Templeton Pek – 22-03-2011

Interview with: Templeton Pek
By: Nina Mende

Before their show in Stuttgart I had the chance to meet up with the guys of Templeton Pek. It was their fourth time in Stuttgart. They have been touring through Germany as support acts for bands like Itchy Poopzkid in bigger venues. The after show parties of one of these shows has actually even been in the very venue Templeton Pek was playing tonight. Itchy Poopzkid was taking Templeton Pek along on tour through Germany, while Templeton Pek took Itchy Poopzkid along on tour through England. But this interview was not about Itchy Poopzkid, so on we go:

It was day five of the Templeton Pek tour. Halfway through the tour the guys were still pretty fit. This was their first headlining tour and it was exciting to see how many people remembered Templeton Pek from the times of being a support act and came out. Some even knew the songs by heart and sang along. Venues were small, so the audience was small too, but this makes it easier to connect to the fans. It is a building process and Templeton Pek are taking little steps to build up a therefore strong fan base they are close to. They plan on coming back to the European mainland on a more regular basis now to keep it going and growing. For now Templeton Pek are just touring through Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Before this tour they just toured the UK and will continue when they are back, followed by festivals and then back to the mainland of Europe to run a second leg of touring.

Also, the band found it pretty surprising how many people actually had their latest record “Scratches & Scars” and could sing along to the new songs.

As well as many other punk bands, Templeton Pek also supports charity. For that Templeton Pek contributed a 30 seconds track called “30 Seconds Too Far” which’s donations will go out to the Teenage Cancer Trust helping young people fight cancer. The video to that is pretty amazing too. The band had a whole lot of fun shooting it even though it was freezing cold, it seemed to be taking forever – it took a whole day to shoot a video for 30 seconds – and there was a whole lot to be organized. A stressful and busy video shoot with an amazing outcome. The story behind the 30 seconds songs is that it was originally written for a compilation in the UK a few years back. Templeton Pek also added it to their live set and people loved it. After a big show in Birmingham the guys sat down together for a few beers and came up with the idea to release it as a single. From then on it escalated. Templeton Pek are also planning on doing stuff like that in the future, but nothing in particular is planned yet, so lets see what happens.

Templeton Pek have also been participating at Taste of Chaos in 2005 and 2006. It was their first longer tour covering a few months. It was amazing for the band to play along big acts that they are fans of themselves. The shows took place in arenas, playing in front of around 5000 people or even more. Taste of Chaos was the first time Templeton Pek played in front of big audiences like that. An amazing experience for the band. They also played Give It A Name Festival.

Templeton Pek is one of the bands that does videos for their songs. By now a few more bands are doing it again but there used to be a time when having videos to the released songs was rare. Anyway, Templeton Pek is one of the bands that does videos to their releases. With having signed a record deal Templeton Pek also wanted to shoot videos so they asked their record company if they could do it. Shooting a music video and feeling like a rock star. The first video shoot went really well, so they used the same guys for the following releases. Also the band believes, that with having a music video, you get noticed easier and the music spreads faster. Not only are videos more memorable but also do people just enjoy watching videos rather than listening to the music only. Further do people get an idea of what the band looks like and how they might act live. The ideas for the videos come from the band together with the directors. Templeton Pek will also continue doing it. The next video would be cool to be filmed in front of the green screen, the band said.

Back to the music influences, the band literally listens to everything. From Bon Jovi and Cher to Rise Against, Jimmy Eat World, Queens of A Stone Age and so on. The influences for the new album were not really bands they like music wise, but more the quality. Templeton Pek tried to create the high standard studio sound quality high production bands like Rise Against are using – and succeeded. I had noticed the brilliant sound on the new record “Scars & Scratches” too and was surprised as they told me that it was all recorded themselves in Simon’s little studio – in the bedroom, they told me – without any help. Knowing that makes the album even more brilliant. Low budget – or even no budget – for production and it sounds like the big ones. Amazing.

One last thing we talked about Templeton Pek being on the soundtrack for a computer game. The story behind that is a friend who is the music director for the video game and asked the guys if they wanted to be on it. Since it was in between the albums and there was nothing recorded yet, written but not recorded. Templeton Pek went into the studio/bedroom and did not leave until they created a song that would fit to the soundtrack. It took them a couple days, they sent it out and it got approved. Neal explained that it is another massive tool to bring their music out to the people since so many people play computer games and soundtracks to such will stick.

The future plans of Templeton Pek are easy: Touring, touring and more touring. Releasing a new album, playing at festivals and touring again. Their plan is to come back to Germany and such at least once a year. And then of course recording a new album, but that’s still some ways to go. Bands they would love to tour with are Iron Maiden and Bon Jovi. But honestly, they just love to play and would get out and play with basically anyone who wants them to play. They toured with The Blackouts. Templeton Pek added that they would love to tour with bands that are big in different countries.

The last words of the band would also be my words: Go get “Scratches & Scars”. It definitely sounds like a huge rock production from America, but it is “only” the UK band Templeton Pek. An amazing live band and also big on record. Check them out!

Many thanks to the guys for their time.

Links:
Templeton Pek Official