First of all I’d like to talk about your music and new album, Music for an accelerated culture. Which is your favourite track and which is best to perform live?
I really like the recording of ‘Declaration of war’ and I think the one I like to play best live on stage is ‘Crank it up’.

I know young people into Hadouken who are also into everything from rock to rap. Why do you think your music appeals to so many different tastes and how would you describe your sound?
Not really sure why it appeals to so many, I think because it’s fun and energetic and loud. It’s quite enjoyable music hopefully. I’d describe our sound as a kind of fusion of different genres. Just dance and jump up music really.


New rave, funk punk, dance punk, synth rock and many more…has it all gone too far?
Yeah probably. I think the problem is that there’re not enough people just calling it music and enjoying it for what it is. Everyone’s trying to put it into different pigeon holes. As a band we’re just gonna concentrate on making music and let the people who make up stupid genre names make them up.

Your music is high energy…do you ever get the urge to do quieter stuff?
Yeah definitely. We like to make quite loud, fast music and I think that’s what we do best, but we also sometimes wanna write more chilled out tracks. I think that we’re probably going to just do them on the side and not under Hadouken!

Hadouken’s songs deal with subjects such as binge drinking and youth culture. There’re also quite fun and light hearted but do you feel like they carry any messages?
Yeah I think there are some messages in our music, It’s probably important to say that we don’t preach messages. We just comment on social observation and the situations that young people get themselves into. It’s up to the young person or any person listening to make up their mind of what to think of the message in the song.

Your friend Bobby Harlow made the fantastic video to That boy that girl. Do you like to have as much say as possible in your videos and was it fun to film declaration of war?
Yeah, we were really pleased with That boy that girl video and he did it, for next to no cost. He’s a really creative bloke. The ‘Declaration of war’ video was quite a hard task to film because it was an all-dayer. We had to get up at 6am and we weren’t done till like 1am. And I had a horrible flu, so I felt really ill on the video shoot, so that was terrible.

We’ve heard you’re already 8 songs into your second album. Is this true, and can you give us any idea of what to expect?
Yeah it’s true. Whether or not those 8 songs will appear on the album is another matter, but I think we’re gonna take it in a slightly different direction and probably change the lyrical content of the album. I’m not sure how it’s gonna end up completely.

You’re coming to the end of your UK tour, what’ve been the highlights so far and have you got any weird stories to tell?
Well, yeah we’ve really enjoyed the tour. We’ve been all across the country and up to Scotland and Wales. We had a really good response from the fans and we had a few crazy nights. One night in Bournemouth we went to a bar and had free drinks, got really drunk and then got up on the stage and played a second gig for the people in the venue, which was quite fun.





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You’ve quickly become a success. How are you dealing with it all? And what are you’re thoughts on fame in general?
Not much changes on a day to day basis. We’re still working hard on the band and its only really places like outside gigs when you get recognised so its pretty much the same but we’re just really enjoying it and enjoying going on tour and stuff like that really.

You said playing in Japan was one of your most memorable gigs. What’s Japan like and is it a truly accelerated culture?
Yeah. Japan is really fun to go out and play and it’s a real culture shock. There’s loads of really good food and different things going on and the language is really hard to understand. All the signs, even like the toilet sign you can’t tell what it means. But the people are really really friendly and nice and we’ve been selling quite a lot of records out there, so we’re really pleased.

The Klaxons said their fantasy gig would be with Hadouken! in Magaluf, who and where would yours be?
Magaluf with the Klaxons.

Do you all have the same tastes in music or does anyone get teased?
We definitely don’t all have the same taste in music. You shouldn’t diss anyone for having a different taste, but we all like bands like the Arctic Monkeys and The Streets.

How are you coping with attraction from girls and how does Alice cope?
Because we’re a couple and a lot of people know that, I don’t really have any problems with other girls. We’re always joined at the hip so there’s not really any problems.

You always seem to wear a cap, how many do you actually own?
Probably about 100. We get sponsored so they give us free hats basically. I’ve started wearing less and less of them and I’m wearing more sweatbands and stuff now.

Are you big into gaming, and who’s the biggest gadget geek in Hadouken!?
Yeah, I used to be quite into gaming, but I don’t really have much time to play nowadays. I might play today because I have a day off. I think the gadget geek’s probably Chris, he’s always buying the latest ipod and stuff like that.

You started the band after meeting at uni. What things were you doing when the band took off and are you all still doing them?
When we were in university I was doing an art degree and Alice was doing English and Pilau was doing Philosophy and yeah, we were just getting on with out work. I still do a little bit of art now and again but I don’t really get much time being in the band. So, hope to do a little bit more when I get older.

So, what inspired you to start making music and what was the first song you wrote?
When I was growing up I was into garage and grime music and I think the first band I went to see was at the Astoria. I managed to see the band outside and I actually met Mike Skinner from The Streets outside as well so it was quite a good gig for me.

What bands or artists were you into at school, and did you have embarrassing tastes?
I was into bands like Nirvana and Rage Against the Machine and dance music.

What were you like at school?
I think I was a bit mischievous. I used to get sent out of lessons a lot. I was really bad at doing homework, I got a lot of detentions for that. But, I don’t think I was malicious. I never bullied anyone. I just had a bit of fun and had a bit of a mouth on me.

And finally a Quick fire round:

Mac or pc?
I’d say PC at the moment but everyone else in the band is Mac.
Pot Noodle or Super Noodle?
Errrrm…Super Noodle.
Playstation or Nintendo?
Definitely have to say Nintendo.
Glow sticks or chop sticks?
Chop Sticks!

By Grace Murray