James met up with bassist and singer Graz Turner on Lacey's tour bus before they're show supporting Patent Pending

First of all can you tell us how you came together as a band and came up with the name Lacey?
Graz - Yeah Certainly, me Pete and Josh, the 2 guitarists and I’m the Bassist, met in school and we already met Dave when we moved to Nottingham, then we formed Lacey. The name comes from the singer of Brand New, Jesse Lacey, we all listened to them growing up so it’s just a little nod to him and the band who influenced us as teenagers.

Did you catch them at Hit The Deck when you played?

Graz - No we didn’t, I’m not sure how he’d take it, seeing as we’re named after him (laughs)

You played the Hit The Deck Festival in your home town of Nottingham the other week how did you find that?
It was amazing, because it was around lunch time, but so many people turned up. It was at the forum, which I didn’t even realise did gigs, and it looked great and sounded great the whole experience was great. The sheer volume of people that turned up was amazing, I couldn’t believe it.

You are currently on tour with Patent Pending and People On Vacation how did this come about? And how have you found touring with these bands?
Graz – We toured with Patent Pending last April when they played with Eric Chandler from Bowling For Soup, then Patent Pending did the Bowling For Soup Farewell tour in October, there was already talk of maybe us coming out with them again, but it wasn’t finalized. We then happened to be playing the same night as Bowling For Soup when they played, but in the smaller venue downstairs, so after they all finished playing they came down and saw us, and then sorted it out for April, so they all invited us out to tour again. They’re so lovely, they’re all the nicest guys you’ll ever meet all 9 of them, there’s always good times and banter out of our English accents, the shows have been great and we just don’t want it to end.

You are towards the end of the tour now, what have been your highlights so far?
Graz – It’s hard to pick out one particular show and it wouldn’t be fair to do, but every show feels like it’s getting better and better, and the whole entire tour has been incredible. As for a funny story, Josh almost killed Joe Ragosta from Patent Pending the other night, Joe and Corey come out and sing the end of one of our songs with us every night, and Corey came out but we couldn’t see Joe, so we thought ah well maybe he’s busy, it’s cool but he appeared on stage behind Josh, Josh didn’t realised and turned round and impaled him with his guitar, he floored Joe, he was down on the ground for like 30 seconds, but he found the strength to get back up and carry on singing the song, but it was touch and go weather they were going to play, he ended up with a big bruise on his ribs.

You have just released your new single ‘Reach Out’ what has the response been from your fans and the press so far?
Graz – Really really good, it’s a teaser for the album, it’s the closest thing to the EP as the albums not going to be out for a while, so it bridges that gap, I mean people are singing along and it’s only been out a few weeks, so it’s great.

You are currently working on your debut album how is that going and what can you tell us about it?
Graz – Really well, this is the first time where we’re trying to write allot of brand new songs in one go, so it’s been good to get in and see what works and what doesn’t we’ve got three quarters wrote and half recorded. It’s coming along nicely, and has a big epic sound, I just can’t wait to get it out. I mean, we’re working on the songs so they’re perfect, we don’t tend to write lots and see what works but we make sure the ones we do work and work well.

What do you have planned once your current tour comes to an end in a couple of days’ time?
Graz – Back in the studio straight away to record a few more songs, get the album finished and get a tour ready for the end of the year to coincide with the new album. That’s the immediate future, but yeah we’ll do a few more songs then go back in towards the end of the summer and see where we’re at.

Are you all working day jobs too?
Graz – Yeah, unfortunately, I can’t wait for the day I can quite, hopefully that’ll come soon. I hope my boss don’t read this, but no that’s the dream if I can make a living through Lacey, but at the moment the day job funds it, so it’s all good.

Where do you hope to see Lacey in a year’s time?
Graz – Touring, hopefully our own tour, hopefully people will know us to come out and do that, but we’d always love to support Patent Pending again, but hopefully doing our own tour.


One last random question that we ask every band, if you could be an animal out of a zebra or Giraffe which one would you be and why?

Graz – A giraffe, as zebras are just food for other animals, aren’t they. I mean you wouldn’t mess with a giraffe due to their huge necks, it’s unbelievable when they fight. So yeah a giraffe as you could defend yourself when Lions come sniffing round, I mean why are zebra’s black and white, they’re just asking for trouble.


Thanks for your time is there a message for your fans reading this?
Graz – Yeah, check out our EP Outlaws and our new single Reach Out which is a sample for the album at the end of the year, so yeah if you can let your friends know, thanks!

Interview by James Daly