Sitting in a space next to the stairs our interview begins with singer Bobby Liebling, who seems to be in relatively high spirits, before the gig at the O2 Academy in Islington.
Pentagram released the album Curious Volume in August of this year. What were the inspirations behind the album?
We decided to make a more simpler album with less overdubs, less multi-gutiars. We also wanted to create an album where if we played the songs that are on the album live, they would still sound good.
Did you encounter any problems when recording the album?
Drummer Sean left the band the day after we finished recording the album and I have a personal issue against that because it was a case of “I am going to wait until the album is finished and quit, without telling anyone”. So after Sean left we got a new drummer Pete, and we then re-recorded the drums with Pete, which took over 4 months. This slowed down the tour, and I had less money to pay for rent, even though we did a couple of shows in May, June and August.
How did your beliefs impact the album’s lyrics?
It had very little impact, I only wrote 3 songs on the album, when I would write 60-70% of the album, but this time round Greg and Victor wrote most of the album. However we are going to start writing a new album in February, because the gaps between each album is really too long. Our last album was in 2011, which is a huge gap between that and the Curious Volume.
With the Curious Volume did any bands have an influence on the album?
It was just Pentagram really, maybe with influences of underground bands and UFO.
Moving away from the album, what are your plans after the tour?
I will be having January off, and in February I will be recording my own solo album.
Final question, how do you think the fans have reacted to the new album?
Loved it! The fans no the words and they love the songs because the choruses are simpler.
All photos by Aoife Le Roux