Emergency Break Interview

"We fell on the brand, before we fell on the band"

It's just a couple of months since I watched Emergency Break live for the first time and it wasn't long before I was watching one of them playing guitar on the shoulders of the frontman.

At the Mascara Bar I saw Leo climb on a barrell to sing in front of the Air Condition unit and at the O2 Academy Islington, they came up with new tricks once again, smashing an old telephone, before Leo dived into a sea of fans for a totally out-of-control crowd surf.

In my review of their show at The Macbeth in May, I talked about their wild energetic rock music, as well as their charismatic frontman, Leo. Every single time they perform live, they get better and better. After their sold our headline show at The O2 Academy Islington, frontman Leo and bassist Ewan talked to ArtsyMix about their shows, their antics, their recordings, the image they want to establish and their future plans and ambitions. Why are they called Emergency Break? What is Irish Ecstassy? And has anyone else noticed Finlay carrying a gadget at live shows? What's that for? All the answers are in the interview.

In my review in May, I also wrote you shouldn't get the wrong idea from their antics. They're not really trouble makers. They are artists who want to put on a good show and entertain people. Leo, Ewan and Joe are actually actors and they approach a music show with a theatrical mindset. During the interview, Leo came up with the phrase "We landed on the brand, before we landed on the band", which is a perfect description of how they created the idea for the live shows, before they put the band together. They landed on the concept before they landed on the concert? I wish I had that phrase during the interview. At the end of the day, it's all about offering a fun experience to the people who go to see them. And as Ewan said, when they have bigger stages and bigger budgets, they'll be able to do more. The ideas are there.

The headline show at the O2 Academy Islington

When they booked that gig, it was probably looking a bit of an extreme move. But in the last few months, Emergency Break made such progress in both their musical performance and their appeal to the public, that it turned out to be an incredible show at a packed venue. Saying it was sold out, doesn't even cover it. They sold the 250 tickets and then they were able to add a few more on other platforms. And yes, they did come up with new antics. First, Leo holding an old phone with a dial, before smashing it on the stage. Then, the crowd surf that was quite out of control. But in addition to all that, they had an epic moment with a special edition of Irish Ecstassy.

You can find plenty of Emergency Break videos on our Youtube channel. There will be more soon, so make sure you subscribe.

On The Meadow Festival

Emergency Break are on the line up of On The Meadow Festival. In fact, it's their own festival. They set it up themselves, in another move that may have looked extreme at the time, but they've done incredibely well to put together a festival with a great line up, with the headliner they wanted all along.

More gigs to follow

They have more gigs coming up after the festival. It has already been announced that they're part of the first gig organized by Goto Vibe, supporting Entropy at The Stag's Head Hoxton, alongside The Coltens.

You can buy tickets here, or through gotovibe.com