ANDY HOPKINS, bass player and vocalist for UK Indie rock outfit, THE ENEMY chats with HEIDI LEIGH AXTON.

In February this year, popular UK band The Enemy, treated supporters to a limited number of ‘secret’ shows around Britain. Fans were asked to register on a special tour site for the band, where they could win tickets. The unique idea proved an immediate hit. “That was before our big tour this year,” explains Hopkins. We did live shows in little pubs. About 150 people in tiny little venues. It was all our idea to be honest. We went to places that people never go. We really enjoyed it. We did all the gigs for free. It was great.”

The Enemy began years ago, when best mates Andy Hopkins and Tom Clarke were enjoying a warm beer in their local pub. It dawned on them, that neither one was really satisfied with how their life was panning out. “Me and Tom were talking in the pub. We were bored with the same routine. We realized all we were doing was waking up every morning and going to work and then going down the pub as soon as we got home from work. We’d just spend our wages and our lives weren’t really going anywhere. We thought, right. We’ll start a band and it will give us something to do. We didn’t realize we were going to get to go abroad and play our songs. We didn’t realize people would like our music. We were just writing it for ourselves.” What did their families say when told of the decision? “It wasn’t that long before we got signed and I remember we had to quit our jobs. Everyone was like, ‘Are you sure? You have to trust these people that it is going to work. You can’t just quit a job’. But Mum and dad said: ‘Go with it. See what happens.”

The debut went straight to number one, justifying their faith. Was there any trepidation when recording the follow-up? “No, we basically just wrote the album to the best of our ability, so however it does is a bonus. We’re not worried about chart positions or whatever.” The new album was produced by Mick Crossey, and was recorded to tape, rather than resorting to more modern computer technology. Is there much difference sound-wise? “Tape’s a lot warmer,” Hopkins muses. “It’s just the way Mike Crossey, who worked on that album, records. I think on the second album, it’s a bigger sound. You have to play mainly live tape. You have to do it about twenty times over, but I think it captures the songs a lot better.”

With the new album, Music For The People, selling six thousand copies nationally on the first day of release in the UK, it looks like they’re onto another winner. “The first album we had about three months to write. This album we’ve been writing for the last two years, and the last two years have been the most exciting years of our life,” enthuses Hopkins. “I think that comes across in the album.”

MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE is out now through Warner Music. www.myspace.com/theenemycoventry

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