Words / Interview by Natalie Blacklock
Since their formation in 2003, UK rockers Enter Shikari (Rou Reynolds – Lead Vocals / Synthesizers, Chris Batten – Bass Guitar, Rob Rolfe – Drums and Rory Clewlow – Guitar) have been relentless in their pursuit of creating innovative and boundary-pushing music, seamlessly blending elements of post-hardcore, electronicore (a genre which Enter Shikari are considered to have pioneered), and experimental rock to produce one of the most eclectic sounds of the last two decades. Alongside thoughtful and introspective lyricism that often addresses themes of social and political activism, technology, and the human condition, and elaborate on-stage production featuring lights, lasers and all manner of crazy things, Enter Shikari are undoubtedly delivering the ‘whole package’ on every level.
To date, Enter Shikari have released seven full-length studio albums including 2007 breakout record ‘Take To The Skies’ featuring the unmistakable fan favourite Sorry, You’re Not A Winner and most recently, 2023’s ‘A Kiss For The Whole World’, which debuted at number one on the UK Album Charts.
Over their 22 years as a band, Enter Shikari have been frequent visitors to Australian shores, playing their own headline shows as well as a stack of Summer Festivals including Big Day Out, Soundwave and now, Knotfest AU 2025 as well as a bunch of Official Sideshows.
I was lucky enough to have a sit-down chat with Frontman / Songwriter / Producer Rou Reynolds, to chat about on-stage antics, touring rituals as well as the band’s upcoming Knotfest AU 2025 appearances.
Hey Rou! It’s so great to talk to you! How you going?
I’m good, thank you. Yourself?
I’m great, thank you! Well, let’s get straight into it.
Enter Shikari are heading our way for Knotfest 2025 next week. So, how does it feel coming back Down Under? What makes Australia that special place to tour for Enter Shikari?
It’s one of the places I look forward to touring the most, and I don’t say that to every interviewer all over the world. It’s been so special for us since day one, really. We have so many connections with the country. Rory (Clewlow), our Guitarist, lived there for a few years as a kid, and we’ve got friends and family over there and the amount of memories that we’ve built up over the years, it just gets more and more exciting every time we come back.
It’s also because it’s so far away and on other side of the globe, it always makes you feel quite grateful in a real existential sense. It’s just like “Oh my God, we get to go to the other side of the bloody planet and play to these people”. And we have such a connection to these people. It’s always like such a joy, and the shows always full of energy. It’s amazing exploring for the few days off that we do get. It’s amazing exploring the nature. I think because we have such deep connection with the country, we love coming back.
I can definitely attest to the high energy in your live shows. I calculated it today, I’ve been seeing Enter Shikari for 15 years now.
Oh wow! Hell yeah!
And I’ve seen some pretty wild things at your shows. I’ve seen Chris (Batten – Bassist) get in the pit with his Bass and go for a bit of a crowdsurf and you climb countless speaker stacks! I’ve even seen you cop a Bass Guitar to the head, which was quite a great memory. I actually found the photo of it today.
(Shows Rou photo).
Oh my God! That’s incredible.
That was in Kane Hibberd’s Kanye Lens Vs Soundwave Vol 1 Book that I dug out today. It was taken at Soundwave 2010 in Brisbane.
(Shows Rou Book).
Oh wow. Oh my God! Oh, I’d love to get that. I’ll have to buy the book. Is it available?
I think it is. I have a digital copy of it that I found today as well. I can definitely get that sent through to you.
Oh awesome… If you could, that would be amazing. I’ve forgotten all about that!
(LAUGHS)
Photo + Book by Kane Hibberd (The Art Of Capture)
So, what can Aussie fans expect from your upcoming live shows, knowing that there is that element of craziness to your sets?
I don’t know, that’s the thing! Who knows what’s going to happen; it might be a really withdrawn, gentle, easy-going show or it might be the complete opposite as well with the jetlag? You never know what sort of mood you’re going to be in, or how ready your body’s going to be for the onslaught that you’re about to give it. I think usually it’s that whole thing of cyclical energy; we feed off the crowd and the crowd feeds off us, so it’s usually impossible to have a dry show, especially in Australia. We’re just going to try and build a really diverse set, hopefully have tracks from every era. We’ll have remixes, we’ll have some special moments in there. Yeah, we’re just really looking forward to the opportunity.
That sounds excellent! With the diversity in the set, is that a Shikari choice, or is that because you’re coming for Knotfest and there’s already such a diverse line-up of bands and you’re really trying to step it up and push the boundaries a little bit?
Well, I think the musical agility that Shikari has is something that we really hold central to who we are. So, whenever we’re forming a setlist, there is something in the back of our mind going “Have you included this side of you and this side of you?” It’s hard especially with a festival set, you know, you probably aren’t going to play the ‘ballads’ because maybe 50% of the people there probably don’t know you or maybe know of you, but aren’t really a fan. You don’t want to lose anyone. But, within that, you still want to introduce them to what you are in the broadest sense that we that we can within half an hour or however long a set is. So, trying to include a bit of everything is something that we always do, I think.
Nice! Having that holistic view of your setlist to capture the audience is key. With that in mind, I was very, very excited when I saw the Sideshows for this Knotfest run were announced. You guys are playing three Sideshows (Sunshine Coast, Belgrave and Newcastle) while you’re here and you’re going to smaller, more regional venues than what you would normally play. Up here in Queensland, you’re heading up to the Sunshine Coast and playing Solbar, which is incredible. It’s a great venue and I’ll be up for that show.
Hell yeah!
It’s really rare for international bands to deviate from going to the capital cities. How did that come about? Was that something that you guys wanted to do, to explore a bit more of the country?
Yeah, absolutely. I guess it’s just a different mindset. But, if we’re going that far around the world, I want to see as much of it as I can. And obviously we’ve been to the major cities many, many times. That’s not to say that we’ve explored everything within the cities, but it’s something that I’ve been banging the drum for for a long time, just wanting to see more places, wanting to get into those towns because it’s something we do a lot over in Europe – well, everywhere really. We try and play the odd tour where we’re just going off the beaten track, to towns that don’t normally get shows or bigger tours coming through. You know, not only is it sort of a political choice because we want to support the smaller grassroots venues, but it’s also a kind of selfish choice, because we want to see more of the country. We want to want to experience more, and we want to meet more people. Yeah, so for us, it’s a no brainer really.
Up here, particularly in Brisbane and even Queensland as a whole at the moment, live music venues are struggling, so anything that can push more people to get out and experience the nightlife is fantastic.
I have to ask, with the Knotfest line-up being what it is with such an eclectic mix of bands, I’m wondering is there anyone that if you could jump on stage with them and have a bit of a collab, who would it be?
Oh well. I mean, you’ve got to say Slipknot, haven’t you?
(LAUGHS)
I don’t know how that would work. I don’t know whether they’d like, you know, give me a mask or something?
(LAUGHS)
That could be interesting!
Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is such an awesome line-up that I’d be happy jumping up with anyone really. I mean, Babymetal’s always entertaining as well. Yeah, I can’t even – Polaris, Within Temptation. It’s going to be incredible.
Definitely. It’s shaping up to be a very big couple of weeks!
So as a band, you guys have been coming to Australia quite consistently since 2008. I think the first time you came here was for Big Day Out over our Summer.
You’re telling me, I don’t know!
(LAUGHS)
How have the Australian fans got behind you since then? I’ve seen that side of it evolve from the fan’s point of view. But, how have you guys seen it from being up on the stage?
I mean it’s always been pretty consistently great for us. My memory’s notoriously bad, so lots of things blur, but I do think Australia has been has been really good to us over the years. It’s somewhere that I’m still just as excited, if not more excited to go to. I think since the first time we played Good Things in 2019, since then especially, it’s felt like there’s just this real zest, you know, this real magic with the shows over there. Like I remember those shows so well and there was such an energy. And I think since then, it’s been really, really consistent. We’re super excited to see what it’s going to feel like again.
That Good Things run in 2019 was EPIC! Speaking of, I am curious about touring; coming such a long way from the UK and having such packed schedules can’t be easy. How do you keep things fresh? You mentioned jetlag having a bit of an impact on how things might play out before, so is there anything that you and the boys do to keep yourselves grounded while you’re on the road?
Yeah, all sorts. We try and do as much exploring as we can, you know, like getting out of the venue, getting out of the hotel, getting out of the tour bus. You know what? Getting outside is really key to just keeping yourself balanced. But then it’s hard because we’re so involved in every aspect of the show, in the production and the lighting, that often we need to be there for a lot of the day at the venue to check things and to make any edits or changes that need to be done. It can be really difficult, especially with the jetlag. Then if you’re on a big tour, you know sort of missing your home comforts and things and missing people.
Over the years, friendships have dwindled away because I’m never home and you’re dealing with all these kinds of negative things that aren’t really talked about much in interviews because people don’t want to talk about things that are… difficult or whatever. But usually when you step on the stage, you forget everything and you know, as soon as you lock eyes with people in the audience, you’re in a new space and you’re grateful to be there regardless. Not always, but like, 99% of the time, that’s the case. But yeah, I think we’ve got a lot better. These days, certainly in the last decade, we’ve got a lot better at looking after each other. We’re a lot better at self-love and making time for ourselves, whether it’s like meditating or yoga or just like having a nice meal that isn’t a fuckin’ rider sandwich or whatever.
I think those kinds of things are really important, otherwise it can get pretty gruelling. But, we’re getting there. It’s still a learning process. Even after all these years, you’re still kind of working out what’s good for you, what helps you, what helps the show, what helps the performance.
It’s definitely something that’s not talked about… that side of the music industry. I guess it’s not the glamorous part that people want to talk about, but it’s definitely something that’s important and probably needs to be heard a little bit more.
Earlier, you mentioned the production side of things. Enter Shikari have always had an element of production in their live shows, but dare I say in the last couple of years, it’s definitely stepped up. How has that journey been, exploring that avenue of your music and giving the show an ‘extra layer’?
It’s so important. I think even in the early days, as soon as we were stepping into like maybe 1000 capacity venues in the UK, we were like, right, this is a big space, what can we do with this? I can remember the first tour where we were offered lasers. And I distinctly remember being in the production meeting before the tour and they’d devised a few options; they said “Right, this is what the budget is, so you can either have like lasers or…”, I think it was confetti or something like that. We had to make some big decision and we were like “And… what would happen if we have both?” They said, “Well, you’d make no money on the tour”, and we were like, “Right, let’s do that”.
(LAUGHS)
There’s just something so within us that just wants to put on the best show. It’s such a rewarding thing to be halfway through a show, and sometimes we make sure that we have a moment where we can actually look out and absorb it. And those moments are just so warming. You know, when you feel you’re taking people on this journey, particularly as the venues have grown bigger, and as we’ve had more opportunities.
We’ll be putting our Wembley Arena film out soon, I think – within the next few months, hopefully (recorded on February 17th, 2024). That was probably the biggest, and definitely the most interesting production we’ve done. There was a lot of interactive things and yeah, interesting stuff. It just makes it so much more exhilarating. I think for us, putting on this majestic thing, it’s not just about the music anymore, it’s an experience. I think at the end of the day, you’re trying to make people feel something and if you can do that in more ways than just with the music, I think that’s something that we’re jumping into. We’ve never been afraid of the more theatrical side of things; it’s been an influence on our music and our live show forever. But yeah, it’s just really enjoyable.
It definitely shows in the product that you’re able to deliver. I’ve definitely had that euphoric feeling walking out of a Shikari show and it’s really cool!
Awesome. Thank you.
Finally, touching on your most recent record. Enter Shikari’s 7th album ‘A Kiss For The Whole World’ came out in 2023 and went number one in the UK, which is super exciting for you guys. Are there plans for album #8?
There’s music being made, but the plans are very much not set in stone. We’re not sure what we’re going to do with it, but we’ve got music on the way. You know, it might not be such a traditional album. Yeah, I don’t know, there’s lots of ideas.
What we’re definitely sure of is that we’re not even going to attempt to get a number one album again. There’s such a rigmarole and it kind of limits you in terms of what you can do with the release. To be chart eligible, you have to be very specific in how you release the music whereas we want to do more fun things, more interesting things, more progressive things. So, we’re not even bothering about that now that we’ve secured that number one spot finally. I think it’ll be a bit more of an interesting release, but that’s all I can say at the moment, because that’s literally all that we’ve got in mind. But the music’s coming along and we’re getting excited about that, for sure.
Well, that’s a nice little insight for us! The new record definitely sounds like something to look forward to.
Thank you so much for having a chat tonight. I’m very much looking forward to seeing you when you get to Australia!
Pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Looking forward to it.
Be sure to catch Enter Shikari alongside Slipknot, A Day To Remember, BABYMETAL, Slaughter To Prevail, Polaris, Within Temptation, Hatebreed, In Hearts Wake, HEALTH, Miss May I, Vended and Sunami at KNOTFEST AU 2025 or at one of their sideshows!
ENTER SHIKARI
UPCOMING AU TOUR DATES
Tickets on sale now via Knotfest.com/Australia
Friday 28 February 2025 – KNOTFEST @ Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne
Sunday 2 March 2025 – KNOTFEST @ Brisbane Showground, Brisbane
Monday 3 March – Solbar, Sunshine Coast^ *SOLD OUT*
Wednesday 5 March – Sooki Lounge, Belgrave^ *SOLD OUT*
Thursday 6 March – King Street Bandroom, Newcastle^
Saturday 8 March 2025 – KNOTFEST @ Centennial Park, Sydney
^Official KNOTFEST AU Sideshow
With thanks to Dallas Does PR
