Hills, the Thrills and Sunshine States

A heady mix of barren wide-open spaces and sprawling melting pots of cities precariously perched on rumbling faultlines, its not surprising that California has produced more than its fair share of era defining rock n'roll moments. Perhaps it's down to that wafer thin divide between chaos and sun soaked cool that's never far away? Check Love's inspirational Forever Changes for Arthur Lee's poolside observations of a divided LA teetering on the precipice. Or maybe it is just because the soul sucking, American entertainment business resides there, peddling an archetypal Californian image so that it maintains both its allure and popularity?

Natural cynicism aside, it was this rich musical heritage that drew 5 young lads from Dublin to The Sunshine State. They travelled, listened to some music and generally spent a lot of quality time together before... da, da... the emergence of perhaps the hottest musical property of 2003 in The Thrills. Cradling a bottle of water and apologising charmingly for his jet lagged state, lead guitarist Daniel Ryan sat down with Gigwise to discuss how life doesn't get much better than being in The Thrills .

You're currently recording you're debut album in LA at the moment. How are you enjoying the whole experience?

"Its cool! We spent a lot of time in California as friends, one full summer in San Diego and one in San Francisco - so its kinda the place where we listened to a lot of music. We went to Hollywood to work with Tony [Producer] who lives there, so that was half the reason and the other half was because that's where we wanted to record the album".

What is it particularly about the LA environment that's so special to you?

"It's just like The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Gram Parsons. There's so much history there and its where a lot of our influences come from. It's cool to kinda get up together and go home together. Just the fact that we were based in Hollywood and we've been walking down the Boulevard in 80-degree sunshine to the studio for the last two months. You just soak it up".

Was it experiences from your initial time on the West Coast that inspired songs like "Bigsur", "One Horse Town" and "Santa Cruz"?

"Yeah...we did a lot of travelling around. We'd go on trips to Santa Cruz and to Vegas and that kinda thing. It's just such a great place. You can do everything there. Our whole lifestyle whilst we were out there was just completely different. We lived right beside Nation Beach in San Diego for a while. We just bought loads of CDs - you know when you buy one and get 10 free. We'd have a couch on the beach and just sit there doing our own thing listening to music."

Did Virgin take some convincing before letting you record the album in LA?

"When we first played for Virgin we said quite seriously where we'd like to record it and they said yeah... no problems".

You recently supported Morrissey at The Royal Albert Hall and were quoted as saying that you weren't particularly fazed by the whole experience. Is this symbolic of the confidence in the band?

"What happened was that we initially got the call to do the west coast leg of the America tour before we were approached to do the gig at The Royal Albert Hall. When it [The Royal Albert Hall] finally got confirmed, we were just so pleased that it was happening. And then when we got there, it just reminded me of when The Band played The Last Waltz. The whole thing kinda happened so quickly though. It wasn't that we weren't fazed, it was just like... lets enjoy this".

You've also stated that you don't see yourself as part of any particular scene although you are opening up on the NME sponsored "New Rock Revolution Tour". Where do you see The Thrills fitting into the scheme of things?

"Someone wrote a letter to the NME complaining that we were on the NME New Rock Revolution CD. You know, these are all bands that I love - but I just don't think that we sound like them. I love the Coral and I love Electric Soft Parade and I absolutely love the Libertines ... I think they're incredible. I think we're just coming from a different direction. We've always just done it our way."

But you are looking forward to the New Rock Revolution Tour?

"Again, its just something that we never thought we'd get to do. Its just such a good opportunity to play with so many great bands."

And with that he's off, still tired but unmistakeably enthusiastic about the months to come. New single "One Horse Town" is released on March 3rd and the album is slated for a summer release!

For more information, log onto www.thethrills.com

Photo by Shelly Turner