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 21 August 2008 21:08 BST

It's rock you can dance to and vice-versa, say Go:Audio

Thursday, 21 Feb 2008 17:44
Go:Audio's Woodchuck EP is released on March 3rd.
With their debut EP out next month Go:Audio are a band that refuse to be pigeon-holed when it comes to musical genres.

inthenews.co.uk's Lee Davis spoke to Josh Wilkinson from the band that opted to have an attention-grabbing piece of punctuation in their name

Go:Audio is made up of vocalist James Matthews, guitarist Zack Wilkinson, drummer Andy Booth and Josh Wilkinson on keys, synths and programming.

Their music has been described as "life-affirming power punk for the dance floor" by Big Cheese magazine and listening to Woodchuck, the quartet's debut EP out on March 3rd, you're instantly swept up by their rock/pop honesty.

Front magazine describe them as a "mishmash of all kinds that somehow works really well" and this mixture was summed up by keyboardist Josh Wilkinson, who said: "It's rock music you dance to and dance music you can rock out to. Pop-rock-dance."

As well as their fusion of musical styles, another facet of Go:Audio is the fact the band do not have a bass player. Josh said: "Basically, when we formed it was Zack, James and me – we had drums and bass on a laptop."

Rocking out on stage with drums thumping out of a laptop didn’t seem quite right, and Josh said: "So we felt we needed a drummer, that's when Andy came."

With drummer Andy Booth in place, the band decided to keep the bass electronic so it sounded dancey. As a result of this, said Josh: "We didn't feel we needed a bass player."

Go:Audio formed around four years ago when Josh was working as an engineer in a recording studio.

The band's early days saw them taking the time-honoured route of songwriting, recording and gigging.

The lads have also enjoyed the benefits of the internet as Josh said: "MySpace was huge for us. We're always on it, getting people to listen to us, and finally we got noticed. MySpace is just amazing to get people to listen to you."

Gigs are a given for a band at whatever stage in their career, and Go:Audio are no different, having started out doing acoustic dates in villages.

However, one gig during a recent tour did not have the best outcome.

As Josh explained: "The tour was good fun. It's weird, actually, as Zack dislocated his knee at a gig in Glasgow.

"Zack jumped up and landed in a weird way. We carried on playing but Zack had to be carried off stage. Basically, we had to take him to A&E so we cancelled the dates on that tour."

With Zack healthy once more, Go:Audio are going back on the road to play a number of university dates, and a forthcoming gig at the Shepherds Bush Empire that Josh is looking forward to as he said: "It's a really cool venue."

Go:Audio's debut EP Woodchuck features four songs which showcase the quartet's range. The title track is a nifty pop number whereas track two Forget About It presents the band's emotive side.

The third track, So Quiet You Were, is about relationships. Josh elaborates: "It's about when you're with a girl and you know something's up. You're talking to the girl you want to be with but does she want to be with you?"

Track four is called Doesn't Really Matter and was produced by remixer/producer Secret Handshake from Dallas.

Woodchuck started out a few years ago as Josh said: "It's a weird thing, when we're songwriting we get a good idea but we won't finish it. Woodchuck was developed about three years ago."

However, the lads certainly did finish Woodchuck which was put together at Britannia Road Studios in the capital and, said Josh, with a chuckle "in a barn in Kent!"

The four-track EP is released on March 3rd although the band intend to put out a separate release called Made-Up Stories sometime in the early spring.

Go:Audio have toured and played with Self Against City, Sherwood, In Me and Hellogoodbye.

Supporting the latter at the London Astoria was a highlight for Go:Audio's guitarist Zack Wilkinson, who was stunned by how many people were at the gig in comparison to the previous night's date in Exeter, where the band played to a mere handful.

In terms of who inspire Go:Audio, classically-trained Josh said: "We all grew up listening to different bands. For me, it's Imogen Heap.

"James is into All-American Reject and bands like New Found Glory, they're cool! Back in the day, my brother got me into Green Day.”

Looking ahead into Go:Audio's future Josh said: "We want to play the bigger venues and festivals like Glastonbury, and getting more people to listen to our music."

Lee Davis

The Woodchuck EP is released on March 3rd.End of story


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