“It was a record that we could have only made at that time”: Neck Deep celebrate 10 years of Life’s Not Out To Get You

It’s been a busy few days for Neck Deep. Fresh from releasing new banger You Should See Me Now last week, the pop-punk heroes made an undeniable bid for headline status at Slam Dunk Festival over the weekend, and have now announced a special December tour.

Yep, that’s right, this winter the Welsh wonders will celebrate the 10th anniversary of their second album, the scene classic that is Life’s Not Out To Get You, with headline dates in Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London. We caught up with frontman Ben Barlow to reflect on the record, look ahead to playing it in full, and unpack how they captured “lightning in a bottle” in 2015…

Ten years, eh! How are you feeling about getting into your past and celebrating the album’s birthday?
“The nostalgia thing annoys me at times. Not just with music, but how much everybody is constantly looking backwards – rehashes of movies, series getting remade, old toys that I had when I was a kid being remarketed to us. But that album was big for us as a band, and for our fans. It meant a lot to a lot of people, so it’s good to give it a nod, but we don’t want to milk it too much. I think we’ve hit a good balance with the tour – it’s going in some good rooms, it’s a good amount of dates. And the UK is getting a bit of love! We often get a bit of stick for not giving the UK enough, but when we do play the UK, we tend to do it quite big. So we’re stoked that we could just keep it on home turf and play a very special record.”

Are any of the venues going to bring back any particular memories from that time?
“Brixton and Manchester are, I think, the ones that we’re the most excited for. Manchester Academy, that was the venue that a lot of us would go to see big shows when we were younger. If we were going to go and see a bigger band, they would probably go through the Academy. I’ve seen so many bands there, and when we played it for the first time back in the day, that was a landmark moment for us. West [guitar] cried after that gig! And it’s great to play Brixton because it’s obviously legendary, and it was a big moment to have sold that out the first time we headlined. To be able to go back and hopefully do that again for this record will be a nice indicator of how far we’ve come.”

Are you going to play it straight, or mix it up a bit?
“I don’t know if we'll switch it up in terms of how we play the songs. Some of them we naturally do a bit differently live anyway after so long. Some lead lines will change a bit, and I switch up the way I sing stuff sometimes, maybe some drum parts, but I don’t think they’ll be massively coordinated things. When we did it at When We Were Young last year, we did it out of order and mixed it up a bit. But a lot of that was because of the timings. If we’d kept it straight and done it top to bottom, the guitar changes and shit would have been a fucking pain in the arse, and that would have eaten into our time. We had 40 minutes for a 38-minute album, so it was tight! But here, having the time to be able to do it properly, we’ll probably play it in order, and then have time to play the other hits, too.”

What do you remember about heading out on the LNOTGY tour around the album’s release?
“It was crazy, because that record really solidified our place within this world of music. There’s a Kurt Cobain quote, ‘The best time in a band’s career is when they’re about to blow up and they don’t know it.’ That’s what it was. We were going into all these shows with no expectations, and then they were the craziest shows ever. I remember huge, huge, huge sing-alongs. It was really exciting how much the record resonated. And I think it was a record that we could have only made at that time. I don’t think we’d be able to recreate whatever that record has. Even though I think we’re a better band now and we’re better songwriters, there’s just something about that record that we captured very well. It’s sickening positivity, but done well and done at the right time! If we were going to do that now, it would be tough, and a little convoluted, but we made the right record at the right time, and it worked so well for us.”

When was the last time you actually put it on and listened to it yourself?
“It’s been a long time! I’ll listen to our newer stuff a lot – to critique it, and to enjoy it as well. But when I do listen back to that album, I always think how my voice has changed so much, man! We’re better players now, and I think I’m a better singer now. I listen to that album and I just hear a guy just yelling in this really quite low, strained voice. There’s no technique at all! I sing those songs a lot better now. The last time I actually sat down and listened to it was probably when when we were doing When We Were Young. It’s not always as enjoyable just putting the CD on or whatever, I definitely prefer listening to the songs live and playing them. But, like I said, there’s something about that record. Despite all the imperfections, it was lightning in a bottle. It really set us up, so I’m glad we’re getting to celebrate it like this.”

Catch Neck Deep with support from Boston Manor at the following:

10 years of Life’s Not Out To Get You anniversary tour 2025

December

14 Leeds O2 Academy
16 Glasgow Barrowlands
17 Manchester Academy
18 Birmingham O2 Institute
19 London O2 Academy Brixton

Tickets go on sale this Friday, May 30 from 10am.

Read this next:

• The rise of Neck Deep, as told through their most important gigs
• Who are Neck Deep’s fans?
• Neck Deep: “We’re lucky to be here, so it’s just being aware of that and putting the band and fans first”