Snow Patrol’s keyboardist Tom Simpson talks to Listed about their upcoming show, how U2 taught them how to tour and how REM inspired Gary Lightbody when he had writer’s block.


You are touring on new album Fallen Empire and coming back to the South Coast with a sold out Bournemouth show, how does that feel?

Really great, its been about four years since we last played Bournemouth, I think we kicked off the Hundred Million Suns tour there. It was such a great place to start a tour, but we thought we would return this time without the glitches and teething problems can come from opening night. This time will be a well oiled machine – and I don’t mean drunk when I sat well oiled!

You are well known for your special effects, will this gig be a visual treat as well as an audible one?

You have to think about the people who are at the back how you can really bring them into the show as well. Gary [Lightbody] is a really good communicator with the crowds, but you do have to have something visual to make them all feel part of it. There will be a lot of new elements to the Snow Patrol show, I mean the lighting we have is just amazing. We took some the imaginative elements we brought on the last tours and we've just kind of expanded it. I guess that’s something we learned from U2 when we were on tour with them.

Did you ever get awe-struck touring with a mega-band like U2?

Not really, we got on with them really well. When we first toured with them, on the Vertigo tour, we were a shambles! We were just able to finish Final Straw when we were asked, but were a mess. But the tour really shaped us up for Eyes Open and it feels like we have really gone from strength to strength from there. The band always made us feel welcome and the road crews were amazing.

Were there any horror stories in making Fallen Empires?

Gary suffered from writer’s block, which caused a bit of a panic. But there was a day in the studio when Michael Stipe [of REM] came in and gave him some words of encouragement, which was brilliant. We are all really close as a band, so when Gary had a problem like that it was really hard for us to help him, but for Michael to come in and say what he said it was just huge blessing, and we can’t thank him enough. But apart from that, it was all lovely. We were in Santa Monica running around the beach with our shorts on like Baywatch, while England was having the coldest winter on record!

In terms of musicality, what were your main influences in writing the new album?


I come from a predominantly electronic background – I was a DJ for years before joining the band – so for me, my influences could be from any of the 2000 records I have! I think the electronic element is at the forefront of this album, I mean, we have always had it there, its just been a little more subtle in the past albums.


If you had to compare Fallen Empires to one of your past records, which would you say it was more like?

I'd like to say more Final Straw then the last two, but yet it’s so much more that Final Straw. It’s lighter than Final Straw, yet darker, and as soft and gentle but a lot heavier in sound.


So, what’s next for you guys, will you be recording again any time soon?

Well, we really are at the beginning of this albums life, so starting a tour that could last a year to two years. We just don’t know what we would do next recording wise, I guess we will have to see what kind of response the tour gets. But at the beginning of the tour, we are just going to enjoy it.

Snow Patrol play the Bournemouth International Centre on Wednesday 08 February.