Interview: Chris Batten from ‘Enter Shikari’

UK rock 4-piece Enter Shikari are finally coming down under for yet another tour to sweep our minds and assault our senses. Bassist Chris Batten took some time out from preparing for Enter Shikari’s upcoming shows to speak to us about the past, present, and future of the band.

Hey Chris, so great to chat to you! So I know you’re touring Australia later in the year, what can fans expect from the show?

Well it’s been a while since we’ve been back to Australia, so we’re all very excited about coming back. I don’t think we’ve been back since we released ‘The Mind Sweep’, so I think our sets are going to be heavier towards some of the songs off that album and as always with us, our shows will be a very sweaty and intimate with tons of energy.

Oh awesome! Well any city in particular that you’re most excited to play in? 

We’ve always had a lot of good times in Melbourne particularly, but honestly I love all the cities we visit in Australia.

So being one of the most exciting live bands right now, how would you describe an Enter Shikari tour in a nutshell?

I would say our tours are passionate, energetic, and exhausting (laughs). Our tours simply bring so many people together, which is really just the best part.

Yeah, definitely! Why’d you decide to bring along Hacktivist for your ‘Redshift’ tour?

For one, they’re very good friends of ours. We’ve actually toured with them a lot previously and we’ve always had a lot of fun out there with them. And two, I think it’ll be their first time to Australia! So it’ll be nice to show them the ropes and let Australia finally see them live. They’re a great band!

I actually have a friend (Hi Keeden!) who moved to the UK solely to see Enter Shikari play live more frequently. Do you think the UK music scene is any different to the Australian music scene? 

Oh wow, really? What a champ! Well I think wherever you go in the world there’s one thing that doesn’t really change and its people’s passion for music. Obviously the UK is very spoilt with the amount of bands that come over, but seriously, from personal experiences and even friend’s stories, Australia is the place to play!

How do you think your music has grown since the release of your first studio album ‘Take To The Skies’?

Well if anything we just got more and more confident. ‘Take To The Skies’ was kind of a collection of songs we’d written over four or five years and y’know, our second album was the first time we actually had to sit down and write everything from scratch. It was a really interesting and growing experience for us. But I think we really started to hit our stride on our third and fourth album, like by then we realised we could just be as experimental as we wanted to be.

You say the last album ‘The Mind Sweep’ was experimental, what was your overall vision for it?

Um, yeah I would. It’s funny like that, we’ve actually never had a vision or a plan for any of our previous albums. We’d just always get together and see where the music and influences take us. One thing I will say, it that with ‘The Mind Sweep’ we wanted it to have a wide spectrum with lots of instrumentation and textures and we wanted the album to be a representation of everything Enter Shikari can be. So we made sure to have some heavy tracks as well as include melodic ones on the album, showing you don’t just have to stick to one genre.

Lastly, can fans look forward to another release in the near future?

Yes, definitely! I say Australia will probably be our last tour destination for the year and I think after that we’ll head home, start working on songs, and hopefully be in the studio early next year!

Get all the info on Enter Shikari’s upcoming Australian ‘Redshift’ Tour HERE

Enter Shikari ‘The Redshift’ Tour Dates

MON 19 SEP
170 Russel, Melbourne
TUE 20 SEP
The Triffid, Brisbane
WED 21 SEP
The Metro Theatre, Sydney
THU 22 SEP
The Gov, Adelaide
SAT 24 SEP
Metropolis, Fremantle

Get Tickets HERE