Rob caught up with Alberta Cross to talk about living in America, touring with Oasis, their new album and much more.

Hello and thank you for taking time out to do this interview!

First of all can you give us a brief history of the about the band such as how you formed and came up with the name Alberta Cross.
(Terry) He came up with the name (points at petter), we met in London about five years ago, we had a few mutual friends that ran a bar that we used to hang out at. I had a basic home set up , so i invited him round to write some stuff, and it all really started from there.

You released your debut mini album ‘The Thief And The Heartbreaker’ back in 2007, us at Alternative Vision thought the release was outstanding, how long did it take you to create it and what was the general response you had from your fans and the press?
(Petter) It was pretty quick we had a couple of demos that we put together to, about four or five gigs into it we had a bit of buzz about the band.

(Sam) The recording took like five days

(Petter) We remixed them and added some things to them

Your debut album ‘Broken Side Of Time’ was released back in September what stories and themes do you cover within the album and how would you say the album has progressed from your debut release?
(Petter) There's new players in the band that has changed the sound alot, and we had more time to, to get our sound together, the mini album was early stages of the band, so this album was how we wanted to sound because we had more time.

(Terry) We relocated to New York and we started travel states that little bit more, playing in a different city certainly has its part to play.

(Sam) A lot of the songs are having to do with living in a big city, sometimes feeling trapped, and all the pressures of living in such a big place

You are releasing ‘Taking Control’ as a single on the 23rd November, the song is great but what made you choose to release this track over all the other tracks featured on the album?
(Petter) it felt kind of good to release it but it was a label choice, but I'm happy with this one, it is a good track.

2008 was a massive year for Alberta Cross and you even got to support Oasis in a couple of massive arena’s how did these support slots come about and did Oasis meet your expectations?
(Terry) Noel got in touch, somehow he got a copy of the album, then got in touch with our label guy over here, and said that he really enjoyed the album and wanted to offer us a few shows. it was a little bit surreal

(Sam) Oasis's fans are pretty hardcore, in between the songs that we played there were massive chants of Oasis, it definitely took awhile from them to warm up to us, it was good for us to play in front of a challenging crowd, we had to work for it.

You are currently near the end of your short headline UK tour, how has the tour been and can we expect to see you back in the UK in the near future?
(Terry) We have been touring for a long then after this UK tour finishes were in europe for three weeks, it's been going really well I think, in the UK its been pretty good.

(Sam) It's been good, we have been tightening up as a band, the songs are just naturally coming out instead of having to think about parts it's all just a natural evolution of the songs.

As soon as your UK tour finishes you head off out to mainland Europe are there any countries or cities that you are looking forward to playing more than others?
(Terry) were looking forward to coming back to the UK, but France, Germany and Holland and everywhere, it is all new to us, because we haven't toured it much before, and i am looking forward to playing everywhere really.

(Sam) I'm looking forward to playing the Paradiso show all the good bands have played there, it has history so its going to be fun to play on that stage!

(Petter) Berlin I think, I've been there a couple of times, it's an amazing city, so it's going to be good to do a show there.

(Austin) I'm going to say Norway (much Laughter)

You are from New York City how would you describe living and working in New York City as a musical artist’s?
(Sam) Of all the places in the States is probably the epicentre of the indie scene right now, Brooklyn right now is overflowing with musicians everyone I know is in a band, is definitely an energy happening in Brooklyn right now.

The Christmas season is quickly approaching, what is the typical Christmas like for you? And are you looking forward to having a short time off?
(Petter) I think we are all looking forward to some time off after touring, Im going to woodstock

(Terry) it's just going to be me and my girl for christmas, this will be my second time away from home, all my family is in London, so it's going to be a very relaxed Christmas period for me.

What are you plans for 2010?
(Petter) A lot of touring, we have America in January, back in Europe in February and March.

One random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which would you be and why?
(Petter) A giraffe, its tall, (Laughter)

(Sam) A giraffe, because you get a good view up there.

(Austin) Zebra, because i like the stripes!

(Terry) A Zebra because its close to the ground.

Thanks for your time is there any message you would like to leave for your fans reading this?T
(Petter) Happy Christmas, See you on the road!

Interview by Robert Lawrence