Enter Shikari: do the human pyramid!

(Credit: Tom Barnes)

Before his passing, Factory Records founder and British TV personality Tony Wilson (he of “24 Hour Party People” fame) was touting Enter Shikari as the next big U.K. band. But it’s not like Shikari, a group of late teens/early twentysomethings out of the musically bereft town of St. Albans, sounded like the second coming of Joy Division or the Happy Mondays or any of the other bands Wilson helped rise to stardom in his long career. Far from it.

No, Wilson was mostly likely attracted to Enter Shikari’s pioneering spirit. To start, the group released everything through its own label (Ambush Reality), and eschewed a major label jump, even after hitting the top five of the British pop charts. Then there was the band’s sound, a never-before-heard cross between trance and screamo that inspired some seriously violent, glowstick-filled mosh pits (at the band’s behest, fans also frequently erected gigantic human pyramids as well).

ES made a quick appearance in the States two years ago, but seem more determined to conquer our side of Atlantic this time around. The band just released its critically acclaimed second record (“Common Dreads”), and they’re embarking on their second U.S. headlining tour. We spoke with Shikari frontman Roughton “Rou” Reynolds about creating new sounds, overcoming an evil town council and why the band isn’t necessarily great date music.

Is your name pronounced “roo” or “row” or what?
[Laughs] Rhymes with “cow.”

There isn’t exactly a blueprint for mixing trance, punk and metal. How did you arrive at this sound?
There was a lot of progression. When I was 16, we sounded more like Muse or Radiohead. Then I moved off of guitar onto various electronics. Now we keep adding in influences from drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep. We try to not to segregate our influences. We just keep adding in more flavors.

You grew up in St. Albans, England. Is that a good music town?
There’s actually not really anywhere to have gigs. The town council there doesn’t encourage activities for youth; they keep pressure on venues about alcohol to keep out shows. When we did play, we’d go to whatever youth club we could, hire out a PA and hope people showed up. We got some bands from the London underground punk and ska scenes coming around as well, but not a lot.

When you first toured here in 2007, your album wasn’t even out yet for the most part. How was your initial experience in the U.S.?
It’s always been really great. A lot of kids saw us through online videos. And we knew we’d be playing smaller shows here. But that’s great—they’re always really hectic, and people really appreciate it when we do come through town. I think we’re really going to spend time in the U.S. on this album, and hit some far corners of the country we haven’t been to before.

Do you still get your crowds to do human pyramids at your shows?
[Laughs] Yeah, that still goes on.

You guys have always released music through your own label, even after you were successful. Why continue to go that way?
There was no choice when we started, really. We did shows all over the place, and we felt we really needed to get a record out there. So we recorded everything we knew in a garage, and then just released it on our own. After a couple of singles took off, we had a few labels come by and take us out for meals. But by that point, we had done most of the hard work ourselves. And we didn’t feel like giving up our copyrights for a sack of money.

So this was your first time really recording in a proper studio. How was that?
It was great. We did our first album in two weeks with whatever smalltime equipment we owned. It almost felt like a live album. This time, we had a real producer [Andy Gray], had the time to experiment and try out different ideas and textures. It was a really wicked experience.

Your new album definitely makes more of an outright political statement.
The first record was more artistic lyrically, for lack of a better word. Everyone kind of came up with their own meanings of the songs. This one was more directed. There are a lot of bands in the mainstream just talking about pointless stuff, and we just wanted to balance things out and do something positive with our lyrics.

How did your relationship with Tony Wilson start?
We never actually met him, unfortunately. We were in a music conference in Manchester that he was speaking at. So, I guess we were in the same room together. He talked about us being one of the new bands he was championing. It was truly surreal to hear that.

I actually took my girlfriend on our first date to your concert. Do you get a lot of stories like this?
Really? That’s funny. We had someone a few weeks ago who wanted to propose on stage. It didn’t end up happening. I think he lost his nerve.