{"id":13132,"date":"2014-05-26T01:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-05-26T05:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13132"},"modified":"2014-05-26T07:20:14","modified_gmt":"2014-05-26T11:20:14","slug":"blowin-wind-with-billy-and-johnny-of-the-admiral-sir-cloudesley-shovell-the-great-fucking-thing-about-rock-nroll-is-that-there-arent-any-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.southeastofheaven.com\/?p=13132","title":{"rendered":"Blowin\u2019 Wind with Billy and Johnny of The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell: \u201cThe great fucking thing about rock n\u2019roll is that there aren\u2019t any rules.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1492738_10152526948814688_483844864_o\"The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell is a band that is every bit as epic and over the top as their name. These blokes play a no frills type of hard rock n\u2019 roll that defies rules and genre descriptions. It\u2019s gritty, it\u2019s raw, and it\u2019s everything I love about this kind of music. When I heard the band\u2019s latest album Check \u2018em Before You Wreck \u2018em I was instantly hooked and I couldn\u2019t wait for the chance to talk to these guys.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was told that these guys were really fun to talk to but let me tell you right now that this is a total understatement. My interview with drummer Billy Darlington and guitarist\/singer Johnny Gorilla at times felt like cutting room outtakes from \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap\u201d as we talked about their career choices if they weren\u2019t musicians, what albums they like to get piss drunk to, what we\u2019d do if we had a slumber party, and their fondness for their latest album and why they feel it represents them better than their debut. This interview was really fun and I hope you\u2019ll enjoy this one!<\/strong><\/p>\n

WARNING<\/strong>: Be careful drinking beverages while reading this interview. You will snarf and I will not be responsible for ruined keyboards, iPads, iPhones, or any other iThingy.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hello<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Hello! Is this Don?<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Yes, it\u2019s Don. Who is this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Don! This is Johnny from the Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell and I\u2019m here with Billy.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Yes. Hi Don this is Billy and we\u2019re just here to give you a shout for that interview type thing of deal.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Johnny and Billy, it\u2019s so great to talk to you today. I am saluting you from Atlanta, GA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: We are saluting you back, Don.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: We are saluting you back from Hastings East Sussex.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

I have to say. Your PR guy Jon Freeman will usually be like, \u201cDon, you\u2019re going to love this band.\u201d Well, he\u2019s not always right but with you guys he fucking nailed it. I love you blokes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: [laughs] Well thank you very much Don.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Thank you.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

So how important is it to remember the \u201cThe\u201d when addressing The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Whatever tickles your pickle mate [laughs]. I mean, it would be kind of like adding the on the front of Cream to have The Cream or even The Black Sabbath. We like that. It\u2019s old school.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Maybe you guys should make it so that it\u2019s two e\u2019s like Thee Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell. It\u2019s so much more regal I think.\"1533781_686199461419665_1740443744_n\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Why not just add three e\u2019s to it.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Yeah, make it three e\u2019s. The more e\u2019s the better. Just one more better. It\u2019s prestigious.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Let\u2019s just leave it at one e. This is getting too much man [laughs].<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Speaking of prestige, how does it feel to be interviewed by a website called The Great Southern Brainfart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Yeah, we were just toying about that a minute ago and we were farting at the same time.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Yeah, thank you. It\u2019s very much of an honor thank you [laughs].<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Well, I feel like I should send you a medal or something.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Hopefully it\u2019ll be an iron cross.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Actually, I\u2019ve already got one so don\u2019t worry about it, John. Wait, what\u2019s your name?<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Don. See, it\u2019s confusing. We have Johnny, Jon, Don, Billy. I should just join the band that way we can keep it all together.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Yeah, you should.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Yeah, it would make things a lot easier.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Join. Why don\u2019t ya?<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

What would I do in the band then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: We could just rehearse over the phone. Maybe you could play the kazoo. You can play the tape recorder and the Imodium.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Yeah. Play the Imodium. That would be great.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

How Spinal Tap would this be? You could just put a lap top up on stage and say, \u201cJoining us via Skype: Don on the Imodium!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy & Johnny<\/strong>: [laughs]<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Don! Live via Skype! Oh. We\u2019ve lost the connection. [laughs]<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Actually, it all depends on what you look like Don. This band is all about looks. It\u2019s been said we are the poster boys for the rock generation.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: We are actually pinups to be honest.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

If you had to describe your band to someone who\u2019s never heard you before, how would you do so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Good. Really good [laughs].<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: I\u2019d say rock n\u2019 roll, loud, energy. It\u2019s got a heavy element to it so if you like heavy rock, hard rock you\u2019re going to dig it.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be honest. I listen to a lot of music every day and a lot of it sucks. Your album doesn\u2019t suck. How does it feel to make an album that doesn\u2019t suck?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Hm. Have we done one of those yet?<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: When we make one we\u2019ll tell you [laughs]. Seriously, I love our first album but the 2nd<\/sup> album that just came out is superior in songwriting quality and sound quality as well. I feel like it\u2019s got a really timeless sound that doesn\u2019t seem to fit into any particular scene. I think it\u2019s just a good fucking rock album and I\u2019m so glad you like it.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Yeah, it feels pretty good man. I love it to bits.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

I too loved the first album Don\u2019t Hear It, Fear It but the new one Check \u2018Em Before You Wreck \u2018Em really seems to capture and encompass everything that I wish the first album would have.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: Exactly. We wish we would have put this album out first.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Don, that\u2019s very kind of you to say that Don because that\u2019s exactly how we feel about it. It\u2019s always going to be the same music coming out of us but this 2nd<\/sup> one, to use a comparison, is a bit like say AC\/DC\u2019s Let There Be Rock compared to High Voltage. It\u2019s the same stuff but just a little bit better.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

I feel like some bands put out their first album and it\u2019s raw and with a lot of feel but then they get to their 2nd<\/sup> and 3rd<\/sup> album they start to sound really polished. With you guys, I felt like the debut didn\u2019t have that rawness and that warmth that the 2nd<\/sup> one has. What made you guys decide to take a step in that direction this time around?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: The first album was pretty much our stage songs and we had been playing those songs for a couple of years at least before the album came out. We recorded it at a studio that had quite a modern sound and we just knew it was not really going to come out exactly how we wanted it to sound. With this 2nd<\/sup> one we found someplace to record so it would come out exactly how we wanted it to sound.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: It\u2019s actually just around corner as well.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Yeah, it\u2019s local so that was cool as well. It just had more of the right feel to us. One of the first songs we recorded we did it one take and that was it. We didn\u2019t go back and polish anything up. We record the album alive so we got a very live sound out of it. It does sound much more raw but that was both conscious and sub conscious as well. We know we want to sound. There were things done to the first album that we didn\u2019t particularly want done to it but with this 2nd<\/sup> one it was exactly what we wanted to do.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: I think we just seemed to jell a lot more as well. It sounds more like how we sound as a live band.<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

You guys are playing the kind of music that I\u2019m so fucking glad is making its way to the surface. You guys, Graveyard, Blues Pills, The Oath, etc are all bands pretty much playing old dude music. What is it about this music that seems to be coming to the forefront?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: The drugs.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Yes, the drugs [laughs]. I think the music itself just more honest, more direct, and more sincere. There\u2019s nothing synthetic or bullshit about it. You\u2019re not writing for a formula or anything. You\u2019re just writing from the heart and what we play is music without any rules. The great fucking thing about rock n\u2019roll is that there aren\u2019t any rules.<\/strong> You can write a song any way you want it. There\u2019s a lot of freedom and a lot of honesty and a lot of energy. That\u2019s what makes people go back to that sort of music.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: We really didn\u2019t plan on any of this to happen at all. We just wanted to play in a band with our mates. That\u2019s why we picked such a stupid fucking name.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: That\u2019s why you picked such a stupid fucking name [laughs].<\/p>\n

===================================<\/p>\n

Have you guys ever toured the US?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: No we haven\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: There\u2019s talk of us coming over later in the year so that would be like a dream come true. We\u2019ve never played the states and we would dearly love to go there and do some shows.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: We\u2019ve played in Wales.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: We\u2019ve played with whales?<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: No, we played in Wales. We didn\u2019t play with whales.<\/p>\n

Johnny<\/strong>: Oh, I\u2019m sorry man. I got confused.<\/p>\n

Billy<\/strong>: We\u2019re not Jacques\u2019 Cousteau. We don\u2019t play with fucking whales.<\/p>\n