Basement rule out long-distance relationship

Basement guitarist Alex Henery says the transatlantic writing process for last album Promise Everything has put him off ever doing it again.

The Ipswich band put out their third full-length on January 29, but the long-distance writing sessions proved challenging.

Henery tells TeamRock: “It was really hard. The next record we want to focus on being all in the same room. No internet, no distractions, just all of us in one place and just writing. That really excites me.

“It was interesting to record like this, but it was stressful because you can’t just stay in the same room – you can’t just jam out ideas. A lot of the writing took place in the studio and in the practices that we had before and leading up to recording.

“We work well under pressure, so we made it work – but it’s not something I really want to do again.”

Henery, who works as a freelance videographer, has returned to the UK for Basement’s European trek in support of the album. And he reports there are only slight differences between the crowds they’ve played to around the world.

He says: “Everyone sings along and stage dives. That’s universal, which is awesome. The only place that’s distinctively different is mainland Europe. Their questions have become a joke among most bands.

“For example, they’ll say something like, ‘First record, good – second record, not so good.’

“They don’t think that’s offensive, they just think they’re being honest and saying what they think, so that’s cool. It’s very uncommon to hear that. They’ll be like, ‘Why do you write this song, it doesn’t really fit.’ It’s funny.”

Basement are currently on tour in Europe with Tigers Jaw and Alex G. They’re also set to hit the road across the US with Turnstile and Defeater in April.

Basement tour dates 2016

Feb 11: Waterfront Norwich, United Kingdom
Feb 13: London Koko, United Kingdom
Feb 16: Cologne Luxor, Germany
Feb 18: Oslo Pokalen, Norway
Feb 20: Copenhagen Beta, Denmark
Feb 21: Hamburg Knust, Germany
Feb 23: Berlin Lifo, Germany
Feb 24: Budapest Durer Kert, Hungary
Feb 25: Bezirk Arena Wien Landstrasse, Austria
Feb 26: Strom Munchen, Germany
Feb 27: Rome Traffic live, Italy
Feb 28: Saliceto San Giuliano Mo La Tenda, Italy
Feb 29: Zurich Dynamo Werk 21, Switzerland
Mar 01: Stuttgart Universum, Germany
Mar 02: Paris La Mecanique, France
Mar 11: Bordeaux I.Boat, France
Apr 06: San Diego Lampost Warehouse, CA
Apr 07: Los Angeles Echoplex, CA
Apr 08: Santa Ana Observatory, CA
Apr 09: San Francisco Slims, CA
Apr 10: Orangevale Boardwalk, CA
Apr 12: Seattle Chop Suey, WA
Apr 13: Portland Analog, OR
Apr 15: Salt Lake City Kilby Court, UT
Apr 16: Denver Marquis Theater, CO
Apr 18: Minneapolis Garage, MN
Apr 19: Chicago Bottom Lounge, IL
Apr 20: Saint Louis Fubar, MO
Apr 21: Columbus Skully’s, OH
Apr 22: Detroit Majestic, MI
Apr 23: Pittsburgh Altar Bar, PA
Apr 24: Toronto Mod Club, Canada
Apr 26: Clifton Park Upstate, NY
Apr 27: Baltimore Soundstage, MD
Apr 29: Philadelphia TLA, PA
Apr 30: New York Music Hall, NY
May 01: Boston Royale, MA
May 23: Brisbane Triffid, Australia
May 24: Brisbane Lab, Australia
May 26: Newcastle Cambridge Hotel, Australia
May 27: Marrickville Factory Theatre, Australia
May 28: Melbourne Arrow on Swanston, Australia
May 29: Melbourne Vic Corner Hotel, Australia
May 30: Adelaide Sa Fowlers Live, Australia
May 31: Perth Amplifier Bar, Australia

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.