after being there.
23:15 Can you call it a Christmas song at that point?
23:17 It's ours. It's our unofficial Christmas song, I would say.
23:21 I think sometimes they're the best Christmas songs as well.
23:24 Like the ones that aren't necessarily Christmas songs,
23:27 but they just suit that time of year.
23:29 Yeah, I'll take it.
23:30 And again, we got a nice little bump in the algorithm on that one.
23:34 So, hey, it works.
23:35 Free marketing every year.
23:37 Yeah, let's buy the calendar. It's great.
23:39 Yeah, and you've reimagined it and started playing
23:41 that more full band version.
23:43 Yeah, yeah.
23:44 But as well, a couple of years ago, obviously,
23:46 Rosé from Blackpink coming in.
23:48 And now you've had a few years that that's kind of settled in.
23:52 How do you reflect on that and the new life that breathed into the song
23:57 and the people it's exposed it to?
23:59 It's wild.
24:00 I truly don't know of many people that--
24:06 I don't know.
24:07 I know a few big artists in our band or whatever,
24:10 but enough to go and cover it on something big like that is wild.
24:14 It's pretty big.
24:15 And for her, it's not this enormous song that is going to be a guaranteed,
24:22 "Yeah, cool, I'm just covering this awesome song."
24:25 It's kind of a more under-the-radar song,
24:28 and she didn't have to do that.
24:30 So that's really, really sick because it massively shone a light on that song.
24:35 I don't know if maybe some of the success we've had in Asia--
24:39 Potentially.
24:40 I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to that.
24:42 Yeah, we do super well in Southeast Asia,
24:45 and I honestly think probably a big part of that.
24:48 We had no idea it was happening.
24:50 We just woke up and saw it and was like, "What the--?"
24:52 Yeah.
24:53 I'll be honest.
24:54 I'm not a huge K-pop guy.
24:58 Not like I don't like it, but I'm not sat listening to K-pop at home.
25:02 But seeing the interaction, I was like, "Holy shit."
25:06 Yeah, that'll do.
25:07 Yeah, that's cool.
25:08 Yeah, so it was really sick.
25:10 And have you spoken to her ever about it or had the chance to like it?
25:13 No, no.
25:14 I don't think she likes us that much.
25:16 I'm sure she's busy.
25:17 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
25:18 Just keep covering something else.
25:20 It's a nice one, pretty much.
25:21 Yeah, I'll be there at Ali Pali when you bring her out.
25:24 Oh, my--
25:25 [laughter]
25:26 Yeah, I don't know if she likes that.
25:27 You're spending enough on production, aren't you, guys?
25:29 I was going to say, I don't know if she's busy and we're broke.
25:32 Yeah.
25:33 That was my next question, actually, production,
25:35 because it's a one-off show.
25:38 Do you have these big ideas that you've had in the pipeline for 10 years
25:42 that you finally get to bring to life?
25:44 Yeah.
25:45 Because you've done Wembley before and sort of support tours and stuff.
25:48 This is the one moment for a massive production.
25:51 Yeah, Wes is a big hand in our production.
25:55 And this has been a big--
25:57 Thorn in the side, by the way.
25:59 Thorn in the side and a hole in the pocket.
26:02 It's going to be good, and you have to come.
26:04 Please.
26:05 [laughter]
26:07 We've got some fun ideas in the pipeline.
26:08 I'm not 100% if those ideas are confirmed yet,
26:12 so I don't want to go confusing anything.
26:14 It doesn't have to be that stupid.
26:15 Just come. It's going to be great.
26:16 It's going to be the biggest show we've ever done.
26:17 Yeah, we're going to have fun with it.
26:19 Put it one way, we're not skimping.
26:21 Yeah, we're going all out.
26:23 We're blowing the budget on the one show.
26:25 I mean, it's gone already, so honestly, please come.
26:28 Yeah, and you weren't lying when you said there's some great special guests
26:32 for that show, Knuckle Park Drain.
26:34 Is it nice to have friends from the scene there with you at a show of that size?
26:39 Well, we're going to have done the American tour leading up to it,
26:42 doing the full thing with Drain,
26:44 so we'll be freshly acquainted with them again.
26:47 And then Knuckle Park did our first ever U.S. tour with us in that same slot,
26:52 so it's kind of like a nice round-robin moment.
26:55 A nice full circle moment, yeah, for sure.
26:57 And Knuckle Park's latest record was great,
27:00 and genuinely great live band command, like a great show.
27:04 And Drain, too, for people that maybe aren't too familiar,
27:07 there's so much fun.
27:08 I cannot wait to see them in front of a room of that many people.
27:11 It's going to be insane.
27:12 We've seen them play to small rooms,
27:15 and now seeing footage of their bigger headline shows in America,
27:20 they're doing really, really well.
27:22 It doesn't matter where they're playing,
27:25 they will put on the same show regardless.
27:27 And who they're playing to as well.
27:28 Yeah, it doesn't matter who they're playing to.
27:30 They'll put the same show on regardless,
27:32 and if you don't know who they are before you walk into the room,
27:35 you're leaving listening to them.
27:37 They had a longer merch line for all of our underplayed shows than we did.
27:41 Every night was sick.
27:43 Dedicated.
27:44 But yeah, I think it'll be great.
27:45 Like I said, I think Drain definitely set the tone,
27:49 and will get people moving whether they want to or not.
27:51 And then Knuckle Park, I think, is like, just again,
27:54 anyone who's been a fan of Neck Deep for a while
27:56 has probably been a fan of Knuckle Park for a while too,
27:58 and will understand the relationship there.
28:00 So good to be on with friends,
28:02 and very grateful for them to come out and doing it too.
28:05 It's a long way for them to come.
28:07 Come off to a one-off, basically.
28:08 Yeah, come off to a one-off.
28:10 But yeah.
28:11 It's going to be an epic line-up.
28:12 Yeah, yeah.
28:14 Sort of to finish off, I guess,
28:16 for you two especially, because you've both been there since the start,
28:19 and Neck Deep's had line-up changes throughout.
28:22 How are you feeling about the band at this moment in time,
28:25 looking kind of a bit to the future,
28:27 because you've got so much exciting things coming up.
28:29 The album hasn't even had its moment.
28:31 It's going to have its whole era.
28:33 What's the mindset for you guys at this point in time
28:36 with how you feel your relationship with Neck Deep?
28:38 Sound.
28:39 Yeah, sound.
28:40 Yeah.
28:41 Honestly, it doesn't feel like we've got a bunch of new members.
28:46 It feels like we've got friends who have always kind of been around.
28:50 Like I said, Seb's always been in the band.
28:52 Palsy has been--
28:53 Our drum tech for the best part of a decade.
28:55 Yeah, and I mean, Palsy, his role has extended way beyond the drum tech,
28:59 because we were all so close personally as friends,
29:02 but then he was almost managing us for a minute.
29:05 Production managing all the time as well.
29:08 So yeah, it just feels like five mates who are very much on the same page
29:14 and just all want the same things, all at the same sort of point in life.
29:17 And yeah, we're all in the same kind of headspace, really.
29:21 Just want to write good music and play big shows
29:24 and just have a good time doing it, you know?
29:27 Yeah.
29:28 Yeah, truly just feels like--
29:30 This feels like the most comfortable
29:32 and sort of harmonious version of the band, I think, for sure.
29:36 We're chilling. It's great.
29:37 Yeah, it's brilliant.
29:38 Yeah, yeah.
29:39 And a very quick final one, tacos.
29:42 There's a special album celebration event.
29:44 What makes this self-titled album go so well with Mexican food?
29:48 Spicy.
29:50 No, it's-- I don't know.
29:51 I just think it's-- if you know anything about Death by Tacos,
29:54 the restaurant that we're going to be at,
29:56 they're like a heavy metal--
29:58 It's pretty much the only place in Chester where you'll go
30:00 and you'll be able to hear, like, riffs.
30:01 It's for scruffs like us, basically.
30:03 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
30:04 So it's the only place that we could go.
30:05 But everyone there, we followed their journey
30:07 from when they were just a little baby market stall thing.
30:10 And so I think it's perfect, really.
30:12 Like, the two-- they're like a poppin' food brand.
30:15 It's like my go-to spot to eat.
30:17 We go there literally all the time.
30:19 Yeah, maybe once a week at least.
30:21 This album was fueled by Death by Tacos.
30:23 Yeah, well, it was in a lot of ways.
30:25 And, like, you know, what's not to like?
30:27 I think--
30:28 We had our Christmas do there.
30:29 Yeah.
30:30 Blink said it best, you know?
30:31 She brings me Mexican food from Tavara.
30:32 As soon as they wrote that line,
30:34 it was like Mexican food and pop punk goes hand in hand.
30:36 Death by then, surely.
30:37 Yeah, man.
30:38 Match made in heaven.
30:39 Well, South Titan album, it's out now.
30:41 And Ali Pali, 28th of March,
30:44 neck deep, be there or be square.
30:46 Thanks so much, guys.
30:47 And all the best for the rest of the year.
30:49 Cheers, mate.
30:50 Have a strong one.
30:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
30:53 (upbeat music)