Terrorvision - Interview & Signed Test Pressing Giveaway

Terrorvision, living legends of Britrock and some of the greatest blokes in the business today release their new album We Are Not Robots, via their own label Total Vegas, in partnership with Townsend Music D2C+ and Absolute Label Services. As they set sail on their UK tour, bassist Leigh Marklew took the time to answer Townsend Music's questions about the new record and we are proud to have a test pressing of the album, signed by the band, to give away to one lucky winner.

Terrorvision are back! We Are Not Robots, the band’s first album since 2011’s Super Delux is a raucous and marvellously eclectic statement of intent; new music to verify their existence and refresh their legendary, incendiary live shows which still draw gasps and grins in equal measure. From the opening two-song punk tirade of 'Electrocuted' and 'The Night that Lemmy Died', and the pure, foot-stomping pop-rock of 'Daydream', 'Shine On' and 'You’ve Gotta Want To Be Happy' to the singalong melodic bliss of 'Baby Blue' and 'Opposites Attract', We Are Not Robots delivers a Bradford-certified punch on the nose, kiss on the cheek and the party to end them all.

TM: Your first album in thirteen years, We Are Not Robots is out today. Why is 2024 the right time for the return of Terrorvision?

Leigh Marklew: Hey, we have no idea if now is the right time for a Terrorvision return - there wasn’t anything tactical or strategic about this! After all, why change the habit of a life time?! What we do know is it is the right time for us. Without new music - to write, record and play live - it’s too easy to stagnate and then the fun starts to diminish. New music is literally the lifeblood. It’s like plugging back into the mains grid to get a recharge. It propels us forward to the next thing, brings energy and satisfies the creative itch.

"Judging by the reaction we are getting, seems there’s a lot of folks out there who are super happy we’re back with a new record" - Leigh Marlew

TM: In the excellent We Are Not Robots Documentary Short (streaming on YouTube now) new TV drummer Chris Bussey observes that the album “returns to the heavier style that Terrorvision came with back in the day”. When writing, were you guys consciously returning to a more rocking sound, or has that been a natural result of playing as a live unit for the last decade? LM: Ha ha... see above! Very little of what we do is conscious or planned. And that’s why our music is so beautifully/preposterously eclectic in styles! Chris is right, in that when we get heavy on "Robots", we get proper heavy. But that’s ‘cos we’re all rockers at heart. We grew up on classic hard rock and heavy metal. Rock will be a constant in everything we do because of that, but we have NEVER limited ourselves to bashing out 12 riff-based metal standards. There’s plenty of other bands out there who do that well enough. When you take into account the huge span of musical styles that we have all always been into, it’s no surprise you get something like ‘Baby Blue’ right next to ‘Electrocuted’ and ‘Don’t Spoil Tomorrow’ next to ‘Lucifer’.

TM: Speaking of rocking, we’ve heard a real mix of styles across the singles that have preceded the record, from the balls-out bedlam of ‘Electrocuted’ to the anthemic and hook-laden ‘Baby Blue’. Out of the album tracks that people haven’t yet heard from the record, what’s the song you’re most looking forward to having people hear and why?

LM: I think all the songs that we haven’t released yet will be a lovely surprise for our fans. There’s lots to love about ‘Magic’ - kinda like 'around the world' in a song - Spanish trumpet, Cossack dancing and even a snatch of Police-style Yorkshire-reggae. I already mentioned ‘Don’t Spoil Tomorrow’, which is a lovely chilled bluesy groove. ‘Promises’ is classic Terrorvision moody ballad and we finish the album with ’Shine On’ which is a ballad lyrically but bounds along on a pop groove and leans heavily into The Blockheads for its middle eight!

M: We Are Not Robots is produced by Rick McNamara of Townsend Music favourites Embrace - how did your partnership with Rick come about and what did he bring to the table for the production of the record?

LM: We were recommended to check out Rick by a mutual friend. We had little knowledge of his stuff with Embrace, but knew they’d had a good knock and inspired a devoted fanbase (a bit like Terrorvision). He had branched out into production so we said, yeah, let’s have a try out and see how we get on. Me and Rick had a long chat on the phone prior to meeting up, and he was instantly likeable and super friendly. And that’s how the first session went. It was so easy and lots of fun. He’s from the same place as us, so there’s a connection and sense of humour straightaway that we all shared. But yeah - he made us feel good about the songs we had demoed, he made us feel creative and comfortable in his studio, and he was just like "why don’t we try this" and then we’d go "yeah, that sounds ace, lets do more of that" or we’d all go "nah, that’s crap" and happily move on. There was no pressure, no stress. He also has some nice guitars that we used and an even nicer girlfriend (Nicole from Eevah) who sang some lovely backing vocals on the record, too! His line in lumberjack-style shirts is less impressive, and his propensity to eat air-fryer cooked sausages every day left us aghast. Top fella!

TM: We Are Not Robots is available on colour vinyl, cassette and CD editions on the Official Terrorvision Store. In today’s streaming culture, does having your albums released on tangible formats remain important? And do you still listen to music on physical formats in 2024?

LM: Oh, it’s all lovely, innit! Especially the vinyl. 12 inches square of lovely canvas to display your art. Studying the lyrics and the liner notes, slipping the vinyl out of the cover and placing it onto the turntable. The anticipation as the needle moves across. I miss those times - I haven’t bought a new vinyl album in 30 years - and I feel sorry that the last two generations missed out on that near-religious experience growing up. You can see how and why it’s coming back. It’s about connections and emotion - the human spirit needs art to grow and thrive. Streaming is amazing and ming-bogglingly convenient. But is just ain’t the same. Maybe I’ll check stuff out on streaming and then treat myself to the proper album from here on in. In the meantime, I still got my old vinyl collection to fall back on. Now then, where is that 'Animal, I **** **** * beast’ 12” single by WASP?