Bloc Party Interview: Russell Lissack Talks Silent Alarm Tour, Novacub & New Japan Pro Wrestling

News that Bloc Party were to play the entirety of their seminal debut album Silent Alarm on Autumn dates across Europe and Australia in 2018 was met with euphoria by fans that pined for new live versions of earlier classics to be reintroduced to setlists. With such a dynamic and diverse back catalogue amassed from nearly two decades and five albums together, the East London ensemble has survived personnel changes and ever-shifting musical landscapes to remain as vital now as they were when their maiden effort first broke down barriers during the mid-2000s British indie explosion.

Ahead of the Silent Alarm tour kicking off with shows in Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and London (amongst others) next month, WhatCulture.com spoke with lead guitarist and founder member Russell Lissack to discuss everything from their earliest days right through to the band's - and his own - exciting next steps.

The upcoming Silent Alarm tour will be the first Bloc Party dates of 2018. Have you enjoyed the time off from any kind of touring over the last year? Is there really such a thing as ‘time off’ for the professional musician, and do you miss the busy schedule of being on tour?

"Yes and No. As you say, the time off has only been in the sense of touring and travelling. So I've enjoyed being able to spend that time with my family. But beyond that, I'm always making music in one form or another - that's not something that ever switches off. Often it's a case of finding a suitable outlet for it, which this year has been writing with my new band Novacub. I do miss visiting some of the amazing places we get to see. Japan especially, it's not somewhere I'd have been able to visit otherwise."

This particular tour will take in a number of cities across Europe and Australia. Was it a conscious decision to keep the tour exclusive to these dates or could you potentially foresee added dates (in the UK for example) replaying the album once these dates have concluded?

"As it stands these are the only dates. There's nothing else planned beyond these. To be honest the suggestion to play these shows was quite a surprise to me, though it's something I was excited to do. But I know the locations picked have always been very supportive of Bloc Party, though of course you can't please everyone by playing every city or you'd never go home! Personally, I'd love to be able to take these shows to more people if there was interest, places like Manchester, New York, Tokyo - too many to name really - that have always been good to us."

CONT'D...