30. November 2013
The Temperance Movement: Rocks Higher Calling
Do you remember when Rock n’ Roll was still raw and authentic and well, loud? There is this band called The Temperance Movement that in my opinion exactly have these particular qualities. A few months ago they´ve successfully released their first full length album called “The Temperance Movement”.
The quintet consists of singer Phil Campbell, guitarist Luke Potashnik and Paul Sayer, bassist Nick Fyffe and drummer Damon Wilson. They started playing together around 2011 and just finished an extensive tour around Europe and the UK. Oh and not to forget TTM just won the Classic Rock Magazine Award for Best New Band. Congrats on that guys!
You’d be a bit silly if you wanted to simply classify their album as yet another band doing the 70’s throwback sound thing. Instead what you get is a group of master musicians who seem to have graduated top of their class at the school of Let’s Do It Right or Not At All.
I refuse to single out any track. What I will say is that this is another album that should be handed out to all budding rockers as the way to go about making your studio time mean something. Not simply dreaming of money and hopefully fame at the end of the day but powerful messages and master sounds that will stand the test of time. This is how you do it.
Here is my conversation with bassist Nick Fyffe.
(Side Note: This interview was started before TTM’s win at the CRM Awards and their UK tour)
You´ve probably answered this questions a million times but we still need to know how did The Temperance Movement become The Temperance Movement?
We’d all been working as session musicians or playing for other artists and had either met or heard of each other before we came together as a band. Luke had met Phil a couple of years previously and after talking with Paul about starting a band, called Phil to see if he was interested in being a part of it. The three of them began writing material and after several months, myself and Damon got involved. The first time we got in a room together, there was an instant chemistry and we knew we had to make this work one way or another.
Your self titled full-length debut album came out Sept. 16, 2013. What has changed for you so far?
It’s basically got busier and the shows have got bigger. It’s been an amazing year for us and a lot of hard work. As we’re now signed to a label and have management, there are a few more people involved but we’re still essentially making all the decisions and overseeing everything from ordering merch to booking splitter vans. We run a tight ship!
Who produced the record and how much were you able to direct?
The album was produced by our-selves and Sam Miller, a friend and great engineer/producer. As with everything Temperance Movement, we’re very much in the driving seat and Sam was a great co-pilot. He did an amazing job of translating what we do live to record. He totally got it.
Were all the songs on the album written during the past 2 years or did some exist before?
Everything was written during 2011-2012
You´ve got a sold out UK tour coming up. How do you prep for it and how much will be spontaneous on stage?
We’re prepping for the UK tour by driving around Europe in a splitter van doing shows in Spain, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, France and Luxembourg. There’s no down time for us and we’ll go strait into the UK tour. We’ve never really rehearsed that much. There’s always an element of spontaneity in the music. We all know the framework of the song but will occasionally take it somewhere else. Last night in Milan, the p.a. was so excessively loud that we decided to do a toned down version of Lovers and Fighters. We’ve recently been ending it all guns blazing but we took it in the opposite direction last night. We respond to each gig as we feel appropriate.
I have to ask, what´s the band members musical backgrounds? Your album just doesn´t sound like you picked up an instrument for the first time or started singing 2 years ago and decided to form a new band.
Ha! No, we’ve all been playing professionally for a while either in other bands or as session players. Between us we’ve played in all kinds of situations and with a broad range of different artists. Everything we’ve done as individuals up to this point has made the band what it is.
Talking about the beginnings of the band what was your proudest moment up until now?
For me, it would probably be selling out the Scala earlier this year, an 800 capacity venue in London. It was quite a jump up from the venues we had been playing and the gig itself was electric! We’re playing Koko next week, a venue double that size which has also sold out. We’re pretty excited about that! We’re all very proud of what we’ve managed to achieve up to now.
If you were to headline a stadium tour who would be your pick as support?
Well if she were still alive, Sister Rosetta Tharpewould be great!
Your fan base is growing day by day just looking at your FB numbers. What´s the plan for next year?
More touring! We’ll be back in Europe in the spring and possibly later in the year too. We’ll be out playing in as many countries as we can manage. There’s talk of Japan and further afield but we’ll have to wait and see.
Name 3 things on your bucket list.
Skydive
Invent something groundbreaking and amazing
Sell out Madison Square Gardens
Name 3 songs that will stay with you for the rest of your life.
Something – The Beatles
Life on Mars – David Bowie
Angel – Jimi Hendrix
What´s the worst venue you´ve played in?
Hard to say, I wouldn’t want to mention names in-case we ever had to go back there. I played a venue in Manchester that was pretty bad. I really don’t remember its name but it was underground and it smelled very, very bad!
Name 1 nasty habit you can´t live without?
I’ve given up a few bad habits but probably the one I wish I could stop is obsessively checking my phone for any kind if activity. It’s a modern day habit I think a lot of people have.
Ryan Adams or Ben Kweller?
Ryan Adams
Dankeschoen!
For All Things The Temperance Movement: Website./ Facebook. / YouTube. / Twitter.
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