Written by Adam Gallagher
Just a matter of hours before Mallory Knox stepped onto stage to entertain the crowd with their set for the night, I sat down with Mikey and spoke to him about everything from his experiences in the band so far, to what the crowd can expect to what the future has in store for him and the band.
It's your second time in Middlesbrough and performing again the Empire, what made you come back to Middlesbrough and to the North East?
Middlesbrough is one of them places we are determined to make an impact on, it's an area that many people can easily access to, it means we can put on a really special show for the crowd. The crowd itself are always great, really great attitude and everyone is up for a laugh, it makes sense for us to come back.
It's been two years since your last tour, the Signals tour, but what has changed over the period of them two years?
I suppose, in general as a unit, the five of us, our crew, everyone that works behinds the scene have become a much tighter, more professional unit. We're like everyone else, we are always learning and developing and always trying to make ourselves that bit better. The time away from the UK has helped us on the side of things also.
What can the crowd tonight in Middlesbrough expect from yourself and the band?
We'll sing some songs, on guitar and sing through a microphone.
No, this time round we've stepped the production up, we want to make a visual impression as well as a sonic one. Those two combined, hopefully the crowd will see that they're in for a good show.
You've recently been in America, on their Warped Tour, as an experience, what was that like?
It was incredible, we were told very early on, you get out of Warped Tour, exactly what you put into it. We put graft and hard work enough to really realise how incredible that tour can be, we got so much back from it. It was a real experience for me.
As a band, you've come along way in a short space of time, from your Pilot EP, the iTunes track of the week, to headlining your own tour, to playing major festivals, but what is the one memory you'll take from your journey so far as Mallory Knox?
Oh dude, that's such a good question, there's so many.
I think one of the memories that pops straight into my head, we were playing Sydney in Australia, on their Warped Tour a couple of years ago, we were playing just as the sun was setting, we were out in Darling Harbour, which is this beautiful part of the city. The sun was going down and the sky was beautiful. We were playing by the water, and I looked out and for a few seconds I tripped over my words as I thought it myself how lucky we are to do the things we do.
Finally, what does the future hold for Mallory Knox?
Hopefully, pretty much of the same, we always want to be climbing and moving forward. I think production wise, we are always going to be trying to make it bigger and better and beat what we've done before. Musically, we are beginning to write album three, we've not got dates or times, but we want to give ourselves as much time as possible to work on it and see where we go from there. We defiantly will be touring more next year.
