Ben caught up with Ringo Deathstarr to talk about their new album 'Colour Trip', playing in Japan and much more.

Firstly, can you just tell us a bit about who Ringo Deathstarr are and how you came together?
Daniel Coborn (Drums): Well, Elliott (Frazier, Guitar/Vocals) here is a legendary musician and he recorded this EP in about 2007 pretty much by himself. He then slowly recruited other people, most of them sucked but he finally got to Alex (Gehring, Bass/Vocals) and she was cool and then I joined the band when the other drummer quit.

So is this the final line-up for Ringo Deathstarr?
Elliott: I feel like we’ll probably have to add another guitar player eventually. We’ve just started using a backing track instead of another member.

Alex: I’ve started learning to play the guitar on some songs too.

Elliott: It was just a pain in the ass to get a new guy before, but now the album’s out we can be like, “learn these songs and do as we say!”

For those that aren’t familiar with the band, what can an innocent bystander expect?
Daniel: It depends how innocent this bystander is!

Elliott: It will probably be different from what they were expecting, we do not sound like A Place To Bury Strangers, no matter what the papers say, we do love them though.

The name Ringo Deathstarr has a sense of humour behind it, would you say that you’re a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously?
Daniel: Definitely in terms of our attitude, I think the music is serious, but not in a pretentious way.

Elliott: We like to try and embarrass other bands sometimes, not these guys tonight because they’re a bit older, but with our peers, like we like to tickle them and stuff!

Your debut album Colour Trip was released today (14/02/11), would you recommend it as the perfect Valentines gift?
Elliott: I have actually been doing that!

Daniel: It really helps with your sex life.

Elliott: If you want to get lucky tonight then you should definitely buy the record.

So have you got plenty on standby for all the loved up people in the audience tonight?
Alex: We do!

Elliott: I don’t really like to tell people to buy our records, I just wait until the very last song and say, “Buy our shit!” and walk off. I’m not good at sales!

Do you have plans to throw in any love songs into your set tonight to get people in the mood?
Elliott: They’re all pretty much love songs.

How would you describe the album in your own words?
Alex: It’s kind of a mixture of all our different influences whereas the first EP was just Elliott.

Elliott: It’s a journey! It’s a musical journey, that’s why it’s called Colour Trip.

Would you say that it differs much from the previous releases?
Elliott: Yeah, it’s still the same kind of vibe and attitude but this is going to be the last shoe gazer record that we do.

So where do you expect to go from here?
Daniel: Punk rock.

Elliott: I don’t know really, I feel like we could do anything we wanted to really. We know what we’re doing when we’re ripping off all of these other bands, it’s all on purpose. We’re not really constrained, we want to remain noisy and loud.

Alex: We definitely don’t want to make the same album again.

Elliott: We just want to evolve, that’s all that really matters to us. We just try to create this experience live every night that we just really want to live, who cares if it’s been done before, we’re doing it right now.

You’re from Austin, Texas, a place renowned for its musical heritage, was being in a band something that you’ve always wanted to do?
Alex: I think all of us have played instruments since we were young.

Daniel: Yeah, we wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t want to!

Elliott: Our parents told us that it wasn’t possible.

Alex: My parents were totally awesome about it…

Elliott: Not mine!

Alex: They bought me a bass when I was like thirteen or something, I really wanted to learn and be in a band and they’ve been super supportive.

Elliott: Mine thought it was just a phase and told me to go and get a job.

Alex: We’ve all got jobs, in fact, I’ve got three!

Elliott: None of us have a career though.

Alex: Hey, I’m a barista!

Elliott: If this band fails then we don’t have any marketable skills. Daniel is pretty good at waiting tables.

Daniel: Yeah, I’m a very good waiter.

It’s not long since you were in the UK last, what do you like most about being here?
Alex: Definitely, we have a lot of friends over here now because we come so much, so every time it’s a little more fun.

Elliott: We want to come in the summer though when there’s a little more daylight! Have you ever heard of A Sunny Day In Glasgow? Well, when we were in Glasgow it was actually sunny.

Alex: I was thinking about that when we were walking along!

You are becoming well-known for your raucous live shows, what can someone expect when they come to see Ringo Deathstarr?
Elliott: People should expect to be bombarded with sonic feelings.

Daniel: A marriage of many miracles!

Elliott: A dream that can’t be seen!

Alex: People start making out in the crowd when we play.

Elliott: Maybe I should suggest that tonight? I want to see everybody making out.

Daniel: Even old dudes making out?

What are your favourite and least favourite things about touring?
Elliott: I don’t like being in a van all day.

Daniel: I like not working.

Alex: Obviously getting to travel is a lot of fun, but being in the van for so long is quite exhausting.

Elliott: You start to worry about how you’re going to pay your bills and things.

Daniel: We’re not making a lot of money.

Elliott: We’re lucky to eat every day. It’s great to come over here and try all the really good Indian food, it’s way better here than it is anywhere in Texas. It’s like the difference between us getting Mexican food over here and it’s crap and I’m sure if you went to Texas and got Indian food then you’d think it was crap too! They don’t use mayonnaise in Mexico!

Alex: Yeah, what is it with that? You guys put mayonnaise in everything!

I can only apologise on behalf of the nation…

Daniel: Whilst we’re on the subject, the pizza over here isn’t great either!

Elliott: There are a lot of good places though. I’m a vegetarian, so it’s cool that everything’s labelled over here, in American you have to go on the internet and everything to find out whether the cheese they use has animal product in it, it’s ridiculous. We like the whole Marks & Spencer, Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local style places too, we don’t have them in the States. All the convenience stores sell junk food, but over here you have good food. I know we beat you guys in the war like 100 years ago or something, but we need to come together again.

Finally, what do you have planned for the rest of 2011?
Elliott: We’re going to be touring in the summer. I’m looking forward to not touring for like a month, we’re going to Japan in April, but for most of April and May we won’t be on tour because we’re going to be getting ready to go away for the whole summer.

Are you looking forward to going over to Japan?
Daniel: Definitely.

Elliott: We’ve been looking forward to that since we got back from Japan the last time! We were there at the end of October in 2009 for three days and we just want to go back as soon as possible. It’s going to be fun, we’re going to learn some Japanese before we go back this time.

Daniel: Everyone should go to Japan.

Interview By Ben Connell