Enter Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds chats with us about taking on the role of The Artilleryman in Jeff Wayne‘s ‘The War Of The Worlds’. Based on the classic rock concept album, which has sold over 16 million copies worldwide, the tour will hit arenas across the UK from March.
RS: How did you first become involved with this project?
ROU: Well, I was just as shocked to be asked as anyone. I got asked if I wanted to come down to Jeff Wayne’s studio and I remember being played the album by my uncle when I was seven years old or something. At various points in my life, I’ve gone back to the record and always had an immense reaction to it. It’s meant different things at different points of my life, and I’ve gained different things from it at different points. So I went down to Jeff’s studio and just had a long old chat with him, and was surprised to learn that he’d been following Shikari for a while, and said he was really impressed. That made the trip worthwhile enough in itself. Then he just offered me the part. I didn’t say yes straight away, because I was full of imposter syndrome and anxiety and all the normal stuff. I’ve never done any real acting. I’ve acted in our music videos and things like that. I’ve always been a great admirer of theatre and of drama. With Shikari shows, there’s a heavy dose of theatrics in there, and the plot of a set list is very important to us. So there’s lots of ways that I feel related to the theatre world, but I’m certainly not a native to it.
RS: It hits a nice middle ground for you in some ways – a theatrical production that takes place in arenas that you are already familiar with. It feels like a good fit.
ROU: The more I thought about it, and the more I spoke to Jeff, that was my thinking. As you say, it’s not the West End, it feels more punk, but at the same time it’s such a huge production. The fact that we’ll be doing many venues that I’ve done before feels okay. This is not too foreign for me, really. Also. speaking to Jeff, he said that, for instance, Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs had exactly the same reaction when he did the show. He was terrified, apparently, because he had no footing in acting at that point and then he came through it and performed his part superbly. That gave me a bit of confidence. I think Jeff and his whole team are clearly amazing at developing talent, looking at the track record of people that they’ve helped and been involved with. So after a bit of thinking it was a no brainer.
RS: It must be exciting to have another challenge like this. Shikari are always pushing themselves into new territory but this is something even more unexpected. You must relish that opportunity.
ROU: It’s something that I think a lot of us in our lives think about, making sure that we’re always at the edge of our comfort zone. We’re teaching ourselves. We’re learning new things. We’re developing as a human, you know, and I count myself immensely lucky that I’m in this position where I get to dabble, shall we say, in all these different art forms. It just fills me with gratitude and excitement. There’s so much that I can bring back to Shikari after being involved in a production like this. It’s an institution, something that has such history and such grandeur to it all.
RS: ‘The War Of The Worlds’ feels like something of a gateway rock album for many people, opening them up to the genre as a whole. Was listening to it as a child a formative experience for you musically?
ROU: I can remember feeling quite inspired by it. Every time I come back to it, since I’ve delved deeper into H.G. Wells and his other writings, he had such a broad knowledge, and he had so much to say about so many aspects of society. A lot of his writing is still really quite pivotal for us today. So that’s been something that I’ve taken away as I’ve come back to it now. But yeah, I think musically it was something that immediately grabbed me, because I was brought up on The Beatles, and so many of the melodies are reminiscent of that era. I felt even more nostalgic because it reminds me of so many of the the other bands, even like Pink Floyd and Queen, that I grew up around from the influence of my uncle and my dad. It’s a such a broad piece of art that I think has always been inspiring in different ways.
RS: As you mentioned, you have done some acting in music videos before, with ‘Arguing With Thermometers’ particularly coming to mind. Was a bigger acting role like this something you had previously considered?
ROU: Yeah, my brother always said that he thought I’d be an actor. I love character comedy and accents and the freedom and creativity within making characters. It is something that I’ve always sort of done. But I guess I never felt like I had particular talent within those worlds. So I never focused on them. But I think it’s something that I’m gonna do once I get over the anxiety of the amount of dialog that I’ve got to learn. I think it’s something that I’m going to really enjoy. One of the things I’m looking forward to to most is the costume day, getting fitted, putting on that early 1900s military outfit. lt’s going to be so much fun.
RS: Enter Shikari played live at Wembley Arena last year, fully embracing the opportunity for bigger production elements. Getting to be a part of another large scale production like this must be particularly exciting.
ROU: Oh, absolutely yeah. I’ll come away learning so much from their team. They’ve been doing this show for over 20 years so you’re learning from the best. I’ve never actually seen the show so I’m just excited to be able to see it again and again. It’s going to be such a majestic, grand thing.
RS: It is quite a good position to be in, coming into the rehearsal process without having seen somebody else play the part. You will be able to put your own stamp on it without the influence of anyone that has come before you.
ROU: Yeah, I’m sure I’ll go through at least the scenes that that I’m in and see what other people brought to it. Each person that’s done it has brought something different to it. For me, there’s a bit of apprehension about what I can bring to the character. Because on the face of it, he’s just a dreamer, and I think we can all see a bit of ourselves in him, but then he’s also a bit egotistical, he’s also a bit of a coward. He’s all these things that I think come within all of us. So it’s going to be great to reflect on moments when I’ve been all these things and bring that into the character.
Catch Rou in ‘The War Of The Worlds’ at the below tour dates. Tickets are on sale now:
MARCH
28 – HULL, Connexin Live
30 – DUBLIN, IRELAND, 3Arena
APRIL
01 – ABERDEEN, P&J Live
02 – GLASGOW, OVO Hydro
03 – LEEDS, First Direct Arena
05 – NEWCASTLE, Utilita Arena
06 – MANCHESTER, Co-Op Live
08 – SHEFFIELD, Utilita Arena
09 – LIVERPOOL, M&S Bank Arena
10 – NOTTINGHAM, Motorpoint Arena
12 – BRIGHTON, Brighton Centre (matinee and evening)
13/14 – BOURNEMOUTH, Bournemouth Int Centre
16/17 – CARDIFF, Utilita Arena
18 – BIRMINGHAM, Resorts World Arena
20 – LONDON, The O2 (matinee and evening)
Enter Shikari were recent winners of our Rock Sound 25 Icon Award. Get your magazine and exclusive merch bundles now at SHOP.ROCKSOUND.TV
