We caught up with Steven and Colin Robinson from In Case Of Fire back stage at Birmingham Academy for a long chat about their debut single, their current support slot on the Funeral For A Friend tour, the major support they have had from Kerrang and much more.

First of all thanks for taking time out to do this interview.
No problem.

How did you guys come together as a band and how did you come up with the name In Case Of Fire?
(Colin) We came together as a band, myself and Steve and Mark had been playing in another band with one other member for about three years and whenever that band ran its course we started to start again, we started completely fresh we took everything that we had learned and put it into a new band and scrapped all our songs and started writing new songs, the other guy didn’t want to do it any more so the three of us said actually that’s good as we will be completely different, because we will be a three piece and that will force us to be a little bit different. The name actually came from the first song that we had written, the song was actually going to be called In Case Of Fire and we thought that could be a really good band name.
(Steven) I think the name suited the style that we wanted the music to take, it has a sense of emergency about it and we kind of like music that we like to write and it some how just seemed to fit. I think we are still happy with it.
(Colin) Yep we are.

When you were unsigned you had a lot of people tipping you to be the next big thing, with even the Kerrang Editor claiming you to be the best unsigned band in Britain. How did it feel when you was getting so much praise at such an early stage of your career?
(Colin) It was nice, a lot of people seemed to think that we had just came out of nowhere and that we had only been playing for a few months and getting this praise but we had actually been playing for a really long time and put a lot of effort in so for us it was early in our proper professional career because we were starting to move forward that way, but in the playing in the band side of our career we have been plugging away for a long time so to finally get some recognition is awesome. And it’s great for us because we are not 18, 19 we are not really young and we don’t get carried away with it either, we think that’s great and we continue to work really hard.

You signed a worldwide record deal with major label Zomba? Did you have a lot of interest from other labels and if so what made you sign with Zomba?
(Colin) We did yeah, we had a lot of interest from other labels, maybe not as much as people kind of thought but we were happy to go with Zomba because they put a deal on the table that we thought was very reasonable and in this age major label record deals have changed to what’s called a 360 deal where record labels want a slice of all the pie, your merchandise.
(Steven) Touring, merchandise.
(Colin) They put a good deal on the table where they weren’t taking a massive slice out of our tour and merchandise and stuff.
(Steven) that’s where a band makes their money from touring, but Zomba seemed to understand anything more than money, money for us was a secondary thing, obviously we needed a budget to lift the band off and get an album done and stuff but more than anything they understood what our vision was for the band, and they don’t try and tell us what to do, when we recorded the album we had no one interfering at all it was all left to our producer which was great.

Your forthcoming debut single 'This Time We Stand' has been classed as one of the most anticipated debut releases of 2008. Are you expecting big things from it once it is released on the 10th November?
(Colin) I really think it’s one of those things where we will see how it goes once it comes out, we always have high ambitions of ourselves but because this is our first single and because we are relatively speaking a new band, we have been touring a lot this year but still it’s one of those things that you don’t know what sort of fan base until you get your music out there. I don’t think we are looking at it going number 1.
(Laughter)
(Colin) if it gets some good reviews and sells a decent amount and sets it up for single two and the album then that’s all that we can really hope for.
(Steven) I think realistically there are more people in the press that know about us than kids, we just want the single to get out to an audience.
(Colin) If it breaks the profile that’s all we really want from it.

You have been announced as the opening act of the 2009 Kerrang tour that runs throughout January, is it an honour to play such a big tour for a magazine that has supported you from the start?
(Colin) Absolutely, from our point at the minute we were looking at the Kerrang tour possible bands and there are bands that aren’t on it that we thought would be on the tour, they are a little bit further on in their career than us and have their albums out and maybe would of got the slot. But having Kerrang come to us and having us tour those shows just before the album comes out is a massive opportunity for us.
(Steven) I don’t think it can be understated just how much Paul Branigan and Kerrang have supported us, it has been a massive boost to us and we are looking forward to playing this tour and just putting on good shows for them every night.
(Colin) It’s one of those tours where they always pick a very diverse line up and you are never going to please everyone but there is always a band who breaks out of it that everyone comes away thinking that they were the best band on it, and we want to be that band this year and because we are opening the tour it gives us a really good go at it.

Are you fans of the other bands on the tour or are you hoping that the tour will convert you into fans of the other bands music?
(Colin) Nope
(Steven) actually we don’t have any of the bands albums, Black Tide played after us at a festival earlier this year and they sounded good but we are just not metal fans.
(Colin) Bring Me The Horizon is just not our type of music and Mindless Self Indulgence are just crazy, there’s not many words that you can use to describe Mindless self Indulgence

I am guessing that this tour wont help get you into liking the bands music then?
(Colin) No definitely not, But we are going to be playing every night and maybe hanging around and see if anyone wants to talk to us.
(Steven) I think it’s one of those things just because we don’t like their music it doesn’t mean we don’t like them, being on a tour with bands is important and it’s good to get a good friendship as it makes the touring experience much easier, like this tour here has been fantastic with all four bands we are all pretty close now.

The tour is sponsored by Relentless Energy Drink, are you big energy drink fans?
(Laughter)
(Colin) I think Relentless will kill us for saying this but I don’t drink energy drinks at all.
(Steven) I just rely on water for my throat, we are not really a party band, after we play shows we pretty much wind down and get ready for the next show, so we don’t really need energy drinks to get us ready for the next show. We do support energy drinks and we are glad of their support, especially in this day and age where money is short for everyone, and it’s good for the music industry that a company like Relentless is getting behind bands.

You have been busy working on your debut album 'Align The Planets', what can we expect from the album and roughly when do you think it will be released?
(Colin) The release date is the beginning or middle of February, we can’t wait to get it out there as we finished mixing it at the start of the summer and we haven’t had a chance to release it yet because you don’t want to release things to close to Christmas. It’s going to be a good taster of what’s to come from us, and some of the other album tracks are a bit more experimental and there are beats and other things in the middle of the songs. The songs are a lot more different than 'This Time We Stand'.
(Steven) I think if people are expecting 12 songs exactly like that, then they will be surprised, a lot of the songs are probably one of our trade marks, you know kind of epic rock songs and there’s a lot of experimentation than goes on in there.
(Colin) We initially recorded the album ourselves in 2007 and that’s what initially got us some attraction from press and management. So we tried to be a bit different with that and we kept being like that when we re-recorded it with Gill Nortan, because that’s who we are as a band. We are really looking forward to what people think of it as there isn’t really a lot of it in 'This Time We Stand'. It’s a pretty straight-ahead rock song.
(Steven) It’s why we chose it as a single because it’s just a nice introduction, but the album is not easily pigeon holed, you can’t just throw a tag on it that easily and there’s a lot of diversity on there which is really what we like.

You have been on tour with Funeral For A Friend, Cancer Bats, and Attack! Attack! for nearly two weeks now, how have the shows been going down and what’s it like touring with such a strong line up of bands?
(Colin) The shows have been really really good so far
(Steven) Yeah they have been excellent
(Colin) I think kids are getting spoilt on this tour because it is such a good line up like you said, it’s a diverse line up as well, you have got Funeral doing their thing you have really heavy Cancer Bats you have us that are a bit more progressive, then you have Attack! Attack! who are straight up pop punk and all 4 bands are really top of their game and I think that there is a healthy competition in that like if one band plays really well one night the other bands try and up their game to be the best band the following night. We all get on really well as well and it’s been such a pleasure
(Steven) And we are actually sharing the bus with Funeral and it’s been really good fun getting to know those guys. We are very similar in different ways and just getting to tour with a band like that has made everything, because you are touring everyday and have a long wait before the shows, touring with those guys and hanging out with them have made it a lot easier. I think credit has to be given to Attack! Attack! They are going on every night I think 5 minutes after doors open, but they are a really good live band who just get up there and put everything into it, they just draw the kids in and I have come to really respect that from them.
(Colin) It’s actually different for us as we are on a major and have the bus and all that but Attack! Attack! have their own van and are loading their own gear and they are really working hard and every night it’s paying off as the kids are loving them and it’s good to see.

How would you describe your live show to someone that has never seen you play before?
(Steven) Some reviews in the past some people have mentioned the word insenjory which is good because live we are a bit more intense than on record, on record its big it’s quite epic and stuff but during the live show we are pretty energetic, we cant be stage diving or anything like that as it would be a bit tough when playing the guitar all the time and I always need to be near the mic. So we can’t be a Gallows type band where it’s absolutely insane, we give a lot of energy and do like to be quite intense.
(Colin) I think we take performance cues from bands such as at The Drive In and even Refused who went out every night and it didn’t matter if it was 2 or 200 people, they would go as hard as they can and play them as well as they can.

Pretty much as soon as this tour finishes you are heading back out on the road again for your own headline tour, are you looking forward to getting out and playing the smaller venues to your own hardcore fans?
(Colin) Yes we have one day off
(Laughter)
(Colin) Totally, we cant wait, we have only played a handful of headline shows as we have been out on tour support lots of different bands, so getting a chance to play a whole run of headline shows where we can actually spread our wings and play a full set like right the way through our album as we have been playing 20 minutes to half an hour on these tours and it’s like during a twenty minute set you are just getting into it and you have to come off the stage.
(Steven) Will be really nice to play a full set and see how the crowd reacts to it and it will also be nice to get back to some smaller venues as it’s more personal and that’s where pretty much every band starts, will be nice to see what level we are at and who turns up, hopefully somebody will turn up.
(laughter)

Throughout 2008 you have toured with many big name bands such as 30 Seconds To Mars, Queens Of The Stone Age, Biffy Clyro and many more, but what band have you enjoyed touring with the most?
(Colin) Although we didn’t do a full tour with Biffy we only did a few shows in Ireland with them we would like to do a whole tour with Biffy.
(Steven) Yeah Biffy for us out of all those bands were probably the band who we looked up to the most, and as people meeting them, sometime you think about meeting people and wonder if its going to be a big let down but those guys were just such nice genuine people and they write great music, I would probably say Biffy Clyro although touring with the Funeral guys has been really fantastic.
(Colin) I think the first night of the Queens OF The Stone Age tour when we watched them sound check, it kind of hit home who we were actually touring with and they were excellent every night. We learned a lot from touring with those guys as well as the Queens fan base is a bit older and a pretty tough crowd to play to every night, and if we don’t think we are well known now, back in February when we did the Queens Of The Stone Age shows no one had heard of us. In Belfast we played to 6000 people, which was a bit of a highlight because obviously in Belfast people have heard of us. But it’s good if your playing to 6000 Queens Of The Stone Age fans who haven’t really heard of you and they like you then you are doing something right and you are not really afraid of anything.

You have played many of the big festivals across the world, what’s it like playing in a massive field with a wide variety of music fans?
(Colin) I really enjoyed the festivals this year they were really good obviously some are better than others, some of the highlights for us were probably T In The Park it was one of our favourite festivals this year.
(Steven) The first festival we played was Rock Am Ring in Germany and that was actually the first festival that we have ever played, and to step up there in Rock Am Ring in Germany was scary, at that point people were just about starting to hear about us but in Germany nobody had heard of us.
(Colin) They had no idea who we were and Airbourne were opening our stage and the Germans were going mad for Airbourne as their album was number 1 and we were straight on afterwards.
(Steven) It actually went pretty well
(Colin) Yeah it went really well
(Steven) I think the festivals this year have hardened us as a band, the more you play, as anything, you get more used to it, and with festivals you don’t get sound checks so it’s a case of last band finishes you, so you whack your gear on stage and turn it on and hope it works, I mean a couple of times its happened to us when the gear has gone down on us but you have to grin and bear it and just get on with the shows, it was a good experience definitely and like you say you do get to play to more people than what would normally turn up to rock shows.
(Colin) Some of our music has cross over potentials so you are going to get kids that are just NME buyers who might like the progressive side of our stuff and will get into it and festivals are a real chance to hit those people as we are never going to be supporting an indie band so its a good chance to target those people.

What do you do in between shows on long tours to keep you busy?
(Colin) We read a bit and play a lot of Pro Evo
(Steven) We are really big football fans, as well as that we also need to start thinking about writing songs for the future because
(Colin) Yeah we are panicking about albums all ready
(laughter)
(Colin) Im starting to bring my guitar into the dressing rooms more and try and knock a few ideas about, we also spend a lot of time on the phone to the folk back home.
(Steven) Yeah it’s a lot harder for us because we are from Northern Ireland and if we are touring around England, Scotland , like any time I want to get my wife over you have to fly over and arrange for trains and stuff, so we have to really think ahead with things like that.

Okay, one final random question that we ask every band, if you had a choice, what animal would you be out of a Zebra and a Giraffe?
(Colin) Zebra OR Giraffe, um I think I would definitely go for a Giraffe because I hate it when people sit in front of me at the cinema and they are really tall, same as if you are at a football match and someone stands in front of you and ruins your view, if you were a Giraffe that would never happen
Yeah you would be ruling the show with your big neck
(Colin) That’s Right
(Steven) I suppose If you were a Zebra your already with football you are already a Newcastle fan.
(Lots of laughing)
(Colin) what do Zebras do really they just get eaten by Lions, there’s no real point.
(Steven) Well if you are a Giraffe then I am going to have to be a Zebra just to equal it out.

Thanks for your time, is there a message you would like to give to your fans reading this?
(Colin) We are just looking forward to seeing any of the people coming to the headline shows
(Steven) Don’t be afraid to come up and say hello to us we are always looking to meet people supporting the band and get to know them a bit more and to find out what and if we have a fan base.
(Laughter)

Interview By Trigger and Charlotte