Prophet margin

Lostprophets have limits when chasing success

By Mike Prevatt

There are bands that would jump at the chance to open for Metallica. And there are bands that have read up and know that’s more often than not a thankless, sometimes life-threatening task. Welsh modern rock sextet Lostprophets were in the former camp and went for it this past year, and it wasn’t until they arrived at the gigs that road crews forewarned them of hazards like flying coins and bottles.

“It was the scenario of childhood dream, adult nightmare,” says singer Ian Watkins. “There was no way we could say no, so we just went and did it, and we went in with the mentality that, if anything, it would be character-building. But it wasn’t that bad. The worst reaction we had was indifference, just people standing there. But after every song, they clapped. There wasn’t anything thrown.”

Luck has been on the lads’ side this year, as Lostprophets has seen the release of its second album and major-label release, Start Something, which has gone gold largely due to the airplay for the singles “Last Train Home” and “Make a Move.” The latter song–think the more aggressive side of bands such as Incubus and Hoobastank–is slowly making its way up modern rock radio charts. The former song–a No. 1 hit in the same rankings–was the rare commercial hit both listeners and critics agreed on, thanks to its anthemic laddie harmonies and highly addictive chorus hook.

Coincidentally, the only band member who heard a hit in “Last” was Watkins. “I can never predict whether [a song] would get onto radio,” he says. “There’s so much politics involved, you know what I mean? But I thought if it did get a chance, I was pretty confident that people could connect to it and be into it. The rest of the guys were like, `Nah, it’s okay, but I dunno,’ and I was like, `No, listen to it, it could do well.’ And now I’m constantly like, `I told ya so.’”

Despite their crossover potential, Lostprophets–despite earlier success in their native United Kingdom with their first album, Thefakesoundofprogress–feared one-hit-wonder status in the States. So, the band and its management halted promotion of the single, and along with its label, Columbia, began to push “Make a Move.”

“People were like, `Now, we’re going to cross it over to Top 40 and make it a smash and take it all the way,’” says Watkins. “And I think if they could’ve done that, it probably would have gotten us to platinum by now. But it was like, where do you go from there? I’d rather stick around and have a slow build; I’m in no rush. It’s not like we’re never going to better this song, so let’s take everything we can now.”

Watkins doesn’t come off as arrogant, but he’s an assured frontman, and he’s certain on points like the aforementioned, where songwriting is concerned. “With [Start Something], we were like, let’s try and hone the craft of songwriting, let’s try and write some timeless, cool songs,” he says. “We in no way achieved that goal, but we made progress writing real songs, which is why I’m excited about the next album and the next album after that. This album was our first time in a real studio with a real producer, you know, so it was still a learning experience.”

And if anything will keep him humbled, it’s his bandmates. “At the end of the day, we’re all working-class kids and we’re very grounded,” says Watkins. “We’re not caught up in the ego of it, the show business part, it all seems a bit ludicrous anyway. We just like writing songs and having a laugh. At the end of the day, we still fucking pay bills and do normal shit. It’s just like we’re hanging all the time, like when you’re hanging out with your mates in a bar every night. It’s the same vibe.”