Interview with… Preston (The Ordinary Boys)

1. Hi Preston, how are you? What are you up to right now?

I’m waiting for some coffee to brew and listening to records with Louis before we set out to practice.

2. You’ve just announced a brand new headline tour what can fans expect to experience at one of your shows and how does it feel to be hitting the road again?

We always took pride in the energy of our early live shows and we have found the excitement to give people that experience again! Moshing and singalongs are always very much encouraged and the new songs that we will be playing are our fastest and loudest yet.

3. What is your favourite song to perform live?

We always open with Over the Counterculture which is the opening track from our first record. I like to think that this was the first Ordinary Boys song that a lot of people ever heard and will continue to be.

4. When you’re not performing what do you do to keep yourself busy when you’re on tour / on the road?

I have a studio and write songs for other people. I have recently written songs with John Newman, Chloe Howl and Cher. I’m also into Table Tennis in quite a big way.

5. What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

We played with Weezer in a baseball stadium in Japan in front of 40,000 people. That was fun. I remember a gig we played very early on at the Adelphi in Hull and it was before we had any real following. We somehow managed to have lines forming down the street and people were climbing the walls. We were at least double capacity and the whole gig was magical. I will never forget that one.

6. What was the first gig you ever went to?

I used to do a lot of acting when I was younger and I was in 2 music videos for a britpop/glam band called Kinky Machine. They invited me to see them in Portsmouth when I was 8 and already a big fan of britpop.

7. Which other artists are you listening to at the moment?

I like Modern Baseball a lot. They are a pop-punk/emo band from Philadelphia. There is a band called Nothing who are friends of mine from when I used to live in Philadelphia. They are a great heavy shoegaze band. As a band we have been listening to the remastered American Football rerelease. That is such an incredible record.

8. Which song do you wish you had written?

Baby, I love you.

9. Who would you most like to collaborate with in the future?

I like Sky Ferreira a lot. I hear Suicide and lots of post-punk references in her music. That would be a dream.

10. Plans between now and the tour?

Now we finish writing and record our album for a November release, practice for our tour, drink nice beers!

11. How did you get in to professionally song writing?

I was approached by Olly Murs when he was working on his first album and have written songs almost every day since then.

12. Have you enjoyed working with the likes of Olly Murs?

I absolutely have. I flew over to Miami to write with Enrique Iglesias. That was pretty weird.

13. How did you meet your new member Louis and what do you think a new member will bring to the fold?

I was a fan of his old band Spectrals and met him when he playe
d with the Cribs who are friends of my band from the early days. I emailed him certain that he would pass but we met up and found out that we like all of the same music. This new tour and album would definitely not have happened if Louis hadn’t joined the band.

14. Have you kept in touch with all the band or will this be a reunion for you guys too?

I hadn’t seen Chuck for about 7 years but we have instantly picked up where we left off as best friends. It’s hard to imagine why we ever stopped playing music together.

15. Do you have a city you are most excited about playing?

Birmingham has always been very sweet to us and the crowds are always guaranteed to sing along and mosh their hearts out. We are very excited to return.

16. Can we expect any music from the band ahead of the tour?

We are finishing off our new record at the moment.