Monster Truck head to 02 Academy 2 in Newcastle this month so Lee Allcock caught up with them to find out more about touring with Deep Purple, playing across Europe, and their new album.
Since your previous album ‘Sittin’ Heavy’ you’ve supported the likes of Billy Talent, Black Stone Cherry, and Rob Zombie. How has that been?
It’s been great. Just being able to tour and keep this job has been great. Obviously, no one wants to be the support band, but we’re lucky enough to be taken all over by artists who respect us and know that we’re there to work.
You also embarked on your biggest European headline tour to date shortly after. That sounds like quite some ride…
The Euro headline tour was amazing. I always remember little snapshots, like sitting on a rooftop in Berlin enjoying the spring, or walking down the streets of Barcelona wondering how everyone got so beautiful. It goes so fast it’s crazy and all the memories start to jumble into each other.
You’re heading back to the UK to perform at the 02 Academy 2 in Newcastle. What can gig-goers expect from your set?
I think people have learned that we are a “meat & potatoes” rock band. Expect to hear all the songs that brought us up, a bunch of material from ‘True Rockers’ and probably some new tunes that we’re going to be “road testing”.
Your new album, ‘True Rockers’, was actually written during the time you headed out on the road with the likes of Deep Purple, Jane’s Addiction and Nickelback…so can we expect some of their influence to shine through?
I would say a lot of Deep Purple always seeps into our songs as I like driving hard-rock songs – and most of those classic tunes were written by Purple. We probably won’t be sounding like Jane’s anytime soon and a lot of smug Canadians say we already sound like Nickelback. I did ask Chad once how he writes a good song. He said: “Make sure all the parts don’t suck”.
What was it like working with producer Dan Weller (SiKth, Young Guns, Enter Shikari) on the record?
Dan is fantastic. We took him to Asheville North Carolina to a studio called Echo Mountain. We stayed for a month in a rented house and it was painless and inspiring – and very hard work. You got home tired but completely aglow.
And finally, if you could go to dinner with any musician (living or deceased), who would that be and why? And what would you talk about?
I would like to go to dinner with John Lennon and ask him how he wrote songs with Paul. I write with our guitar player Jeremy and I am really curious about dynamics between the two songwriters and the way they compromised for each other’s sanity. We have a good thing going over here, but it’s always good to try and improve.
Monster Truck head to 02 Academy 2 in Newcastle on Tuesday 23rd April. Tickets, priced at £17.30 in advance, are available from seetickets.com.
