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Author: Caitlin Hotchkiss
Date: 2nd October 2006
Link: ChartAttack

Informal, amiable and a user of casual profanity in conversation (let it be noted that the many variations of “fuck” sound excellent when spoken in a Welsh accent), Lostprophets‘ frontman Ian Watkins doesn’t sound much like a man beleaguered by angry ex-fans and accusations of selling out. If anything, his battle scars have given him a more laid-back view on what he dismissively refers to as the “hype machine” in the U.K.

Calling from his hometown of Pontypridd, Wales, the head ‘Prophet spoke with ChartAttack about their hard-rocking new album, Nickelback’s evil success and not trusting the media.

ChartAttack: A lot of the songs on the new album Liberation Transmission sound like they’re calling for a revolution, but it’s more optimistic and hopeful rather than angry or dark. Is that where your headspace is right now?
Ian Watkins: Yeah, definitely. It always has been. But it’s more like a personal revolution, because I don’t think a lot of people realize that they do have only one life. You have only one chance, and it may sound kind of morbid, but it’s ending one moment at a time. And a lot of people will go through life with a whole lot of negative things in it. My idea was, why not liberate yourself from those things? No matter how big or small, just change something. Whether it’s a state of mind, or a relationship you’re unhappy with, or your job, just re-evaluate it. Because unless you do something, nothing’s gonna change, and I think you need to be happy with yourself and what you’re doing. So many people seem not to be.

When you won the Kerrang! award for Best New British Band back in 2001, did you feel any pressure afterwards to live up to that?
No, we don’t pay attention to things like that. All that matters is if you write a song that connects with people. That’s why Nickelback are big. I’ve never met anybody who likes Nickelback, but they sell a fuckload of records. Folks are buying ‘em. Yeah, the guy [Chad Kroeger] might be a complete fucking douchebag, but ultimately, he writes songs that connect with people in some way. They’re critically hated — they’re panned across the board — and the guy’s like the Anti-christ, yet they connect with people. And then you get other bands that are really cool, but people are just like, “eh.” That’s why we don’t buy into hype.

You guys did really well over in L.A. when you were there recording, so do you feel you fit better in the American music scene than Britain’s more artsy indie scene?
It’s kind of half and half. It’s weird because we got an amazing review in the NME, and the NME is more of a social or cultural barometer. All the media types read it. And they’re as fickle as the weather, you know? But all the songs, they seem to get it more. They understand that we do come from that scene, and we are actually friends with all those hipster art-school types. I mean, we all went to fucking art school, but we just chose to do something different with it. We chose to turn the guitars up really loud rather than, say, go with an indie sound. That’s not to say we didn’t like it, but I think we can fit in with both. We love stuff like The Police and The Clash, but we can really appreciate new stuff like Bloc Party and The Rakes. But see, what I think is lacking in all that are big fucking choruses. And because we have an unashamed love of stuff like Duran Duran and Bon Jovi, I think we kind of mix that in as well. So you get a bit of that Anglophile vibe, but when the chorus kicks in, you get a real fucking chorus.

Like the American metal sound.
Yeah! But I wouldn’t even say it’s metal. To me, metal is Disturbed. Metal is Pantera. And we have nothing in common with those bands. I mean, I loved Pantera when I was a kid, but now I don’t think that’s what we are. I think we’re about as metal as a wooden chair.