Takedown Festival 2014: Interview: Black Futures

We caught up with Paul and Stu from up and coming rave rockers Black Futures, who gave us a brief insight into their forthcoming record as well as speaking about their influences and Takedown…

The Punk Archive: So tell us about Black Futures. You're a bit of a mash-up to say the least…
Stu: Yeah, so we're a mixture of everything we like, not being dictated by anything or by any particular “hype” movement. We just like to mix music that we like! Anything that's heavy really, so heavy dance music, heavy punk, heavy metal: just all of that, and we mix it up, try to get some riffs in there and some melodies.

The Punk Archive: This particular type of music seems to be really taking off at the moment: obviously there's Hacktivist, but surely it all started with The Prodigy… Do they influence you or is it very much your own thing?
Stu: The Prodigy, massively, yeah of course. I don't think I'd be here if it wasn't for them…
Paul: It's safe to say they're one of the main reasons we followed this path.

The Punk Archive: So what can we expect from your live show?
Stu: Noisy…
Paul: Smoke, strobe, sub, shouting.
Stu: Apocalyptic noise-rave, if I had to call it something.
Paul: And if the sound's bad…

The Punk Archive: So are you looking forward to playing today?
Stu: Definitely. It's a wicked festival. The guys who have put it together have put a lot of hard work and heart into it, the line-up's amazing, and it's really good value for the kids to come and see. It's awesome.

The Punk Archive: You definitely stand out on the line-up in terms of your individuality: do you feel pressure from that or not at all?
Paul: I don't think we care (laughs). There's loads of bands here we really like, and I think people will like us. If they don't then, well (shrugs).

The Punk Archive: Who are you most looking forward to seeing?
Stu: I want to see Feed The Rhino but they're on just after us, so we're going to have to leg it over to their stage…
Paul: Heart Of A Coward, Turbowolf, Black Spiders…
Stu: Jamie Lenman obviously…
Paul: Yeah, hang out with some friends, drink some beer and watch them play, yeah!

The Punk Archive: What have you been up to this year, then?
Stu: Just writing, really. This is our first date this year. We've been writing and getting our game together. We finished off the year getting the live set together, then we supported The Prodigy. This is the first one on the festival line-ups.

The Punk Archive: Can you give us any insight into the album?
Stu: It's going to be a journey, yeah. We're trying to paint a little bit of a picture with it. It's going to be heavy, but you know, there's going to be…
Paul: Yeah, it's going to have moments… guests as well. It's going to be a good listen I think. It's not all going to be on the same level.