Rob caught up with Circa Survive back stage in Birmingham to talk about their new album 'Blue Sky Noise' and much more.

We last interviewed back in January 2008 during the annual Kerrang tour, what have you been doing to keep you busy since then?
(Anthony Green) A lot, we took some time off, I put out a solo record, and did a little tour and took bout 2 years to write this record, I got married , nick got married, and we went into the studio last July to start recording with David Bottrill, We really got lucky with him with want we wanted to accomplish.
We didn't want to try and make anything too accessible we wanted to make as much as we could and if there was any accessibility in there we'd try to exploit it a little bit and he helped us with that, he also helped us to be freaky on the album and exploit the progressive nature of our sound. Its been a great couple of years in fact I thought I we would be back here sooner, but it looks like now were gonna be back a whole lot.

Your first two albums were released on Equal Vision Records but you are now signed to Atlantic Records how did the new record deal come about and how different is working with Atlantic Records?
We had done our contract with Equal Vision, and we had reached the point where we had gone as far as we could on that label, it was difficult to come to places such as this on that label, we were searching out different options and we met so many labels, we were nit picking every single thing, we wanted to make sure it was perfect, it really came down to the people we liked, and the people at Atlantic were cool, and we were able to say to them, that were were not interested in making singles, were a psychedelic rock band, and they like that, we wanted to do that the best we could. And they wasn't scared by it, they were ready for it, they wanted a band like us and they were willing to work with us and work around what we wanted, they want the same shit that we want as playing in a band, we were able to play free shows over here that we wasn't able to being on the EV label.

Your third studio album ‘Blue Sky Noise’ is due for release in the UK on the 26th July what was it like writing and recording it and how does it compare to your previous albums and what themes and stories do you cover within the songs on ‘Blue Sky Noise’ and what does the album title mean to you?
It was the most painful thing ever to write, a lot of personal things were going on in our time off, my wife suffered a few miscarriages, its something I thought id never have to deal with, its a grown up problem, she got pregnant and its like fuck, what do we do, and then about half way through it we lost it and I lost my mind a little bit, I checked my self into a mental hospital half way through writing the album, spent a good amount of time there, I was massively depressed, I had some great shit going on, and after a while it felt like a bunch of pressure, and I didn't know how to deal with it properly and when I got got of the hospital I was on a lot of medication for a little while it was good because I was numb but then it wasn't so good, I must have gone on 6 combinations of medication to deal with anxiety I was diagnosed with bi polar, with depression, it was suggested I was slightly schizophrenic, I was going through all this medication and it was terrible, and you can hear it in when you listen to the album. This is a really painful album, It bought our band closer together, it bought me closer to being album to channel what ever I'm feeling into the art that I'm making and that validates what is going on, when your going though something fucked up and you can express it and see it and feel good abut even though it doesn't change what's going on, at least you left something on the wall to document it!I think its important to write about that shit, so that if someone else who listens to it and is going through it thinks if they can handle it so can I then thats cool.

Once again the artwork for the album is fantastic, did you use the same artist as you did for the previous albums?
Yep same guy who did our other albums, Esao Andrews, he's our visual combination of everything that our music is, he's our visual soul mate.

A few months ago you released the video for ‘Get Out’ what was that like to create and how do you feel about the finished result?
It was awesome to make, we had a video guy that has been with us though every step of the making of this album, tracked every second of me singing every line of this album, He did the video, it was fun, the song is fun, it was one of the first songs we wrote, we wrote 20 sum songs, we were pleased with them, but some of them we were indifferent about some of them, there was nothing stand about about them, but when we wrote Get Out, the damn broke and it was the sort of stuff we wanted to put on this album. When you listen to the album you hear a lot of themes of the shit I was on about, being mental and all of that.

You are currently back out on the road touring, how does it feel to be back playing in the UK, and what can we expect from your show tonight?
I hate telling people what to expect, because they start expecting things, I've always loved seeing bands that are happy to be on stage and that are at the same time aren't performing for you. I think there's a big difference between someone who loses there mind on stage and someone who performs and puts on a show, I'm not really trying to perform to anybody, I lose my mind to this music, I find it difficult to stand still, I find it difficult to relate to myself when singing these songs, I feel like a maniac, expect to see a bunch of maniacs on stage!

You seem to having a very busy touring schedule ahead with another UK tour set for September as well as American shows with Deftones and Coheed And Cambria, you looking forward to certain shows more than others?
Yeah I cant wait, we've been friends with Coheed for a long time, its an inspirational thing watching them play every night, there such good dudes, they've been such good friends, its like hanging out with your friends and having a bit of home out on the road with you. I'm a huge Deftones fan, I grew up listening to them, it hit me in a time of my life when I needed it, that tour is gonna be great, I saw them once, I was massively fucked up, I don't remember it, just bright lights! Im quite nervous about those shows. We'll be back over this way in September!

Who would you say your biggest musical influences are?
When I was growing up my parents listened to country music, but my brothers were into grunge music like Nirvana, Soundgarden etc, it think there timeless, before that I was into Michael Jackson.

MySpace seems to be a big tool in the music industry these days with artists communicating with their fans over it and some even ditching their own website and having just a MySpace site, what are your opinions on MySpace as a tool in the music industry?
Its a direct line into the people that listen to our music........( Anthony runs off to get some stuff signed by the rest of the band for a fan, Brendan is kicking about so I throw a few questions his way)

Are you pleased with the new Album?
(Brendan Ekstrom )Very pleased, I listen to it the other day for the nuances so I could see if I was doing things on the record that I wasn't doing live, if I was doing little things differently. In a way, I think its our first good fucking album. The first album, was a great accomplishment, to come together with everybody, I didn't have a great feeling about the second album, so going into the third, it had to be something that everybody was amazingly happy about,when we were finished and that we tried everything that we want to try, and it turned out awesome.

Were you looking forward to these shows in the UK?
Yeah., its always interesting going to a new place, its a new challenge, in a sense the US is comfortable for us right now, we can go to any city and instantly recognise everything and play to a good crowd, and its a challenge to do that over here. Were going to Europe in September, We went to Germany two months ago, it was the first time I'd been anywhere that English wasn't the first language, I got a buzz getting off the plane, saying this was so cool, but everyone spoke English, so it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was gonna be. Im excited to see places like Spain and Italy, and see new places and to be in situations like that.

Will you get to see any of the places you tour in?
We've been doing this for 10 years with different bands, 5 in this band, I think its important for everybody that we make time for that, and that we see these places in case we never get to see them again.

Thanks for your time, do you have an message for your fans reading this?
(Anthony comes back)
Brendan) I'm not good with the messages. We appreciate the support, people coming out to see us and telling us how much it means to them, and it means a lot to us.
Anthony) Thanks for listening and we appreciate the support, its pretty amazing.

One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a Zebra and a Giraffe which one would you be and why?
Anthony) Giraffe, so I can suck my own dick!!
Brendan) No!!

Interview By Robert Lawrence