Hadouken! tell us how to keep the kids jumping!

• 10th Oct 2007

Hadouken! have taken over young England's ears and wardrobes. The neon doused masses flocked to the Junction on Sunday to catch their heroes play the Junction in Cambridge.

The Whip started the party with a set to get the whole venue jumping. Their euphoric indie-electro gave us a perfect reminder of New Order at their best – although the comparison might be lost on this crowd. That's the great thing about Hadouken!'s fans though; the crowd was as big and as crazy for the Whip at 7:30 as it was for the headliners. You wouldn't know it was a Sunday night. The energy and excitement and the music showed exactly why Hadouken! have been claimed for the kids and given so much positive press. This is not another dullard band, Hadouken! are from another planet of Gameboy samples, jerky beats and the most cutting of modern day street lyrics. The music makes you move and WARNING! it causes glow stick waving. We met the baby faced band after the triumphant show and spoke to lead guitar and second vocal Pilau and bassist Chris. Frontman James was unable to talk, and we're not surprised.

The crowd was even more up for it tonight than last time in Cambridge; was it the highlight of your tour so far?

The tour has been great so far but tonight was wicked, it really kicked off. This (Cambridge) and Sheffield have been the highlights; last time in Cambridge was special but this was something else.

And how was the last show in Northampton? The Gallows told us it was a ‘backwards town’?!

Yer we got to Northampton and we were just looking about thinking Jesus these people want to kill us. In the end though we sold it out and everyone was so up for it.

The Whip came out tonight and really got the crowd going, they are some band to have as your first support each night. How did that come about?

The girl from our support sprained her wrist so they couldn’t play! Luckily The Whip stepped up and they were available straight away to come on the whole tour. Both the supports get the party going for us.

You've had a real mixed reception on your Myspace to the new single ‘Leap of Faith’. It’s a real move away from the old sound to a more metal influenced rocker. Are you worried some of your fans won’t like it? Is ‘Love, Sweat and Beer’ (classic Hadouken! and great response) a compromise?

People want to be the first to say something is rubbish just as they want to discover us and tell everyone how great it is. You always get that. Most people are liking ‘Leap’ and everyone seems to love ‘Beer’ so it’s a real mixture of not abandoning the old sound but developing something new and interesting at the same time.

The album comes out next year…what are your plans for the release and track listing?

The album will be out early next year. There’re a few tracks the fans haven’t heard yet and we are just deciding what should go on and what is in the past and doesn’t need to be released again. ‘That Girl, That Boy’ HAS to be on there!

Next month is your mix tape release on USB. What’s behind that decision?

We’ve got the 1st ever USB only release coming out in November. We did that to make sure everyone knew it is not our debut album. We’ve got some amazing interactive artwork – it’s a lot more interesting than a CD sleeve. There's the new songs, remixes (Bloc Party…) we've got the songs and want to get them out there.

After the mix tape and album releases what are your plans? Where are you going to try and break the record?

We’ll definitely tour it in the UK and focus here and ANYWHERE that will have us!! We’re not picky. Japan is awesome we would love to tour there again.

You’ve been pigeon holed in to the Nu Rave and Grime scenes but the new sound shows you’re range of influences…what are they?

We love our well known British acts – Prodigy, The Streets, Dizzy Rascal but we’re now listening to metal a lot more. Stuff like System of a Down. It’s moving in to our latest songs, which are becoming more hardcore. James is really getting in to his metal. The synths are going to the back and the guitar to the forefront.

Hadouken! isn’t your average name…where did that come from?

We came up with loads of names and Hadouken! was the only acceptable one really! It comes from a special move – a throwing fireball attack!! – in Street Fighter (the computer game)

Tonight’s show was a big success and all the material got a great reception – the fans are almost all happy. Do you think you can continue to be innovative or as some critics have said you’re just a fad as part of a ‘scene’?

We just want the material to keep developing. We’re not fickle. Radiohead inspire us to keep leaping forward with our music. We don’t react to criticism; hear it and move on and write what WE want. If something sounded good to us it will keep people on board.

Check out all things Hadouken! on their official website link and their Myspace page:
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