Interview: Snow Patrol

Dundee, Scotland-formed band Snow Patrol hit it big time when they released that record-breaking ‘Chasing Cars’ single in 2006, which spent 90 weeks on the UK Top 75! With 6 albums under their sleeves, 5 Meteor Ireland Music Awards and 3 Brit Awards nominations, they are one of the many bands headlining Arthur’s Day 2010 in Cork, Dublin and Galway on 23 September. We caught up with Nathan Connolly and Paul Wilson from Snow Patrol 2 weeks ago for a chat.

Hello guys. What have you been up to this week?
Touring with U2. Have just come in from Denmark this morning to listen to all the new bands for the Guinness Our Thursdays activity and then pretty much going straight to play Pukkelpop in Germany.

‘Chasing Cars’ was so huge. What’s the best memory for you guys about that song?
It was chosen as the song of the decade. Such an amazing achievement!

What are your favourite cities to perform at?
Bangkok because we played at their first ever music festival and New York cos it rocks!

Why release a compilation instead of a full studio album?
Although we had five albums released, a lot of people hadn’t heard the first two. This gave fans more of a retrospective look at our material. It gave people the opportunity to hear the old and new material on one album.

Tell us something about Snow Patrol that we don’t know.
We’ve been asked this question so many times before and we still don’t have an answer.

What’s the biggest change you have seen in the music industry for the past year?
The lack of physical formats and the developments in digital and release plans.

Which new acts have you checking out these days?
Cashier No 9, Bear in Heaven, Everything Everything, Holy F*ck, Ollie Cole, The National…

What has been the biggest show for you guys?
Snow Patrol’s biggest headline show was for 42,000 people at Ward Park Belfast earlier this year. The biggest show ever was Live 8.

Who’s the noisiest member of the band?
Everyone has their day!

Who’s the nicest member of the band and why?
Richard Colburn is officially the nicest person in the music industry. He is actually the drummer in Belle & Sebastian but also plays with us.

If you were stuck in a deserted island, what 3 items would you bring with you?
Just a boat and a guitar!

What are you looking forward to most about the Arthur’s Day celebration?
Getting to see so many great bands all in one place.

What’s next for Snow Patrol?
We are recording our new album in LA from October.

Snow Patrol can be found at www.snowpatrol.com. For more about Arthur’s Day in Malaysia this year, head on over to www.arthursday.com.my to get your tix now coz Timbaland is coming!

Image Guinness