The Boxer Rebellion Main Music Article

(The Main Article featuring in Skint Magazine's debut - 2007)

ROUND TWO: FIGHTING BACK WITH THEIR NEW ALBUM!
The Boxer Rebellion talk: tours, Editors, recording, labels, how to cut it in the music industry and Paris!

Two and a half years since The Boxer Rebellion’s debut album “Exits” and getting dropped by their label, the mighty foursome are back and ready to unveil their finest ever melodic rock. There really is no doubt about it; this compelling and breath-taking band is back on top form and ready to take on the world with their stellar music, and powerful, dreamy lyrics to electrify your senses. Back, and still playing for the love and passion of it – the pure rock ‘n’ roll dream, it’s about time that we salute these comeback heroes.

Forming in 2001, after inspiring Australian guitarist Todd Howe and talented American singer Nathan Nicholson collaborated to form acoustic duo: “Benson”, they soon attracted interest from exception drummer Piers Hewitt, and his creative friend Adam Harrison, who joined to become the bassist. Thus The Rebellion was born and based in London.
After funding and producing their very own 5 track, self-titled EP in 2003, they went on to bigger things; winning a competition on playlouder.com as “The Most Promising Act” after beating off nearly 500 artists. They shone at Glastonbury Music Festival in the same year, when playing at the New Bands Tent. Little did they know, Adam McGee (responsible for Oasis) and his Poptone label was out in force and soon signed them up; to which they had numbers 61 and 57 hit singles and embarked upon dazzling tours, supporting the likes of musical geniuses such as Lenny Kravitz. The guys soon got stuck in at the studio; writing, rehearsing and doing what made them tick; building on their epic, radiant sound. Yet a series, of events lay in store for The Rebellion that would make their music career not as easy going as they’d hoped.
Nathan, was struck down by a life-threatening stomach growth, leaving him out of band action and all band concerns up in the air as the rest of the band grew deeply concerned for his health. Nonetheless, he fortunately recovered and the band want on to release the beautiful “Exits”, seeing them tour all over Europe and as far as Japan with The Walkmen. However, fate was about to intercept their rocketing success once more, when they were dropped from “Mercury”.
It seemed as though everything was against them. They had the decision to pack it in or play on for the love of it and their adoring fans.
I spoke to a very upbeat Todd Howe who proclaimed “We’re back!” and he told me of their compelling journey on the road of set backs and success, and what the future holds for The Rebellion.

SE: So Todd, how’s it all going?
TH: It’s all going really well. We’re all really happy with everything. We’re all a little bit more certain of what we want and where we’re going. We’ve made some really hard decisions after we got dropped the first time. We all sat down and said “are we gonna do it again?” and we said “well yeah. Let’s just see where we can go from here.” I think we were really relieved more than anything when we were dropped ‘cause it wasn’t really the best situation that we were in. We were pretty much victims of circumstance. We got past the stage of being rejected a couple of months after getting dropped by Mercury. Ever since then and particularly since we started writing the album it’s all been really positive.
It’s easy to get the perception of “Oh God, we’ll never hear from them anymore” and “it must all be pretty bad” but that’s definitely not the case. We’ve got a really goof album that we’ve finished, and we’re actually a lot more positive than we ever were with the first album.
We ended up writing some songs at the start of 2006. We wrote (the unbelievably moving) “Misplaced” July/August 2005 – that was the first song that we wrote after we got dropped but then we wrote some songs at the end of 2005/early 2006, and thought “ah shit, we’ve got some really good stuff here.” So we just kept it going and then we got rid of our manager and got a new manager…who is absolutely doing a great job. It’s so refreshing to have someone who’s so really on it at the right level.

SE: So is there any big difference in image and sound of the second album compared to “Exits”
TH: Sonically, it’s still us. Guitars and vocals are blatantly still us. Song-wise the songs are just a lot stronger than “Exits”. It’s a completely different album. I can’t compare this to the first record, and I don’t think I’d want anyone else to compare it, mainly because it’s been so long between the two releases. It is a really good record, I’m really proud of it that’s for sure. Like the first record, there’s songs that I’ll listen to more than any others. There’s some songs that I’m really loving on the new album.

SE: You’ve put more into this album- what with time and money, so it must be much more fulfilling…?
TH: With “Exits” we just basically blew all the money, because we thought – as pretty much every band does – thinking “Oh yeah, this is gonna be really good, we’ve got a big label behind us, they’re gonna push it.” Then reality sets in and you haven’t got any money, but this one’s been a real struggle, just financially more than anything, but it’s definitely a lot more fulfilling. This record cost half as much as the first one and sounds twice as good. There’s something to take from that as well.
SE: You’ll be touring to promote the new album?
TH: We’ve got some UK tour dates (now lined up for January)…we’re really looking forward to getting back in there and getting into it.

SE: Will you be coming back to Stoke Sugarmill?
TH: Stoke Sugarmill has got to be a regular on any tour that we do. We’ve always had good gigs at Stoke Sugarmill. I mean the last (headline) gig we did was supporting Editors (10th September 2004). It was the first time we’d seen them; “Editors” play. They were called Snowfield before. I saw them do their soundcheck and I was like “Oh my God, they’re gonna be huge!”

SE: So you’re playing with Editors soon on the 10th (October at Brixton)?
TH: Yeah, and we’ve confirmed some Editors European dates between 28th October – 11th November…we are really good friends, but you just gotta face up to the fact that they’re absolutely huge.

SE: It’s a shame you’re not supporting Editors on any other UK tour dates…
TH: There ate bands with a much better opportunity and position to be on that tour. We wouldn’t want to blow an opportunity too early when we’re in a position to benefit from the tour. You’ve got a limited number of chances on support tours and you’ve gotta pick the right ones.

SE: Well you’ve got a strong, dedicated fan base behind you…
TH: It’s got bigger since we’ve been dropped which is weird; particularly in London. I mean the amount of people who come to our shows in London, do pretty much because they’re the only ones who can afford to…we’ve still got a huge fan base which is great. I think, hopefully, our fan base is gonna grow quite a lot now that we’ve got a new record hotting up. The most important thing for us this year is to make sure we get a really good home for the band and the record. We’ve got some really good opportunities as well. It’s just a matter of making sure we get that happening as soon as possible – before the end of this year, so next year we don’t have any trouble.

SE: I hear that you’re moving to Paris, is that going to affect the band?
TH: No, not at all. I’m actually going to get the train back as and when I need to. It’s good timing actually because I’ll be on tout pretty much the first half of next year, or quite a bit of next year, so it’s not really going to matter where I am. The good thing is, I get my hometown gig on the 11th (of November- when touring with Editors). I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve just been in London too long.

SE: It’s been two years. Where would you like (TBR) to be, or what do you want to have achieved in two years time, i.e. where do you see yourselves in two years time?
TH: I think this record for us- our expectations are a lot different…’cause we’ve had to do it completely independently. Personally, I’d like this record to get us to the point where we can do a third and do a third album properly. I would think this time in two years we’d be well on the way to finishing our third record, and being in a position where it can really be pushed properly, and have a really solid fan base; and just be able to make a living from it – where we can do it and dedicate ourselves to doing the next record 100%, whereas this one’s taken so long because of how strapped for cash we’ve been. So we’ve had to record this album and write this album between people working and earning money. It hasn’t solidly been two years worth of writing and recording. It’s been sort of here and there. We’ve been writing and then back into the studio and that sort of thing, but we’ve spent 40 days recording, so it didn’t take that long in the whole scheme of things, it’s just spread out over a long period of time. In two years, I’d definitely would love to be really cracking on and have made a name for ourselves to a point, not obviously be huge, but atleast solidify where it should be; or where we think we should be in the whole scheme of things – to be able to do a third album and be pushing it.

SE: Is being a musician and playing music something you’ve always wanted to do?
TH: Definitely

SE: Many of our student readers are in bands. From your own experiences do you have any advice for them on knock backs, making it in the industry etc?
TH: Truly believe in what you’re doing and keep doing it, because eventually, something will happen.

SE: What’s next for TBR?
TH: We’re releasing a single in November on a label called “Another Music = Another Kitchen”. The label is run by a couple of guys who work for a big record label. One is a press officer, and one is a radio plugger, and they run their own little label purely for single releases. They also run a club night at London Proud Galleries (where TBR played on July 26 2007), and it’s one of the biggest uni club nights in London every Thursday. They’re big fans of the boxers – they’re very well respected guys. We wanted to release something indie first on limited edition vinyl and download only. We’re releasing a single for more label interest in the album. We’ll probably release another single after that and then the album. Our manager has co-funded the recording and we’re all really excited. Our manager is trying to sort something out for a single release for Australia; hopefully getting something ready for the big day in January…as well as a showcase in Vancouver in December.

The Boxer Rebellion define what a band is all about. They take the rough times with the smooth, yet they never fail to remain ultimately remarkable; touching your heart from the bass line to the drum beat, and from the echoing guitars to the harmonious lullabies of Nathan’s voice. You can lose yourself very easily in this band as they capture you by their defiant approach, drive to play and luscious sound which surrounds and smothers the listener. Two and a half years!? It’s been too long. They never lost faith and haven’t lost their touch. 2008 looks highly promising for The Boxer Rebellion as they’re set to announce their UK tour dates very shortly. And as for the rest of the bands out there, put ‘em up ‘cause the boxer guys are back in town.

Above: The Diary Article on The Boxer Rebellion, as written for Skint Magazine 2007

EDITORS: Live at Manchester Apollo 14th October 2007

(Left: Article, as appearing in Skint Magazine, 2007)


My, oh my, what a night to remember! Having closely followed Editors over 2007 as a fan and as a reviewer, it’s been fantastic to see their progression and “well established” status.
As their last UK tour of 2007, a wave of awe and admiration from the fans engulfed the Midlands four-piece, as they played as if their lives depended on it, before embarking on their European Tour with The Boxer Rebellion (TBR).

Seeing Editors first play at Stoke Sugarmill on 10th September 2004 as support for TBR, they’ve undoubtedly come a long way. Also, seeing them three times in 2007, they’ve grown phenomenally, reeling in more and more crowds every single time.
People queued frantically outside for t’editors eagerly anticipating their appearance, and talked of their mind-blowing slot at this year’s V Festival.

Making a dramatic entrance on stage to the tremendously loud-sounding and catchy “And End Has A Start”, fans were immediately bowled over. The charming vocalist Tom Smith, was just so polite, complimenting the crowd with “You look lovely!”, as the rest of the members stood back in glee at the crowd reaction. The guys really did then kick into it.
Screaming “Hey! Hey!” at the life-bursting stages of their indie hits, it injected a whole new feel into their set. Having the world at their feet, they relished up the fan’s appreciation, with Tom going mad! Besides reaching out to the crowd with their music, he brought the group closer to the fans with him running crazily across the stage, circling the piano, standing on it and even spanking it! Well, their music certainly is sexual. Guitarist Chris Urbanowicz was also getting into “it”, thrusting his guitar and making mad love to the audience with their music; he received a mad array of cheers and applauds. Urbanowicz is undeniably an amazing guitarist, delivering those well crafted and well known crazy riffs.

Surprising crowds with a much more heavy side to their music collection, new B-Side “Banging Heads” was practically orgasmic, yet heavy, haunting and superb as Tom screamed: “Why do you keep a lock on the door?” It was definitely evident that this tour accomplished their second album achievement and celebrated the way in which it has been received; also seen by bassist Russell Leetch and drummer Ed Lay who played pure perfection with permanent grins on their faces.
The angelic and epic “Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors” led to a choir of fans singing “We’ve all been changed…; enough to move you to tears. This was contrasted to the bombastic “Fingers in the Factories” and “Munich” which led to a standing ovation upstairs, and ultimately rocked the house leaving us wanting more.
So go on! Go and see this sleek and professional foursome and let them blow you away. With Editors representing where it’s at for The Midlands their act will never go stale. Biased? Maybe. Brilliant? Understatement.