The Hot One Two Talk Debut Album, Favourite Instruments And More

Five-piece rock band The Hot One Two have released their debut album ‘Superbia’ which is out now and will perform at Maid Of Stone Festival 2024. The band kindly chatted to us about the new record and more:

Who is in The Hot One Two and what do they play?

We’re The Hot One Two, a 5 piece, hard rock band that are here to bring energy and passion into not only our music releases but also our live shows! Led by our frontman Simon West. Held together by our rhythm section – Nick Blackburn on Bass, Joe Chivers on Drums and Kev Baker on Guitar. A sprinkle of guitar ontop by our Lead Guitarist Nick Manners.

When and how did you all meet?

Joe, Nick (Blackburn) Go way back to early school days. They met Manners in Guildford at The Academy of Contemporary Music whilst undertaking a degree. A few years later and many a function gig played The Hot One Two was formed and Simon West headed up lead vocals. After going through the turnstile of rhythm guitarists, Kev Baker joined to finish the 5 piece we are today.

Your debut album ‘Superbia’ is out now. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

Some of the songs had been written when we first started the band and have been a main stay in the set for a long time now but the large portion of the album was made over lockdown. Many a night was spent on zoom penning lyrics, juggling riffs and crafting solo’s. I’m not sure we’d do exactly the same again as Covid forced our hand to write that way but it was certainly an experience and one that has crafted something we’re really proud of.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

The large majority of it was at North Acre Studios with Jake Day. He’s a fantastic producer. He always brings something to the table and always has the songs best interest at heart. We’ve loved working him and would absolutely go back.

Who created/designed the album artwork?

We worked with Freddie Mckie of 911 Designs. He’s a seriously talented artist and he helped bring our concept for the album together beautifully. We know we wanted to base the singles off of the 7 deadly sins and he ran with that and came back with an incredible design for not only the album cover but also the 6 singles that went with it. It all ties together beautifully.

You have also previously released the single ‘Fray’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

We didn’t have too much story going in to it but writing over lockdown may have had some deeper meaning. Going in the unknown, a lot a horrible happening around us.

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind it and who did you work with on it?

When we sat down to story board the video a lot a war and combat images jumped out at us. It became a pretty clear theme the further down the song we went and felt going into the fray – the unknown, seemed a pretty good direction to go down. We were fortunate enough to work with Kris Barras who shot, produced and edited for us. He brought a lot of the ideas to life and we’re thrilled to have been able to work with him. We were also privileged to work with Daniel Husdon, singer The Forsaken but also a person who’s struggled a lot with in the past with drugs and he brought a sense of realism to the whole shoot.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

A student of mine (Manners) recommended a fictional book called Utopia Avenue by David Mitchel to me a few years ago. Gave it a read last year and it’s all about this British band rising up in the 60’s. I feel if that was adapted to screen it would be a pretty awesome flick to write music for.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

Both guitar slingers love their Les Paul’s and there’s a good few tracks that you can watch live and see them back to back. Nick (Blackburn) has a pretty phat bass overdrive pedal from Darkglass and Joe’s got a beauty of a Snare that I’m sure he would care more for than a child if he had one. Simon uses Shure microphones and has done since he first started singing, just now they are wireless

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Cambridge – Historic / Beautiful / Green / Busy / Touristy

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?

We have a very busy festival season and a pretty extensive tour towards the end of the year where we’ll be heading up and down the UK, we were fortunate enough to be asked to join Welsh Rockers Scarlet Rebels on an 11 date back to back tour of the UK in October, as well as some of our own headline shows supporting the release of our debut album ‘Superbia’ running from October all the way through to December finishing with a sold out show at club 85 in Hitchin on December 30th!

Which of your new album tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Feeling good – no explanation needed really, this tunes about having a good time and partying with Friends

Is It Hot? – Definitely one for cranking the volume up and smashing the accelerator….at least that’s what some fans have said.

Something Real – It’s a bit a change of pace on the album with a clean, soft drawn out intro. Definitely reflective.

Was it a difficult album to write?

Honestly, that’s a pretty tough question. Having not written one before we have nothing to compare it too really! I guess looking at songs individually some of them definitely came together easier than others. For example, for Tie Me Down we had most of the music written, the majority of the lyrics came together in one rehearsal (which also happened to be Simons first ever rehearsal with THOT) and the guitar solos were put together in the studio during a recording session. Whereas the music for You’ve Got It took over a year! It was written until the end of the second Chorus but we didn’t know where to take it after that, we kept revisiting the song and eventually found something we liked. Next up we have the challenge of the notoriously difficult second album, but we’re always up for a challenge and have some great ideas in the pipeline for the follow up to Superbia!

How do you look after your voices?

Guinness mainly, in large quantities. Must be the iron that keeps us strong! Obviously, warming up your voice is essential, but you also need to cool down your voice after singing, that’s the key.

What makes The Hot One Two happy and what makes you unhappy?

Getting out and gigging I think has got the be at the top of the list for us. We love going to new venues and playing alongside other fantastic bands. We love meeting new people, new fans. It’s a surreal feeling playing a show and having a load of people sing your lyrics back to you. That’s becoming a real favourtie part of our show.

Unhappy – Hours in the van can be a bit tedious for us. Don’t talk to Joe if he’s not had anything to eat in 5 hours and tread carefully around Nick (Blackburn) if he’s had a bad nights sleep! Other than that we’re a pretty easy going bunch of friends that just enjoy doing what we’re doing!