Draft Article

In a small flat in Leicester, with Red Dollar's front-man and known activist Noel Hadwick, the 22-year-old named after Noel Gallagher (his and his father’s favourite singer), takes a moment of his time to answer a few questions from HIVE. Red Dollar itself has been stealing the lime light in many underground gigs, which is causing a concern for upcoming indie bands. Hadwick grew up in London with his mother, but now lives in Glasgow, however "I'm rarely there, and I miss my f**king dog" Hadwick is still hurt that Ritz To Rubble lead singer, Josh Bucko, refused to take a recording tape off him when he was 16; his secondary school expelled him for heated arguments with his teachers; and Q were nothing but critical of the band until their recent growth. Hadwick unsurprisingly has a lot to say about all these topics, but also things such as politics and school as a whole institution.

Firstly, welcome.

"It’s great to be here, thank you for having me."

Where to begin? The name of your band 'Red Dollar', how did that come about?

"Err, it's kind of a long story really, but at the age of like 16, after leaving school I just played music on the streets and worked in a bakery until I saved enough to hop off to America for a few weeks just backpacking. And I met this group of blokes and they were incredible. They were huge activists going by the named of Dollars Drip Red, and I stayed with them for ages and they just showed me a brand new look on the S**tty American system and its government. So after doing a lot of work myself, I came back to the UK and my cousin Jack wanted to make a band and I was all for it, because I had already been trying to make it in the music industry by 16. So yeah, he came to me and just said you know what, you can name the band and write the lyrics and we'll play, don't worry about it. And by this time i hadn't met Louis so I didn't know whether he would like my idea. But I decided to kind of tip my hat to the lads in America and spread a message here via music. That a lot of America's wealth comes from war. The only problem is, now I'm stuck with the name and i want to still write lyrics about our f**ked up government in Britain."

Wow, that's quite a story. And you just started your new 2015 tour, how is that going?

"Really well. I would say the only downside is, we’re working-class kids and all the bands out there are made up of rich kids. Sometimes even the ones that share the stage with us just bought their way into the music industry. I don’t know any bands that come from the background that we come from, but it would still be nice to be able to relate to someone that doesn't have about as much political knowledge or just knowledge in general as a fish. But other than that, we could not be happier, the fans and all the backstage lads are great. Nothing but support, and it’s all equality you know, just because we are the band, doesn't make the fans or technicians any lesser than us. That’s why most of the gigs we play are free, so you don't need to worry about not hearing a message because of money."

You have been known to stay out after a gig with a load of your fans, why do you do that?

"Well one of my favourite things is going to meet the fans, especially the ones that convert. As in people who just started to listen, but yeah, I always go to the merc stand to meet people and sign s**t and its great. But not just the fans, interviewers such as yourself, and the sound guys and lighting technician and them lot, I kinda feel an obligation to meet everyone that runs the shop? They're the ones that have to put up with the music. But with the fans particularly, we tell them that we're nipping to the local pub and we just go and have a good time with the fans you know? It sort of reminds me of home."

So when you're back in your flat in Glasgow, what do you get up to? Does it not fell weird?

"Once, we finished this tour in after about three weeks straight, and I was knackered man. And I think that, after that, I spent like one or two days at home, and to be honest I just spent it re-cooperating. I mean we are still a pretty new band so the closest thing we are used to with the physical and mental drainage after a tour is probably just after a massive night out gettin' pissed. But I’m rarely there and I miss my f**king dog loads, and when I get there she just bolts to the door, but yeah its nice. It’s nice."

And you were out last night, how was that?

"Well with Leicester, we normally get into so many more s**tty situations than usual, like Louis got pissed on last night. And that was funny but it’s you Leicester lot, you're fucking nuts man, I love it!"

Also, your new album, I was told you had seventy odd songs available to put on?

"Yeah, we had like sixty songs before and obviously before we were signed we were sending one song every other day to record companies just until one of them were interested. By the end, we just decided that we didn't want our messages to be censored so we made our own. After filtering, we just put ten of our favourite songs on this one album, but we still have three albums ready anyway, so it’s just getting ready man."

You said earlier on you left school?

"Well I was a very opinionated kid, and I think I got in arguments with my Religious Studies teacher, because I think that religion does more bad than good. But i think it's good to be aware of everyone's belief, no matter what. And I’m not one to say that someone's belief is wrong, but yeah. I was an opinionated little s**t. So after being sent to the headmaster too many times for, let’s call them 'heated discussions', I decided I wouldn't let grades tell me who I am and what I could achieve, and I would educate myself with books."

You have had an eventful life from an early age then?

"You could say so, yeah."

So, you finish, do you have anything to say to your fans?

"The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. If you think something is wrong, don't sit idly by. It’s time for a revolution."