大象传媒

Reading's busiest band SixNationState have just completed 300 gigs in the last 12 months, but that hasn't stopped them from coming up with a unique album idea along the way.

The band, signed to Jeepster (Belle And Sebastian, Snow Patrol) will be releasing an album of videos - something frontman Gerry Del-Guercio says will keep their fans excited.

Read 大象传媒 Berkshire's interview with him here:

SixNationState's debut album cover

So what has the band been up to since the launch of your self-titled debut album?

"We've basically been touring. It's been pretty full on and we haven't had much time for anything else but it's been amazing and we are loving it!

"We've headed out to the continent for two tours in the last three months, both of which have been awsome."

How has the album fared so far?

"We've had some great reviews and done live sessions and been played on pretty much all the major national radio stations but we've found that for us it's been word of mouth that has sold the record.

"We've done near 300 gigs in the last twelve months and played with The Maccabees, Jack Penate, The Wombats, The Holloways, Blood Red Shoes, Pete Docherty, Babyshambles, Operator Please, The Rumble Strips, Vincent Vincent & The Villians, Sam Isaac, Eugene McGuiness etc, so alot of people know about us and we've cemented a great fan base."

You're now releasing an album of videos - what's that all about?

"Basically no one buys singles anymore. They cost a fortune to put out and are something everybody seems to do. So we decided to take the budget for a single and use it for the album of videos idea instead.

"It has been SO much cheaper to do. We recorded every video for the sum total of 拢200 and all that cash went on buying food as we are broke.

"We pulled favours left right and centre! Doing these videos has shown us that we have made a bucket-load of friends that will bend over backwards for us for free whilst doing the band.

"I think we worked out we blagged over 拢15,000-worth of equipment, services and skills for free.

Gerry in the middle

"It's also a new idea and every band should try and come up with new ideas. I guess we wanted to push what we were doing creatively and branch into films as well as music, kind of like offering the full package.

"It's something we now want to do for every song we have and will ever have."

Whose idea was it?

"Ours, the band. All of our ideas are our own. We are an old school indie band and thankfully don't have a major label breathing down our necks telling us what to do.

What are the videos like? Are they all different depending on the song? Do they use different directors?

"Three videos were made using different directors and all the rest were written, directed, filmed, produced and so forth by us.

"They are all very different. One of them is a zombie 28 Days Later-style video, another an old school silent movie type, another a stop-start puppet animation, another a live performance, another a cartoon and so on.

What was it like filming so many videos?

"Fun, crazy and sometimes difficult. We did seven videos in the space of three weeks!

SixNationState's bloodthirsty fans

"One of the videos was filmed in Greenwich park in south London.

"We had about 50 people turn up and we had to keep everybody there for about seven hours knowing they weren't going to get paid.

"All in all though it was great, making films with my best friends -听 it doesn't get better than that!"

Do you recommend other bands do the same?

"YES! Be as creative as you can and give your fans constant content so they are always excited about you."

Apart from the videos, what are the band up to in the near future? Playing any gigs in Berkshire soon?

"We're writing a second record, doing the Camden Crawl, festivals, more touring in Europe - all this for the next five months or so before we start recording again and start album two."

You see, we told you they were Reading's busiest band!

You can download the album of videos in May exclusively from: