Interview: Hey! Alaska

If you can’t beat ‘em join say Hey! Alaska.

In 2010 the UK rock ensemble released their debut EP via free download. Such an act may have once been deemed foolish and even ‘ironic’ but in an age of ‘illegal downloads’ it seems one step back may just be the step forward they’ve been looking for.

Though idle hands usually make more trouble than they can handle and so comes the boys in 2011. While the boys gear up to jump on their tour preparation is of the upmost. Over the next three-months the UK will endure raw, high energy on-stage antics where endurance is the key to success.

Jasmine Phull speaks to Hey! Alaska guitarist Andy Spence about the past, present and future.

Explain the idea behind the name?
We wanted something different, something that stood out if it was put with a huge list of bands and definitely something that didn’t start with the word ‘the’ like our old name. We thought it would be interesting if we named the band after a place; somewhere we’d never been to. A few of us had recently been watching ’30 Days Of Night’ which of course is set around Alaska and one of us might have said “Hey! What about Alaska?” I’m not sure if that’s how it happened or not but we’ll go with that!

How is important was it to include the exclamation mark?
It’s not mega important but again we think it makes the name stand out a bit more than if it wasn’t included, it makes the name a little more ‘quirky’.

What were your first jobs and what path have you since taken to reach where you are today?
My first job was working in a Cash & Carry late nights during the week and early mornings on a weekend which I HATED, I’m definitely not a morning person. As for the rest of the lads, a few of us have worked in MacDonalds and KFC along the way, thankfully we’re all out of that kind of stuff now though! A lot of us are still just in jobs to pay the bills at the moment, nothing really to sit back and say we have a career in.

For a band, traveling is part of the package. What’s something that traveling has taught you?
It’s taught me that anything can happen at any time and to always be alert. We were driving to London to play the HMV Forum back in September and 12 miles from the venue one of our tires burst leaving us totally stranded on the hard shoulder of the M1 in heavy rain. I definitely don’t want to be in that situation again!

Do you have a preference between being on-stage and being in the studio? Why?
I love being in the studio but personally I much prefer to be on-stage playing to people, there’s so much more energy playing your songs live than in a studio. Don’t get me wrong I love hearing how songs turn out after the recording process but coming off stage after playing a packed out show nothing else compares to that.

How important is onstage presence?
When we were younger and went to local shows we’d see bands on stage jumping around, which made us want to jump around with them so I guess it is quite important, to get the crowd moving as much as it can. Whether we’re playing to 5 or 500 people we try to keep the energy level the same for every show. We aren’t a band that takes ourselves to seriously sometimes though, we’d tell the odd joke and pull faces at each other whilst we’re playing.

Is there an online factor that plays a big role in the life and or longevity of Hey! Alaska? Ie. In terms of social media, online shopping or online listening sites.
Without online media we wouldn’t be anywhere near the level we are today, it’s so easy for anyone to get hold of our music, whether it be from MySpace, Facebook or any other social networking site, we try to spread our music as far as it can go. We released our debut EP ‘The Colour, The Shade’ as a free download so people could listen and share it with their friends a lot easier than releasing it properly.

Most expensive thing you ever bid for on eBay?
I’m not a massive eBay fan but I have bid on a Super Nintendo with 25 games before, I think my bid was around the £50 area, I didn’t win though!

What’s something that’s missing in the music industry that was there 10-15 years ago?
People buying music! Since Napster back in the early 00’s the music industry has really suffered with its music sales. It’s quite sad when you think about it and that ‘Rockstar’ lifestyle will eventually die out. Artists don’t get half as much money as they used to.

Who is the greatest most recently deceased artist?
I did need a little bit of help off our Keyboard player, Ash, for this but it’s stupidly obvious! Michael Jackson!

Interview by: Jasmine Phull

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