Russell HughesA Mouth Full Of Matches are about to embark on their five date, co-headline tour in September across the UK. RUSHONROCK sent Russell Hughes to have a chat with lead singer Tom Buxton about the tour and more.
RUSHONROCK: How much of a role do you think social media plays in getting a band noticed and building a fan-base and do you think it makes it easier?
Tom Buxton: It definitely makes it easier to reach out to people you wouldn’t normally reach playing shows. Its a great way to consistently advertise your band. Although social media can become quite saturated with constant adverts and the number of new pages. It can become quite a lazy way to promote yourself too so you really need to put in extra leg work to get people’s attention.
RUSHONROCK: You’re heading out on a September tour – what are your expectations of it and what do you want to get out of it as a band?
TB: We cannot wait! Sleeping at service stations, using face wipes to wash ourselves ahaha! We are living the dream! It’ll be great to share the road and stage with City Of Ashes and Little Ghost! Go check them out. We think it will be an unforgettable experience seeing everyone’s faces and making some memories!
RUSHONROCK: Aside from the upcoming tour, do you have any other plans for the rest of the year?
TB: We have a few songs in the works so they could be released later on in the year! We have a show supporting Delain at Manchester Academy 24th October and we are so excited for that- our biggest show to date!
RUSHONROCK: How different is doing a co-headline tour, as opposed to one where you are the main act the whole way through?
TB: I think its a great way to share a stage and the alternating headline for each night gives each band the opportunity to play for their audience at that show from where the band is based. I’ve seen bands that are quite scared to talk to the headline band and some headline bands that won’t even come out of their dressing room to say hello to who’s supporting them. Which is really sad because in this industry its important to make connections and share memories with people who are also living the same dream as you, and more often than not its a great way to learn things from each band, the way they perform, write and organise themselves. Anyway no-one needs to be scared of us! We’re all a bunch of silly, crazy guys and girls who just want to make friends and have a good time!
RUSHONROCK: How important to you is it to get a good review from a publication as big a Kerrang!?
TB: It would be amazing to get a great review, we would all feel pretty chuffed about it but that’s not what making music is all about for us. As long as the fans enjoy the music and if we inspire or reach out to new people that would make our day.
RUSHONROCK: Your EP Smoke Signals, what were your favorite moments from it?
TB: Working With Matt Hyde who produced albums such as Bullet for My Valentine, Slipknot and Funeral for a Friend was a great learning experience and made us push ourselves more in writing.
RUSHONROCK: When you sit down to compose a new record, how does that process start and which band member has the most influence over that?
TB: I think we can all come with an idea and every member will add a little bit of spice to it whether it be a riff or an almost completed song. We all chip in and add our ideas and that is what makes the song ours instead it being us playing one person’s song if you know I mean. In a way it feels special because we write as a unit and a family.
RUSHONROCK: What are your biggest influences musically?
TB: We have quite a lot of influences, the main ones probably consist of Thirty Seconds to Mars, Pvris, Tonight Alive, Epica, Joan Jett and other legendary influences too- such ACDC, Metallica and Black Sabbath.