It's been a long old road for Dinosaur Pile-Up. Twelve years long, to be exact. In that time they've been through line-up changes, released three studio albums and toured America in the back of an RV for far longer than three grown men should spend living in what is essentially a big campervan. "We did about 140,000 miles in it in the end!" laughs lead singer and guitarist Matt Bigland.
After the release of last album ‘Eleven Eleven' in 2015, the band toured almost non-stop, taking in "the US, Japan, India, Europe and the UK, and some of those more than once." After a well-earned break and some time in the studio, we caught up with them in a South London pub that was blasting Little Mix on a Wednesday afternoon to discuss the new album, signing to a major label and which bottled water is best (Evian wins, "the champagne of bottled water brands", apparently).
Not only is the new album getting a better-timed release, but it's also the band's first on a major label, after signing with Parlophone. "Twelve years in and we're on a major, it feels awesome!" Matt enthuses. "We didn't write the album signed to one, and there was probably the least amount of certainty we've ever had while writing something. We had management and So Records, who are an absolutely incredible independent label, and we could bounce stuff off of them, but in terms of money and where we were gonna put the record, who was gonna release it – none of that existed at all.
Mike nods in agreement. "It was like floating in a rubber ring away from this tiny boat wondering what's going to happen to you and then hearing this massive horn, turning around and a major label just scoops you up on deck. I remember thinking, ‘Fuck, we might actually be alright!'"
"That's it exactly," says Matt. "But this period of floating lasted for quite a while, and we were making the album with Larry Hibbert in his studio, which is this dark room in Brixton. The whole scenario could seem really bleak; we were fucking scraping by.
He pauses, before adding with a laugh: "Not that I'm saying it's happened now just because we've signed to a major, absolutely not. None of us have our own houses yet..."
Dreams of mansion-ownership aside, it really has been an uphill struggle for Dinosaur Pile-Up to get to where they are today, not least because of numerous line-up changes in the first few years of the band. Matt recorded the first two albums on his own, with Mike and Jim only getting involved with the release of ‘Eleven Eleven'.
"When I was doing the records on my own, it was just through circumstances really," Matt reflects. "I just got on and did it because I knew what record I wanted to make. Through touring that first record I met Mike and then Jim, who was in Tribes at the time, but it didn't really come together until a few years after that.
He takes a sip of his beer before continuing: "Recording together is really turned on its head versus doing it on your own; I still write the songs in the same way, but then we can each just learn our own bits and fucking nail them in recording. It's a lot less stressful and a hell of a lot quicker, I love it."
"Matt always says that when he was growing up, he got hold of his brother's record collection, listened to Blur and Oasis and just didn't like it at all," Mike explains. "Then he listened to Foo fighters and Nirvana and loved it. I think that applies to us all, we all grew up with American influences in pop culture and TV, and all the rad bands were American: Deftones, Foo Fighters, Rage Against the Machine, all American.
Mike and Jim both nod along, and Jim adds.: "We also basically lived in America when we were touring our last album, so obviously that has an effect. We were there for two summers, living the American dream. Bought an RV, drove ourselves around, got hammered while wearing shorts and baseball caps – the whole lot. Although everyone in America thinks we're Australian," he laughs. "So it clearly isn't all American influences."
"You've just terrified half our audience!" Mike quickly jumps in. "They're all reading this going ‘What?! Hip-hop?!' Don't worry, those Weezer and Rage Against the Machine influences are still there, please don't run away. If anything, I'd say they're there more so than on the last album. ‘Eleven Eleven' was quite dark, and this one isn't so much, it's really upbeat in a way that Weezer is, quite sunny and happy. Rage Against The Machine obviously aren't always happy, but there's a positive feeling there."
"We were actually soundchecking in Orlando when I wrote the main riff to that song – someone had just seen a massive fucking alligator out the window in the hotel, and I went down to the soundcheck with that on my mind and just started noodling around. I did this riff, and this stagehand dude was just so into it, so that was a definite ‘better record this!' Moment. Maybe that's a bigger influence, the stuff we do or the things people say to us, because I really don't listen to a lot of new music, I just like what I like, you know?"
"One of the biggest influences for me, come to think of it, was a chat I had with Andy from Turbowolf," he continues. "It was a year or so before we recorded the album and he asked how it was all going. I started talking about how I had no idea what to put on it, because all of the songs were so different – some of them were really fun and dorky, some were really sad, some were mad heavy... I loved them all individually, but I didn't think they'd gel on one record. Andy just looked at me and said ‘put whichever songs are the best ones on the record; it doesn't even matter'.
"Even now, we've frontloaded the album a lot more than usual, because you want the singles to be top of the streaming list," Matt explains. "Luckily all the songs are great, but the first few are the ones we want people to engage with instantly. I genuinely love every song, which is a great feeling – but it did make working out the order of the album quite tough.
"But then ‘Thrash Metal Cassette' wasn't really a single in the traditional sense, and the response has been absolutely incredible. It's great to still get a massive reaction when we're playing old stuff live, but also getting it from a brand new song? That's special. We've had people messaging us just to say how much they love the track and explaining exactly why, it's incredible.
Mike plays the role of re-assuring the fans again, clarifying: "But please buy the record, we do care, we love you all."
Matt laughs. "Obviously it matters to us, I'm just saying that if you're always sad about not making it to the big time, you're not gonna have much fun. We just wanted to enjoy ourselves a bit more, and I think that shows."
A final question, and clearly the most important one: Which dinosaur would be most likely to cause a pile-up? There's a pause as the band think (more deeply than expected). "Definitely a big one," Matt ventures. "Clumsy, quite a long neck, Brontosaurus maybe?"
Matt and Mike look at him, clearly impressed. "If that were an essay question, you would've won," Mike says, raising a glass in his honour.
Taken from the June issue of Upset. Dinosaur Pile-Up's album 'Celebrity Mansions' is out now.
