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The More I See

One of my favorite albums this year has been 'Tread the darker path', an excellent example of modern British thrash from former English Dogs and The Prodigy guitarist Gizz Butt and his latest band, The More I See. After catching them playing an acoustic set at the Download festival I was excited to finally catch up with them in all their electric glory at the SOS Festival in Manchester.

Since they were formed in 2003 the band have had a fairly rocky ride. When their promising debut album,'The Wolves are Hungry' came out on SPV records in 2004 to rave reviews in the Metal press it looked like great things were on the horizon for the band, however troubles with the label and a number of line up changes largely derailed this progress and it wasn't until 2008 that the follow-up 'The Unholy Feast' was released, again to very positive reviews. Metal Hammer describing it as "a gleaming modern metal monster".

Unfortunately line-up instability struck again, forcing Gizz to assemble what was effectively the third incarnation of the band. And on the basis of their recent 'Tread the Darker Path' album it appears to be a winning combination. It is a fantastic example of modern Thrash, taking a number of influences and fashioning them into something new.

We were luccky enough to get an interview with the band after they finished their storming 6 song set and got the low down on how the new lineup came together, cover versions and their high energy acoustic set at the Download Festival.

The New Lineup

CB : There have been a few lineup changes, So how did you guys get together ? How do you find new musicians ? Gizz : Well me and Pete met in the Crobar in London through the son of a really big agent, Matt Warnock. Well I'm friends with Matt and so is Pete. I've known Matt for a few years and he just phoned me up and said "Gizz, do you fancy meeting up for a drink in London. So I said "yeah" and I went down, I mean we get on very well anyway. And then Pete walked in the door. I'd already been explaining to Matt that I was looking for a singer for The More I See and he said "Well here's a singer and he's great", so that was it and we got hooked up straight away.

Gizz : Drew (the Bassist) I used to give guitar lessons

Drew : Which is why I was so surprised when he thought of me for the band

Not all of the members of TMIS were here tonight. Guitarist James was off on holiday leaving the rest of the band to soldier on as a 4 piece, but Giz was extremely enthusiastic about what James brought to the TMIS sound.

Gizz : James is a phenomenal player. We used to have a great friend and good all round band guy Gavin King who used to be in The More I See, but James is such a phenomenal player that I had to ask Gavin "Look, would you consider moving over to Bass" and he just said "No, I'm Leaving" and that was that and we just had to accept it. So James came in on second guitar and I asked Drew (to play bass) and he went for it.

CB : Well it's a good lineup, you've got to keep this lineup together, you can't have any more changes :)

Gizz : Of course, No, there are not going to be any more changes

CB : Good, then world domination awaits.

Gizz : And Harri (the drummer), he came up to me in a club in Peterborough and said "If you know a band who's looking for a drummer", but he did it like this... "If YOU, if YOOOU know a band who is looking for a DRUMMER" and I said, "Right, Right, OK calm down"..

CB : Was he old enough to be in a club in Peterborough ?

Harri : erm...

Gizz : He's just turned...

CB : Yeah, I know, I've read the bio (Harri has just turned 17).

Harri's deep dark secret

CB : And he's sat there very quietly, but I've got a question for you Harri. What's this about the Rick Astley video ?

Harri : Oh No !!!! Have you seen it ?

CB : No, but Rob Ferguson (owner of the band's label Transcend) sent me a message to specifically ask about the video.

It turned out to be something Harri had done as part of his college course...

Harri : Well, basically in Media we were asked to make a preliminary task, and we thought what song could we do. And we were thinking for ages of what song to chose, and thought "Why not Rick Astley ?" so we went down to the woods for about an hour and did a ridiculous video of the verse and the chorus.

CB : That's not going to be the next cover version is it ?

Peter : You Never Know

Gizz : Frigging cover versions !!!! No.

CB : Although as covers go, I can see Smack My Bitch Up going down quite well with the circle pit crowds with a bigger mob there, that would be mental.

'THAT' Prodigy cover version

Gizz : I had to go through a right procedure getting that agreed to. Remember when the Prodigy played at Download the last time?, I had to take that version with me and try and get a meeting with Liam, and there's everyone around him all the time. So it's trying to get near to him, and also trying to get the courage 'cos he could have easily turned to me and said "Giz, what are you doing? You've been in the band and now you're covering our songs". Luckily he took it well. I said "Listen, my band's done a cover of Smack My Bitch Up. You know what I said, it was my favorite song. Will you please have a listen to it and tell me what you think? I'd like to get your blessing".

CB : Cool Gizz : And there were people around us at the time saying we should do it as a single, but no, I didn't want that and they didn't want it either. It was destined to be an album track. CB : It's a strange thing for bands where there's a member who is known for something else. You know "Oh, you're from the Prodigy". Do you think you can compare what you do now with the Prodigy, at all ? Gizz : Not in the slightest. But I mean that's just one experience and this is another one. I mean I was in a band called, was it, Fields of the Nephilim for a short amount of time. CB : Yeah, I didn't realise that at the time. I was a massive Nephilim fan back in the day. At this point Gizz gave me a look which perhaps indicated he didn't share my feelings in this particular area. Time for a change of subject...

Download 2010 Acoustic set

CB : So how did a thrash band end up playing an acoustic set at Download ?

Gizz : The organisers got in touch with Transcend and said "There's a slot on the acoustic stage if you want it, and we thought about it and said we would do it if we did it properly, and on the morning of the day I went to the Jaegermeister stage and just sort of said "So, is there any chance we might be able to get our full electric back-line up here then, what do you think ?", And he was like "no way mate, no. It's strictly acoustic and I said "OK Then".

CB :Didn't anyone tell you that for an acoustic set you were supposed to have a couple of chairs, and sit down

Gizz : Screw the Chairs !!!

CB : You were treating it like a proper set, did nobody tell you you weren't plugged in because you were giving it the full show, and you (Peter) were on top form. It was one of the most impressive things. A lot of bands I like were there, like Jett Black and Blackout but they were all doing the doing "let's sit down and lets...

Peter : Yeah, laid Back

Gizz : We weren't laid back at all

CB : You don't really do that then, you don't do Strumming ?

Peter : No, we don't really do that. It's full on from beginning to end.

The Future

CB : So what's next for you guys now. Are you going to tour, hopefully Headline Tour ? Gizz : The first thing that we want to do is we want to do some shows in benefit of Drew's sister who sadly passed away in a car accident, and that was the day before Download. Everyone is very sad about it and the bands that are in the area where we live, we all know each other. We all play together so we want to do a series of benefit gigs and raise some money. Do a raffle, I'm going to put a guitar up and when we do that, that'll be something good.

I am extremely grateful to the band for taking the time to speak to me after their set at the SOS Festival. It was a highpoint of an excellent weekend and we look forward to catching up with them again in the very near future.