Young Guns - Heat, Sleep and Falling Over

Last week saw the return of a band that has been MIA from the UK scene for a while. They were sorely missed but now Buckinghamshire’s Young Guns are back and they haven't done their comeback by half.

They played a show on a bus, kicked off a headline tour and released an album, Ones and Zeros, the day after they went right back to where it all started, The Fighting Cocks in Kingston, where the band played their first ever show and where we managed to catch up with 4/5 of them. 

You can read what we thought of the gig and the new album here. 

ADVANCED WARNING: There’s a reason why this interview is on the brief side and that reason is that it was less of an interview and more of a…hostage situation. Whilst the guys were chatting with fans after the show I all but cornered them and forced them into answering some ridiculous questions for you! Aren’t I kind (to you, not to bands. Clearly.)  

Summer or Winter?

Ben Jolliffe (Drums): I would usually go Summer but because I just played the hottest show of my life and I would do anything for some cold water right now, I’m going to go winter!

If there was an extra hour every day what would you do with it?

Fraser Taylor (Guitar): That is quite easy.

Ben: Sleep!

Fraser: I would sleep yeah.  We last slept about, three years ago maybe?

Ben: I got a solid two hours last night but…

What was the most embarrassing thing to happen to you at school?

Simon Mitchell (Bass): Errr, so many. So many things! You know in the canteen when you use to get trays of food? Well there was a girl I really fancied and I just couldn’t stop staring at her and I just tripped straight over my best friend’s foot. The food went all down me! I fell down, I looked like a twat and I didn’t get the girl in the end so errr, that was a real shame! I spent the rest of the day looking like that, no wonder she didn’t fancy me!

McDonald’s or KFC?

Gustav Woods (Vocals): Neither! I’m a vegetarian! HA! I picked that one by accident, I just pulled it out! 

A huge thank you is owed to Young Guns for allowing me to grab some pics and stick a dictaphone in their faces. We also want to say thank you to all of the fans for not telling us to get lost. 

And, as we're thanking people, both Banquet Records and The Fighting Cocks are performing a vastly important service to the music industry and we are eternally grateful that you both exist. 

Young Guns launch out of this world album Ones and Zeros

Just in case you went into hibernation for the past few weeks and missed it, Young Guns came back!

All sorts have been going on. There was a show on a London bus, a headline UK tour, and a string of signings so that the several million Young Guns fans could get their hands on a signed copy of the new album, Ones and Zeros.

If all of that just doesn’t seem to be enough then we should mention that they also did an epic set at Kingston’s The Fighting Cocks. I know, I know, why there right? Well a) the place is incredible and a rock music landmark and b) Young Guns happened to play their first ever show there. Isn’t that neat?

Don’t panic, we got them to answer some Grab Bag Q’s (following some ever so slight coercion) and you can read their answers here.

The Buckinghamshire rockers burst onto the stage with what has easily become our favourite Young Guns track to date. I Want Out was first played on Radio One in August last year and is a beautifully articulate record that you can also lose your mind too. If you’re going to see Young Guns live make sure you have your jumping shoes on because when that chorus kicks in you’ll be thankful for it.

It’s also a strong indicator that Ones and Zeros was written with a live show in mind, but not the first. That honour goes to opening track Rising Up which was the next treat for the tiny Kingston venue.  

Throughout the album the chugging guitar lines, relentless drum tracks and countless lyrics that are literally screaming out for crowd participation show that this band are a live band and their short set in Kingston proves this to be right. The recordings are sensational but on stage, this band come alive and when you see it you understand why this band were so deeply missed when they left our shores for a while.

When the band launch into The Weight of the World (the first Young Guns song I ever heard) it was as if the whole crowd remembered that they were all old friends. As lead singer, Gustav Wood, points out this was the first track that they listened back to and realised that they could write songs. It was the song that started it all and it proved to be a timeless rock classic that will go down in history.

But we can’t think about the past for long as the band are now moving quickly into Speaking In Tongues and Daylight, both of which are shining examples of eloquent lyricism mixed with the raw rock core we’ve always seen from Young Guns but now with added dance quality. That’s something we wouldn’t have necessarily expected this time last year but it works. It really works.

Young Guns capped off this mini show with 2012 belter Bones as if to prove that they might have been away but everything we loved about them three years ago is as alive as ever. In fact, it’s got a whole lot stronger. Ones and Zeros is a stellar effort and the live shows are out of this world.

Young Guns are rock heroes already, they just have to do their time now.  

The only problem is with shows in June, at 2 in the afternoon, in a basement, is that they tend to get a bit on the warm side. But not to worry. Young Guns could have played all day long if they wanted. We would have happily evaporated for them.

Young Guns Facebook
Young Guns Website
Young Guns Twitter