Interview with Hotwired

Critical Mass: Thanks for taking the time to talk with Critical Mass guy's. For
those new to Hotwired can you give us a little history on the group? How
did you get started?

Si: Hotwired are a Female fronted hard working five piece Punk band from
Norwich, England and their sound is described as 80’s punk rock, with
shout it out lyrics and fun sing-a-long choruses. Hotwired are Emma,
Vocals, "Sir Paul Hotwired", Guitar, Steve (Lead Singer of Contempt),
Guitar Si on bass,  and with newest member, Salty on Drums.I formed
Hotwired way back in 1999 I'd been in the punk scene since the early 80's
and i had always wanted to start a band and give something back, so I got
together with Dale and Becky and Hotwired was born we've had a lot of line
up changes over the years and more drummers than Spinal Tap lol,I'm the
only original member now with Paul being the 2nd longest serving member
joining in 2000.The line up we have now is in my opinion strongest we've
had giving Hotwired a great sound.

Salty: I've only been in Hotwired 18 months but what a blast, played in some
awesome places with some fantastic bands, and met the best people ever. I've
known Paul and Si for many years(used to go drinking a lot with Si back in
the day) and have seen Hotwired play a lot over that time and said to
myself if I got the chance to play in this band id jump at the chance.
This chance came when I was between bands and Si asked me to step in for
two gigs there drummer couldn't do, so after 6 hrs of practicing, my very
first gig with Hogtie was supporting the UK Subs closely followed but
supporting Vice Squad, what a fucking awesome start, I was asked to join
full time and I thought hell yeah sign me up, and its been totally fucking
great, best gigs I've ever played and the best being the rebellion festival
in Blackpool England.

CM: The bands latest EP "Fucktastic" just came out recently. Have you
guy's been touring a lot behind the new record?

Si: We got the EP out in time for Rebellion,and have been gigging as much
as possible to promote it. We have also been working on new material for a
new full length album which will hopefully be out in spring next year.

Salty: We got the Fucktastic EP out just in time for the rebellion
festival and have been pushing the EP at all the gigs we do in fact we sold
out of the CD and are now just about to get a load more printed for some
fresh sales and back orders.

CM: Speaking of touring, does the band tour outside of England? And are
there any plans to tour extensively in the new year?

Si: We've Toured Romania/Bulgaria and Spain so far and we're always up for
touring abroad so if there's anyone out there that would like to help us
out with a tour please get in touch

Salty: We have bookings for next year coming thick and fast with the likes
of "the English dogs" in Birmingham UK and in Derby with "Angelic
Upstart", this one is a two day punk fest with loads of great bands. Also
waiting to hear if we are gonna get to play rebellion again as well. As for
touring outside of the UK Hotwired have been abroad but that was before my
time but we would love to play in Europe and especially in the USA.

CM: Now you all release your own material independently. Do you find it
easier to release your records yourself as opposed to going through some
label?
 
Si: I've always been a fan of DIY punk ,and we can have total control over
our releases , but to be honest if a label with the right attitude and
deal approached us we certainly consider signing

Salty: As for releasing records, its all done by Hotwired, good old DIY
records, we are unsigned so not done the label thing just yet but more
than happy to if there is the right offer.

CM: What are some of the bands musical influences? And how do those
influences play into the bands songwriting?
 
Si: As a band we have various musical tastes which I think makes our sound
quite unique , I love all punk, a lot of 60's garage, Ska and some metal
bands I guess some of my faves would be The Ramones, Screeching Weasel,
Teenage Bottlerocket, Uk Subs, Exploited, Crashed Out, Subhumans, the
Restarts, The Sonics, Motorhead etc. etc.

Salty: Well I can only answer for myself here (salty) to be fair I was
always a rock drummer, loved punk but played in rock bands for years,
guess that might bring something different to the mix, maybe a different
sound or style to the Hotwired drummers before me I guess I don't know. As
for my musical influences, Social Distortion, Metallica, One Minute
Silence, Motorhead, Rancid, could go on and on I guess.

Emma: For me is I guess All female vocals (its still quite a male
orientated industry there's always more male bands than female so when
female singers shine through my ears prick up )
oh and although we don't sound like them The Exploited and English Dogs
are influences to me for their attitude and support and belief in me
especially from Wakey (English dogs) who is so much fun to watch perform.
I like women in bands who put the sexy flirty in to punk lol

Sir Paul- Exploited, Conflict, Discharge, etc.

CM: Is there a specific person in the group who writes the songs? Or is a
group effort?

Si: Its a group effort really, Me and Emma tend to write the lyrics then
we all work on the music.

Salty: Recon its a group effort really.
 
CM: Are your albums released here in the states or are they import only?

Si: Import only, but we would love for them to released in the States.

Salty: Import only, unless some nice record company want to sign us up.

CM: Any plans on coming to the U.S. for some shows in the near future?
 
Si: We would really love to come play in the States so if any promoters
wanna help us out with some gigs over there please get in touch

Salty: Hell yeah. Tell us were and when and we will be on the next flight to
the U.S to play them gigs.
 
CM: Is there a website you guy's wanna plug where we can get up to date 
news on gigs, new releases and merch?

Si: Yeah, our website. We also have a MySpace and Facebook 
profiles.
 
CM: Thanks again for talking with with Critical Mass. It's great to see 
good old fashioned punk rock is still alive and well in England. 
I hope we can get you all over here for some shows next year. Thanks again gang!

Si: Thank you for the interview, and for your support, really hope we can
come over and do some shows for you guys in the future. Cheers n Beers