artists » Steph Carter of Gallows

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT - THE FUTURE’S GREY BRITAIN. English punk rockers Gallows have taken the UK by storm with their heavy, aggressive sound and addictive performances. It seems the rest of the world is now been taken in by the drug that is Gallows, with their latest hit coming in the form of the new album Grey Britain.

Front man Frank Carter explained the basis of the album to Kerrang! saying, “Britain is f**ked. Grey Britain is all about what’s going on socially, politically and economically in the UK and how it affects us.”

Vox caught up with guitarist Steph Carter ahead of the band’s US tour for this exclusive interview:

What are the band up to at the moment?
Right now we’re having a small break from touring. We’re been on the road since May promoting the release of our second full length studio album, “Grey Britain”. We hit the road again on October 1st. We’re off to North America to play some shows with AFI. Then we go straight into Canada with Flogging Molly and then go back into North America to do another 3 weeks with AFI. We come home late November and begin a 4 week tour of the UK to finish off the year.

When did you start playing guitar and who inspired you as a kid?
I picked up my first guitar when I was 14. My family are very musical and there were many influences flying around my house while I was growing up. The bands that inspired me to start playing were the Deftones, Metallica, GlassJaw. In fact the first songs I learnt to play were all Deftones songs. I was like most people, I started with Deftones and then read into the band to see their influences and bands they would tour with and before I knew it my music collection was ridiculous.

How would you describe your sound?
We get compared to many old British punk bands, like the Clash and the Sex Pistols. I guess our attitude is very similar to those bands, do what you want and do not compromise your sound for anyone. Musically I do not think we’re similar. I think we play heavy rock and roll music, with influence from British Punk Rock, American Punk Rock, American Hardcore, Scandinavian Hardcore and well any good music!

Who are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to a lot of British music recently. Bat For Lashes, Blackhole, Rolo Tomassi, Mogwai and Throats. All these bands are amazing at what they do, some are highly established artists and some and up and coming but they all write incredible music.

Why do you like the AC30CC2X ?
Ever since I first started playing I have wanted a Vox. Vox amps especially the AC30 are the desired amp by musicians all over the world. They have the best natural clean tone I have ever heard, It’s clear and precise with great clarity. The overdrive these amps produce give you that classic British rock and roll sound.

I love guitar amps that sound incredible when they are quiet and when they are driven hard. This amp sounds amazing all the time! I really like the tremolo feature on this amp. I prefer to use natural amp sounds than use various outboard effects and pedals so this amp with two channels plus built in reverb, tremolo is perfect.

We also used an old original AC30 while we were in the studio. Playing this amp in the studio just made me want one so much more. I haven’t got this amp in my live set up just yet, but we have an acoustic track on “Grey Britain” that we never play live. If we were to start playing it live this would be the amp I would use. I’ve also spent a lot of time writing on this amp so our new material will definitely feature the AC30.

Which songs does it work best on?
The clean channel sounds incredible with my old Les Pauls when I’m playing the “Vulture Act I” (the acoustic track). The tremolo gives this song a new lease of life. I used the amp in rehearsals last week and it sounded great with both old Gallows material and new Gallows material.

What’s your fan base like? Does it differ much around the world?
We have a good fan base in the UK. We’ve spent more time here performing than we have anywhere else so in the UK we have kind of a cult following, we see a lot of the same fans at many UK shows. As for the rest of the world it’s slowly coming round, the buzz in America now is what it was like in the UK 3 years ago, so hopefully we will start to see a steady progression of US tours with more fans coming every time we come back. The good thing about Gallows is once you have been to a show you’re then hooked for life! We pride ourselves on our live show and we put every ounce of strength and energy we have into our performance.

What’s next for Gallows?
We’re going to carry on touring until Christmas and then take a small break before we go over to Australia and Japan. I hope we get a chance to play the European festival circuit over summer and then work on Gallows’ third release!

Gallows are on tour in the States October 2nd until November 22nd.
Gallows UK tour November 26th until December 19th.
Grey Britain is out right now all over the world….
WWW.GALLOWS.CO.UK