Morecambe and Wise. Pete and Dud. Smith and Jones. All great British comedy duos. Another is Baz Mills and Adam Thistlethwaite of Massive Wagons.
A decade after gaining notoriety beyond the city limits of their native Lancaster, the co-founding singer and guitarist are still reliably daft. But after a hard-touring 12 months, the Wagons’ final move for 2024 is the release of seventh album Earth To Grace, its socially charged songs ranging from greedy politicians to male mental health.
You’ve been hitting Europe hard. What was the most memorable gig?
Baz: We played the Mystic Festival in Poland, and we were the only band on the line-up where you could actually read the logo. Because it was, like, the heaviest of heavy music. We turned up and everybody was wearing corpse paint, spiky bracelets… We looked like a wedding band. But you know what? Everyone loved it.
How about the best live band you watched in 2024?
Baz: Biohazard at the Mystic Festival. They blew us away. We also watched Bruce Dickinson’s headline set. We’re not massive Iron Maiden fans, to be honest, but it was killer. He’s got the biggest mouth in rock. When he opens his mouth you can see it from the back of the crowd. He’s awesome.
Where have Massive Wagons made the biggest impact in Europe?
Adam: I think people would be surprised how popular we are in Germany. It took us ten years in the UK to do what has taken us two years to do in Germany.
Baz: Rock seems to have more of a home in Germany. It feels like it’s sometimes swept under the carpet in the UK. But in Germany it’s still got a big following. And if you like hot dogs, you’re in.
You must be pleased with Earth To Grace?
Adam: Yeah. We stuck our necks out on this one, used a producer called Matt O’Grady who we’d never even met before. He comes from a different world to us, more like You Me At Six, Don Broco, Architects. Some sort of ‘core’. I don’t know. But he’s got much more of a modern approach to mixing and producing.
On songs like Night Skies you write about heavy themes, and had the male suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club out on the road with you in November. Are Massive Wagons getting serious?
Adam: I guess there’s been a slow steering towards more serious topics. But live we’re not shoegazing, with our heads down staring at the monitors. It’s still an energetic rock show. And there are moments of levity on every album.
Baz: The stupidness and jokier songs have maybe gone. But it’s more about making light of serious topics. Like, I’m known in the band for having minor OCD tendencies, so I wrote a song about it [OCD]. These songs all come from personal experiences. Ginger Wildheart had a real effect on the way I wrote my words on this album. I love his honesty – and I know he can be brutally honest at times.
What was your proudest personal achievement in 2024?
Baz: I put my own shoes on this morning. I’ve given up drinking. And I feel great. I’m not as much of an arsehole any more. I’m not as unpredictable. I don’t have to get Adam to come and bail us out of hairy situations.
Did anything test you in 2024?
Adam: I personally have struggled, actually, over the summer. We’ve all got families, and it did get on top of me at one point. That was around the time we released Night Skies, so I took quite a lot from that song’s message.
Missing On TV is a swipe at UK politicians. What did you make of it all in 2024?
Baz: You can laugh or cry, can’t you? We got a bit of stick online for having a poke at the Tories with that song. But it wasn’t a dig at the Tories, it was a dig at the whole damn lot of them. It seemed like these people were spending our money on whatever they liked. There was no comeuppance, they were never held accountable. You’re seeing kids going without food in schools, the NHS is going down the toilet… To a thicko like me it seems quite unfair. But I’m not preachy. It’s just my take on it. I’m not telling anybody to vote this way or that way, I couldn’t care less.
What’s Christmas like round at your place?
Baz: Well, thanks to the Tories we’ve got no presents! We all have kids now so we really try to switch off for a couple of weeks. No band chat.
Adam: Yeah, we’re not like The Monkees, all living in the same house.
Finally, where do you stand on sprouts?
Baz: I don’t stand on them, I eat them. Shred ’em, mix ’em with bacon, honey and mustard. Lovely!
