Fightstar

On April 17, 2007, Fightstar will be releasing their eagerly awaited debut album on Trustkill Records. It’s an album the band have been working towards for the last couple of years. “The moment I knew this band was going to work was when we were recording the EP,” says Fightstar bassist Dan Haigh. “Charlie said, ‘Shit, I’m really late for something I’ve got to do but I want to record this guitar line first.’ It turned out the thing he was late for was playing Wembley with his old band. It meant so much that he’d rather have been recording with us.”

The band’s first rehearsal worked instantly, an immediate meeting of minds. “It was one of those cheesy moments that bands always say they have but it’s true,” says guitarist Al Westaway. “I was just thinking, ‘This is fucking awesome,” says Simpson. “I was playing music I actually liked and I hadn’t done that since I was 15.” They wrote and rehearsed as often as they could, taking the band as seriously as possible but never quite knowing whether they had a future as Simpson’s day-job was getting busier.

That’s only half the story. For most bands it’s hard enough to break into the scene as a new band but, as Simpson explains, “Fightstar have almost had it doubly as hard. Most bands just have to impress people, we had to convert them first and then impress them. It would have been so easy for people not to take us seriously and, the fact that they have, is a testament to how much we’ve put into it. It’s been our absolute life and we love doing it. I never expected people to be as good to us as they have been – both fans and the press. They gave us a real chance and there’s been a real shift in our audience."

funeral for a friend, deftones, hopesfall