The Automatic

On a blustery afternoon in Manchester, Robin Hawkins and James Frost of The Automatic take time out from promoting their new album; This is a Fix, to talk to The Daily Music Guide.

DMG: First of all well done on finishing the new album.

Robin: Thanks very much. It took us long enough.

DMG: You say that it’s taken a long time but you have said in the past that you felt the first album was rushed and This is a Fix sounds more faithful. Does this represent the sound that you craved from the start?

Robin: We felt that the first record was a bit dry sounding. We were very proud of it but it wasn’t really the kind of thing we wanted to be writing for the rest of our lives. This feels like a return to what we doing in the first place. Obviously Monster sounded pretty heavy but that defines our sound. We are really a rock band and not an indie band and that comes through better on This is a Fix.

DMG: You travelled around a fair bit whilst getting the album produced didn’t you?

James: Well the first producer we worked with didn’t go as well as we’d hoped, it wasn’t very exciting. We were just going through the motions of recording the tracks so the label scrapped that. They effectively fired the guy and we started working with Butch Walker in LA and straight away we felt so much more excited and we became so much more creative. On the first day we just felt that we were on the same wave length. We were putting the effort in to recording again.

DMG: How has the new line-up affected the song writing dynamic in the band?

James: It’s just an extra person in the mix really. Penny wasn’t really musically minded so we’ve now got another person suggesting melodies and technical ideas. Penny would say “oh, it’d be cool to have a break here” but Paul will say “why can’t the drums play this kind of rhythm?” so it’s more creative.
Robin: And Paul’s a singer too so that helps.
James: We can work in double time now.

DMG: People have tried to define your sound in the past and often fallen short of the mark. How would you define the sound, even if it means making a word up?

Robin: Boozecore.
James: Well yeah, we’ve got a lot of songs that relate to alcohol. We not only sing about it but we are also musically and chemically influenced by it. It’s rock really, people try too hard to categorise it. This album, you’ll see us playing it live and it sounds like the record because we recorded how we wanted it to sound live but with the first album people would listen to it on CD and then come and hear us live and we were a lot heavier than they expected.
Robin: That’s why people couldn’t pigeon hole us; we were doing to things at once really. We do what we like live but the way it got mixed on the first record was in keeping with that period of time, you know, the indie kids were a big thing and if you released a high profile record with guitars on it then you were indie band. When we were recording the first album there were some really heavy guitars going down but only the clean ones were used.
James: Yeah, Monster and By My Side were the two that stood out to me as sounding like The Automatic.

DMG: Are you a hands-on, technologically savvy band or do you just plug in and let the producers handle the sonics?

James: We’re not technophobes. We have techs on tour with us but theoretically we could handle it ourselves if we had to. Recording wise we are interested in the technological aspects. With the electronics you really have to know what’s going on.
Robin: We like to try lots of different things but we don’t insist on using four tracks or anything. You’ve got to find that certain thing that makes it sound right.

DMG: You play the Academy 2 tonight; what kind of preparation goes into a live show?

James: We actually rehearse with the lighting techs for a couple of days before we play to anyone.
Robin: We definitely like to have a few beers too; we don’t like to go out dry. We spend a few weeks distend our stomachs so we have room for a whole rider every night. We take it very seriously.
James: We did a whole tour where we would have a shot Jaeger before going on but those days are over.
Robin: Yeah, we prefer rum now. It’s good for the throat.

DMG: There has been plenty written about your live performances and you’ve stated that those performances better define you as a band, does this mean that we can expect a live CD or DVD?

Robin: We certainly wouldn’t rule it out.
James: No, we really enjoy it when other bands release live material. I think it would be pretty cool. Tonight’s gig is actually being streamed live which is quite exciting. It’ll be good for everyone to get a chance to see what we’re like live.

DMG: You’ve competition in town tonight with the Ting Tings…

James: And the Melvyns.
Robin: The fact that we sold any tickets at all is quite amazing. Manchester’s spoilt for choice. There’s something for everyone tonight isn’t there?

DMG: That leads nicely to my final question. If you weren’t playing tonight and you were in town, who would you go and see?

James and Robin (almost in unison): The Melvyns. We see enough of the Ting Tings on TV.

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