Virtual Festivals: Your new single 'Kill Your Own' comes out on 6 March with a new album also due. How happy are you with how your new material is sounding?
Larry Hibbit: Really happy. I think it’s the most satisfied we've felt on completing a record. I know people always say 'this is the best one we've ever done', but I think it really is. It's the only album we’ve done where every member of the band likes everything on there.
VF: How does it feel to be back?
LH: Yeah great. That's a bit of a funny question because I suppose being back is more to be with what everyone else thinks. We’ve never felt we’ve been away but having a new record coming out is really exciting.
VF: What's the new single all about?
LH: Lyrically its about purposely going out your way to hurt the ones you love. That’s where the title 'Kill Your Own' comes from. But its less of a literal thing, less of a violent thing.
VF: So its not violent?
LH: No, well maybe mental violence!
VF: On your website, the lyrics to the new single turn into 'My Old Man’s A Dustman'. Explain please?
LH: Well, you go out, you get pissed and you have access to the internet. It’s my idea of being funny I suppose.
VF: So you update your site then?
LH: Yeah I think our manager has probably regretted giving us that freedom ever since.
VF: Any festivals sorted for this year yet?
LH: Not yet for definite no, but we’ll do as many as we can.
VF: You played Reading and Leeds every year between 2000 and 2004. Which was your favourite year?
LH: I reckon 2003 probably. We were in the Radio 1 tent which I prefer immeasurably. We were one from the top and it was packed, spilling out from the side with about 10-12 thousand people in it. I remember it because we couldn’t hear our own monitors from people singing back at us. That's why I prefer the tent. The main stage is great, its fun and everything, but kind of ridiculous. There are just so many people and it all becomes just a huge abstract sea of heads. It's more a case of just getting through your set rather than really enjoying it. As far as a memorable gig goes the tent is better - it's more like headlining an arena.
VF: What's your experience of festivals as a punter?
LH: I used to go to Reading a lot but I've never been a real ardent festival goer. One year we did 30 in a row so I wouldn't want to go as a punter ever again in my life! Personally, I prefer hearing bands indoors rather than in the middle of a field. It's more intimate from a musical point of view. Obviously the getting drunk and waking up in a bush element of festivals is great though.
VF: You're not a big camper then?
LH: Yes I am, just not with 70,000 other people.
VF: If you could share a stage with one of your musical heroes who would it be?
LH: I was always a big fan of Henry Rollins, not necessarily for his music but more for his outlook on life. I've read all his books, but it would probably be a bit disappointing as I’ve heard he’s quite a brute. He’d probably say something very rude, be a complete arsehole, and break something. But that’d be brilliant. That's probably what I'd want to see from him.
VF: Who's been your biggest inspiration?
LH: Probably Dave Sardy, who produced our first two records. He probably had the most impact on my life in terms of what I wanted to do with it. I was immediately impressed by him the minute I met him - the guy’s basically a f**king genius. Just being around him and his engineers was inspiring they’ve got such a great thing going on. I don’t tend to get star struck by bands, more by the people that actually do something!
VF: And who are you into at the moment?
LH: There’s a band called Wheat who’ve got an album out called 'Per Second Per Second Per Second... Every Second'. It’s not particularly new, or even that exciting, but that’s what's doing it for me at the moment. Apart from that a Belgian band called Car Park North, I quite like that. That’s newish. I don’t know I don’t really keep track. And Smog, they’re my favourite band of all time.
VF: You've been through the mill having been dropped and then signed again by V2. Do you have any advice to give young bands on the pitfalls that lie ahead?
LH: The thing we've learnt is that the things you think are important, like your labels, sometimes turn out not to be. It's more important to just be a band and have a good work ethic as a band and not rely on all the other stuff that comes and goes. That’s what we've had to do over the last year or so, instead of saying ‘oh we haven’t got a label' we’ve just carried on. A lot of bands fold at that point but it shouldn’t stop you even if you’re used to being signed. The work ethic should always be there without relying on anyone else. You’ve got to keep getting on with it no matter what.
VF: So are you a bit of a workaholic then?
LH: Yeah I work all hours. We don’t really like having time off, especially me. If I’m not doing stuff with the band I’m tinkering with other stuff or doing extra production. I can’t just sit around doing nothing. There’s only so much 'Murder She Wrote' you can take.
Hundred Reasons' new single 'Kill Your Own' is released on 6 March followed by a new album.
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