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Like so many other bands in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, Snow Patrol began as a couple of bored university students with similar tastes in music and some time to kill.  But unlike most of these underachievers, the indie rockers actually found success outside of their college town, and have managed to secure a spot at a certain Asian rock festival. Hailing from either Northern Ireland or Scotland (depending on who you ask), the quintet began to enjoy international success with their critically acclaimed third album Final Straw. “Run,” the album’s most recognizable track, hit No. 5 on the UK singles chart, while the album itself peaked at No. 3 on the UK albums chart. Now the lads are set to release Eyes Open, the much-anticipated fourth album, in April. Before their performance at the Bangkok Rock 100 festival, four of the five members of Snow Patrol sat down with BangkokRecorder to talk about their upcoming album, British bands touring in the United States and the telekinetic power of keyboardist Tom Simpson.
So, how are you guys doing?
Gary Lightbody: We’re good. We’ve lost one member to a personal phone call from home and we’ve lost another one to jet lag. But the three of us are in fine, lucid-enough form.
Is this your only tour date in Asia?
GL: We’re playing Japan in a couple of days as well. But we’re trying to get back here very soon.
How was it working with Garreth Lee on your new album, Eyes Open?
GL: It was amazing. He’s a genius. He worked with us on Final Straw, but unfortunately he only had a few days before we started recording Final Straw to get everything together. But this time around he was with us the whole way through the writing process. So he helped right from the start. I don’t think we could make an album without him. [Tom Simpson returns from his phone call]
I’ve heard that on the upcoming album you guys use some bizarre, experimental instruments.
GL: Yeah. We’re using odd things that we’ve never used before just to make it sound unique in some way.
Nathan Connolly: They’re not necessarily in the forefront of the songs. It’s just kind of to add to the whole atmosphere of the songs.
So what are some of them?
Tom Simpson: Some instruments that haven’t even been invented yet. [Laughs]
GL: [Points to Tom] He was actually using the power of his mind to make noises.
TS: It was quite interesting to use instruments like harmoniums and stuff like that, to put that in the mix.
GL: Lots of little bells, lots of music boxes and things like that. We used a music box for a whole song actually.
You guys are sharing the stage with Franz Ferdinand at the rock festival. Is there a bit of a friendly rivalry between the two bands?
GL: No, not at all
TS: We actually get on really well with them.
GL: We don’t see them very often. It’s only ever when we’re actually playing that we see them.
TS: No, I bumped into Bob [Hardy, Franz Ferdinand bassist] just the other week.
GL: Oh, well, there you go then. [Laughs]
Do you consider yourself an Irish band or a Scottish band?
GL: Well, there’s more Irish people in our band than Scottish.
Paul Wilson: It depends on where we are.
GL: Right, if we’re in Scotland then we’re a Scottish band, and we’re an Irish band if we’re in Ireland.
TS: A Celtic band.
GL: Yeah, a Celtic band. But that gives people the wrong impression. You know, fiddles and shit like that. [Laughs] If we say we’re Irish, we piss off the Scottish people, If we say we’re Scottish we piss off the Irish people. I’m Irish, and he’s Scottish [points to Tom] and he’s Irish [points to Nathan] and Scottish [points to Paul].
TS: At the moment it’s two-on-two, but we’ve got our drummer upstairs, and he’s Irish and he’s big.
GL: I guess because we lived in Scotland for so long - it’s been 10 or 11 years now - we get called a Scottish band a lot more than we get called an Irish band. To counterbalance that, we will generally say we’re Irish. Because people will generally get it wrong anyway most of the time. The amount of times we’ve been called … God knows what…from various countries. We’ve been called from France before.
Along the lines of Scottish bands, are there any more Reindeer Section albums in the pipeline?
GL: I would love to do another album, and I know quite a few of the people that were involved in the albums would like to do it again. It’s just finding the time, I guess. There’ll be another one soon, when we have some time off.
 Were you surprised that Final Straw broke into the American music market?
GL: I think that in America the main thing you need, apart from making a good album, is touring. A lot of British bands are scared of the sheer size of the place. They’re scared by touring. They go to New York and L.A. and they think they’ve ‘done’ America. Very early on, we realized that we would use the U2 blueprint. As in, you tour your fucking ass off for as long as possible until something sticks. We did like five tours in a year in America, and every time we went back we played a bigger place and to more people. In New York now we play for 5,000 people, and that’s from a year of touring. It’s very important to understand that America is a collection of states, not one single country with a radio station you can just go out and play. We understood that very early on. Now a lot of British bands understand that. You get bands like the Futureheads, Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. They all tour extensively [in America]. That’s why a lot more British bands are getting recognized. We’re going to capitalize on our own success by being over there. But it doesn’t hurt that there’s other British bands over there as well, because maybe sometimes Americans don’t trust British bands as much. We kind of got that impression in some places that we went to, that we were just this eccentric group of British guys.
Was there any place in America that stands out in your mind where the audience was very receptive to you, and you didn’t even think you had any fans there?
NC: Tulsa
GL: Yeah we showed up in Tulsa--
Really? That’s my hometown.
GL: Oh is it?
Yeah, you were at the Cain’s ballroom, right?
GL: Yeah, we turned up there and the place was jammed, and the place was jumping.
PW: And everybody just went for it.
GL: Everybody was singing the words. And we were going, ‘we’ve never even played here before.’ They were awesome.
TS: We were all real surprised about it.
OK, I’ve got to ask because I’m curious. “Get the Balsamic Vinegar … Quick You Fool” from your first album, can you please tell me the story behind that song?
GL: That song was written about somebody I used to share a flat with at university who was … I don’t even like saying it…she was a bitch. She was. She was just a devil woman. The song ends with the line, “you’re a crazy fucked up bitch.” And she was. It was written during a stage in my life when I was pretty angry. I’m not anymore. None of that same anger. I don’t think I can topple governments or anything, so I’ve realized the futility of life in some ways and it’s made me calmer. But at the time, I was ready to fight everyone that touched me off. Not physically because she was a woman. I’d fight with words. But yeah, she was a right piece of work.
How are you guys involved with the Make Poverty History organization?
GL: We were approached around the same time that we did Band Aid 20. Those same guys gave us some information and some armbands. Then I got a lot more involved in it and started to speak out for the cause in newspapers. We’re going to Africa this year and actually see for ourselves, because I don’t think you can really speak out with any great authority unless you’ve actually seen it first hand. As a band, we do have a large social conscience, I think. But you have to be careful about the line you walk between music and politics. We try not to mix the two. Unfortunately, the reason why people want us to speak out is because the band’s become more successful. So therefore, you can’t really separate the two very easily. But we do it in such a way that, lyrically we don’t ever jam politics down peoples’ throats. When we’re talking specifically about that we don’t crowbar it into interviews. I’m just telling you why, so I’m not going to start preaching to you.
Interviewed by Eric Taylor
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