Interview With White Clouds And Gunfire

Way back in 2009 we introduced you to White Clouds And Gunfire, a cracking little band from Peterborough, UK. They had just recorded some great material and things were taking off when all of a sudden… nothing! We caught up with Rob and Jake to tell us all about it.

We last spoke to you guys in July 2009 then you disappeared for a bit, what happened?

Rob: After our last show at the Riverside Festival in Stamford July 09 we had a lot of heat coming our way. Unfortunately a few personal issues got in the way and we saw a few opportunities pass us by. Ben our old guitarist had other commitments he wanted to concentrate on so decided to call it a day with WCAG so the rest of us decided to take a little time off from gigging, search for a new guitarist and re-write our entire set.

What have you got on the horizon? Recording? Gigs?

Jake: Right now were are hitting the rehearsals pretty hard. We have just booked our first show as the new White Clouds in our home town of Peterborough on Friday 2nd September at The Met Lounge (sorry for the plug) so are getting the set tight and coming up with some entertaining visuals for the crowd. Other than that we are booking some studio time to record a new song or two and just enjoying being a band again.

Who are you recording with?
Rob: Well… He doesn’t know it yet but we will be booking in with Tom Savage of Jigsaw Studio’s just out side of Peterborough so Tom, if your reading were coming back! Stock up on the Jagermeister.

Well, I hope White Clouds And Gunfire are here to stay, so what’s the long term plan?
Jake: Were definitely here to stay this time round. We’ll be back on the scene from September, playing as many shows as we can fit in to our schedule in as many places across the UK as we can. Initially we’ll be running solo in regards to promotion and management but will be looking at getting together with someone in the very near future to help us on the way.

We also asked the band some of our random questions starting with, Strangest gig you’ve ever played?
Rob: That has to be The Cavendish in London. We turned up to find a little pub in the middle of a pretty rough area, quiet posh inside though with large fancy sofa’s and what not, image a movie stars living room and that’s what it was like. Non of us said anything but we were all thinking the same thing, “we are not gonna go down well here” Anyway the promoter turned up and took us out the back to another room where the bands were setting up, it was like a small auditorium with felt curtains, chandeliers and a disco ball… really good gig in the end, very strange though!

If you could choose one super power what would it be?
Jake: Id like to be invisible, it would be so much fun to move stuff about to freak people out

If you won the lottery what’s the first thing you would do?
Rob: That’s easy…… Id pack up the band and move them all to Los Angeles (all expenses paid of course), Id set up my own record label and work with young and up and coming bands, I’m sure White Clouds & Gunfire would appear on the list of newly signed artists.

What do you want on your gravestone?
Rob: Well its got to be something pretty Epic if its the last bit of text to be related to you. I guess something that’s going to bring a smile to peoples faces when they come to visit so I’m going with “Oh well…. There he goes!”

Ever been attacked by an animal?
Jake: Does Lewis count….?

Favourite Batman actor?
Rob: Well I like Christian Bale for Batman, I’m a big movie fan and love anything special effects related, Bale was lucky enough to get to play the role when CGI and movie making are at their peak.
Jake: Val Kilmer for me, I like the old school feel to him.

Hottest woman/man ever?
Rob: Wow that’s a tough question… Heyden Penettiere from Heroes. That cheerleader can show me her pom poms any day.

Most embarrassing thing to happen to you while in the band?
Rob: I remember playing one show where the energy was through the roof, me and our old guitarist decided to try an old stage move where one person bends down and another does a kind of barrel roll over their back and hopefully landing on their feet on the other side of them. Well as I lay on the floor of the stage I remember thinking “probably should have practised that a few times before hand” still, the crowd were entertained so I guess it wasn’t a total disaster.

What’s the best and worst part about being in a band?
Jake: I guess the best part of being in a band is getting to stand up on stage night after night with your best friends playing the music you’ve written.
Rob: I agree with that, the live shows are always the most fun. The worst part is packing the gear up at the end of the night and having to make your way home.

What would you rather be, Ninja or Vampire?
Rob: Definitely a Ninja, vampires are cool but I don’t want to be stuck in all day waiting for the sun to go in. Plus I’d get some cool Chinese ninja star things.

What’s the last album you bought?
Jake: Hmm, probably We Are The In Crowd’s latest EP.
Rob: I brought Kyoto Drive and The Morning Of split EP.

Most embarrassing clothing item owned by you or a band mate?
Jake: Well Lewis our drummer has a Man-kini that he likes to crack out at parties.

Best Tour story?
Jake: Probably the invention of a game that we cant name right now for censorship reasons. very similar to beer pong only with more players and more mayhem. You take many pint glasses and add as many different types of alcohol as you can find to each of the glasses, take many ping pong balls and start throwing them at the cups, you make a cup, you nominate someone to drink that cup. You really find out who your friends and enemies are in a game like this.


You can check out White Clouds And Gunfire on Facebook where you can also download 3 of the bands earlier tracks. The band are also playing a comeback show at the Met Lounge in Peterborough on Friday September 2nd, so if you can make it I urge you to pop along, it’s going to be a great night.


Photo credit : Danny Sambuca

About Paul Esp 190 Articles
Stalk me if you want, I'm cool with it = Twitter - @I_am_paul. Instagram I_am_paul20

3 Comments on Interview With White Clouds And Gunfire

  1. nice feature Soundscape, saw White Clouds a few times before they kinda dissapeared. Was at their last show at the Riverside festival and they really made the day for me, great band with alot of energy……. the boys are pretty hot too :p

  2. alot of love for White Clouds & Gunfire, saw them with Mimi Soya in Peterborough a while back and was very impressed, hope they go far 🙂

Comments are closed.