FOLLOWING on from the blown out psychedelic infused ‘Rapture’ released earlier this year, Exit Calm return with their latest record ‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’ on September 23.  To coincide with the release the Barnsley based quartet are curently touring the UK, bringing with them an evolution of their sound that reaffirms their position at the forefront of British guitar bands.

How did Exit Calm come together?

Simon - Rob, Scott andmyself were in a band together for a fewyears, it was nowhere near as good as this one.

Things changed and we found Nicky, or he found us. It was in the days when people still stuck adverts in music shops, which I did, in Jumbo Records in Leeds. Nicky answered it and we wrote ‘When You Realise’ in the first 2 rehearsals together.

Then we got going...

You’ve had quite a busy year recording and touring, what have been the high points?

Simon - Finishing the album, then hearing it back. Because it was recorded in 2 blocks months apart it felt quite separate - the light part and the dark. So hearing it as one really was the point where we knewit was a beauty. Finding our newmanagement has been a rather large high point for us also. No-nonsense at all, us four need to be told sometimes! And we are!Vfestival was an eye opener as well. Howmuch its changed since the last time we played.

Now my bandmates are pretty good looking, but I’ve never been in a backstage area with so many pretty people...

Your newalbum is about to be released - what was the inspiration behind it?

Nicky - We were always going to keep going, so after not really touring the debut heavily, as we thought we would with a big booking agent, we just kept writing and carrying on as normal.

We simplified and intensified.

The tunes that came out, and feeling the burn fromour debut inspired this album.

Not that it’s a sore point or anything. I just expected us to be on the road more with album1. So we went back to just writing with the simplify and intensify approach. It was difficult because Exit Calm has not had it particularly easy, but sometimes adversity gives you the kick up the arse you need to march on. Once we were in the room writing again and the tunes started coming, everything else goes out the windowand you knowwho, why and where you are again. That is what inspired this album.

How long did it take to put together?

Nicky - Writing for about a year and a half, but this was in between jobs, and all other things that can get in the way.

Then a year mixing, mastering, securing newmanagement, and getting a publishing deal etc. Too long to be honest, but it had to be right, and as I say, it’s because we have other things in our lives that have to sometimes take priority unfortunately. I knowfor a fact if we were in a roomevery day for a month we would have an album’s worth that would be just as good.

Are there any Welsh dates forthcoming?

We’d love to play Wales again. It’s something that’s not been offered to us yet. The only time we’ve been is with when we toured with ‘The Music’, we played Cardiff and it was a really great night. So tell em to get in touch...

Beyond the tour what’s next for the band?

Nicky -Wehave a European tour after, which is just being finalised. Also we’ll be releasing another song fromthe album, entitled ‘Promise’. It’s a belter of a tune and after hearing the radio edit yesterday, I’m really looking forward to its release.

●‘The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be’ will be released on September 23