Hi fellas, thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions with Diane at Rock Media UK.
-Firstly, for those people who might not know you, please tell us about Collateral as a band, how did you meet, were you in previous bands together... ?
Collateral are a rock band from Ramsgate & Maidstone in Kent coupling 80’s style rock with a new edge, let’s say “country with a pulse”. Angelo & Jack were formerly in the ‘Angelo Tristan band’ which became Collateral after Todd & I (Ben) joined in 2018. The story goes that Angelo was in a pub playing & a leather jacket, long haired rock fiend called Jack walked in. They instantly got talking about their favourite groups & formed a band. Todd joined a year later & I joined soon after when I walked into his place of work & asked how it was going. He said not so good their drummer left, I quickly explained that I was a drummer & the rest is history!
-How have you been coping over the last 6 weeks of these unusual times / have you been writing any new material? What is your usual writing process, do you all contribute to it?
Yes lots of new material! We will never get this opportunity again of solitude to concentrate on writing. Angelo or Jack usually come up with the bare bones & Todd & I fill in where necessary, battling ideas until we’re all in agreement that it rocks!
-Are you able to write when you are out touring?
It’s tough with everything going on with touring, you’re usually knackered & hungover but there has been ideas sparked out of sound checks between beers.
-The debut album has recently come out and is getting brilliant reviews, did you expect to have such a good response to it?
We’re just overwhelmed with the incredible response, thank you to everyone that supports us & our music!
-You’ve had a number of good support slots, most recently with Phil X & the Drills and Jared James Nichols, which has been your most memorable support/tour to date?
The Jared James Nichols & Phil X tours were incredible! We got to meet the guys & crews behind it & all the fans, making some new ones too! Everything was very organised & professional and FREE BEER!
-Phil Xs’ other band is Bon Jovi, had you met Jon before this tour / how did the tour go?
Angelo met Jon at the Runaway to Paradise cruise that we played in August last year. He was absolutely starstruck, sobbing uncontrollably afterwards (in a good way).
-One of the most impressive facts about you is that you've won competitions such as Ramblin' Man and to support Jon Bon Jovi on his cruise, that was out of 200,000 entrants, did you have to pinch yourselves when you got that gig?
To be honest, I still can’t get my head around it. Neither did the guys, I said the day before the Bon Jovi cruise that tomorrow we’ll be on a massive boat playing our hearts out & it’s going to be mental! It hit us like a ton of bricks when we arrived, champagne & an incredible atmosphere! Ramblin’ Man was just incredible because in the Semi Final & Final competition, we had to pick the line up out of a hat & we were on 1st for both! Crazy that we won!
-Bon Jovi are listed as one of your main influences, so it must have been amazing to have shared the bill with Jon. How did the cruise go / were you able to meet or hang out with Jon?
We hung around with his family throughout the whole cruise which was just unbelievable! Jesse (Jon’s son) was singing Big Shot to us down the corridor!
- It was really apparent at the Birmingham 02 show, just how much you have progressed musically this last year, do you think that’s down to all the touring?
Yes absolutely, we were able to step back & critically analyse our sound & performance leading up to these tours which was incredibly helpful!
- Later in the year you’re due to play the Steelhouse festival, have you been at that festival before?
No but I’ve seen pictures & videos, all I can say is WOW!
-Do you prefer the big outside festivals or smaller indoor venues?
Festivals for the win, although sound is more challenging to get right but the atmosphere is the best!
-How do you relax when you are on the road, what do you get up to between gigs? (I saw you were going down the caves in Edinburgh) Do you enjoy sightseeing?
Haha, we get up to alot! I went on the hunt for battered mars bars, Jack even had a battered pizza! We’d try one or seven of the local beers too!
- Being from Kent, have you been in those WW2 tunnels in Dover?
I haven’t personally but I bet Angelo plays hide & seek in there with his daughter as he lives closer.
-Finally, what’s the worst or most embarrassing thing that has happened to you while on the road?
There are alot, for me I almost impaled someone with a cymbal because it launched itself off stage. There are many more stories, mostly from Jack if he remembers.
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Thanks to Ben for taking time out to chat with us.
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