"Born in the sleepy commuter town of Harpenden, Herts, 'Aconite Thrill' came to being during the summer of 2001, formed inauspiciously from the ashes of previous projects - much like every other band." - Official Site.

First of all, what has the band been up to recently?

Well we have just returned from a “mini tour” of the U.K which was both enthralling and delightful. We met a lot of cool people, played some riffs and partied incredibly hard in Middlesbrough to name a few events. We partied so hard in fact that our trousers nearly fell down. Not quite but nearly! Apart from being silly on the road we have also just finished work on our debut single from our debut album “Recliner”. We’ve decided it’s going to be the track “Caspian Seaside Holiday” and the single also contains a second brand new track entitled “1000 Track Mix Tape” along with enhanced CD functions. The video for the single has now been completed and looks lovely even if we do say so ourselves! The single should be coming out on the 23rd May just before we go on tour with “Further Seems Forever”!

How would you describe your music?

We would describe our music as “eclectic “. Its heavy but melodic, widdly yet not to ridiculous! We like to think there is something in our music for everybody to grasp and enjoy. Describing ones own music is a dangerous game because we are so close to it we probably think it sounds totally different to what people on the “outside” think. We don’t really want to give anybody pre-conceptions about what we sound like so whenever we get this question we just want people to make an effort to listen to us and then make their own mind up rather than us trying to describe it and failing miserably. We guess its metal in the broad sense of the word but what kind of metal who knows!!

The media influencing young people is a big issue at the moment. How much of an influence do you think music has on today's youth? What kind of influence does it have?

Young people are affected by music in so many ways. It can stir their emotions, help them through a tough period in their life, lyrics can inspire them or music just in general gives them something to enjoy and perhaps work towards such as playing or working with music in the future. For some it’s an escape for others it’s a lifeline you know. Overall music has a good influence on today’s youth, some artists/bands do portray the wrong image, values or poor musical integrity but eventually the marketing bullshit that is inevitably associated with these people bypasses you and as you get older your music tastes evolve and develop so much so that you become pretty hard to be influenced by anything petty really.

Do you ever try and get messages across to your fans in your music, or try to persuade them to think a certain way?

No way, we don’t’ try to push any “messages” to fans. Will writes thoughtful lyrics and when people listen to them we guess essentially he is trying to say something to them or explain what he feels about a certain situation but its goes no further than that. We just want people to listen to what we play and get involved if they like it. You won’t see us standing on stage going on about solidarity for example and getting people to do clenched fists shouting “for the cause” or any of that malarkey! We are not a political band, scene band or anything like that. We just play! We love the support we get from fans and we appreciate their kind words but we don’t write for them or try to “persuade” them as such.

Have you ever experienced conflict as a result of dressing a certain way/listening to a certain music/being a part of a certain group? If so, what form did this conflict take?

Nope we have never experienced that. We as a band are very straight up. If somebody doesn’t like us then fair enough that’s their call, if its because we don’t look cool enough or fit in with whatever fashion/music is trendy at the time then we don’t care to be honest.

Have you ever been to a show/gig (either one of your own or someone else’s) where violence has broken out? Why do you think this violence starts?

We’ve seen a few fisty cuffs in pits and outside venues which is a bit pathetic really. A lot of the violence can be avoided and is usually a result of drunken idiots or some fool with a chip on their shoulder. It’s sad more than anything to see that sort of stuff going down when people are at a show to enjoy the bands and listen to music. Perhaps the violence starts because its deemed macho to brawl or it’s for some stupid principle down in the pit you know! Anyway who cares, we appreciate a good pit and its always entertaining to see good hard action going down but there is no point discussing the losers that just want to punch somebody in the face! Our advice is to stay happy, party hard and embrace all the fellow show goers around you.

People are represented / stereotyped in a certain way for the way they dress. Does this 'labelling' also happen to people for the kind of music they listen to? What are your opinions on this?

”Music labelling” does occur but in most cases it’s usually pretty accurate! For example if a person listens to loads of macho hardcore than it is likely they will be typecast with a range of bands that other people will presume they listen to …. however it is likely that the person will dig all these typecast bands because that’s the type of music they are really into and bands in a similar genre tend to have the same attributes as each other hence grouping them together in listeners tastes. It’s the same with somebody that say listens to Cradle Of Filth for example, you would presume that they listen to other death metal and probably dig the Goth side of life … it’s more likely that they do than they don’t if you get what we mean. But is this a problem, does it matter at the end of the day! Who gives a monkeys about who listens to what and whether labelling occurs. Labelling and stereotypes will always exist in the music scene, it’s not a new thing really.

What kind of music are you into at the moment? Any favourite bands?

Individually we all listen to such a different range of music its impossible to cover it really but on a group level we all appreciate a bit of Glassjaw, Botch and Dillenger Escape Plan. Mind you none of us are actually listening to them at the moment...!

What has the band got planned next?

We got a tour with American band “Further Seems Forever” starting on the 30 May and after that we start work on our second single release “Can’t Keep A Good Cop Down”. We have to do a video and record the second track.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to add or promote?

Well since you offered…..lets do a bit of Aconite whoring. Follow the steps below to improve your life;

- Buy our album entitled “Recliner” from blahdvd.com or any decent music shop.
- Buy some sexy merch from our website.
- Check out our video for “Caspian Seaside Holiday” on www.myspace.com
- GO here www.aconitethrill.com
- Buy a pimp hat at www.pimphats.com
- Don’t smash guitars up, its not big and its not clever.
- We promote healthy eating. Eat 5 portions of fruit and veg a day. Thank you.

Thanks to all the bands and promoters who have taken part in our 'Punk and Politics' Feature!