HTF were lucky enough to sit down with Shane from Title Fight before their show at The Peel in Kingston-Upon-Thames on 20th December 2011. We ran through their plans for the new year, if they think the UK crowds are more rowdy then in America and if they are into a certain English band who they would like to tour with.
Find out in our exclusive interview here below.
HTF: So if you could start by introducing yourself please?
I’m Shane and I play guitar in Title Fight.
HTF: So first up, it’s another UK headline tour! You’ve done a couple now, so how does it feel being back over here?
It feels good. I think this is our first proper one – we came over in the summer and did a little bit of stuff with Basement, but it was kind of like, really short and this feels like a proper one, like we spent time thinking about it and picking the bands, so yeah it feels good.
HTF: Cool, the bands that you brought out, I think one of them are kinda local to you aren’t they?
Yeah balance and composure love about 2 hours away from us and we’ve known those guys for years so they’re really good friends of ours so it’s awesome to be experiencing Europe and the UK with them.
HTF: So like you said, you’ve been over here a couple of times before, playing The Underworld in Camden which is, for me, a wicked venue being the best of the small venues and has a decent vibe, and you also played Reading Festival in the summer. How do you feel about both of them and do you prefer the outdoor festival shows with bigger crowds or do you prefer the indoor more intimate shows?
I think there’s stuff to be appreciated about both, you know what I mean? We just played Underworld again a few days ago and it was one of the best shows we’ve played in a while. I mean, that atmosphere is definitely where we come from and we feel most comfortable having a ton of kids packed into a smaller room being able to do just whatever you want without having to worry about security guards or barriers and stuff like that. That’s always we we’ve kinda – whenever I think of a Title Fight show that’s what I think of in my head. At the same time, being able to play big festivals like Reading and Leeds is completely different but an equally fulfilling experience. Just for the sake of myself and everybody in our band, it sucks that we can’t have that interaction with people but just being on stage with my friends and seeing that many people is just kinda funny you know? We just kind of treat is as something really cool that we are able to do so it’s cool in that regard. And it’s cool to play to a lot of people, but there are cool things about both, however, there’s shitty things about both too.
HTF: So you guys are from Kingston, Pennsylvania and you’re about to play Kingston-upon-Thames just outside London. How do the two match up and how are they different or the same? (without being too biased to your hometown)
I dunno, this is a lot different because we are so close to London. I guess in a sense, it’s kinda similar and different because we live like 2 hours from Philidelphia and 2 hours from New York City so its just like a small suburban place and it’s kind of quiet, but if you want to can travel a short distance and be somewhere that’s cool with a lot of stuff going on, so I guess it’s similar in that respect, but it feels really different here. This Kingston definitely seems a bit more (hectic?) yeah, but at home it’s just pretty quiet and not much going on so I guess I like them both…
HTF: With regard to playing show in America and England, do you find they are generally the same? Or do kids just go nuts wherever you play? Are the English kids a bit tamer or more rowdy etc..?
I don’t know, it varies. I think, you know, we’ve been touring the US for a long time and we’ve done that the most so I feel like a lot of places will be better off by the principle that we’ve been there before and it’s still kind of building here, but the big shows like London and tonight I’m sure, it feels exactly like home. A lot of people say the kids seem to appreciate it more but I think that may be discrediting kids in America because we play all over the world and if they’re into it, they’re into it if you know what I mean? Some places it’s crazy and some places it’s not.
I suppose it’s kind of down to the fact that because you don’t get a chance to play over here as much they may appreciate it more from that perspective and may get more into it.
HTF: Are there any English bands that you’re into or English bands that you think it would be fun to tour with?
Well Basement are our good friends, like we’ve done stuff with them in the past and it was fun doing things with them I will do some more stuff in the future I’m sure. There’s King Cruel, he’s from the London area and is kinda like a singer/songwriter but he’s young and I like him a lot. I don’t think it would make much sense for us to do anything together but I like to see him as he’s one of my favourite musicians right now. I think that band The Excerts is pretty cool and Sharks – we just did a tour with them in the States so I like those guys a lot. They’re a really cool band and I think people need to start paying more attention to them. I like Eliza Doolittle – I don’t know, is she popular here? Well not a lot of people in America know about her but she writes good songs.
HTF: So after this tour you’ve got it quite chilled for a month or two with a show here and there, then in April you’ve got a show with Rise Against and A Day To Remember. Are they bands you would hold in High regard? Are they bands that you’ve listened to you are you excited because it’ll probably be a big show?
Well, Rise Against, a lot of people seem to like them and I never really listened to them too much. We have a lot of friends of mutual friends and I met those guys a few times and they’re really, really nice people, but as far as they’re band I’m not like a huge fan. Maybe after playing with them that I’ll get to watch them – Usually that happens every time I’m not really into a band, I’ll see them live and think, “this is cool” – I’ll find something about it that I like. A Day To Remember, I don’t really like them either but yeah.. That show, it was kind of a weird decision for us, but it’s kind of the same thing like Reading and Leeds festival – it’s kinda outside of our comfort zone or what we’re used to but we’re going to be playing to a lot of people and just for the sake of us personally, that’s a cool thing to do to play to a ton of people. I don’t care if people seem to be upset about this and that, but I don’t care.
I mean I understand how people feel a certain way about that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day we always treat our band, as weird as it might sound, we have always done it for ourselves and we can’t help that. People liked it and we’re really fortunate about that but we base decisions off what we want to do and we thought it would be crazy to play to thousands of people and it’s a cool experience. I don’t know the next time I’m gonna have that opportunity in my life, you know what I mean? So yeah, it’s just gonna be a fun thing and who knows, maybe we’ll end up getting a long with everybody and it’ll all be cool but yeah I feel like it’s going to be interesting and we’re always gonna be able to play basements and small shows whenever we want so I dunno what people are getting stressed out about, but I guess I understand where they’re coming from.
HTF: Fair enough. So is there anything else in the pipeline for Title Fight in 20120? Anything planned but unannounced or things you’re working on at the moment?
Yeah, we’re gonna be busy up until the fall but I don’t think I can say anything (well we can keep an eye out), but I think it’s stupid we can’t say anything but that’s how it works. I think the biggest thing that I’m excited about is when we get home in a couple of days we’re going to start writing for a new full-length so I think we’re trying to have that out by the fall. We’re just going to devote a lot of time and energy to writing that so hopefully once the fall comes round we’ll have the record out and do a headline tour..
HTF: Awesome, we’ll keep an eye on your guys over this year. Thanks a lot for talking to us and good luck with the show tonight and the coming year.
Interviewer: Ross Williams
