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| The Enemy Interviews - 2007
The Coventry three-piece’s No 1 album We’ll Live And Die In These Towns even made our Playlist favourites. So who better to sit down and take a look back over the year with than 19-year-old frontman Tom Clarke?
Favourite gig played/attended this year?
“Supporting the Stereophonics was amazing, notably Hull and Cardiff.
“The last time we played Hull was in a little pub with The Paddingtons.
“Going back and doing the arena and getting the reception we did was was really great, so thanks to everyone who made it special for us.”
What was your “wow” moment of 2007?
“When our management told us that, within 45 minutes of them going on sale, we’d done 4,000 tickets for our next tour. A couple of hours later we got a call to say it was going to sell out before the end of the day.”
Funniest thing that’s happened to the band this year?
“Andy getting his drink spiked was not big or clever but watching him out of control was pretty hilarious.”
Best showbiz pal you’ve made this year?
“I’m not really into showbiz pals, award ceremonies and backstage schmoozing – I like to hang out with the fans.
“After our Reading Festival slot we went straight into the main arena to find a hot dog stand but couldn’t find one.”
Mission statement for 2008?
“To stay grounded like we are. I like playing universities, for example.
“Uni gigs are sometimes seen as something bands do on their way down but I like doing them on our way up. People there just want to have a good night – there’s no pretentiousness.” by Scott Colothan It’s been quite a year for Coventry upstarts The Enemy - a number one album, top ten singles, sold-out 3,000 capacity shows, searing festival performances and more! Not only this, but in gobby frontman Tom Clarke, they’ve got someone prepared to shoot his mouth off, slag other artists off and hold no prisoners. With that in mind, Gigwise caught up with them to get their low down on 2007 and the year that lies ahead. Heather Mills and Peaches Geldof beware…
Gigwise: What have been your Enemy highlights of 2007?
Tom Clarke: Reading Festival!! A sweaty tent full of fucking mentalists, just what you need to kick off your Carling sponsored drinkathon come campathon. One of the most suprising and heart warming crowds we've played to. Thanks to everyone who made it so special, not that you can remember being there anyway.
Andy Hopkins: Another highlight would be the week we handed our songs over to the record buying public, the release of our album, thanks again to everyone who went out to buy it. When it was announced that it had gone to number one, we were on the way to scotland knackered after playing a home coming gig in Coventry the night before, but we still found time to celebrate 'obviously'
Liam Watts: Godiva festival in Coventry was one of our proudest moments of 2007. Walking onstage with the specials 'too much too young' blasting out to 7000 locals was one of the best feelings to date. Especially as the year the before we were first on to around 40 people. That was after they opened the tent doors about half way through our second song. A special than you to the people of Coventry for your support. nice one!
Gigwise: What have been your low points of the year? Would you change anything about the last 12 months?
Tom: In general, being on tour's pretty fucking untouchable, you wake up, eat drink play a gig get a massive buzz drink some more eat some more and then occasionally, wake up in a pool of sick thinking that the world's going to end. Fortunately the when you spend everyday with your best mates and you've got sound people around you there's always someone there to remind you that things could be worse. There may have been low points, but the highs massively outnumber the lows and I wouldn't change a thing.
Gigwise: Who are your heros and three zeros of 2007?
Tom: Heroes : No more heroes anymore. Ask the stranglers. Quite liked the TV series though.
Zeros : Heather Mills. Put your leg back on you whining attention seeking money grabbing heartless witch. Money can't buy you love, love.
Peaches Geldof. She tried to sue us because I said that the only reason she was at Glasto in a big shiney Winnebago (tarted up camper van to you and me) was because her dad didn't like Mondays. The case never made it into court, obviously someone in her daddies legal team with half a brain realised that it was in fact true. Peaches......sour grapes.
Gigwise: Your honest views have earned you a bit of a reputation. Are there any regrets at all?
Tom: Why would anyone regret being honest? Getting straight to the point and cutting through the bullshit saves time and lets everyone know where you stand. The problem with bands now days is everyone's terrified of the N M fucking E, scared that the media won't accept them. What everyone needs to do is grow a set of bollocks, say what they're really thinking...and that goes for the media too, if there's anyone or anything to blame for setting shit trends that last two seconds before disappearing into obscurity it's the music press....new rave is here to save the world...oh no hang on a second it's dead....new rave never existed, it amounted to probably less than ten glossy pages in the press cuttings of 2007, people need to stop overthinking stuff....you either like stuff or you don't, it's that simple. So err......no.
Gigwise: What do you hope to have achieved by this time next year?
Tom: Unaided unpowered human flight. Everyone's got to have something to aim for.
Gigwise: Name your favourite albums of the year.
Tom: REV AND THE MAKERS. The State Of Things: Earlier this year when I first heard Heavyweight Champion of the World on the wireless, I was convinced that Ian Brown and Pulp's bastard child had been unleashed for the masses to dance, drink and screw to. Then a large speech bubble screaming "Fuck Bush Fuck Blair" from the megaphone mouth of front man Jon McClure in a page of the New Musical Express got me all excited at the prospect of a working class band with something to say other than "red light indicates doors are secured." On a drizzly afternoon through the speakers of a van sat in yet another unexplained traffic jam on the M6 I listened to The State of Things in its entirety. Then I listened to it again a bit louder. It's not just Heavy Weight Champion of The World, or He said he loved me, the singles are there and they're bangers undoubtedly, but the rest of the album is packed with lyrics that relate directly to the normal, 206 driving, kebab eating, trainer wearing Oasis loving millions of common people. Pulp's woodchip on the walls has been replaced by cheap Ikea furniture but the mams and prams and leccy bills and all the other everyday shit that millions of normal people all across the country can relate to is there, conveniently combined with some massive choruses and club classic beats......it's just fucking class. Anyway, we were trying to think of two more albums that came close this year, and frankly we can't. I suggest that you use the time you would have spent reading another two paragraphs to go out and buy the Rev album.
Gigwise: Are there any bands/artists who you predict great things for in 2007?
Tom: Bands that are certainly worth checking from bits and bobs that I’ve heard are.... Lowlife. Jersey Bud. Sergent. Harrisons and Exit Calm.
Gigwise: Have you got any ideas for your New Year resolution?
Tom: I'm trying to cut down on Kebabs.....Doherty hasn't got a patch on my donner addiction.
13/12/07: Radio 1: Jo Whiley Meets The Enemy - in Liam's Lounge! Radio 1's Jo Whiley and crew descended on The Enemy in Coventry and ended up at drummer Liam Watts house (well, his mums!) -because mum, Carol makes lovely tea!
Conversations soon start about The Enemy's recent tour in Japan, with Liam Watts saying he hardly ate anything while in Japan because it was "all squid and fish".
Tom Clarke: "We're just not big fish fans to be honest"
Andy Hopkins: "I found a Pizza Express in Tokyo anyway!"
Tom Clarke: "We spent most of our time there while in Japan, the menu was better than the one in England!"
Jo: "What were the gigs like you did there"
Liam Watts: "Really good, we were a bit worried cos you hear stories of Japanese crowds not going really mad, just standing there being really polite."
Tom: "It's not that case at all - they are just like the British fans, crowd surfing etc"
Jo: "Did you do a lot of shopping?"
Liam: "I did a bit, I spent quite a bit on Adidas trainers actually"
Jo: "Are you all obsessed with Adidas trainers?"
Andy: "I wouldn't wear anything else."
Liam Watts reveals that his mum buys him and his brother identical cards each time so that there are no arguments..............
Jo to Liam "Are you a tidy person?"
Liam: "Erm........"
Tom: "He's not the tidiest!"
Jo to Tom "Are you a tidy person?"
Tom: "I'm not the tidiest!"
Jo to Andy: "Are you a tidy person?"
Andy: "I'm actually alright!"
Tom: "Andy's mum does everything, Andy's mum wakes him up with a cup of tea and tidies his room. It's a disgrace!!"
Jo: "What's your memory of Glastonbury Tom?"
Tom: "As little as possible, we'd never been to Glastonbury before, let alone play at it. I was really excited and then we turned up and it was covered in mud!"
"We did two gigs, one in a small tent and the other on Sunday morning. It inspired me as we looked out and could see people up to their knees in mud and just getting rained on.You just wouldn't get that unless people love music and it's a privilege and an honour to play to people who love music."
Jo: "Have you done rehearsals around here (at Liam's) or demo's?"
Tom: "Probably listened to parts of our first demo 40 Days and 40 Nights, but generally it's just been chilling."
Jo: "What do you feel about bands reuniting or getting back together?"
Tom: "I think the big question on every one's lips is - Spice Girls - what's going on there? As sad as it is, but to be serious for a minute the Spice Girls defined the 90's as much as Oasis did. I am quite excited to see if they come back and are rubbish or come back and are quite good."
Jo: "The reviews have come back saying it went down quite good"
Tom: "I'll actually look forward to it then."
Jo: "What's your favourite Spice Girls track?"
Tom: " Probably Wannabe"
Jo: "So are you a fan of pop music?"
Tom: "I'm not generally a fan of pop music, the Spice Girls are an exception."
Jo: "What other music do you like apart from Led Zepplin and the Spice Girls?"
Tom: "I really like The Who, I love The Beatles, they are just class. I think we all love Oasis. The Verve - all their albums. I'd have loved to have gone to the reunion, but we were doing a gig."
Liam: "I don't think any of our tastes clash, we all like the same sort of stuff but I like Frank Zappa and Jazz Fusion."
Andy: "I've just got one cassette I listen to in my car - which is Blur Greatest Hits on one side and then The Clash London Calling on the other."
Jo: "Were you in any bands while at school?"
Andy: "No, I didn't play until I joined this one....... that's why I'm rubbish!"
Jo: "Ahhhh, No! So how did you get in the band?"
Andy: "Erm.... I dunno, I just told Tom I could play and he believed me!"
Jo: "What was the best gig you've played this year?"
Tom: "That's a really hard one to answer........ Reading surprised me actually. I went to Reading not really knowing what to expect. Typically the further up north you go the better the shows get, until you get to Scotland where they just go mad! But the crowd at Reading were just outstanding, they just blew me away. There are loads of really good gigs I could pick out but that one I'll single out for surprise factor."
Jo: "A lot of people are saying you've put Coventry/Birmingham on the map....."
Tom: "We had the first album to go #1 from Coventry, but it was nothing to do with us, we just wrote the songs - it was the people who went out there and bought it, they should be just as proud."
Jo: "What was it like playing a gig in a church hall recently?"
Tom: "It was amazing, it was like nothing we had ever played before, it was the most beautiful venue in the world. I didn't realise until I got there it was the same venue I'd seen Noel Gallagher from Oasis perform. The acoustics are brilliant, it's a great place to play. It was the first gig where the crowds were sat down on pews."
Jo: "What instruments can you play?"
Tom: "I can play guitar, violin and piano. I played piano when I was about four. My Nan had a piano before she had carpet, so I used to go around on a Sunday and just sort of teach myself, that's how it all started really."
Jo: "Where did the inspiration come from for "You're Not Alone"?"
Tom: "We'd been out on tour writing songs about stuff that was going on in Cov, but we'd not had the chance to see the rest of the country. We'd never been to places like Manchester or Newcastle. A band called The Paddingtons took us out on our first tour, we sort of realised what we were writing about Cov, was sort of going on everywhere in the UK. It struck a chord, that what we were writing about was a bit more wide spread."
Tom: " I don't think any of our lyrics intended to be political. We just sing about stuff that affects us and things that we see, in that sense it's social but that's as far as it goes."
Jo: "Have you met Oasis yet?"
Tom: "The lads have met Noel but I was in need of a bed for the night. It was after the NME Awards last year and I'd had a bit too much to drink."
Jo: "How was the tour with the Stereophonics?"
Tom: "Sometimes support tours can be rubbish, you can get treated like rubbish and the fans can be unreceptive but the Phonics couldn't have been any further from that to be honest. They looked after us just amazingly and I'm forever grateful for that. They put is in the next sized venues that we hadn't played in yet. Their fans are just amazing, I just never expected it. They were singing the words and wearing the shirts, especially in Scotland. I'd like to thank all their fans for making it a really wicked tour for me.
Jo: "Did you get to hang out with the band much?"
Tom: "We got to see them a bit but you don't get much time. Top guys."
Jo: "Will you be celebrating Christmas?"
Tom: "Yeah, it's only right. We were in a local pub last year (with Andy) and it go to that time of night where you think you need champagne, so we walked up to the bar and asked for two bottles of champagne. But she said she'd run out of champagne, I said "what do you mean you've run out of champagne - it's Christmas?" She said she'd got this cheap white wine but no glasses. It sounded a good idea at the time but after drinking straight from the bottle, my next memory was trying to throw a traffic cone on the Sainsbury's roof and wondering why it kept coming back down ............. it was a slanted roof so I hadn't got much of a chance. Then the next morning I woke up literally in my toilet, in just my boxers."
Jo: "Liam, have you enjoyed having us around your house?"
Liam: "Yeah, it's been pretty sound."
Jo: "Do you buy each other Christmas presents?"
Liam: "We actually don't, do we?!"
Tom: "We decided years ago we just weren't gonna do it"
Liam: " We'll just keep the money and buy each other a pint!"
Jo: "Can you remember any amazing Christmas presents as a kid?"
Andy: "A Quad bike"
Tom: "My worst present was from Mike Starkey, who I'll name and shame now. In 1998, I think , he bought me a bag of KP Salted Peanuts for Christmas! It was a big bag - but it was still a bag of peanuts for Christmas!"
The Enemy played live from Liam Watts lounge in Coventry:
1. "We'll Live And Die In These Towns"
2. "You're Not Alone"
3. "Last Christmas/Girls Just Want To Have Fun/Bleeding" (Wham/Cyndi Lauper/Leona Lewis)
*pics from BBC Radio 1 website / text typed by robmacca 23/10/07: (Irish) Independent: "Friendly Foe" by Chris Wasser
Most 19 year-olds who jam and practice in a band, would probably classify headlining a small, intimate gig in front of barely five hundred people as the big time.
The added bonus may even arrive in the shape of a free beverage or two. So, what do you do when, technically still in your teens, you find yourself warming up for one of the biggest rock bands in history in front of thousands of people.
This is the position that The Enemy, a promising young indie rock band from Coventry, found themselves in last August when they were asked to support Mick Jagger and his ageing buddies.
Bassist Andy Hopkins remembers the experience fondly. "Tom [the lead singer] has been in to the Stones for years so he loved it. They come shuffling out of their dressing rooms and you're like 'what are they going to be like on stage?' But when they got on, they just went mental. It was really good.
"Nice lads too, but I wanted to meet Keith Richards' daughter!" Hopkins adds with a grin.
Hype has surrounded this group from day one. New Musical Express may suffer from chronic Next Big Thing list-itus, but it seems they hit the nail on the head where the Enemy are concerned. First, the debut album climbed straight to the top of the charts in its first week, then, earlier this month, the band scooped the prestigious Best New Act at the Q awards.
Certainly the three teenagers fronted by the outspoken Tom Clarke, have a heap of what they deem important messages in their back pockets. Tales about working class Britain overflow on We'll Live and Die in These Towns, and Hopkins takes a a suitably prolaterian view of the album's success.
"We knew we had an album worthy of number one but the fact it got there is really down to the people who bought it.
"We were on our way up to Scotland to play a gig when the news came on the radio. Actually, I was asleep at the time and Tom left me a note saying 'you're number one'. That was a sound moment ... when I woke up!" he recalls.
Less than 12 months after their first practice session, the boys suddenly found themselves pitched into a hectic touring schedule with some of the biggest bands around, supporting the likes of Kasabian, The Fratellis and Ash.
It hasn't taken the band long to atune to the rock n' roll lifestyle, either. "We've been out every night this tour!" laughs Andy. "When you get off stage you've got so much adrenaline, you just want to go out."
"When the first single went to number eight, I went out, got hammered and I broke my finger playing football. That was just before our European tour with Ash! I was gutted." As it turned out, it wasn't enough to halt proceedings, and even though the trio have had a spell behind bars since, it wasn't wild antics that put them there.
The night after supporting the Stones, the band found themselves playing inside London's Pentonville Prison. "It was quite nerve wracking that one," says Hopkins. "It was to raise awareness for suicides in prisons. We played with Dirty Pretty Things and, fortunately, the prisoners loved it. They all got up and clapped afterwards."
With so many achievements already under their belt, one wonders how long Andy and his band mates envisage being around; as long as Mick and Keith perhaps?
"Well, yes, when you see bands like the Stones you think, 'Jez, they've done it for years and years, surely we can make it to their age."
With a bit of luck, and, if playing football under the influence is avoided, that might just happen ...
27/09/07 The Enemy: "Former Coventry Miner Is Enemy Single Cover"
Here is the interview with The Enemy that appeared in the Coventry Times this week:
A former miners' union rep who worked at Keresley Colliery is the face on The Enemy's new single, we can reveal.
Mick O'Gara was the uncle of the Coventry band's front man Tom Clarke,and sadly died this year. He is pictured on the new singles front sleeve at a rally alongside National Union of Mineworkers' leader Arthur Scargill during the Miners' Strike of 1984-85.
The photograph is on all posters and websites promoting the single released last week- "You're Not Alone" - a song about industrial decline and workers thrown on the scrapheap.
Tom spoke with the Coventry Times about his uncle - who lived in Tamworth - when we caught up with the band last week, before they performed and signed records at Chalky's music store in Banbury.
He said: "My uncle Mick was a transport manager and worked at Keresley pit. He did so much work for the union so we dedicated this song to him which is about the disappearance of industry. We don't know where the photograph was taken unfortunately, but it's clearly from the 1980s. Of course our families have been an influence on us. We grew up around them."
You're Not Alone is an unambiguous political statement. It hits out at big business and government who "sold us down the river like rats" and was inspired by the band seeing other British post-industrial cities on tour reduced to a "wasteland".
It is also well-documented as a gesture of solidarity with the thousands of workers who lost their jobs when Peugeot pulled the plug on its Ryton factory last year. Tom said: "Maybe Peugeot's closure couldn't have been stopped but if a strong union was there we would have heard about it more and it could have made a difference. We used to be so proud of our skilled workers and now they're working in call centres"
Since shooting to fame this summer, The Enemy have brought transparent youth protest and impassioned anger back into the popular music mainstream - so often ignored by other bands or disguised in a veil of ironic humour and pastiche.
The Enemy's direct lyrics are about the emptiness and nihilism of life on the minimum wage in soulless jobs, with binge-drinking and brawling and only "crappy" escape. The band believes collectively people have power to change things.
But they are canny enough to stop short of falling into the trap of some of their musical predecessors such as the young Paul Weller. He acknowledges he had difficulties in his Jam days when being heralded as the "spokesman for a generation", and later when he nailed his leftist colours to the mast with the highly-publicised Red Wedge tour.
Tom, outspoken but also genial, shrewd and thoughtful, told us: "We're not a political band. We're young lads, not politicians, and we wouldn't want to be. We give a social commentary. Our songs are about modern society and the problems are glaringly obvious."
"For instance ASBOs are a ridiculous piece of legislation. They're not a deterrent and they're not a punishment. Many of the problems exist in schools. People aren't always educated in ways that encourage you to get yourself out there. You end up in an office in a factory or a shop. A careers adviser looks at you and sends you to a sh** job."
With a gruelling summer schedule which included Japanese shows, a London gig with the Rolling Stones and the Coventry Godiva Festival - still the band's favourite gig - these three striplings could be forgiven for thinking life on the road has become just another job.
They admit it's difficult to see family and friends and love coming home for occasional weekends. Another major tour kicks off today in Oxford (27/09) - and they expect a large Coventry following throughout.
"Coventry people have been behind us from the start and even at gigs in other countries we always see Coventry flags", says Tom.
But the boys are living their dream - first discussed when they were working in Fedex offices in Foleshill or selling TV's and when they met each other through mutual friends in pubs after work.
Bassist Andy Hopkins and drummer Liam Watts - who still lives with his family in Holbrooks - attended Heart of England and Cardinal Wiseman schools respectively. Tom, brought up in Birmingham before moving to Coventry in his early teens, again speaks on behalf of his quieter band mates: "This is not a job. It's still the dream. We're all just loving it. I hate it when bands start complaining."
Interviewed by: Les Reid (les_reid@mrn.co.uk) 
27/09/07: The Enemy Invite Lord Mayor For A Curry!
The Coventry Telegraph has reported this week how The Enemy have turned down the pomp of a civic reception in favour of a poppadom at a local curry house. Below is the full article from the Coventry Telegraph:
CITY indie rock band The Enemy have sent an invitation to the Lord Mayor of Coventry asking him out for a curry.
The chart-topping group fired off an e-mail to Councillor Dave Batten suggesting he joins them for an Indian meal.
The offer came amid calls for a civic reception to be held for the group.
Cllr Batten wants to honour the Holbrooks-based band for putting Coventry on the map with number one album We'll Live and Die in These Towns, the first band from the city to achieve such a feat.
Following a ceremony held by the city council for street dancing group Kombat Breakers, Cllr Batten agreed with fellow councillors that it would be a good idea to do something similar for The Enemy.
Invitations were dispatched but, ironically, at the same time, band members Tom Clarke, Liam Watts and Andy Hopkins demonstrated their more informal tastes by e-mailing the Lord Mayor and suggesting he join them for a curry.
A spokesman for Coventry City Council said: "We sent a formal invitation to The Enemy inviting them to a civic reception.
"At the same time the Lord Mayor received an e-mail from The Enemy offering to take him for a curry!
"We haven't heard back about the reception yet but it would be great if we could arrange both."
The Lord Mayor said: "Hopefully I will get to meet them soon, although they are very busy, which is very good news."
Cllr Tony Skipper, shadow cabinet member for culture, sport and libraries, believes a civic reception for The Enemy, currently at number 18 in the charts with the single You're Not Alone, would be a great idea.
He said: "The lads' achievement certainly deserves civic recognition.
"It will be a good opportunity to thank the families and backstage staff who have supported the lads in achieving success."
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