The AGP Presents: An Interview with
Adam Thompson of We Were Promised Jetpacks

Since first having the pleasure of hearing These Four Walls, the debut release from Glasgow's We We Were Promised Jetpacks we've been counting down the days until the band would make it's live debut in our city. The day has finally arrived and the excitement around here is mounting.

We Were Promised Jetpacks were formed in 2003 by high school friends Adam Thompson (vocals/guitar), Michael Palmer(guitar), Sean Smith (bass), and Darren Lackie (drums). The band moved from Edinburgh to Glasgow to attend university and to be closer to that city's burgeoning music scene and in July WWPJ released their debut album via Fatcat Records and have since received heaps of well deserved accolades both here in the U.S. as in their homeland.

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the pleasure of conducting an interview with WWPJ's Adam Thompson . I sent the questions over and Adam answered and e-mailed them back during some brief down time on the bands current U.S. tour.

Thank you to Caroline Barolla at Motormouthmedia for setting this interview up and especially to Adam Thompson and the rest of We We Were Promised Jetpacks for taking the time to answer a few questions.

The Ash Gray Proclamation: Have you been surprised by the positive response that your debut, These Four Walls has received from critics and fans alike?

Adam Thompson: Yeah, really surprised. Also with the amount of people who even care enough to say anything about it, good or bad. We all thought it would get some decent reviews, but nowhere near the amount of positive reviews we've received.

AGP:I read that you formed the band in high school, can you tell us how you went from playing the battle of bands to recording your debut album?

Adam: We started as band who played covers, as those were the songs we knew. When we first started playing together we wrote some original songs, but played a few covers to fill the set out. We were 15 or so, that's forgivable, right?

AGP: What was the recording process for These Four Walls and it does it live up to your expectations as an introduction to the band?

Adam: The recording wasn't that great. We were talked into doing it live in a room together, overspill and all. Which meant that the "feel" of the songs is this great raw live sound, but it meant the mixes were not good. Luckily Peter Katis was able fly in with his red cape on and fix it. We all feel the record is a really good introduction, but that it, only an introduction. Let us at the next one.

AGP: How did the Fatcat signing come about?

Adam: The guy from Is This Music? magazine in Scotland is great guy, I asked him if we could play one of the monthly nights they put on and he said yes. We then found out it was with Frightened Rabbit and we got along well. Eventually they mentioned to Fatcat that we were not so bad, so they got in touch.

AGP: You're currently playing some shows in the U.S. with fellow Glaswegians Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad, how have the shows been?

Adam: Great! Frightened Rabbit have just left us, so we're pretty emotional, but the guys from Brakes (or BrakesBrakesBrakes in the U.S.)have arrived and we're getting along well. The shows were brilliant. We weren't really sure what to expect but we've had a blast.

AGP:Do you have any plans to write and record in the near future, or do you prefer to enjoy your time on tour?

Adam: No, we quite want to have a bunch of new songs to play. Touring is great fun and all, but some new songs would be great. We've got one done, only the rest of the record to go!

AGP: Over the past few years the Glasgow scene was been booming with quality bands, who's next to emerge, any predictions?

Adam: Endor, Lyons, John B. McKenna, Dupec (from Edinburgh), Jesus H. Foxx (from Edinburgh), and Over the Wall.

We Were Promised Jetpacks play Great Scott tonight alongside label mates BrakesBrakesBrakes, and The Twilight Sad.



Buy These Four Walls at the Fatcat shop