Heroes & Cons have been thrust onto the world stage after being signed by Junction Records! In January but why has it taken almost a month for the record label to officially announce it and what can we expect from this three piece Pop/Rock group.They may not be known to the majority but there’s many people around America who have followed this band since 2008 and they’ve gained a reputation around small town American pubs and clubs. They’re set to release their debut album in late 2010 but there’s been talk of an early release of a live single with B-Sides and our very own reporter Dylan Young met up with the group to discuss all of these issues and more.
Reporter: Good afternoon, How are you guys doing?Aaron Joe: Pretty awesome, things have started to happen for us so we’re pretty pleased with that
Joey Pritchard: Yeah we’ve had almost a month of after touring for a couple of years so it’s kinda back to business except this time we’ve got a record label behind us
Frank Black: I bought a couple of fish the other day so I’m pretty preoccupied with them at the moment (Smiles).
Your back on tour on the 22nd of February is that where you prefer to be?AJ: Yeah for me touring is definitely what I look forward to the most It‘s almost like therapy but instead of a shrink you‘ve got two thousand people listening, I think it’s probably different for Joey.
JP: Yeah I’ve been in a long term relationship since before the band even formed and it puts a bit of strain on our relationship but it’s just something you’ve got to get used to
After the tour though your set to hit the record studios, I’m guessing your not used to that?JP: Nah, we’re not familiar with the recording process but Max will be at the studio for the first couple of days just to keep an eye on things and help us get used to the process but it’ll hopefully go well.
So writing for the album will have to be finished before you hit the studios will you be writing while on tour?AJ: Well we’ve sort of built up a few songs over the years but I’m always writing new songs, Whenever we’re on tour in an unfamiliar place I tend to have a walk around the streets for inspiration and that’s we’re a lot of my lyrics come from.
What can we expect from your debut album?FB: A couple of songs, a disc maybe even a case for it.
AJ: (Smiles) he’s not had his medication yet, seriously he’s like this all the time.
FB: True story
AJ: It’s gonna be a full on rock album like the ones I used to listen to when I was growing up, it’ll probably cover a whole range of emotion love, loss, desperation, depression, anger, hate and anything other emotion we can get into it.
Your gonna be doing a world tour in support of the album will it be the biggest tour you’ve ever been on?JP: Yeah no doubt, It’s gonna last at least a year we think and the record label have been good with us they’re gonna be backing us all the way which helps a lot.
It’s reported that you could release a single in the next couple of days what information do you have about those reports?
AJ: Something will be happening in the next couple of days, We’re gonna be releasing a live single with two B-Sides, It’s mainly for our fans really there’s no tracks available for them so we thought it would be a nice thing for them.
How excited are you guys about your debut album?FB: I’m incredibly excited about it, it’s a new thing for us, the touring is our comfort zone because we’ve been doing that for a couple of years now, but recording an album is new and exciting.
AJ: it’s kind of like when you hear a new band for the first time, It’s like when your bored of hearing the same songs over and over again and suddenly you’ll hear a new song on the radio or TV and fall back in love with music again.
JP: Yeah I think if we weren’t signed by Junction Records we’d have probably split at some point this year because nothing was ever happening for us we we’re performing almost every night for two years, and that’s gonna put most bands future’s in question.
Have you got any songs which are in consideration for the album yet?AJ: Yeah there’s a few which we’ve played live in the past which will be considered but I’m gonna be writing a lot of songs from now until the album’s finished.
Aaron offers to tell me about a couple of songs that are being considered for the album.
Rebels With A Cause - AJ: “This is a song about a couple of teenagers living in a small town where nothing goes on so they decide to cause trouble and make life more interesting, Vandalising their hometown and kind of going crazy”.
Class Of 13 - “This is a song about growing up, you know there’s always pressure to grow up too quickly, your expected to get a job, house, a girlfriend and have kids when all you want to do is Fuck around and have nothing to worry about”.
If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Take Off Your Clothes - “It’s a kind of sexual song which can have a few different meanings, It can be interpreted in many different ways but I saw it as a song about tension between two friends who are both obviously attracted to each other but neither of them want to do anything about it until the girl decides to just go for it”
Ever Changing Dreams - “It’s a song about how when your growing up your encouraged to be who you want to be but when you actually grow up you realise that the dreams you had as a kid change so much that the dreams you have when you grow up are far less ambitious”.
Interview by Dylan Young