Rich

We recently sent over a few questions to Martin Allan Grey of The Guilty Hands, and he was kind enough to get them answered for us. Massive thanks to Martin for the interview, and below you’ll find the questions that we asked and the answers that Martin provided us with.

Alt-UK: How did the band first come to be, and has there been any major sort of shift in style since The Guilty Hands first began?

Like a reformed wifebeater might say at his church group, I prefer not to dwell on the past. It’s all about the now!

Alt-UK: Do you feel that being based in London has been a positive thing for the band, and if you could relocate to anywhere in the world, would you want to move, and if so, where?

Well part of me would like to relocate to some backwater town where they’re so woefully short of good music, particularly live bands, that anyone half decent should get an ecstatic reception. Possibly Liverpool. But London is too much fun to leave behind permanently.

Alt-UK: Have you got any idea in mind about what your next single may be?

We’re currently in the process of writing an album, and we don’t want to set out to make a single, we just want to make a great record and pick the most singly track once we’re done.

Alt-UK: You recently raised £15,000 on Slicethepie to record a new album; how did it feel when you found out that you were up for finance, let alone when you actually achieved it?

To be honest, when I heard we were up for finance, I thought “about time”. I was more surprised when the money really started rising, I think a couple of investors put in big amounts, and I’m particularly grateful to them – as that really got the ball rolling and encouraged other people to contribute.

Alt-UK: Have you had any ideas yet about exactly how you’ll be using the £15,000?

Well as part of the deal we produce a detailed budget for slicethepie to approve – we don’t just get a cheque! We’ll be obviously spending money on recording, but keeping costs down where possible. We also need to fund rehearsals, equipment purchases, repair, and hire, PR and marketing, van hire for touring – all sorts.

Alt-UK: As well as receiving the £15,000 for the album, you also won a Gibson Les Paul for being the first band to achieve financing, that must have been a pretty cool added bonus.

I don’t think anyone’s going to say no to a guitar worth about a grand, put it that way.

Alt-UK: Are there any plans to tour extensively once the new album is released, or are you just taking things as they come right now, without any major plans for the future?

Touring depends on the response to the album and the amount of press and industry interest it generates. We don’t want to spend money travelling to far-off towns unless we’re supporting a high profile act, or if our own profile has risen significantly. However we do have plans for a short tour of mainland Europe, where both promoters and audiences are renowned for being more generous than on our little island. Sorry, UK. Time to join the single currency, perhaps.

Alt-UK: If you could play alongside any artist in the world, who would you choose?

I’ll be democratic here and think of a band we all like. I’ll say 10CC.

Alt-UK: Is there any gig from the past that particularly sticks in your mind for any reason?

I would say the gig we played in Ypres, Belgium was especially memorable. The friendliness of the venues, the organisers, the audience, and their generosity in feeding and homing us (and buying our tshirts) will stick in my mind for a long time.

Alt-UK: If you were just starting The Guilty Hands now, with the benefit of hindsight, is there anything that you’d do differently?

Probably wouldn’t have spent so much money on recording. Our producer did a great job, but it didn’t really generate any more interest than our home recorded demos had. Even now we’ve got £15,000 to spend, we’re being as thrifty as we can without sacrificing quality.