This is an introductory interview for the fantastic lads from Burnley, collectively known as Exit State. Rather than give you a cut and pasted bio about the band, I caught up with charismatic front man, Roy Bright and he answered some of my questions. The photo’s featured are from the recent expedition to North Wales….
What’s the history of the band and where did the name Exit State come from?
The band was formed in 2005 following the breakup of my old band Deponeye. Deponeye had just started to make waves during 2004 when two of our songs were used for the soundtrack of a computer game called FlatOut which went out on the XBOX, PS2 and PC. With the help of the game we received interest and talk of a record deal from Revolver Records but for various reasons I felt that commitment levels to move deponeye forward were not shared with the other members so we split up in the summer of 2004. Exit State started life as a 3-piece the other two members being friends of mine Sara Leigh and Lee Walmsley. We began writing original compositions early 2005 and then went onto play small shows in the Burnley & Manchester areas. We did however use a lot of the old deponeye songs that were already established. The name Exit State was actually suggested by Sara’s boyfriend Eddie who in fact joined the band later on. They were on holiday in America and I think were driving out of a state the name of which escapes me for now and Eddie thought ‘Exit State’ and that was that really. In the spring of 2006 Lee left the band as he wanted to play more indie rock music instead of hard rock so I asked my close friend Jason Shuttleworth who was the bass player for Burnley heavy metal band I.C.O.N. Jason played a couple of shows that we had in the bag and then Sara’s boyfriend Eddie Sims joined on bass for a while. Thing is though Eddie was more of a guitarist and preferred playing guitar so a guy I knew from the local band scene called Graham Storton was asked to come in and play bass. Unfortunately a little while later Sara announced she had to call time on the band as she was moving to London to take a job in Fashion Design. This gave me a bit of a headache to sort to be honest as drummers and guitarists were in short demand in Burnley at the time. So after a few tip offs from mates I asked Adam who was a good mate of mine to be the bands permanent guitarist and I also asked I.C.O.N’s newly appointed drummer James Henderson to join on a temporary basis until a permanent replacement could be found. I think at the time Adam couldn’t step in right away so I asked another good mate of mine, I.C.O.N’s guitarist Scott Knowles to help out briefly for one show. This was actually Sara’s farewell show as well. So a couple of weeks later in November Adam joined and remains the bands permanent guitarist. Throughout 2007 we started to play a lot of shows in the North West and became a fairly well known name on the rock circuit in the area. That summer we entered a battle of the bands competition in Preston and did ok in it not only gaining loads more fans but we became good friends with other bands and this also helped us get a lot more shows later on that year. However during the competition it was becoming obvious that Hendy wasn’t able to keep drumming for both I.C.O.N and Exit State and that we needed to find a permanent replacement as quickly as possible. As chance would have it a mate band of ours called The Freespirits broke up so I asked their drummer to step up and play for us and that was how we bagged Texas Peat. So Peat finished off the competition which saw us dumped out in the semi finals Bah! Haha!
We decided we needed a kick ass demo to help approach industry professionals and secure better shows so we went to Calder Recording Studios in Mytholmroyd where we attracted the attention of studio boss and record producer Steve Fenton. We decided to call the demo Anybody out There and it received a fair bit of radio exposure which was cool and we were also reviewed in Mays issue of Rock Sound Magazine which described us as “satisfyingly heavy, unexpectedly catchy and unashamedly experimental…Impressive!” which was also very cool.During a show we played in Leeds in the February, Steve Fenton came to see us and let us know he intended to reform his old record label called Cone Records and if we hadn’t been picked up by the time it was up and running would we consider signing to the label. Of course we said yeah we would definitely look at any deal Steve offered us. During that summer we were also approached by Riverbeat Records but we decided against it as it just wasn’t the right move for us. Things then took a strange turn as I had my jaw broken in an unprovoked attack outside a nightclub in Burnley and during our three month break we decided to act upon issues with Graham’s role in the band and the decision was taken to replace Graham. It was a tough decision but it was the right one for the bands progress. So by now Steve had his label sorted and had named it King Prawn Records haha! How cool is that. Unfortunately we didn’t have a replacement for Graham so Steve agreed to sit on the contract until a permanent bass player was found. Late September Ads Tex and me shot over to Preston to speak with Phil. We had actually come across Phil when he had been playing for various bands in the Preston area and had also been tipped off he was interested in the Exit State bass player job. He is simply a quality bass player and just what the band needed and was announced as the new permanent bass player for Exit State in October 2008. So Steve was true to his word and we received our contract November 2008 and signed to King Prawn Records February 2009.
We didn’t waste any time as Steve sent us into his studio Feb 2009 cos it was basically considered the deal was a done thing. Steve produced it again and we re-recorded all tracks on the ‘Anybody Out There’ EP as we needed to take into account Phil’s new bass lines we also re-recorded the drums as Peat and Phil were developing a quality & tight rhythm section. We left the vocals as is and a few touch ups on the guitars. We called the EP Bad Days and it was our first release on King Prawn Records June 2009. It actually did quite well with online reviewers but the big mags didn’t seem to pick up on it. We then toured like crazy in 2009 it was a really good year as we gained support slots with ex-Iron Maiden/Wolfsbane front man Blaze Bayley and NWOBHM legends Witchfynde – good shows. September 2009 saw us begin work on our first studio album once again with the infamous Mr Fenton and that is the album we are now promoting which as you know is titled Death of a Rockstar. One thing that was cool was that Steve took us to The Chairworks Studios in Castleford during Christmas that year to complete it as he wanted to run the final mixes through a pure analogue desk – it proper did the trick. It was then mastered by a total legend Ray Staff at the world famous AIR Studios in London which is owned by 5th Beatle George Martin actually Ray did the EP as well – now that was cool hahaha!
This April just gone was a belting month for us as we signed our very first professional management deal with the management arm of Rocksector Records which has been awesome for us, leading to support slots with the original AC/DC front man Dave Evans and The Black Spiders plus The More I See which features ex-The Prodigy guitarist Gizz Butt and a tour with The Black Mollys featuring two members of Enuff Z’nuff. We released the album May 31st and thankfully this time round the PR wagon kicked in nicely and we got storming reviews from Black Velvet Magazine, Big Cheese Magazine and loads of established online reviewers like Mudkiss Fanzine. Rocksound Magazine didn’t take to it as much as they did the EP which was weird but never mind haha! However you guys at Circle Pit gave us a great review which we like very much hahaha! So there you are thats how we came to be what we are basically. Its a bit of a read hahaha!.
What genre of music do you consider your work to be and who are your major influences?
Its without a doubt hard melodic rock similar in style to but not exactly sounding like Foo Fighters, Nickelback and loads of reviewers have also said Lost Prophets. Our major influences are Foo Fighters, Metallica and in the case of our drummer Texas Peat The Who and Led Zep.
What venue was the favourite you had played and why?
Ahh it has to be Club Fontana in Vaasa Finland. Our largest crowd to date with about 1600 screaming Finnish and Swedish students. It was basically a week long piss up for them at the end of exams or something. Our mates in the Finnish band Rock Fuel invited us over – it was mint. We received proper rockstar treatment with an amazing backstage area – I think we drank them dry of hospitality booze hahaha!
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
We write as a band. All of us pitching in. The only difference being I write all of the lyrics. The topics have varied but I think in the case of the album the split from my ex-fiancé played a huge part haha! I got about 9 songs out of that malarkey haha! We are currently working on new material for album No2 and we are certain people will notice the difference and the increase in maturity of our songwriting. Also I have gotten the breaking-up monkey off my back so new lyrical material is a certainty haha!
How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Its evolved massively to be honest. One big reason has been Phils introduction to the band. In fact its the 4 elements of each members differing individual influences that are key to our bands sound and success. We spend a huge amount of time together socially, playing and writing and we have come to a big understanding that has manifested itself into our style and sound.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Keeping Texas Peat sober enough to play the drums – we manage it….JUST!! haha
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Todays industry is literally a nightmare. Labels don’t have the time nor the resources or finances to be travelling around looking to sign acts so bands need to be the absolute finished article in terms of sound production and fanbase.
You gotta be out there constantly gigging and perfecting your live performance. One or two shows a month just wont cut it – its more like 6 or 7 as this is your main chance of increasing fanbase. The days of labels saying “well we recognise good songs in a bad mix heres a deal” are gone – you need top production AND a recognised fanbase.
So I suppose the advice would be to tour as much as possible, save the pennies and get into a studio to put together your best possible demo. For brand new bands play everywhere and anywhere and be ready to accept a gig at the drop of a hat – believe me venue owners and promoters love that and will always give you the best shows if you keep looking after them. But above all else – HAVE FUN! Cos there aint nothing like having a laugh in a rock band.
What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
We rehearse as many days as possible outside of playing shows. Sometimes 3 or 4 times a week. Obviously nothing beats playing live but rehearsals are vital for us as we tweak and hone the songs to as close to perfection as possible. We just recognise the need to be playing our music constantly to keep up the tightness we have worked so hard to achieve.
Where do you see the band in 5 years time?
At the risk of sounding arrogant we have already set targets for the band. We intend to be 100% full time out on the road and hope to be supporting extremely established and well known acts – also hopefully able to do the Academy sized headline tours. Oh and of course have played Download and Sonisphere haha!
Who has the worst cd in their collection and what is it?
Probably me with Beyonces greatest hits or whatever its called haha! My ex-fiancé left it behind when she did one………no honest!!
Exit State can be found at WWW.EXITSTATE.COM - check them out!! THEY ROCK!!
Words and pictures by Circlepit
