Liam Howlett Interview with The Prodigy Fanboy

Tagged: , , , , , ,

Liam Howlett Interview with The Prodigy Fanboy - Graphic Design by Brian Pope
Liam Howlett Interview with The Prodigy Fanboy – Graphic Design by Brian Pope

Pre-order The Prodigy’s new album The Day Is My Enemy http://po.st/ProdigySitePreOrder

Danny Fanboy: Liam, thank you for giving us the time for a few words! So, Nasty… What a banger! We absolutely love it and the video by Better Feelings Films is fantastic. It’s also great to hear the eagle break as well. I believe you wrote the record in the last year or so, however didn’t drop anything live that actually made the record (besides Rok-Weiler). How does it feel to finally put something out from the new record?

Liam Howlett: HOWDY ! WE TESTED ALOT OF THE IDEAS IN SOUNDCHECKS OVER PAST YEAR LOUD SO THEY PASSED THAT TEST … FEELS GOOD WE FINISHED SOMETHING WE CAN STAND BEHIND AND BE PROUD OF . WITH THE VIDEO WE WANTED TO BRING THE FOX ALBUM SLEEVE TO LIFE AND ID SEEN A VIDEO OF A BAND CALLED ‘BOVINE’ WHICH I LUVED THE STYLE OF SO I GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE DIRECTOR WHO HAPPENED TO BE A FAN OF THE BAND , HE DID A GREAT JOB .

Danny Fanboy: Have you already got an idea of what’s going to be the next few singles from the album? Or do you maybe listen to what the fans like the most live and drop that as a single? What process do you go through when choosing the singles?

Liam Howlett: WE KNOW WHAT SINGLE 2 IS , BUT 3 WE WILL DECIDE AFTER A FEW LIVE DROPS BUT IT IS BETWEEN 3 AT THE MOMENT BUT IM NOT TELLING U WAT THEY ARE . SOMETIMES ITS OBVIOUS BUT PLAYING THEM LIVE IS BEST WAY STILL

Danny Fanboy: The Prodigy are back in Australia! This time to drop the new beats from The Day Is My Enemy. With such a huge set of existing amazing tracks, how challenging has / or will it be to put together a set list for Future Music Festival? How many of the new tracks are the fans likely to hear live in Australia prior to March 30th? Will the set increase, will some of the older tracks be dropped to make room, or will tracks be edited sorter?

Liam Howlett: WE WANT TO PLAY 7 OR 8 NEW TUNES FROM THE RECORD , OF COURSE WE WILL HAVE TO LOSE SOME , LIKE JETFIGHTER , AWOL (FOR NOW) ,, GOT TO KEEP IT FRESH FOR US , FEELS LIKE WE HAVE PLAYED THE SAME TUNES FOR AGES SO ITS ABOUT TIME TO BUST OUT THE NEW SHIT . IM STILL WRITING , SO BEATS WILL ALWAYS GET DROPPED THAT MAY NEVER GET RELEASED , THATS THE BUZZ OF IT

The Prodigy - The Day Is My Enemy
The Prodigy – The Day Is My Enemy

Pre-order The Prodigy’s new album The Day Is My Enemy http://po.st/ProdigySitePreOrder

Danny Fanboy: We pretty much know what you think of some of the people in the scene at the moment. You had announced that the new album will wipe the floor with certain DJs, and we know it will man. Did you actually get any responses from anyone? Because I believe you once said, you need certain amount of “hunger” to write a good record. Was this the main piece of motivation and inspirations to write this album?

Liam Howlett: THE ALBUM WAS WRITTEN FOR US TO PLAY LIVE , DJS HAVE THEIR PLACE , WE HAVE OURS ,,, THERES ROOM FOR EVERYBODY ….
WHAT IM SAYING IS PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE GOT LAZY AND ARE BEING LAZY WITH SOUNDS , TOO RELIANT ON WHAT IS OUT THERE WHEN WRITING , I HEAR THE SAME DRUM SOUNDS / NOISES IN ALOT OF TUNES , FORMULA MUSIC I HATE IT . ITS GOT TO MEAN SOMETHING TO ME BEFORE I CAN WRITE ,, I GUESS BEFORE 2014 STARTED I WASNT IN THAT ZONE YET PROPERLY .

Danny Fanboy: How was the writing process been different or the same moving forward from Invaders Must Die? Did you use new equipment?

Liam Howlett: I WORKED ONLY AT NIGHT WITH THIS ALBUM , IT GAVE ME A DIFFERENT FEEL WRITING WHEN MOST PEOPLE WERE ASLEEP , I LUV THE VAMPIRE HOURS , SHIT HAPPENS AT NIGHT.
AS FAR AS EQUIPMENT GOES I WENT MORE ANALOGUE ON THIS RECORD , ARP 2600 , OBER , AND BOXES MY MAN MATT MADE ME , I TRYED TO AVOID COMPUTER PLUGIN SYNTHS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID IT SOUNDING LIKE MOST OTHERS

Danny Fanboy: Just before Invaders Must Die record had landed, I believe you kept saying that Take Me To The Hospital was your killer track. For The Day Is My Enemy, what is that one track, that killer attack mode track you can’t wait to drop live and why?

Liam Howlett: THERES TOO MANY WE CANT WAIT TO DROP , WALL OF DEATH WILL BE FUN , TIME WILL TELL

Danny Fanboy: What happened during the How To Steal A Jetfighter era that led to the violent sounding The Day Is My Enemy era? Apparently you lost a lot of music in the studio, can you reveal the story behind this? Did you have to change the direction or restart the process at some point?

Liam Howlett: NO DIDNT LOSE ANY MUSIC , THE MAIN PROBLEM WAS MY OLD STUDIO WHERE I WROTE INVADERS HAD A SERIOUS DAMP PROBLEM SO I HAD TO MOVE OUT , THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN AND HAD TO MOVE OUT AGAIN , I THEN DECIDED TO BUILD A NEW ROOM , THIS DELAYED IT ALOT , DISRUPTED THE FLOW .
ONCE I MOVED INTO THE NEW STUDIO ,SHIT JUST CAME TOGETHER ,

Danny Fanboy: There are a few tracks, such as Dogbite, Jetfighter, Gun Reprise… and massively fan favorite AWOL ( A lot of fans have sent in about AWOL). That were dropped live around the world between the Jetfighter and now Enemy era. Will these tracks come in form of B-Sides, part of a new track or Lost Beats 2?

Liam Howlett: AWOL WILL GET FINISHED PROPERLY AT SOME POINT , I NEED TO LOOK AT IT AGAIN AND RE-ATTACK IT THEN IT WILL BE RIGHT ,, IT DIDNT HAVE ITS PLACE ON THE RECORD.
AS FOR THE OTHER TUNES , NAH! IM MORE INTERESTED IN WRITING NEW NEW IDEAS RATHER THAN GOING BACK TO THEM

Danny Fanboy: For quite some time now, you’ve been posting a lot of clues for the new record on Instagram, even replying to fans. Which is great! Us fans love this interaction. How much do you pay attention to some of our comments and has it played any role in any decision making behind the scenes? Or do you have a laugh at some of the comments and just deliver the beats?

Liam Howlett: I REPLY WHEN IM EITHER PISSED OR PISSED OFF MOSTLY . SOME COMMENTS NEED CORRECTING SOMETIMES BUT I DONT READ THAT MANY OF THEM , JUST BUMP INTO THEM NOW AND THEN . WHEN I WAS MAKING THE ALBUM INSTAGRAM WAS A GOOD TOOL TO GET THE VIBE OVER , HAVE A LAFF , THROW SOME CLUES OUT THERE ,, PICTURES SAY ALOT . IM FOCUSED ON WHAT I WANT OUT OF A TUNE WHEN IM DOING IT SO NOBODY SWAYS ME WHEN IM IN THAT ZONE

Danny Fanboy: The Prodigy has been and always will be pioneers in the electronic music. Have you felt this as an oppression, or as a challenge for the new album? Do you think this is a heavy burden to carry?

Liam Howlett: I DONT THINK ABOUT ANY OF THAT NONSENSE COZ ITS NOT IMPORTANT , YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON THE VIBE OF WHAT IS NEEDED OR ON SOME TUNES FOLLOW WHERE THE TUNE WANTS TO GO ,, ALOT OF TIME A SECTION OF A TUNE DICTATES WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I DIDNT WANT THIS ALBUM TO BE RETRO LIKE SAY WARRIORS DANCE, BUT HAD TO SOUND LIKE US BUT BE PUSHING FORWARD

Danny Fanboy: Closing comments for the fans?

Liam Howlett: RESPECT TO ALL OF U OUT THERE THAT SUPPORT US , WE WILL SEE U IN THE LIVE !
KEEP IT RAW , LH

Pre-order The Prodigy’s new album The Day Is My Enemy http://po.st/ProdigySitePreOrder

The Prodigy Fanboy - Graphic Design by Brian Pope
The Prodigy Fanboy – Graphic Design by Brian Pope