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Gunship have big plans for the future. This should really come as no surprise to their fans as, in the eight years they have been active, they have achieved a hell of a lot. Their sophomore album, Dark All Day, hit number one on the UK Dance charts; they were featured on the Steven Spielberg film Ready Player One; they collaborated with numerous synthwave artists, and appeared in a documentary about the “synthwave” genre – just to name a few.
The band’s singer, Alex Westaway, recently expanded this excitement by dropping some vocals on Carpenter Brut’s newest single – The Widow Maker – taken straight from his new album Leather Terror.
But, in an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Alex explained how he was a little worried about the collaboration at first.
Alex recalled over Zoom that Carpenter Brut asked him to be a part of his new album before requesting a demo of his singing. “I don’t like to share average stuff I’m not happy with,” he said, before adding that he thinks of himself as an introvert. He went on: “It was 80 percent fleshed out and – luckily – he liked it. But I was super worried he wasn’t going to like it. But it turned out great.” He added: “[Carpenter Brut] was like: ‘Yeah this is cool, this actually feels like it could be one of the lead singles for the record.’ So, I was super happy with that! I was kind of nervous because I’m a big fan of him, and even though we’ve worked together in the past, he’s an insanely talented producer so the pressure was on. But he’s a super nice guy.”
Alex’s show-stopping feature on The Widow Maker will be the first Gunship fans have heard from the band in a long while.
Gunship’s aforementioned 2018 record Dark All Day was a smash hit – but since then, all has been quiet. Fans have even resorted to asking them publicly on social media what the hell they have been doing behind the scenes.
Finally, Alex has an answer for them.
“[After] Dark All Day we did a few bits and bobs here and there,” he confessed. “But we’ve predominantly been working on this next album for almost four years.”
Alex and the other members of the band – Dan Haigh and Alex Gingell – have not just been “working” on their next album, though: they have been toiling away. After four years of (almost) nothing, Alex revealed Gunship fans are getting two albums in a short window.
He said: “We’ve actually got, kind of, 24 tracks pretty much finished,” before hastening to add: “But that’s not all going to be on one album! So yeah, at the moment we’ve literally got one more verse to write and, essentially, that [first] album is feature-locked. And then we’ve got this other record that will come out – hopefully – fairly soon after.”
When I point out how unexpected that is, Alex laughed: “It was kind of stupid doing it like that, but it’s just how it was made!”
https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3i7tcZ-szI
Thankfully, Alex believes the two records are distinct enough that fans will enjoy them both quite differently.
He said: “Whether [the second record] is another album or whether it’s a long EP … we’ve whittled the main album out of the stuff that’s a bit more instant. And then, everything that’s a little bit longer and, maybe, obscure has kind of shifted onto this next record.”
With a smile, he added: “So the next record is going to be full of, hopefully, bangers. And then the second one is a little bit more abstract but equally as exciting.”
Gunship have made themselves some big shoes to fill. Their 2015 self-titled album was a triumph for fans of the genre and delivered some instant classics. Not only did it deliver such incredible hits as Tech Noir, Fly For Your Life, and The Mountain, but it was somehow then bested by the second album. Dark All Day was a titanic next step in Gunship’s mythos. The music was thicker, the compositions more elaborate, and the choruses (somehow) even more catchy.
Are the band going to continue this upwards trajectory with their third (and fourth) albums?
“I think so,” Alex said. “On this new record we’re trying to be as heavy as Carpenter Brut on some tracks, but we also have pop sensibilities, and have emotive aspirations.”
With that said, the singer also explained how the band are “very aware of being pigeonholed in the synthwave scene”. He said: “I think on this new record we’re conscious of drawing more inspiration from other genres a little bit. A little bit of EDM, a little bit of metal, rock and pop – trying to branch out in that way and trying to evolve how we fit into the scene.”
So, when can Gunship fans expect the first of these two albums? “I mean, we’re looking like the end of this year,” he begrudgingly promised. “Maybe!”
Problems surrounding vinyl production are a big concern for the band, he added. Considering that is – presumably – how the band make a good chunk of money, they will surely want to line up the album’s release with the vinyl hitting their store shelves at the same time. Beyond the two albums, though, Alex confirmed Gunship are looking at performing live for the first time. Alex and Dan are no strangers to playing sold-out shows. They performed in the band Fightstar for years before they split off to do their own thing. And with their added experience, they are focussed on giving Gunship fans the best experience possible.
“We want to put on a show that would fit with our aesthetic,” he said. “And you’ve got to get to a certain level to be able to afford the extra production – and that’s what we want. To actually have some theatrics involved in this.”
Alex revealed that figuring out how to translate the might of Gunship to the stage is the band’s next priority – while also working around their families and touring in “focussed pockets” rather than hitting the road for many months at a time.
He said: “We are thinking about it now, and we just want to get this record wrapped up, get the videos rolling in production for this album campaign, and then seriously get our heads down and sort out what the live situation is going to be; because we are super excited about it, as well.”
“We don’t want to go half-cocked,” he stressed. “We want to make it cool. So yeah, we’ll see. Watch this space. We’re just thinking about it at the moment, we haven’t set any dates yet [but] we are excited about getting stuck into that.”
Carpenter Brut’s new album Leather Terror – featuring The Widow Maker (feat. Alex Westaway) – is out now.
Listen to Gunship here.
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