Lost Prophets: Lee Gaze

It’s been a little quite from the Lost Prophets camp the past couple of years. In 2006, they released their third, career-defining album Liberations Transmission, which saw them dominate the mainstream airwaves, and resulted in headline festival appearances, top ten singles, and arena tours.


Since then, they’ve been tucked away in recording studios and rehearsal spaces putting the finishing touches on their follow-up, The Betrayed, to be released in January 2010.

The band, however, recently released the first single from their forthcoming record It’s Not The End Of The World But I Can See It From Here, which flew straight into the top 20 in the first week of release. With plans to release a second single before January, and a national tour in the works for the new year, the band seem to be making a meteoric comeback.

Ryan Butcher spoke to founding member and guitarist Lee Gaze as the band prepared for a series of warm-up shows, including a stop at Lincoln’s Engine Shed on Saturday 21 November. Support will come from The Blackout.

YOU’VE JUST RELEASED THE FIRST SINGLE FROM THE NEW ALBUM: IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD BUT I CAN SEE IT FROM HERE. WHY THIS ONE AS THE PREVIEW FOR WHATS TO COME?

Well, it was kind of appropriate for the mindset we were in. We’ve been through so much crap recording this album, and that track always seemed to get us fired up. There are songs on the album which are a lot more mellow, but we wanted to come out with something different for a first single. Something a bit heavier...

WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT FROM YOUR UPCOMING GIG AT THE ENGINE SHED? IS IT JUST GOING TO BE A PREVIEW OF THE NEW MATERIAL?

It’s going to be a bit of everything really. There are some songs that we have to play, obviously. We’ve been rehearsing four or five of the new songs to try out on the road and see how they go down. But we’ll be playing stuff from all four of our albums.

OVER THE SUMMER YOU PLAYED THE RADIO 1 TENT AT THE READING AND LEEDS FESTIVALS, WHEN USUALLY YOU’D BE GRACING FESTIVAL MAIN STAGES. WHY THE CHANGE?

This year we wanted to try do something a little more low-key than just appear on the main stage again. It was a nice change for us, and for the fans as well. It was kind of a nostalgic tribute to the first time we played Reading and Leeds, which was in a tent. It was nice for us to be up there to just have a good time without any pressure.

YOU’VE HEADLINED FESTIVALS AND HAD NUMBER ONE ALBUMS. WHAT’S LEFT FOR LOST PROPHETS TO ACHIEVE?

We’ve been together since 1997, so there’s been plenty of time to go out there and strive towards our goals. But there’s always other things. We just keep moving the goalposts, really.

FINALLY, HAVE YOU HAD CHANCE TO LISTEN TO MUCH NEW MUSIC THIS YEAR?

I’ve not been listening to very much this year. I think it’s been a bit scarce on the music front. I really enjoyed both the White Lies and Friendly Fires records. Oh, that and the new Megadeath album - I have quite an eclectic taste.