Gallows ~ Britain’s Badboys Invade the States

Words and Photos by Joe Koch

Every once in a while you discover a band that makes you say Holy Shit! Gallows — a hardcore-punk band from Hertfordshire, England — is that band.

Fronted by Frank Carter, a skinny lad tattooed from head to toe, lunges into crowds to sing, inciting riot-like mosh pits at shows. Gallows is one of the fiercest bands to infiltrate the U.S. in a long time.

I witnessed their spectacle of a live show for the first time with the Vans Warped Tour last summer. Gallows’ raw energy was unpredictable; I was an instant fan. I needed to find out more of what makes this band tick. When their tour with AFI stopped in Rochester, N.Y., I sat with Laurent “Lags” Barnard (guitars) and Stuart “Stu” Gili-Ross (bass) to talk about their time in America. This is what was said:

You guys seem to be a band that doesn’t like rules and does things your way. How did that affect you being on the Warped Tour?

Stu – We got away with a lot more than other bands did ‘cuz we’re pretty tight with the organizers and the people involved with the production.

So Kevin Lyman, the brains behind the 15-year long festival, is a fan of Gallows?

Stu – Yes, Kevin is a fan and that definitely helps. They kinda know what they’re getting with us. That’s why you won’t see them put too many bands like us on the tour. We’re kinda like the wild card.

I know the Warped Tour runs a pretty tight ship and there are rules and penalties. What was something that you got in trouble for?

Stu – It’s quite strict. It has to be quite a regimen. You have so many people to look after and so many have to be in the right place at the right time.

Lags – It does feel like school a bit, sometimes, ya’ know like staying in line.

Stu – It’s like getting called to the headmaster’s office if you’re naughty.

I believe that you abused the rules when you played at Darien, N.Y. by going longer than your 30-minute set. What was the consequence?

Stu - We got a nice early time slot the next day — 11:15a.m., which makes it hard to get a circle mosh-pit going. But that doesn’t stop us from trying.

How many times did you get the early slot?

Stu - Maybe six out of 70 shows.

Was some of it just from the random picking by the organizers?

Stu - Yeah, you have to realize, if there’s some band on the tour and the tour hits their hometown they like to… I mean it makes sense to put them on later in the day, ‘cuz they have the local following. Obviously a hometown show is not anything we can have on the Warped Tour being from England.

Did that affect things much?

Stu – Well, in a lot of cities where there might have been a lot of bands from Boston or New York City, we’d get an early show, and ya’ know we’d just take it on the chin.

How long have you guys been playing in the states?

Lags – In 2007, we did the South by Southwest Conference and Festival in Austin. After that we did the Warped Tour in 2007, some East Coast dates with Bad Religion. In 2008 we did a headlining tour with Cancer Bats, back to SXSW in 2009, Warped Tour again and now the tour with AFI.

Some of your fans are calling this tour with AFI a mismatch. Can you tell us how the tour came about and your thoughts on that comment?

Stu – We’ve always been one of those bands that will never turn down a show based on who it’s with, whether it’s in England or the states. If it’s a band that we respect on any level and we think it will be fun, then we’ll go and do it.

We like to think no matter where we play and who we play with, kids will come to see the show. We’ve toured now for a few years and I think our live reputation makes people want to come and see us.

We’re doing this tour, ‘cuz we have a lot of respect for AFI.

Lags – I’m a huge fan of AFI and we respect them, ‘cuz they started in the same place as us — playing punk and hardcore shows. AFI has a cool following of the same kind of fans that would probably listen to Gallows as well.

You mentioned your live reputation, known for Frank usually leaping over the barrier and performing in the middle of the crowd and orchestrating a circle mosh-pit, while you guys are flying across the stage. You would think some bands might be intimidated by this and maybe putting restrictions on you as the opener. Has this ever been a problem?

Stu - No, this tour with AFI, they have been really cool and very supportive. And I think they’re genuinely into our band and that’s why they asked us to do the tour with them.

So they kinda let us do our thing. Basically they’re AFI — they’re under no threat from us, stealing the show from them. Are you kidding? There are kids out there in bloody sleeping bags that have been there over night to see these guys.

They’re definitely down to earth and there’s none of that rockstarness about them.

Would you ever do a tour with restrictions?

Stu – No. There would be no point if we couldn’t be ourselves.

Gallows has been touring almost non-stop since 2007. Is it catching up to you?

Stu – Yeah definitely. You think about it every day, all the time. When you’re on tour and you only have that 45-minute set to look forward to, the rest of the time is spent being tired, missing home, missing girlfriends and things like that.

But this is what we do. This is what you have to do. There are a lot of career paths that take you away from home. It just so happens to be what we stumbled into and it just comes with it.

Do you see all this touring starting to pay off?

Yeah, we’re starting to see it. Ya’ know, we do this with hope in a few years it’ll pay off and we’ll have a more manageable lifestyle.

It’s nice to have people come up to us after a show and say “I’ve never heard of you guys before, but am now a fan!”For us that’s rewarding — definitely a good feeling.

What’s the biggest difference between the crowds in the states versus the crowds back home in England?

Lags – Bigger — our home crowds at least. We normally headline shows at home.

Stu – I don’t know. I do have a bit more fun over here. It depends on who we’re playing with.

The grass is always greener on the other side. And there are only so many times you can play to the same people. You have to remember, England is a really small country. It’s not even the size of Texas.

It’s nice to play in front of some new people here, with that kind of fresh enthusiasm.

What expectations did you have when you started the band?

Lags – We didn’t start the band to get big in any way. We started Gallows to do something different than what was happening in our music scene.

How we got from there (England) to here talking to you in Rochester still blows my mind. It blows all of our minds.

You’ve been getting an extreme amount of press, especially with the magazines in Europe. Recently Gallows was labeled “The only band from Britain that matters right now.” Do you feel pressure from being put on a pedestal?

Stu – Not really. We’ve never really taken much notice of it. It’s us on the cover one week and someone else the next, and they’re the most exciting band in the country. You take it with a pinch of salt. It’s flattering, obviously and it’s nice to get the recognition in any job that you have.

We kinda just get on with it. We’d still be doing it if we weren’t on those magazine covers.

So you sound like a pretty grounded bunch of guys. Any egos in the band?

Stu – Umm… we’ve been doing this for so long. I’m turning 30 next month, so we’re no spring chickens; we’ve been around the block in various other bands. We work hard, so we feel it’s justified that we’re here with AFI now.

How would you describe the biggest difference between your last album Orchestra of Wolves, versus your newest release Grey Britain?

Lags – The power behind Grey Britain — the songs are a lot more hard hitting. With Orchestra of Wolves it’s more like a mish mash of different genres.

Stu –Orchestra of Wolves is more chaotic — a sporadic burst of anger and energy. Grey Britain is a much more controlled beast. It knows what it’s out to attack and how to take down its targets, basically.

Gallows differs from most punk bands, being you guys are considered to be very talented musicians. What current bands inspire you by their talents?

Lags – Alexisonfire from Canada. They’re great.

Stu – A band called Converge. Once you think they’re on top of their game, they come out with something that blows you away. They’re fantastic.

As far as hardcore, I listen to a lot of new bands. We recently played with a band from Long Island called Incendiary. They’re awesome with pushin’ the bars with old-school hardcore stuff. Mother Mercy, that’s what we like. We like bands that take the tried and tested formula of hardcore and punk and implement their own interpretation into it.

Ya know, like you said these bands that are sloppy and play the same three chords, that’s kinda why we started a band. No one likes mediocrity. So any bands that are pushing the envelopes get our seal of approval.

I know it’s jumping the gun, but you explored a little bit on Grey Britain with piano and strings. Any idea of what direction you’ll go in with the next record?

For more information go to: www.gallows.co.uk/