Lancaster rockers Massive Wagons have launched their fifth album

Reporter Michelle Blade spoke to singer Barry Mills about curry, Lego and lockdown.
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Lancaster rockers Massive Wagons have a massive following in the city and their eagerly awaited fifth album has just been released.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the band who had to come up with ideas to publicise the album and make videos during lockdown.

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Singer Barry Mills says: “The lockdown was daunting at first because we used to work mainly out on the road and we were looking to put our new album out. It was a massive kick in the knees.

MASSIVE WAGONS 2020 Photo copyright by JOHN McMURTRIEMASSIVE WAGONS 2020 Photo copyright by JOHN McMURTRIE
MASSIVE WAGONS 2020 Photo copyright by JOHN McMURTRIE

“But you can’t let it defeat you. Social media is a great tool so we live streamed sets and decided to release the album whether we were in lockdown or not.”

They chose to keep their release date as planned (July 17) and they kept entertaining their fans with an incredible amount of content.

From the stand-out Lego stop-motion video “Bangin In Your Stereo” (youtu.be/00Sy9IYKtBg) to the launch of Wagons World (www.patreon.com/wagonsworld); from weekly fresh videos uploaded on the band’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/MassiveWagons/videos) to web gigs ( youtu.be/p3MGxJ3J3Ro).

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The band worked around the clock to adapt quickly to a new way of doing music, coming up with out of the box solutions to keep the Massive Wagons machine going.

Massive Wagons launched The Curry Song on Saturday but this was different to any other song launch because the band did a live cook-along on their Facebook page with a professional chef, so people could cook a curry while singing The Curry Song.

The band spiced up the track release by creating their very own curry spice blend.. aptly named ‘Rogan Mosh’ created with Mandala Express based in Newcastle.

Barry said: “The Curry Song, that was me, give me some music and work three or four sets of lyrics into it. People love going out for food or a curry and you can identify with it. It’s dead catchy and enjoyable. We have a friend who has a pie shop and we thought we could make a curry to go with the song, kind of a cook-along for people to do.

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“Our manager is mad for it, it’s getting the most out of the music. There is so much going on and you have to be a little different. I love playing all our songs, The Curry Song is absolutely ridiculous and I wrote it with a crowd in mind, people can learn it and sing along.

"If I had to describe our music it would be very accessible rock, with a Foo Fighters or Status Quo vibe, but with no screaming lyrics.

“It appeals to a wider audience. Our success has been amazing and the people have been so supportive.

"When everything kicked off with the mural on the wall in Lancaster, (a large mural of their new album cover on the side of a pub wall initially condemned by the local council but a public outcry led to the council reversing their decision and allowing the art to stay) everyone has had our back.

"It was amazing. We love Lancaster and it’s a great place. We are hoping for a top ten place for this album.”

Buy the album on vinyl or digipak CD at earache.com/wagons.