Riff roaring trio The Subways are back with third album

Their energetic stage antics and wild live performances have gained them cult following since infectious pop-rock debut album “Young For Eternity” dropped in 2005.

And despite a somewhat lukewarm reaction to follow-up “All Or Nothing”, the band’s third offering “Money and Celebrity” has catapulted the Welwyn Garden City three-piece back into mainstream consciousness and back onto those all important radio airwaves.

That may be all good and well from the old “money and celebrity” standpoint but frontman Billy Lunn, who makes up the band with Charlottle Cooper (bass/vocals) and Josh Morgan (drums) admitted that getting back out on the road was the most exciting aspect of the album’s release.

“We’ve done a short tour in recent months but this is the first full UK one we have done in three years.

“Being in the studio is a real stress for us because we just want to be out there playing live. First thing we think about when we wake in a morning is about where we will be going and playing that day.

“I love meeting crazy new people and crazy new audiences, getting on new stages and playing new venues. We just love the live atmosphere and are looking forward to playing our new material to fans.”

It was “We Don’t Need Money To Have A Good Time” which actually re-ignited the creative fires within Billy when he grabbed his guitar and sat down to start penning the new album – and it all came about with a little help from a friend.

“After we finished touring the second album our manager told me to go back to the flat, pick up the guitar and start writing some new songs. I sat there though and nothing was coming to me so some of my mates said ‘come on Billy let’s go for a night out and just forget about it’.

“We went around a few bars and then towards the end of night I said ’what are we going to do now, we’re out of money’. One of my friends turned to me and just said ‘don’t worry Billy. We don’t need money to have a good time’. I thought ‘yes’ and went back to the flat and started writing. It was strange really because I’ve always written the music first but this time I was putting the lyrics down and then writing the music around it.”

A staggering 72 songs later and the band were then ready to start the “whittling down” and recording process – a process they continue to grow more and more familiar with.

“When we recorded “Young For Eternity” we were really young and just looking around, not quite believing that we were actually making an album. For the second one we went to LA, where it was produced by Butch Vig (who produced Nirvana’s “Nevermind”) and that was amazing.

“This third one though has been a lot more relaxed really. We were in the studio for just three weeks which is phenomenally quick. We’ve had to throw away 60 tracks in essence but these are demos that I may well come back to in the future. In fact there’s some riffs on this album that I actually wrote before ‘Young For Eternity’ but seemed to fit with the sound of this record.”

Now on the road, The Subways are doing what they do best – bringing venues to life, daring crowds more than ever to try and ignore their huge sound, killer hooks and sing-a-long choruses.

“It feels like we’re coming back, refreshed and re-born and that’s brilliant,” added Billy.

“It honestly doesn’t matter how popular we are. We just feel so lucky that we have any people to play in front of live. It’s bewildering and honestly, just an incredible feeling.”

The Subways are playing Manchester Academy tonight (Tuesday) and more can be found at www.thesubways.net.

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