We caught up with the Stone Gods back stage at the Birmingham Academy 2 just before they took to the stage to play their headline slot, we spoke about plans to play acoustic shows, how writing for the new album is coming along and much more.

We last interviewed you back in May 2008 which is a good ten months ago, a lot has happened for the band since then such as the departure of drummer Ed Graham, and massive tours across the UK with Airbourne and Black Stone Cherry. What would you say has been the best and worst thing to happen for the band in this time?
(Richie Edwards) My Highlight from that time was the Airbourne Tour,the shows were really good, there was a great vibe, it was everything that being in a band and on tour should be, the worst part was the end of the tour.
(Dan Hawkins) Yeah that was a great tour, it built and built, The show at king tuts that we played on Sunday, was sold out, that was a real moment, we've done some low level tours to build the fan base and we now have more fans than we did back then, also 3 or 4 of the shows on this tour have sold out, the last headline tour we did was just before the album came out, people didn't know the songs really so there wasn't much singing along really. The Glasgow show on this tour, we really connected with the fans.

Your latest single ‘Start Of Something’ was released yesterday and it comes with three acoustic bonus tracks, how was it to play some of your well loved songs in acoustic format and how easy were they to translate to acoustic songs?
(Richie Edwards) It wasn't that difficult really, we wrote the songs with acoustic guitars, then we turned the songs into what the became in the studio, so really we were putting them back into the original form. Things Could be Worse was exactly as it was written,it has a country rock vibe, creedence sort of thing, i enjoy doing things acoustically, i think its sounds pretty good, it has an endearing quality to it being stripped down.

Can we ever expect a full length acoustic Stone Gods gig in the future?
(Dan Hawkins) Maybe, we've done a few songs in stores, but there isnt many of them left, as there shutting down, and weve done it a few times for radio.
(Ritchie Edwards) I wouldn't rule it out, if the oppurtunity arises for it, at the stage were at now we could do it, personally, I'd really like to do that, we could make some interesting arrangements of some songs.

You started your headline tour three days ago in Newcastle, how have the shows been going down so far?
(Ritchie Edwards) Fantastic, The shows at Newcastle and Glasgow, both sold out, last nite it was rammed,the Glasgow show, as dan had said, it was surreal,it was an incredible gig we played really well but the crowd was something else, it was great.They had recently introduced a DB limit at the show, of 95, the crowd was topping out at 108!

Support on you tour comes from The Black Spiders, how have they been going down at the shows so far?
(Ritchie Edwards) Great guys, great band, we are all growing to love that band, its dirty rock music.
(Robin Goodridge) Hate Gallery are our opening band there great too, 3 rocking good bands for £12, bargin!

Tonight you are playing the Academy 2 in Birmingham? Have you played here before and what can we expect from your live show tonight?
(Dan Hawkins) The fans can expect, the whole album bar one song, a couple of very interesting covers, a controversial cover,alot of fun and crowd participation.
(Ritchie Edwards) The louder they go the harder we play.Its also my home gig.

The last show of your tour is at the 100 Club in London the show has sold out well in advanced, have you played here before and are you looking forward to this show more than any of the others on the tour?
(Ritchie Edwards) Its weird, with all this big hoohah about the big London shows being important, with 90% of the industry based there,but i couldnt give two fucks, that gig is going tobe no more important than any other gig we play on this tour, personally im there to play for the people who have bought a ticket, not someone who blagged his way on the guest list because he works for some label, every show is equal and they deserve your full show.
(Dan Hawkins) I have played the 100 club before, many moons ago tho.
(Ritchie Edwards) We've been quite lucky really, a lot of bands can sometimes suffer a bit in London, London audiences are spoiled as they get every band going through there, also there's sometimes a too cool for school vibe from the crowd, where they are standy, watchy, a bit reluctant to get in to it, we've had the opposite really, every time we've played there its gone off big time,
(Dan Hawkins) In London you have to curb your enthusiasm and it can be a bit of a downer because its normally the last date on the tour, we've been lucky with our fans.

Your tour is sponsored by Jagermiester, have you participated in much Jagermiester drinking so far?
(Toby Macfarlane) We had a little trouble getting into the hotel the other night, i was in an advanced stage of refreshment,we had too many jager breaks, but we are drinking responsibly tho, its the mixers that get you like for instance Jagerbombs, one bit of advice is stick to jager,

What do you have planned once your tour is over at the end of March?
(Dan Hawkins) We might be appearing on a few festivals, we've been confirmed for one big one, but cant say which, as the finer details have not been sorted out yet. But mainly its concentrating on the next record, we've been writing separately, but its a matter of coming together with our ideas an creating songs and getting it finished this year.

As mentioned early you have toured with some huge bands such as Velvet Revolver, Airbourne and Black Stone Cherry, what was it like to go on tour with such massive bands and did you learn anything new whilst on the road with any of them?
(Ritchie Edwards) With every band you play with you take something from it, i nicked a t shirt off Airbourne, you take something and say yeah we should do that or see something an say remind me never to fucking do that, there's always something to be learned, the Airboune tour in particular it was a real two way thing we were watching each other play every night, and we made each other go that extra mile, they were great, we were on fire and we both wanted to be as good as we could be. When you have good support bands like we have, you have to step up your game, the punters out there want you to tear the place up, and if you don't deliver, they'll walk out thinking the second band was great, but the headliner was a bit shit, you need tobe on top of your game.

Do you prefer supporting well established bands or playing your own headline show?
(Band) Headliner
(Ritchie Edwards) With a support slot, you cant build a set that has peaks an trough, you just have to get out there, throw your shit at the wall and get off, so its nice when you headline, and build a set that's like a journey, also to give peoples ears a rest with a few quite numbers, which you cant do when your supporting, and the fans are there for you.

You got nominated for best new band and album of the year 2008 at the Classic Rock Awards, how much of an honour was it to be nominated for these awards?
(Band) Really good.
(Robin Goodridge) We lost to Airbourne tho, It was nice to lose to them
(Dan Hawkins) It was early days for us being nominated awards, the record had just come out,which we were really happy with, we also played the nomination ceremony.
(Ritchie Edwards) It was great being nominated,the record had just come out,which we were really happy with, it was great to be recognized straight away, we didn't fucking win the award tho.

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?
Band: Giraffe

Thanks for your time, is there a message you want to leave for your fans that read this?
(Dan Hawkins) Were working on getting the next album released around the autumn time
(Toby Macfarlane) Jager its one of your 5 a day!

Interview by Robert Lawrence