Andy Howells chats to alternative rock band Max Raptor

Who are you and how did you come together?

It was a school romance to begin with....Matt and myself (Wil) decided to mess about with sounds and jam occasionally...he was on drums, two other guys played guitar and bass...they left after a couple of years on the toilet circuit and a stint on tour with The Stranglers and Billy Talent...it was an awesome time, we wrote 'Portraits' our first EP....then we picked up Peter on drums and Chris on guitar who was temping for us....Ben Winnington came in 4 months ago but has slotted in perfectly and Matt's now on bass...It sounds like an episode of Doctor Who or a documentary on the Sugababes but we're all settled now...

Where are you from?

All from the Midlands...I live in London but we always rehearse in the motherland...

How would you describe your music style?

It's fast, energetic, full of guts....we write about the more important things in life but don't want to preach...we write for ourselves with our fans in mind because they're the ones who turn shows full of energy into complete chaos....

What’s been your best live experience?

Definitely 2000 Trees Festival..we'd played the year before and had a decent response but the following year we were invited back as one of their favourites from 2012 and the place went nuts...completely rammed out, just for little Max Raptor...it was the perfect show...To be honest Summer 2013 was amazing...We love the festival circuit and played some great shows...

Tell us about your debut album?

It's a sort of newspaper....our first single 'Breakers' was our headline track to intro it. The rest of the tracks are like little snippets and cuttings from a newspaper I suppose...each song has a theme and follows a story. Much like 'Portraits' each tune delves into people's lives and current issues as well as exploring our own opinions....it's all split up with a juicy ballad in the middle which originally was about the London Riots but became a bit more than that the more we wrote & played it... It was recorded in an old Methodist Chapel in Lincolnshire...would love to go back there..such an cool place to cut yourself off, develop cabin fever and write an album..

Will you be coming to Wales sometime in the future?

Ohhhhh yea...we love Wales..I used to go to Wales loads as a kid. I've dived into a waterfall, I've jumped off the bridge in Beddgelert, I've been to a B&B in Criccieth...I've got an attachment to the place, that's what I'm saying..

Where can people hear your music?

Go to our awesome label's website - http://www.naimlabel.com/artist-max-raptor.aspx

Album's available there and also over at amazon, Banquet records and all decent record stores!!