With Andy Williams, Guitar, and Ryan Leger, Drums

by Garry Urwin  

Garry: Can you tell us a little bit about the band?.

Andy: Jordan, Keith and I started playing in 1997/1998, and we’ve done every major tour you could possibly think of and played with all the bands we ever wanted to. Right now, we’re just super happy to play our music, and we’re still relevant 15 years on—not many could say that, so we’re stoked, and that’s what the band is about, just getting along honestly and having fun.  A guy came up and asked if he could quote me on something and I said, yes, I guess. I was a bit worried about what he was gonna ask. I thought it might be a really deep question, but he asked what percentage of fun goes into playing, for me, and I replied, probably 90%. He said, really? I said if it wasn’t fun, I wouldn’t do it, know what I mean? 10% technicality like talent, you know. When the band started, I hardly knew how to play the guitar. It wasn’t talent, it was the fun that got me started. 

Garry: Obviously you’ve heard of Lemmy from Motorhead—he has done this for years.

Andy: Yeah, of course, he’s the best. The difference with him is he wrote some gold songs for other people which enabled him to do that band forever. Sometime, man, Seal or someone is gonna hit me up and ask me to write some songs. 

Garry: Who does write your songs?

Andy: We all do but mainly Jordan, Ryan and I. 

Garry: Have you got anything lined up, a major tour for instance, in Europe and the US?

Andy: Yeah! In mid-October, it's us and another couple of bands. We’re the headliner and it’s gonna be awesome. 

Garry: Which cities are you playing over here in the UK, can you remember?

Andy: We’re here for two weeks and then do a few shows in Portugal, a few in France, a few in Germany, and then we go back home.

Ryan: We play Ireland too—we haven’t played there for years. 

Garry: What’s been the best ever highlight for the band over the years?

Andy: For me, it would be when we played with Black Sabbath. They’re one of my favourite bands. One of the coolest things was when we played Ozzfest with Judas Priest and Slayer, all on one tour. Awesome! 

Garry: Have you ever had a bad experience at a gig?

Andy: Something happens at every single gig. 

Garry: You played Reading yesterday, how did that go?

Andy: It was awesome. 

Garry: What would be your Ideal show/gig? Do you prefer festivals or other venues?

Andy and Ryan: We like a seven-hundred person venue with a low stage, as you can get a better connection with the audience. I live for those, but festivals are good to do once in a while. 

Garry: Do you get much chance to return home? I know you tour a lot.

Andy: I do, my girlfriend lives in Boston. I stay home for a few hours then fly to Boston and just hang out.

Ryan: Once this is over—it’s been the longest time, it's seemed like forever. 

Garry: If you could travel to any part of the world and stay for a long time where would you go?

Ryan: Africa—would like to go there.

Andy: Jamaica, right now. I’d love to go there and stay awhile, that would be awesome. I’ve just watched a Bob Murray documentary. 

Garry: Have you got a good rock ‘n' roll story you could tell us?

Andy: It's not that much rock ‘n' roll, but we were on our tour, and Matthew Willard, who played Shaggy the actor from Scooby Doo, loved us. We’d be playing and look over to the side of the stage, and he’d be hanging out, which was a bit weird—not really a rock ‘n' roll story, but that was a recent one. I signed a girl’s butt once and saw a lot of girls’ boobs yesterday while playing—that's a bit rock ‘n' roll. 

Garry: What do you guys do to chill out after a gig? Do you go to a party?

Andy and Ryan: After we’ve done playing it’s really weird. That’s when the band hangs out together the most. During the day we tend to just do our own thing. We tend to stay together for 3 to 4 hours after the show. You’d think we’d wind down after the gig, but we spend most of the day winding down, sleeping, relaxing, and just staying away from each other. 

Garry: What do you do to just chill out away from the music world?

Andy: I'm a gym type of guy. In 2011 I tried to lift 500 pounds, and I did it in two different lifts. Now my gym experience is gonna be my trying to slim down. I definitely don't go near loud things when I’m not playing, my ears aren’t good—they’re starting to get really bad and just to go to a show is really hard for me. I'm just destroying my freakin’ head. 

Garry: Have you got ringing in your ears?

Andy: Yes, all the time.

Ryan: I do a lot of fishing and have two kids back home. I have a split personality, two different lives. I just like to chill away from the music side of things also. 

Garry: Have you ever request something strange in your dressing room?

Andy: Dude, OK! asks for milk duds, it’s the only thing he asks for, so I asked for them but never got them—never had milk duds backstage. 

Garry: What’s a milk dud?

Andy: Oh yes, sorry, I forgot you aren’t from America. They’re candy, chocolate-covered raisins. How come I know everything about candy from everywhere else?