The “Road To Merthyr” kicked off in The Red House, Merthyr Tydfil on Saturday, August 2nd, to officially start the countdown to MERTHYR ROCK 2014. For the next couple of weeks, a variety of bands will play a host of venues in the build up to the returning South Wales festival, and what better way to get things under way than an intimate gig with one of Wales finest exports; KIDS IN GLASS HOUSES. I caught up with SHAY and IAIN for a quick chat before they went on stage.
GAV: Thank you both for stopping to talk…
SHAY: That’s quite alright
GAV: Right, you’re playing Merthyr Town Hall tonight, the first of four intimate dates which officially kick starts the road to Merthyr, which is for Merthyr Rock festival, tell us how all of this came to be and how you got involved in the whole thing..
SHAY: Well basically, our farewell tour, the Cardiff date of that tour sold out quite fast. We were thinking of adding an extra date for anyone who missed out, but we didn’t really want to like, y’know, we thought against doing that because we wanted to keep that Cardiff date special, and unique, so the promoters approached us and asked if we wanted to do a run of shows, and, we’re not here to do the actual festival itself, so y’know, there are people now who couldn’t get Cardiff tickets who get a chance to see us for one last time.
GAV: Regarding Merthyr Rock, the last time it was put on was two years ago, you headlined the Sunday…
SHAY: Yeah that was class!
GAV: …with the “Road To Merthyr” this year, the whole concept is based around building up momentum for the festival itself, it’s supporting a lot of up and coming bands and local venues, how does it feel to be a part of it all?
IAIN: It’s good yeah, y’know we've always prided ourselves on being part of the community, the music community of Wales, and y’know we've taken bands from Wales out on our tours to try and help them out, and we've always got a keen eye to see what’s going on, so yeah it’s a shame like, we are gutted to not be a part OF Merthyr Rock this year, but, y’know these things happen, but it’s nice to be involved in some way, and like you said, supporting local venues at the moment, it’s really good…
GAV: There are venues that are struggling at the moment, it’s a shame really…
IAIN: It’s really sad to see, but I guess It’s just the nature of the way things move I guess, hopefully a lot of venues will survive and when things start moving up again it’ll all be fine
GAV: With supporting music in mind, South Wales in particular churns out a lot of great talent, what are your thoughts on the current scene now and the current crop of up and coming bands?
SHAY: It’s looking pretty good, really healthy, it’s always been extremely strong, like, when we were coming through we had LOSTPROPHETS breaking, we had FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, then we had BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, it’s always nice to have bands that you can aspire to that are from around here that get to that point we’re they’re successful, and it gives you a lot of confidence that you can go out there and do it yourself y’know?
GAV: Thank you both for stopping to talk…
SHAY: That’s quite alright
GAV: Right, you’re playing Merthyr Town Hall tonight, the first of four intimate dates which officially kick starts the road to Merthyr, which is for Merthyr Rock festival, tell us how all of this came to be and how you got involved in the whole thing..
SHAY: Well basically, our farewell tour, the Cardiff date of that tour sold out quite fast. We were thinking of adding an extra date for anyone who missed out, but we didn’t really want to like, y’know, we thought against doing that because we wanted to keep that Cardiff date special, and unique, so the promoters approached us and asked if we wanted to do a run of shows, and, we’re not here to do the actual festival itself, so y’know, there are people now who couldn’t get Cardiff tickets who get a chance to see us for one last time.
GAV: Regarding Merthyr Rock, the last time it was put on was two years ago, you headlined the Sunday…
SHAY: Yeah that was class!
GAV: …with the “Road To Merthyr” this year, the whole concept is based around building up momentum for the festival itself, it’s supporting a lot of up and coming bands and local venues, how does it feel to be a part of it all?
IAIN: It’s good yeah, y’know we've always prided ourselves on being part of the community, the music community of Wales, and y’know we've taken bands from Wales out on our tours to try and help them out, and we've always got a keen eye to see what’s going on, so yeah it’s a shame like, we are gutted to not be a part OF Merthyr Rock this year, but, y’know these things happen, but it’s nice to be involved in some way, and like you said, supporting local venues at the moment, it’s really good…
GAV: There are venues that are struggling at the moment, it’s a shame really…
IAIN: It’s really sad to see, but I guess It’s just the nature of the way things move I guess, hopefully a lot of venues will survive and when things start moving up again it’ll all be fine
GAV: With supporting music in mind, South Wales in particular churns out a lot of great talent, what are your thoughts on the current scene now and the current crop of up and coming bands?
SHAY: It’s looking pretty good, really healthy, it’s always been extremely strong, like, when we were coming through we had LOSTPROPHETS breaking, we had FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND, then we had BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, it’s always nice to have bands that you can aspire to that are from around here that get to that point we’re they’re successful, and it gives you a lot of confidence that you can go out there and do it yourself y’know?
IAIN: It’s good as well because at the moment, y’know, I think when we were coming through there seemed to be a niche of bands that were coming through but at the moment there’s a lot more variety and there are a lot more genres and styles that people are breaking into, which is awesome to see people not just trying to do the same as each other
GAV: There’s an eclectic choice of styles, people aren't afraid to experiment…
IAIN: Yeah it’s good to see like, especially seeing not just rock music, there’s dance acts breaking out too and stuff and it’s good to see
GAV: On the subject of up and coming talent, next week in the same venue you’re playing tonight, there's the Battle Of The Bands, which is great to see not only the Youth Promotion Network but the venues too allowing these bands opportunities to play festivals like Merthyr Rock, have you had chance to check out any of the bands lined up?
IAIN: I haven’t myself no…
SHAY: I've seen the flyer, I'm familiar with a couple of them…
GAV: I know CLEAR THE AUDITORIUM are playing, I've seen them before, great live band
SHAY: I've never seen them live, I’d like to see them live, but uh, yeah it’s brilliant. It’s exciting to see these young bands get given the chance to play these venues and get given the chance to play a festival such as Merthyr Rock
GAV: It’s encouragement at the end of the day and it’s very promising, with regards to new bands, you mentioned Lostprophets earlier, I wasn't going to mention anything to do with them but as we've brought them up, what do you make of the whole thing? I know the guys recently started up NO DEVOTION…
IAIN: I'm not going to say anything about that…
SHAY: No Devotion are great
IAIN: It’s awesome to see that they can pick themselves up and do that, y’know they were fucking incredible in Cardiff the other day, it’s good to see friends doing well
SHAY: They've written some really good songs and, it’s only a matter of time now before they get to where they were I think…
GAV: With No Devotion coming out after the breakup of Lostprophets, you mentioned earlier on your own farewell tour, it’s always sad to see bands call it a day and split up, for whatever reasons, what reasons did you have to call time on Kids In Glass Houses?
SHAY: We’re sick of each other! [laughs] No it just feels like, the right time for us, we've had a good run, it’s been fun, the best part of a decade, we just think we've done all we can as a band. I don’t think bands should last forever, y’know, we were never going to be doing this in our 50’s
GAV: There’s an eclectic choice of styles, people aren't afraid to experiment…
IAIN: Yeah it’s good to see like, especially seeing not just rock music, there’s dance acts breaking out too and stuff and it’s good to see
GAV: On the subject of up and coming talent, next week in the same venue you’re playing tonight, there's the Battle Of The Bands, which is great to see not only the Youth Promotion Network but the venues too allowing these bands opportunities to play festivals like Merthyr Rock, have you had chance to check out any of the bands lined up?
IAIN: I haven’t myself no…
SHAY: I've seen the flyer, I'm familiar with a couple of them…
GAV: I know CLEAR THE AUDITORIUM are playing, I've seen them before, great live band
SHAY: I've never seen them live, I’d like to see them live, but uh, yeah it’s brilliant. It’s exciting to see these young bands get given the chance to play these venues and get given the chance to play a festival such as Merthyr Rock
GAV: It’s encouragement at the end of the day and it’s very promising, with regards to new bands, you mentioned Lostprophets earlier, I wasn't going to mention anything to do with them but as we've brought them up, what do you make of the whole thing? I know the guys recently started up NO DEVOTION…
IAIN: I'm not going to say anything about that…
SHAY: No Devotion are great
IAIN: It’s awesome to see that they can pick themselves up and do that, y’know they were fucking incredible in Cardiff the other day, it’s good to see friends doing well
SHAY: They've written some really good songs and, it’s only a matter of time now before they get to where they were I think…
GAV: With No Devotion coming out after the breakup of Lostprophets, you mentioned earlier on your own farewell tour, it’s always sad to see bands call it a day and split up, for whatever reasons, what reasons did you have to call time on Kids In Glass Houses?
SHAY: We’re sick of each other! [laughs] No it just feels like, the right time for us, we've had a good run, it’s been fun, the best part of a decade, we just think we've done all we can as a band. I don’t think bands should last forever, y’know, we were never going to be doing this in our 50’s
GAV: You’re not the ROLLING STONES then? [laughs]
SHAY: We've had a hell of a good run, had some great times…been around the world a couple of times, we just feel like, we don’t’ have another album in us…I think we’ll just call it time there and have an excellent last tour while we’re all still friends
IAIN: We’d rather go out on a high rather than getting it to a point where we do actually end up hating each other and you get remembered for the wrong things…we've written four class albums, we just want to go out on a high y’know?
GAV: With the farewell tour in mind, a lot of dates are sold out already, the fan base is still there, they’re prepared to support you
SHAY: Yeah it’s been incredible, we've been blown away with the response to that tour, shows have sold out like you said, or shows have been upgraded, it’s a long tour as well, it’s like 25 dates or something, it’s the biggest tour we've ever done, it’s going to be a hell of a way to finish the band.
GAV: Even though it’s a sad note, people are there all the way with you..,
IAIN: Exactly, that’s the other reason, we didn't want it to be like, it ends because it HAS to end, it can’t go on y’know, it’s more like, it’s our decision, we’re in control of it, the fact that’s true means that we can enjoy it with the people coming to watch us, rather than them coming to watch something that’s forced or fake, you know what I mean?
SHAY: It’s definitely the best thing we've ever done, it has to be in a way…
GAV: Will these four intimate shows be a sort of testing ground for what set list you’re going to put together for the tour?
IAIN: We’re doing a few songs that we haven’t played for a while to see how people feel about them, but I think with these shows it’s gonna' be cool to have a bit more fun with the set list, do some songs we wouldn't normally play at bigger shows, and some fan favourites y’know. Music is subjective anyway, y’know there’s no, “perfect set”, we try and do our best to incorporate older stuff with newer stuff…I guess we try and please ourselves more than anything…
GAV: Yeah that’s true as, at the end of the day you've got to enjoy what you’re playing on stage, it’s no good just going through the motions and being predictable…with songs in mind, are there any plans for a greatest hits or maybe a swan song single to accompany this farewell tour?
SHAY: Noooo…
IAIN: We've toyed with both ideas and we've shot them both down really, I think like, we did say after this album we’d see how we felt and if we didn't want to continue we’d just knock it on the head, so, to do something else we’d be cheating ourselves a little bit, it kind of cheapens the way In which we’re trying to go out
SHAY: You've got to try and draw a line in the sand haven’t you, just, call it a day. When that final show in Cardiff happens, that is it, you can’t be like, 2 weeks later saying “oh we’re playing Clwb Ifor Bach” or “We’re supporting these guys on tour…”.
GAV: That’s respectable, it’s cool…on a final note, before I go, back to Merthyr Rock, obviously you’re not playing this year, but will any of you be there and what are your recommendations for the day?
SHAY: We’re actually in Japan…
GAV: LITTLE bit more fancy than Cyfarthfa Park! [laughs]
SHAY: Yeah we’re playing in Japan, trip down to Australia, that’s why we can’t play this year but there’s some great bands playing, obviously THE BLACKOUT, home town show, let me think…
GAV: We have…ANTI-FLAG, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, BLITZ KIDS…
SHAY: There’s a band called EN GARDE, they are pretty good, friends of mine…
IAIN: You’re IN the band! [laughs]
SHAY: But I'm not playing! They’ll be better without me as well [laughs] It’s just going to be a great event.
GAV: Well guys, thanks for chatting, and good luck with the shows and the tour.
Tickets for Merthyr Rock 2014 are on sale now: http://www.seetickets.com/event/merthyr-rock-2014/cyfarthfa-castle/785622
Tickets for Kids In Glass Houses are subject to availability: http://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/kids-in-glass-houses
SHAY: We've had a hell of a good run, had some great times…been around the world a couple of times, we just feel like, we don’t’ have another album in us…I think we’ll just call it time there and have an excellent last tour while we’re all still friends
IAIN: We’d rather go out on a high rather than getting it to a point where we do actually end up hating each other and you get remembered for the wrong things…we've written four class albums, we just want to go out on a high y’know?
GAV: With the farewell tour in mind, a lot of dates are sold out already, the fan base is still there, they’re prepared to support you
SHAY: Yeah it’s been incredible, we've been blown away with the response to that tour, shows have sold out like you said, or shows have been upgraded, it’s a long tour as well, it’s like 25 dates or something, it’s the biggest tour we've ever done, it’s going to be a hell of a way to finish the band.
GAV: Even though it’s a sad note, people are there all the way with you..,
IAIN: Exactly, that’s the other reason, we didn't want it to be like, it ends because it HAS to end, it can’t go on y’know, it’s more like, it’s our decision, we’re in control of it, the fact that’s true means that we can enjoy it with the people coming to watch us, rather than them coming to watch something that’s forced or fake, you know what I mean?
SHAY: It’s definitely the best thing we've ever done, it has to be in a way…
GAV: Will these four intimate shows be a sort of testing ground for what set list you’re going to put together for the tour?
IAIN: We’re doing a few songs that we haven’t played for a while to see how people feel about them, but I think with these shows it’s gonna' be cool to have a bit more fun with the set list, do some songs we wouldn't normally play at bigger shows, and some fan favourites y’know. Music is subjective anyway, y’know there’s no, “perfect set”, we try and do our best to incorporate older stuff with newer stuff…I guess we try and please ourselves more than anything…
GAV: Yeah that’s true as, at the end of the day you've got to enjoy what you’re playing on stage, it’s no good just going through the motions and being predictable…with songs in mind, are there any plans for a greatest hits or maybe a swan song single to accompany this farewell tour?
SHAY: Noooo…
IAIN: We've toyed with both ideas and we've shot them both down really, I think like, we did say after this album we’d see how we felt and if we didn't want to continue we’d just knock it on the head, so, to do something else we’d be cheating ourselves a little bit, it kind of cheapens the way In which we’re trying to go out
SHAY: You've got to try and draw a line in the sand haven’t you, just, call it a day. When that final show in Cardiff happens, that is it, you can’t be like, 2 weeks later saying “oh we’re playing Clwb Ifor Bach” or “We’re supporting these guys on tour…”.
GAV: That’s respectable, it’s cool…on a final note, before I go, back to Merthyr Rock, obviously you’re not playing this year, but will any of you be there and what are your recommendations for the day?
SHAY: We’re actually in Japan…
GAV: LITTLE bit more fancy than Cyfarthfa Park! [laughs]
SHAY: Yeah we’re playing in Japan, trip down to Australia, that’s why we can’t play this year but there’s some great bands playing, obviously THE BLACKOUT, home town show, let me think…
GAV: We have…ANTI-FLAG, TAKING BACK SUNDAY, BLITZ KIDS…
SHAY: There’s a band called EN GARDE, they are pretty good, friends of mine…
IAIN: You’re IN the band! [laughs]
SHAY: But I'm not playing! They’ll be better without me as well [laughs] It’s just going to be a great event.
GAV: Well guys, thanks for chatting, and good luck with the shows and the tour.
Tickets for Merthyr Rock 2014 are on sale now: http://www.seetickets.com/event/merthyr-rock-2014/cyfarthfa-castle/785622
Tickets for Kids In Glass Houses are subject to availability: http://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/kids-in-glass-houses
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