Lostprophets' first interview
- By Jack Preston -
- Apr 11, 2012
Having recently returned with the gloriously loud ‘Weapons’ Lostprophets were all too keen to chat to Virgin Red Room, in the wake of their first live TV performance for years. Drummer Luke Johnson let us in on the band’s first times, including bullshit jobs and faceless journalists...
The first gig I went to was Marillion at the age of eight, my Dad who was working on the show and brought me along.
My first job was bullshit, before I was 16 me and the next door neighbour stole a lawnmower and started posting flyers about, saying we’d cut lawns for a fiver. It didn’t really work out though, we made about a tenner over two months.
The first album I bought was that Dire Straits album with that big friggin’ tune on it, I saved up my pocket money as a kid. I also remember getting a Status Quo 7” at the age of six, this isn’t credible at all actually.
The first film I saw was ‘Flight of the Navigator’ or maybe the original ‘Tron’, I loved those type of films as a kid.
The first Lostprophets gig I played was at Manchester Academy and I was absolutely shitting my pants before going on stage. It was actually the only gig in my life I’ve played where everything went perfectly, I was that on edge I concentrated so much that I knew every single beat. I walked off stage and knew I hadn’t made a single mistake.
The first live TV performance I did was a bit nerve-wracking but it's not like that anymore. At the end of the day if I get inside my own head I’ll mess up the show, you can’t worry about making mistakes. You’ve got to forget about the cameras and lights.
The first time I read a review of myself was someone slagging me off online, people say things and then hide behind computer screens. I’m fine with it, I can deal with it as there’s so many positives with what I do that you have to accept things like that. There’s a lot of faceless people out there though.
When you make an album, or any piece of art, you’re asking for someone’s opinion so when you release the thing it no longer belongs to you. When we were in the studio the songs were ours, when ‘Weapons’ gets released it’ll be the public’s, the fans. We’re asking for an opinion.
This record is honest, it’s real and full of human emotion. It’s full of brutal honesty and the product of six dudes fighting it out in the studio for the best path to take the band down. It gets real fucking passionate at times.
Lostprophets' new album 'Weapons' is out now.
Did you enjoy those first times? How about some more from; The Ting Tings, We Are Augustines, Katie Melua, The Jezabels, Sleigh Bells, Kyla La Grange, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Blood Red Shoes or Charlie Simpson, The Futureheads or Vanquish?
By Jack Preston. Senior Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn
