Indie quartet Guillemots graced the stage of the Waterfront on Tuesday night, as part of their first national tour since their eighteen-month hiatus. With singer Fyfe Dangerfield enjoying a successful solo career in their time apart, there were initial concerns that the end was nigh for the band, and so fans tonight will no doubt be celebrating their return, expecting a set filled with songs from their latest album 'Walk The River'. I caught up with guitarist MC Lord Magrao and bass player Aristazabal Hawkes before the gig to talk about on-stage calamities, Norwegian band camp and star-studded collaborations.

Q: So, this is the penultimate show of the tour, how's it been so far?
A: Hawkes: It's been great, really good! Very enjoyable.

Q: Any particular highlights?
A: Magrao: We had a few accidents onstage with Fyfe, falling off his stool, I'd say that was a highlight for me.

Hawkes: Three nights in a row, at the bit where the drums and bass and everything come in during 'Lovesong', he sat down at the keys and the bench collapsed, and we all laughed. Hard. I think that was in Newcastle and Leeds, and somewhere else. You can probably see it on YouTube, it was very funny.

Q: How do you think Fyfe has found touring with a band again, compared to touring as a solo artist?
A: Magrao: From what he said, he did really enjoy his solo tour, but it's a different thing with a band.

Hawkes: It's a different kind of music as well. But I'd say he definitely prefers being with us. Of course he does!

Q: Is this it now for Guillemots? Have other members got solo projects coming up, or are you sticking together for the foreseeable future?
A: Magrao: Well we never split up or anything, we just took some time off, you know, and we all carry on doing other stuff, and we all do other things. Arista has some amazing songs she's been writing, but she never plays them to us, she's embarrassed, she only plays them if she's drunk (laughs). We had a night, and she was drunk, and she was like 'I'll play my song!' and actually it was pretty fucking good. Greg does a lot of electronic stuff, he does DJ sets, and, err, I kind of have another band with Greg but it's on hold. The one thing I'm focused on, the main side project for me is film. I'm actually writing a feature at the moment.

Q: And what are you guys doing for the next few months after the tour?
A: Hawkes: (shouting) Sleeping! Forever!

Magrao: Well I'm going on holiday to Australia straight after the tour, and then I guess I'll come back here.

Q: I heard you've been working in Norway recently, does that mean we can expect some new Guillemots material?
A: Magrao: We have, yeah, but that's top secret, we can't talk about that. Nobody knows what we're doing, we don't even know what we were doing there. No, we went to Norway, we had a friend of ours who has a farm which is like a recording studio, we put down some stuff to see what would happen. It was really good, we had a great time there.

Hawkes: It's just great to be out of a city and not having to get public transport, not just go to the studio and then go home. We all stayed in the house and cooked together, it was like band camp.

Q: You previewed your third album earlier this year in a series of secret shows up and down the country. Would you do these types of gigs again?
A: Magrao: Well, the secret gigs are quite nice to do, and touring can be exhausting. There are times when you're just too tired, I guess. It's been a long year. I'd say we wouldn't rule out doing secret shows again, but right now we just want to relax, and not be on the road.

Q: In terms of future material from the band, are there any collaborations you'd like to do? I know Paul McCartney saw Fyfe play as a solo artist, and they've been talking ...
A: Hawkes: Oh yeah, they did, they know each other... they're mates ...

Magrao: Well I don't have anything lined up, no collaborations really.

Hawkes: I think we've got enough ideas right now, with just the four of us. We did have a song we were talking about, that we were trying to do with Amy (Winehouse) but obviously that's not going to happen now, and that's sad ... sad to think about. So no, we collaborate with each other for now, there's lots of time for that.

Q: Finally, what can we expect from the show tonight in Norwich?
A: Magrao: With Guillemots it's always a surprise, so, err, expect surprises!

Q: I look forward to it! Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, good luck with the show tonight.
A: Magrao: No worries, hope you enjoy it!

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