We interviewed indie-punk band Blackwaters to discuss their co-headlining tour, their new single and their musical influences.

Interview by Jane Howkins.

You’re currently on a co-headline tour with Strange Bones. How did that come about, and why the decision to co-headline?

Those guys sound great and go for it every night and we feel that we compliment each other well. We have similar subject matters and they live in the same scene nowadays so it only seemed right. It just makes for a mental show every night so we cant complain.

Were you already friends with Strange Bones before the tour, and are you fans of their music? What are they like to tour with?

We had known about them for a while and really liked their tunes and what they’re about. This tour came about and we were buzzed. We met them in London at a Nambucca show for This Feeling a few weeks ago. We were all pretty drunk that night so it’s always easier to get along like that haha! It’s always a laugh with those boys, a few broken tables here and there but it’s all for a good cause.

You’re about to release a new single called Down in February. What can you tell us about that, and why did you choose that song for a single?

Its a straight up banger. A straight up punk groove. Straight to the point. A just scream your heart out sort of tune. The song we’ve actually had for a while, but Max was always changing the lyrical content and trying to build as much imagery as he could in them. The song is about just general angst and the rich having all this money whilst staying the least inspiring people. “Prosperity means nothing if you can not inspire”. That lyric inspired the rest of the song.

We’ve had a listen to Down and really liked it. We often hear you described as an indie band but we heard quite a large punk influence in there too. Is that a genre you enjoy, and have you consciously tried to incorporate punk elements into your music?

I think the punk side will always come first, we don’t really follow the indie scene and haven’t taken that much of an influence from it. We don’t like to put ourselves in one place. Punk ain’t, and never was a genre so it would be silly to try and replicate the movement. However we do take influence from the sound, as well as some other weird shit here and there.

What sort of bands/artists are you influenced by, and who are you listening to at the moment?

It’s changed over time and never really stayed the same. We love The Modern Lovers, The Ramones, Lou Reed and John Cooper Clarke has massively influenced Max’s lyrics. FIDLAR has always been about in our music and we really dig what’s going on in LA with the skater punk scene. In every song you can hear something different which is cool.

You’re all eighteen, and it’s extremely impressive for a band with members of your age to have gotten so far in your musical career already. How old were you when you actually formed Blackwaters, and how did you get together?

Ollie and David have known each other for donkeys years, they were in nappies when they first met. They stuck together and moved down to sunny Guildford where it’s literally never sunny. They weren’t old enough to go out for freshers so they went to a house party, got drunk and met the other two. Simple really. We were all 16 at the time, we’ve done the hard graft for 2 years and we’re still going strong.

Did you find it hard to be taken seriously as a musical act at such a young age?

I don’t think it was hard for us, because music is something we’ve always wanted to do. It’s no secret that we’re younger than most bands on the circuit especially with Dave looking like a 12 year old. Being younger than most just means you have to sneak around now and then. If people didn’t look at us because we were younger that’s their problem. We never really thought too hard about it.

Do you have any plans to release any E.P.s or albums in the near future?

We’re always writing and demoing new tunes, we have plans for a few a more singles and then we’ll see where that leads us. An E.P. is possible but an album may be a while.

Why do you think people should come and hear you play, and what should they expect from a Blackwaters gig?

Because our tunes sound even better live. We are a live band and always have been. We’re trying to reignite our youth. People can’t leave the house without Facebook telling em’ to. We basically want people to not worry about too much every half an hour or so and have a laugh. That’s all that’s important really.

Any last words for the fans?

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!