In a few weeks, Symposium will be
playing to a barrage of backpack-toting skaterats. WARPED, the finest
tandem display of sports and tunes, hits New York August 1st. For
Symposium, a band that is heralded back home as "The Best Live Band
In Britain," but is still bubbling under in the States, Warped could
prove to be a very worthwhile venture. And William McGonagle
(guitarist for this London outfit) agrees. "I think it will help us
cause we'll be playing to people that have never heard of us, that
wouldn't have gone to see us otherwise.
But don't fret dear kids. If you miss Symposium
this time around, you'll have a plethora of other opportunities to
catch their adrenaline-fueled set. "A lot of British bands don't
really want to do America that much. Most people see touring it as a
chore. But to us, the sound of 5 months touring just sounds like a
holiday.We'll play every night, it will be brilliant. America's where
we're going to spend most of the rest of the year. We're more suited
to America I think."
Perhaps this assessment stems from the band's love of hardcore, of
working the crowd into such a tizzy that they literally bring down
the house. "I think we've been trying to get the same kind of energy
that we saw a lot in the early 90s, when we started going to
gigs.English bands have this bored kind of feel. 'I don't want to be
here. I'm a rock star. I'm wearing shades.' We're more into the
'We're here with the crowd and we just want to get a fat mosh.'
In fact, it were the notorious live shows that led Symposium to ink a
deal with the British indie, Infectious. "When we first started, we
weren't one of those hot industry gigs. We didn't have any clue about
the music industry. But we'd still be selling out quite big
clubs.Before we knew it, there were loads of record companies coming
down and Infectious was probably the smallest one.
"At the time it seemed like the coolest thing for us. They seemed to
know where we were coming from. The rest of them were talking about
doing it really quickly and we weren't prepared to do that. We wanted
to learn our trade and tour a lot."
And soon the press caught on and everyone was talking about
Symposium. But the band needed to release only a few records before
the backlash set in. "We'd done Reading last year and I thought it
was the best gig we'd ever done. It was in the tent, we were really
near the top of the bill, and everyone was saying we'd got the same
amount of people as the Foo Fighters' first British date. And we were
saying that if anyone reviews this and gives it a bad review then you
just can't take it seriously at all.
"It's like 'Fuck you, we don't give a shit what you write anymore.'
They've been slagging us off for 6 or 7 months now and the venues are
still getting bigger and we're selling more records.They've got their
own agendas that that's cool, they can do what they want. [But] I
don't read NME or Melody Maker, so it doesn't bother me."
Although William does admit that Symposium need some improvement.
When working on "On The Outside" (released on Red Ant in the US),
contributing producer Youth strove to obtain a certain vibe, not a
flawless record. "With Youth, it wasn't that it wasn't played
perfectly, it was 'that feels right, let's keep it.It was all about
the energy and the five of us playing. We've got loads of time to get
better [anyway]."
If you want the idyllic Symposium experience, I suggest you catch the
band live. Members are constantly getting injured, but it never stops
them. Take for instance, vocalist Ross Cummins. After landing on his
leg wrong during a support slot for No Doubt, he continued to play
until he passed out. The next night he performed in a motorized
wheelchair. But he's back in full-form now. "Ross' done with his
physiotherapy and he's going mental again.I don't think he wants to
take it easy. There's just something about him that he doesn't want
to stop."
How about the rest of the band? "Two nights ago, Wojtek
(bassist/principal song writer) sprained his ankle. I'll probably get
my head chopped off by some mad lighting rig." I don't know about
that one. It seems a fate destined for drummer Joe Birch.
Until Symposium spontaneously combust in a freak Spinal Tap-ian
accident. I suggest you catch the band on one of their upcoming dates
or pick up their debut lp, "On The Outside." If it's charismatic punk
pop you want. You can't find a better example.
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