Exclusive Interview: Hollywood Ending's Chris Bourne Chats McBusted, 5SOS And More
Fresh off the road, we caught up with Hollywood Ending's very own Chris Bourne to chat about the group's forthcoming EP 'Punk A$$ Kids'!
For those who haven't heard of Hollywood Ending, they've just finished their headline tour and they're definitely ones to watch. Chris, Dan, Cameron and Tyler are the 'Punk A$$ Kids' that your mother warned you about.In our exclusive new interview, Chris discusses everything from naughty fans and writing a song for 5 Seconds of Summer to touring with McBusted and the Janoskians. He also gives us a sneak preview of what we can expect from the group's forthcoming music video for 'Punk A$$ Kids'; it sounds like it's going to be a crazy one.
Your new EP 'Punk A$$ Kids' comes out at the end of the month, how would you describe its sound and how would you say it's different to your previous records?
“I think it’s definitely more kind of bumping. It’s still pop and I think the fans are going to love it, it’s a great direction for where we need to go. I think it comes across on stage that everyone is going to end up a little more crazy in the crowd. It’s definitely more bumping.”
It features a cover of I'm A Believer by The Monkees, what made you choose that song to cover in particular?
"I mean, we were looking at covers and we wanted to do something that wasn't like - I mean everyone’s covering top 40 songs and we wanted to do something more of a throwback. And that song to us, has always been in our minds obviously from The Monkees but from being in Shrek as well. It’s just a well known song, I think everyone knows that song pretty well and no-one’s really done a punk/rock cover of it. We've only heard Smash Mouth do a kind of Ska cover of it but no-one’s ever done it where it’s rocked up to this extent so we thought why not? To us, I think it’s one of our favourite songs to play in the set at the moment."
You also recently shot the music video for the title track 'Punk A$$ Kids', how did that go and can you give us any clues about what to expect?
"Well, we've recently just got a new logo down and it’s got a smashed up television. Basically, in this video, we’re smashing up TVs with guitars and it’s just wild. It’s hotel parties, there’s crazy antics about stealing stuff in a shop, I’m rapping to the store owner over a cash register… this is what punk ass kids would do I suppose."
So was that a lot of fun to film then?
"Oh yeah, it was great. I mean we were all exhausted because we haven’t stopped touring since February and we shot this right after the last London gig so we were all messed up, really tired and just wanted to chill but this day was actually really exciting so everyone was stoked on it."
And you've just finished your headline UK tour, how was that?
"The headline tour was amazing actually. We did a headline tour in the states and we came over here and we started the day we flew in. So like I said, we were all knackered and we didn't know what to expect but I actually prefer the UK fans I think overall. They’re wild. I mean, the turnout for the shows was amazing and I couldn't fault any show. The best shows have to got to be Birmingham and London, they were just insane but I couldn't believe we sold out two shows in one day in London; the matinee and the evening show."
And how would you compare the UK to your other audiences because you’re sort of toured all over the world?
"Yeah, I mean, we've been to Japan. We've been to Canada and America, we've toured out there, but I don’t know what it is. I think when we toured here with the Janoskians a while back, the fanbase we picked up were just like honestly - I mean, I’m a dirty Brit - but these girls are dirty fans and they expect dirtier things on stage. So when we go on stage, we start saying ridiculous stuff about boobs or tits and they just love it. They just go crazy and then other places like America, it’s slightly younger and slightly more I guess a conservative fanbase so sometimes I say things and people are just like ohhh." *laughs*
So have you had any favourite banners that you've seen that are particularly rude?
“I saw something about being my good time girl.”
You've also toured with McBusted and the Janoskians, how did find playing those shows in comparison to your actual headline tour?
“I mean, they’re obviously bigger shows but the difference is that on these shows, we didn't really have much of a fanbase at all. We gained the entire fanbase probably through the Janoskians and partly from the McBusted tour. You’re on stage and you can’t really see anyone in the crowd because the venues are so big and like I said, our fans aren't really there. And if they are, they’re being outshadowed by everything else. I think the difference is that with our headline shows, we go out on stage and every girl there is singing along and the atmosphere is there. It’s all about Hollywood Ending as opposed to trying to break in and win people over. You don’t need to win them over because they’re already there.”
And you wrote a song called ‘Daylight’ which 5 Seconds of Summer recorded, how did that come about?
“I wrote the song actually before I joined the band and it was actually one of the first songs I pitched to Hollywood Ending. But back in the day, we launched on the Disney channel and it wasn't really the right sound. A lot of this stuff came into play and for whatever reasons, we didn't end up using the song. The song was just kind of sitting around dormant for a while and my brother James had a few writing sessions with 5SOS in London whilst I was in the states. I think one of the times they were just writing, kind of putting ideas together and they couldn’t really come up with anything and he just sprung that idea to life. He said ‘By the way, this is a song that my brother’s written, what do you guys think? Do you want to run with it?’ and they liked it so they got it.”
So what can we expect from Hollywood Ending in the future?
“I think you can expect it to get a little more dirtier, a little more rockier and I think that the band’s going to get bigger if everyone believes in it.”
And if you could leave one message for your fans, what would you say?
“I would say, honestly, I couldn't thank the fans enough. They’re doing the best that they can be and love them.”
Hollywood Ending's new EP 'Punk A$$ Kids' will be released on the 30th November and you can pre-order it here on iTunes. We can't wait to buy a copy and we're looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the boys.
