English vocalist Frank Carter is well known for being the former frontman of hardcore punk band The Gallows then going onto more mellow project Pure Love. His new band Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes combines the energies of his previous musical endeavours and is creating waves worldwide. We caught up with Frank to talk about his forthcoming album Modern Ruin and December 2016 Australian tour.
SCENEzine
How’s 2016 been for you?
Frank Carter
It’s been a bit of a motherfucker to be honest. It’s been a pretty full on year of change some good some bad but I’m still here I’m surviving. I just keep seeing people that I grew up really admiring dying most of my heroes have died this year so I’m just hoping that I make it out alive.
SCENEzine
Is it frustrating that your new album Modern Ruin doesn’t come out until January and you just want the world to hear it?
Frank Carter
Yeah of course. We’ve been sitting on that record for a year now. So I am desperate for people to hear it. We wrote the album last year and we recorded it in January of this year. For it to come out an entire year after it was finished is really frustrating but it was important because we could of put it out straight away but it would of meant Blossom just kind of happened super quickly. We felt like it was important for Blossom to have it’s own summer at the festivals and some time with people so they could get some time to listen to it. So it is frustrating but I am safe in the knowledge that people will get to hear it and by that point we should be a finely oiled machine ready to play the songs properly.
SCENEzine
What would you say is the main difference between Blossom and Modern Ruin?
Frank Carter
Time is one of them consideration is another. Blossom is an explosion, complete catharsis. It was something that had to happen very quickly because we needed to get it out into the world. Whereas Modern Ruin there’s a lot more thought and time that has gone into it. We really needed patience with the music to make sure that we didn’t rush it and it had the time that it needed to be crafted properly. It’s also what I’m writing about on Modern Ruin is human relationships and it’s a complicated topic there’s a lot that goes into it so there needed to be a certain amount of patience on my part to try and understand those topics the best I could.
SCENEzine
Was the concept for “Snake Eyes” video your idea?
Frank Carter
Yeah it was.
SCENEzine
Was it cool to see your vision come out on screen?
Frank Carter
Yeah I think if I had a little bit more time I probably could of nailed that dance a bit better. It was a lot for me to learn in a couple of weeks but we didn’t really have the time to do it so I did the best I could. I think it still works. Once you’ve seen it and then watch it again you can kind of see the parts where I slip up. That’s why it’s perfect because those flaws are in there first time around but you don’t notice them until the second watch. It was really cool to see it back and it’s nice to be challenging myself. People have quite a blatant view of me and what I’m capable of they know I’m good at shouting and they like when I’m angry. But I’m angry in different ways and there’s a lot more to me than just one super emotion that we are born with. So I wanted to make sure that with this new record in all aspects from the videos, music, lyrics, the way we are presenting it to the world I wanted to make sure I was challenging myself and I think I’ve done that.
SCENEzine
Vocally on “Lullaby it’s evident that you’ve really stepped up your game. Is that something you’ve consciously been working on?
Frank Carter
Yeah it definitely helped doing my band Pure Love because that was all singing. That was where I first started to understand my voice properly. The thing about Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes is I wanted a singular musical entity that I could use to truly be free. With Gallows it’s rooted so heavily in one style of music and one form of delivery. With Pure Love it was the same but a different style of music and delivery but was not given the time it needed to branch out from that. With Rattlesnakes in these two albums I’ve covered all my bases of what people know of me already.
There’s all of the hardcore punk aggression and big rock chorus’s then towards the end of Modern Ruin we push into vibes that I never really got into. Like at the end of the new album there’s a track “Neon Rust” which is the furthest I’ve pushed myself vocally. None of this is going to make any sense until I release the third Rattlesnakes album because once I do that then hopefully I’ll push myself completely then people will be able to realise there’s more to this guy and he can do it all whenever he wants.
It’s felt amazing to challenge myself but also to be succeeding because no one wants to challenge themselves and keep failing. Rattlesnakes feels like it’s finally the right entity for me.
It’s the right ship for me to steer. All the other ships weren’t strong enough or made of the right material. This gives me the freedom to be who I want to be and it’s robust enough to weather the storm.
SCENEzine
Is it hard to try and juggle all aspects of your creative side being art, music and tattooing?
Frank Carter
No because I’ve built my life in a way where I kind of do whatever I want. I worked really hard when I was younger to find ways to monetise hobbies. I loved drawing and tattooing so I did everything I could to make that my job. I love music and realise I love performing so I did everything in my power to find us the right record deal. All those things when I was younger I kind of took them for granted because I was floating through life. Now I’m much more direct and considered. I’ve got a better plan now.
I feel lucky that I have all of these jobs but I’m also pretty good at organising myself so that nothing falls too far behind. I’m still tattooing. I’m still painting and I’m still touring constantly. I’m also really lucky that I’ve got a great wife and family that are very supportive of what I want to do. With that it really helps because I’m not worried about home life. When I’m home I try and take on as much of the mantle as I can to relieve my wife’s stress and allow her to focus on her career and what she wants to do.
SCENEzine
It’s been a while since you’ve been in Australia. Are you personally excited to get back down here?
Frank Carter
I can’t fucking wait. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. My second band didn’t even get to Australia so for me Blossom just connected with Australia I don’t know how. It was quite heart warming for me to see because that record had no marketing money behind it. In the UK it went number eighteen in the charts and in Australia it actually made it onto the charts at eighty one. Which most people would think is a fail but to even get a top one hundred record there where we’ve doing nothing, not played a show or been there yet, no press, no marketing nothing but enough people in Australia bought that record to put it in the charts is a big thing. I feel an affinity with Australia because of that.
What I want to do is get down there and basically just explode on stage show people we are still important and our music is important. If they get behind it we will get behind them and we will be there as much as we can. The way we are trying to approach this is we are thinking globally but we are trying to act locally. When we come to places we are playing small shows. Giving people the right kind of show to start off with trying to make fans that are going to be with us for the long term. That’s how you win at music you make life long fans. You cant rush your band to make it as big as it can be instantly, you’ve got to build it slowly. To make sure that people feel like they are a part of something because they are. Luckily for me I have a core fanbase that have been there since Orchestra of Wolves. For whatever reason the way that record connected with them it meant that they trusted me then I released Grey Britain and bolstered their trust. I released Anthems and Pure Love and people were like ok this is completely different and it really split the field.
A lot of people though it hardened them. It made them like I can get behind this guy because here’s a man who’s doing whatever the fuck he wants and they respected that. Now with Rattlesnakes they are like ok I’m in. It’s the band they have been waiting for but more importantly the band I have been waiting for. I’m going to get down there and play my fucking heart out and then I want to go and get lost in the bush for a week (laughs) . I’ve never had the opportunity to really see the country. I’m going to try and get down there and do some tattooing and see some sights, swim in the sea and get lost in the bush I can’t wait.
SCENEzine
Your live shows are incredibility energetic, do you get injured much?
Frank Carter
Yeah all the fucking time. This year we had to cancel a tour in February because I got run down. I burnt myself out and got tonsillitis and couldn’t speak. Then we had a tour in the summer where a handful of shows had to be cancelled because they thought I fractured a vertebrae in my back. I hadn’t. basically my muscles had gone into spasms to protect my spine. I couldn’t walk I had to go home from Germany in a fucking wheel chair which was pretty intense.
I get injured a fair bit it’s an occupational hazard if your going to go as hard as we go as often as we do then you’re going to get hurt every now and again. Like everything I’m just trying to take it in my stride and understand that I’m older. I’m thirty two now I need to warm up and I need to warm down. The problem is I have never done that with my voice I’ve never warmed up or warmed down. It’s just kind of how it’s been through conditioning but your entire body can’t be put under that kind of strain.
SCENEzine
Our favourite Rattlesnakes song is “Juggernaut” is that a song you get excited for when you know it’s coming up in a live set?
Frank Carter
For me I’m excited from the minute I walk out on stage. I don’t have any particular favourite songs but what does excite me is seeing how excited people are when the first chord rings out. When we play that first chord of “Juggernaut” it fucking explodes that’s a pretty exciting moment.
SCENEzine
Lastly can you leave us a message for your Australian fans excited for the tour?
Frank Carter
My name is Frank Carter from the Rattlesnakes and when I see you I’m going to destroy you.
(Interview by Christian Ross)
