Neko: So Liam how have things been going? According to your diary entry on your website youre still hungover from New Years Eve?

Liam: Hahaha, is that the last time Ive put something on there? Fucking hell that is like 6 months ago!

8!

8 months ago. Shit. Yeah, good, I forgot we had a website. I dont know, just havent done anything. Ive been writing music, that is the most important thing, you know?

So is there any new material?

There is loads of new material.

Ive done like, maybe, for this record I am going to record 30 tracks. Ive done like 18 so far. Then were going to pick the best ones. We havent done many vocals yet, ive just done a lot of music.

I am going to do 30 tracks and then were going to hone it down and choose like the 10 or 11 best ones and some of the other ones might be b-sides or whatever, you know.

Its quite varied so far, but its hard to get an overall picture of what it is going to be like at the moment, because I am kind of still writing and still enjoying writing. And it will all change again when the vocals get on it.

On the last record [Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned] you wrote mostly on your own and you didnt play live at the time, whereas now youre obviously on tour and youre together with the other guys most of the time. How does that influence your writing?

Its wicked, its back on the road, getting inspirations from the gigs, you see clearly what has to be done when you play live. It kind of reminds you of what youre about. But we havent been playing any new stuff just because of the Internet thing.

And the other thing is we usually play in sound checks, but we havent been at any sound checks because they are festivals, so we havent had the chance to play any of the new tracks, which is a shame. It is going really well, it is going much better, much quicker than the last record. And were really enjoying it, its not difficult so far, it has been really fun.

You said because of the Internet thing youre not playing live.

None of the tracks youve heard so far are going to be on the album!

Does that include the Hurricane Heatwave?

Yes, everything! Dead Ken beat maybe, dont know Maybe .

How come Dead Ken Beats, for example, cant make it on the album, is it just not working in the studio?

No, I wouldnt say that. Maybe that is one of the few tracks that were all. It might elevate into something else but so far we havent been able to put any vocals on that that made it the good track that it deserves. So I havent decided what I am going to do with that track yet.

I love it!

Yeah I know, I love it, its brilliant!

How about Warning, youve been playing that live for almost 2 years now?

Warning is a good live track, Warning instrumental is going on a film which I cant talk about yet. It is an in-between albums track. Ive put it on a film, really cool. It is actually a British film with American actors in. Its about all these hitmen that are trying to attack this place at one time. But it is still under wraps so I cant tell you much about it really.

And that Heatwave track that you played at Brixton once [December 2005] and another time at Download Festival [June 2006], how come you decided not to include that?

It sounds dated! That track sounds dated now, so that wont be going on. May tear it apart and use the best bits on something else.

You mentioned youre quite concerned about website downloads and all that. In the last interview we did [October 2005] you mentioned that you were going to upload quite a lot of old demos, like trigger instrumental and even much older demos

I am definitely going to do that. Hahaha! People dont believe me anymore do they? But I am going to do it for sure. I am going to put all the old demos up. Yeah, why not put it all up?

Youre probably aware that there was an old tape around?

I dont know nothing about that. Hahaha.

It was real, it is basically like, it wasnt the original demo tape. It was some unreleased stuff that I wrote maybe during 1991. That guy basically used to live with Keith and he fancied himself as a bit of a fucking bongo player. And him and another guy played at a rave, I think it was in August or September in Cambridge with us. Somehow, and I dont know how cause I didnt say he could go on there, but somehow he ended up on stage with us and Leeroy gave him that tape with some unreleased tracks, maybe 4 tracks or something and the rest of the Charly EP. That was basically like his rehearsal tape with Leeroys handwriting on.

Within a month all the old demos are going to be up there.

I am not going to write that!

Mark my words, mark my words. It is true, honestly!

What were some of the names on that tape? Dr. Zupan was that on it?

One was Manic, I think

No, I dont remember that. Id been interested to know what that isit might have been Maniac, but not Manic.

[Note: the actual tape does list Manic as a track]

They are all old; they are all tracks I did after the first EP, sort of like Pandemonium time. 

The new album in the making, have you got like a timeline when it is should be ready, or when you think it may be released?

I want to release it for summer next year [2007]; that is my plan. Its feasible at the moment, anything that fucks up with that is like If it was the matter to deliver it to the record company and it could be out in a month then that would be fine but they want 3 months notice, they want 3 months lead time to promote it, so thats the thing that could delay it if it went over.

It seems to be written quite quickly at the moment. When I write an album it has to feel like its got like some kind of connection between tracks, that it has got an angle, its got a sound. But lots of tracks Ive written so far are kind of like one is pulling in one direction, one is pulling in another. I dont think Ive written an integral track that is shaping the whole album yet, that is why I am carrying on writing. Ive written some good tunes but I am still fighting for the track that is going to be the leader, you know what I mean? Or the shaping tune, the tune that shapes the album.

When I wrote Spitfire on the last record I thought, yeah that gives the album [Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned] the kind of element, the edge and aggression that I wanted. Firestarter was obviously the one before [The Fat of The Land] and Poison was maybe the one on the other one [Music for the Jilted Generation]. Because we havent finished tracks with vocals yet, I dont think weve come across that track for this record yet.

So you havent done any vocals yet or you havent finished any?

Weve done a few vocals, were still doing it, were still writing. It is a long process, it is not quick. It is also hard to get everyone in the studio at the same time.

Are you planning on doing collaborations again on this album?

No, I dont think so. Maybe, maybe, but Ive got no one in mind at the moment. Definitely not doing any rap collaborations, no Kool Keith on this record! Maybe there might be collaborations in smaller ways, some musicians and stuff like that. I dont really want any major collaborations.

Are there any specific influences for this record, you mentioned it was more garagey, 60s

Some of it is quite psychedelic in a way, not in a Chemical Brothers way, but more in a 60s kind of way. I cant really explain, it is fast, really fast! It sounds like a band. It is definitely not breakbeat or drumnbass or any kind of thing. It just sounds like Prodigy.

Are there any specific bands that influence you?

No, not really. There are bands out there that I really like but Ive been listening to old stuff you know.

Youve been playing a quite similar setlist for a while

I apologize about that! Haha!

Yeh, I was going to ask about that one

Yeah, forget about that, I lied because I was drunk, I got excited! So basically we are not playing any new tracks there. That is the last gig were playing in England so the next gig we do in England well be playing new stuff. Thats the last time of people seeing us like this. Maybe well put some other tunes we havent played in a while in. Might put Rhythm of Life in or shit like that, I dont know yet.

Were definitely not playing any new material. No way. I just get really disheartened when people like if we havent finished a track yet and were just trying these ideas out and we used to be able to do that and it used to be no backlash, but now things are torn apart and I fucking hate that. It is not good for a band.

Once we are 95% finished and we are really sure of it in our heads and we know it is going to be out within the next few months then that is the time to drop it and were going here we are, that is it!. If like tiny things have to get changed like arrangements or shit like that, you know that is fine. But like not when we are just trying things out. Maybe there might be few little beats and shit flying around but nothing major. Not yet, it is too early, no point in playing a year ahead of when the album is coming out you know with new tracks, that is silly.

Do you think the new material that youve been writing is as compatible with your live show? 

It is always designed for live, maximum impact is live. The album is fucking going to be exciting. I am really excited about it, do you know what I mean? It is going to easily piss on the last album!

Basically this is to inform people were still fucking alive and we still give a shit, you know? Weve been working our asses off and when youre writing a record it is like were totally in that mode You kind of go into selfish mode and not thinking about anyone else. It is like we should actually have someone run our website who keeps people updated and gets quotes of us up every month of what is going on and that type of shit.  So that is what we intend to do.

We are probably going to take the website down in about 3 or 4 months and then have a new one so it builds up to the new album.

Its hard talking about a record when its so far in advance. We are in the studio, were hearing it all the time, its shaping itself as the months go by. Last month Ive been in there quite a bit, the month before I was on holiday, now we are on the road and other shit going on. Its like some months it slows down. A Prodigy album takes a fucking long time to get written, it does. It is not like a band goes and writes and records. Since its mostly me doing it, if I dont go in there, it doesnt get written, that is that!

Are you going to keep playing live until the album is out?

No. By November people wont see us for a while. There is no point in playing until we have the new shit prepared and then we get back out again. Because otherwise well just be doing shit gigs, no point, do you know what I mean?

How have you been enjoying recent festivals or are you missing the small shows?

I like doing the small shows because you can get to try things out in the sound check. You can hear straight away whether you think if its going to be rocking or not, make some adjustments. It is different than in a studio, you start getting the perspective of it.

Festivals have been cool. I think as a band we feel really tight. This last couple of years it feels really tight. I checked some of the shows, some of this recorded stuff from years ago. We are much better now than we used to be. That is what I think.

Any recent shows that stood out for you?

Download was pretty mad. Isle of Wight and Download were two completely different gigs. Isle of Wight was really middle of the road. I was like fucking hell! There is one stage with 50.000 people in front of it. That was pretty like, I thought this is going to be hard to make this happen.

It was a great show. It felt like middle of the road, when I was walking through checking people out and you know it wasnt like Download where it was fucking hardcore or Glastonbury, it felt like a lot of normal people were there, you know what I mean?  Download was completely insane. I really love that, the chaos of it all.

We dont want people to get fed up with it. Because weve been lucky to be able to come back after wed done this record [Their Law The Singles]. I didnt want to do it.

Did you in the end enjoy it at all?

Yeah.I kind of fell out with the record company about it, because I didnt want to do it, but they kind of made us do it and then we got into it and said lets do it. But we were honest about it; we told everyone we didnt want to do it and then just made the best of it.

But at the end of the day, you know, the tracks were proud of, and if we wouldnt have done that, personally the relationships between the band members wouldnt have been as tight as it is now. We wouldnt have been able to go back into the studio have such a buzz with lots of ideas with such momentum and drive. So thats good.

Did revisiting your history inspire you to come up with new material?

Not really, no. Doing the gigs is the biggest inspiration really. Its really easy to see what has to be done. Playing the tracks really shows what works and whats good about the tracks and you get reminded of dynamics in songs and all that and then when youre in the studio its important to remember all that.

So whats a typical day in the studio for Mr Howlett?

Erm, usually get there about 12 and leave at about 9, sometimes working late. People ring me up all day so usually only at about 5pm the phone stops ringing, and I stop getting e-mails, shit like that. And then when Im on a real roll I work late but usually leave about 9 oclock. And just, write really loud music all day long!

How do you start a track?

All different ways. Sometimes Ive got a guitarist in the studio and we lay shit down, sometimes we have no beats at all and done sessions where its just guitars and vocals and writing songs in a more traditional way. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesnt work. Its really easy to change things, so if we just try and figure out what a vocal is doing if its with guitars and we may want to throw the guitar away again later and change it for something else. Ive done that on a few things and its been really good.

Other times, Ive been in studios in Ladbroke Grove and Ive been walking around going to loads of record shops down there. So Im in there probably a couple of times a week, buying tunes. But old shit, old weird 60s records and 70s type shit and whatever. I was in there and I heard this record, it was like this Mexican kind of track and I made it into a ska tune.

So, different ways for different tunes!

When do the vocals get written?

Yeah, were starting to think about that now. There are certain tunes I write for Keith, certain tunes I write for Maxim and certain tunes I dont write for either. Because the sample side of things is still important, you know, we still have respect for the roots and DJ culture. We wont do a full vocal album, some tracks wont have any vocals on, some will have samples, some will have both or one or two of them.

Is Reason still a part of the writing process?
 [Liam quoted this software as major help for AONO album in first nekosite interview]

Im not fucking promoting them anymore! 

They havent done anything wrong, Im just fed up withyou know, I still use it, but I also use Logic, Protools, I use Ableton, I use whatever is there really. Reason is good for getting shit happening quickly, but it doesnt sound like Logic or Protools, they sound better.

So either way, it ends up on Protools anyway.

Were hoping to get the album out next year, it wont be early summer. Lots of things affect when an album comes out.  All that is totally out of my control. When it is delivered, then I have done my bit, its up to the record company to do their bit after that.

[Interview is finished, but Liam doesnt believe I have no more questions]

Okay then, favorite Big Brother housemate?

Hmm Shabbaz! hahaha! No, I dont watch it, I watched it when it started. I cant be bothered with it. Does my brain in. I am more into Love Island hahahaha! 

Interview by Andrea Schnepf aka neko www.nekozine.co.uk  17th August 2006, Backstage at Gampel Festival (Switzerland). Thanks for help with transcribing to 'ant4000b'