Introduction
We couldn’t just leave our interaction with Electric Enemy at a song of the week post! Thankfully they wanted an interview as much as we did. Electric Enemy is the alternative rock project of Jim Lawton and his closest friends and girlfriend. Having toured with incredible artists this band are going places, you can believe that!
Give our previous song of the week Bleed Me Dry a listen below!
Interview
We featured Bleed Me Dry as our song of the week, but if you had to pick any of your songs as your most underrated. Which song would it be and why?
Electric Enemy – Thanks again for that! Oof… Maybe Shame? It’s just so dark, heavy and lumbering! John(bass) says the riff sounds like a WWE wrestler’s intro theme! I even wrote the beginning choral bit in Latin haha!
What would you describe as the band’s greatest strength?
Electric Enemy – Playing live, we put on a pretty energetic show, but also objectivity as far as song choice goes… Best song should always win, and I work tirelessly with my manager Guy, scrutinizing every note and lyric before I produce the songs up.
What is take the wheel about?
Electric Enemy – Take The Wheel was one of 3 songs I was putting forward for (at the time) new EE material, and I felt so so uninspired by the first two songs that I just had to exorcise the demons; in a macro sense it’s about not being where you thought you would be in life but still aging ‘because I’m older than I thought I’d be today’ sort of sums up the vibe. I love it when a member of the EE family reaches out explaining how much a certain song means to them, and why in relation to their lives; songs can have multiple meanings!
What made you decide to make your debut album self-titled? Were there any other names you could share with us that didn’t make the cut?
Electric Enemy – We wanted to air on the side of simplicity BUT yes, the second favourite was ‘Somewhere Safe Inside The Sun’ which came from a lyric in the original version of Save Me… We cut out the middle 8 but I always loved that line!
You have therapy and therapy 2, is therapy something that is meaningful to the band, if so how has it helped?
Electric Enemy – I am a strong believer in the power of good that can come from having therapy, and generally being open about mental health (pick any EE song ), so that’s where we stand on it! The songs came from an idea of ‘little Jimmy’ having therapy sessions with a weird therapist (in the recording sessions when I did his voice, I called him Dr. Faust), and both songs are versions of what I personally went through when I had a big juicy mental breakdown (one of them anyway!). There’s a bit of humour in both songs for my fellow depressives out there!
You released your EP The Dark this year, there is a distinct shift in sound. Was this intentional and is it the direction you see the band heading in from now on?
Electric Enemy – I believe in constantly pushing the boat out with writing and production, and even the previous EP ‘You” was moving in a slightly different direction. As a producer, I work with so many different talented artists from multiple genres, and I try to take what I learn, and add it to the EE melting pot. The SOUL of the band will never change, but the mediums may vary!
What is the single greatest comment you have ever heard about your band?
Electric Enemy – That’s a tough one! A music industry heavyweight, Sat Bisla said Electric Enemy are the UK’s best unsigned band, that was pretty great! I think my other favourite one is also the one that is said the most (especially on YouTube), that Electric Enemy is ‘criminally underrated’
You recently supported Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. What was that experience like and what is your favourite Alice in Chains song?
Electric Enemy – It was absolutely brilliant! Jerry, and his entire team were so lovely and welcoming to me. We found out about the tour 2 days before it started, and my manager and I figured that me getting a European train pass was the best/most cost effective way to get it done, and while it was stressful at times, it was one of the best experiences of my life! They have so many brilliant songs, but I have to say Rooster because Jerry invited me to play it with them at the last gig at Shepherds Bush Empire… Now THAT was amazing!
Can you clarify the bands line up for us? We see there are members listed as live members, how involved are they in day to day operations of the band?
Electric Enemy – I write and record all of the band’s material (Jim), and the others are my best friends AND my girlfriend! Violet is on keytar and BVs, John is on bass and BVs, and Roddy is our little drummer boy! They’re the live band but I also play
them mixes of songs, we hang out all the time, and EE is not EE without them! Violet has done all of the music videos since SHAME! Look Violet Verigo up on IMDB, she’s sort of a big deal.
If you could only listen to one artist/band for the rest of your life, who would it be and why?
Electric Enemy – Jeeez! Well, I grew up listening to The Beatles in the back of my parents’ car, and they’ll always be my number 1… Or maybe The Vengaboys?
Stop falling in love, has a real delicate tone and message. Would you be able to go into the inspiration behind the song?
Electric Enemy – Thank you! Without revealing the exact person who it’s about, I can say that the song is a plea to ‘a friend’ to stop making all of the wrong romantic decisions! We all know (or have been) that one person who lets their heart make the choices, only to discover their fairytale love is to some sort of narcissist gas lighter… This is for that person!
Remove one from existence. Chocolate, biscuits. And why?
Electric Enemy – Easy, remove biscuits… If Violet was answering this she would spontaneously combust.
If we came round for dinner/tea, what would you make?
Electric Enemy – The door’s always open ! If we’re talking dinner party vibes, I would make a nice vegan salad starter, or a vegan fougasse, and then a delicious vegan lasagna! My plant burgers are also very popular (add a hashbrown and some avocado… You’re welcome!)
Without mentioning the venue or location, can you describe your worst ever gig experience?
Electric Enemy – EE have thankfully not gone through anything too traumatic (the past though…oh my…), but I suppose there was a particular sound engineer who was hilariously furious! We were somewhere, playing a venue in some country, and this one sound guy kept on yelling at his box of gear and swearing at us in his language… We are almost irritatingly polite to anyone we interact with and asked him if we could help/is everything ok, but this
guy was so angry with the world that each time the singer of the other band and I requested a little less delay in our monitors, he cranked it up and was yelling from behind his sound desk, giving us the finger … It took everything we had not to burst out laughing during a very surreal sound check. His genuinely unbelievable aggression made all us and the other band even closer during that tour. I hope he’s feeling better!
Which other band do you think would do an amazing cover version of Voices? And why?
Electric Enemy – What a great question! I think Queens Of The Stone Age would be great, but I would love to hear Taylor’s version!
We think Heartache Melody is your best song lyrically. What line or pair of lines from that song would you say are the best?
Electric Enemy – Glad you like it! ‘Poison remedy, Celine Dolly cavalry’. The song is meant to be a break up song, so I thought, who would I want to wallow and soundtrack with me in such a situation? Celine Dion and Dolly Parton!
All rights to the songs used in this interview are retained by Electric Enemy. This site claims no rights over them. The photos were provided by the band and are taken by Elisecharlotte_photography.
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