Anyone who thinks Britain’s latest punk rock exports Gallows aren’t getting their fair share of attention haven’t been reading many music magazines. The band has been called everything from “the world’s most exciting new band,” to punk rock’s latest saviours. For such a young band, the backlash was inevitable. But Gallows could care less. In fact, say it to their face and crazed, tattooed-ginger lead singer Frank Carter might just spit in your face, flip you off and bust a microphone stand over your head. Whether you’ve bought into the hype surrounding the band’s ferocious, angst-driven hardcore thrash or not, you gotta give it to them. Like a caged, rabid animal, they keep it dangerous and pissed.

Guitarist Steph Carter (and Frank for a few minutes, strained vocal chords and all) sat down with Late Night Wallflower for a few minutes at the Long Island Warped Tour stop to discuss dealing with the hype, the road, and the legions of hardcore kids, here and across the pond.

I know you guys had that big episode with all your merch getting stolen a few months ago. How has it been going from that low point to playing Warped Tour every day?
Steph: It’s absolutely insane. That shit happened when we were playing a hometown show. One of the first shows we’d played at home in a long time. We played a really good show. It was in a boxing club. That night, loading everything into the car, there were loads of dodgy kids hanging out. Loads of kids that shouldn’t have been at the show that were members of the boxing club that were there to cause trouble. Eventually, loaded all the stuff into the car, got back and they took a bag of merch, money box full of cash; we killed it on merch that night. It was a really bad night for Gallows. But since then, what can I say, I’m standing in sunny New York, playing on the Warped Tour. I’ve been out on a bus in the States, getting paid to play guitar, so I can’t really complain any more.

Has it been overwhelming at points?
Steph: Yes, really overwhelming to tell you the truth. More so the fact that were out here playing with our peers and they are the people were impressing so much. It’s really daunting when Bad Religion come up and they are like “you guys are awesome.” I only joined the band a year ago so for me, I’ve gone from not being with them, going to shows selling their merch to coming out here and playing to, we start playing to twenty, thirty kids but by the end of our set, we could be playing to a thousand kids. It’s just watching everything build up as everyday goes on. The whole thing is insane.

Did you ever come over to the States and go to a Warped Tour when you were younger?
Steph: No, this is the first Warped Tour I’ve ever been on. We’ve done SXSW as a band. That was the first time we’d actually been out of the country as a band. Our other guitarist Laurent came over to a Warped Tour four or five years ago and he said he loved it. For me, this is the first time and it’s pretty crazy. This isn’t like anything I’ve ever done or seen before at home.

So you guys are going on tour with Bad Religion in the fall?
Steph: Yeah, we finish this tour but we are leaving a week earlier to go home to play the Reading and Leeds Festival, which is really a huge thing for us. We’re doing our own headlining tour and as soon as that finishes, it’s East Coast to Midwest from the first to the seventeenth of October. As soon as that finishes, we’re off to Australia to do Taste of Chaos, and then Japan and Europe. I can’t wait.

What are the main differences, if any, between the shows in the UK as compared to the States? Have you seen any similarities or is it completely different over there?
Steph: The hardcore kids out here go off just as good as the hardcore kids at home. When we first started, it was a bit like “what’s going on.” We weren’t sure that America was going to get it. We are a predominately British band. Frank sings in a British accent which, for a British band breaking America, that’s weird. Nobody at home does that. Everyone tries to put on this harsh American accent and trying to be something their not. We’re just straight up, we tell it like it is. All of our songs have influences from our day-to-day life.

(Lead singer Frank walks over at this point)
Frank: I think we’re just trying to cross the barrier of making kids understand what it is to watch a Gallows show. There is no boundary, there is no crowd, the whole thing is Gallows.

Have you guys had any difficulty going out into the crowd, during the shows?
Steph: One show, I don’t remember where it was, the security was just like “no dancing, no moshing, no anything.” We had to get the manager of our stage to come down with the head of Warped security and just stand there and be like “let them be.”
Frank: They were just “no dancing, moshing,” which got the whole crowd to do a massive circle pit. They were just running around. You can’t stop that.

How did the whole thing with Epitaph come about? How did you meet with Brett. I know SXSW was huge for you guys. Did you guys get a lot of labels coming to you after that?
Frank-: Yeah. It was already done. We spoke at SXSW but we already knew where we were going. We actually signed to Warner Brothers in the UK but we knew Epitaph had interest in us. Who doesn’t want to be an Epitaph band? The bottom line is that it’s fucking Epitaph. It’s fucking Brett Guerwitz.

So is the next one going to be on Warner in the US or Epitaph?
Frank: No, it’s all Epitaph.

Is it frustrating coming to the States and only have a handful of kids know you and when you go home to play bigger shows?
Steph: I don’t think it’s frustrating at all. It’s nice, it’s like having to start again, going back to your roots. I quite like it actually.

Do you guys have any plans to record soon?
Steph: Not any time soon. The album only came out here on the 10th of July so we’ve got a long time left to plow this out. We’re going to carry on this album until April next year then we’ll start writing for the new album.

(Frank walks away at this point, due to his strained vocal chords.)

I’ve been reading a lot about the lyrics for “Orchestra of Wolves.” What is the explanation behind the song?
Steph: This is something I’m not that good on. This is Frank’s department. “Orchestra of Wolves,” it’s about the way guys treat girls and how you shouldn’t do it. People go through their bad moments. Everyone knows a cunt. Everyone that knows a cunt knows someone else who’s a cunt. The lyrics to the song “if I offer to buy you a drink, trust me when I say it’s non-alcoholic.” Me and my brother are straight edge. It’s about when your out and someone’s pissed and they give you a drink and it’s non-alcoholic, plus roofies. That’s the way it goes, just shit people.

Check out Gallows’ new video for “In The Belly Of A Shark”
Gallows - In The Belly Of A Shark

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