Can Villanelle Get a Proper Fucking Pint of Guinness, Please?

When the members of Villanelle turned on their Zoom camera on Monday, their elation was palpable. Not because they were thrilled to speak with me, but because England had just beaten Mexico 3-2 in the World Cup the night before. No hard feelings, though. 

The rock trio—made up of Gene Gallagher on guitar and lead vocals, Ben Taylor on guitar, Jack Schiavo on bass—have spent the last few years essentially watching each other’s frontal lobes develop as they collectively navigated the rocky transition from their late teens to mid-twenties. Perhaps it’s that brotherly kinship that creates the musical chemistry necessary to produce a cohesive EP and survive a grueling international tour. The lads have spent the month of June trekking across the US, which Gallagher says entails, “23 hours of waiting around and one hour of playing.” Coupled with some lost technical equipment and an endless quest for a decent pint of Guinness, the last few weeks have been challenging for the band to say the least. But the Englishmen insist these are the stories they’ll look back on fondly one day. Before they hit the road again, I chatted with Villanelle about World Cup predictions, lager-fueled rock and roll sets, and why they’re not too worried about making it big in America. They’re just here for a good time.

MONDAY 4:18 PM JULY 6, 2026 LONDON

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ARY RUSSELL: Hi, how are you guys?

GENE GALLAGHER: We’re good.

BEN TAYLOR: We’re well.

JACK SCHIAVO: Hungover as hell.

RUSSELL: I’m sure. How’d you guys celebrate England’s win yesterday?

SCHIAVO: To be fair, last night I just watched it in the gaff, so it wasn’t too crazy. 

RUSSELL: How does the city look after an England win like that?

GALLAGHER: It’s mental. I watched at my friend’s house, and then I got an Uber home at 5:00 AM and the streets were packed with people. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It’s probably the best football game I’ve ever watched for England.

RUSSELL: You guys think you’ll win the full thing?

GALLAGHER: If we could do that, we could beat anyone.

RUSSELL: Even beat Norway? I’ve heard they’re the team to beat.

GALLAGHER: We’re going to batter Norway, 3-0. If we win, I think the island of England will just explode. 

RUSSELL: I wanted to start from the beginning of how you guys formed Villanelle. What were your first impressions of each other, and how did that lead you to thinking you’d be good as bandmates?

GALLAGHER: Well, I’d been fiddling around with different people for a while, and I met Ben on and off a couple times.

TAYLOR: Yeah, I got fiddled.

GALLAGHER: He was the first guy I’d call if anything was happening, and then it would fade away and then I’d call him again. I always knew if I needed someone, I could count on him. He was the glue.

RUSSELL: Aw.

GALLAGHER: So when I met Jack, it was like, “I know the fucking guy.” I called Ben for the 8th time.

TAYLOR: Eventually decided, “Do you know what?”

GALLAGHER: “I want to marry him.” [Laughs]

RUSSELL: And what were your first impressions of Gene?

GALLAGHER: Did you think I was an absolute loon?

TAYLOR: You were probably 19 when we first met, so it’s like you change quite a lot between 18 and 25. I’ve watched this man’s frontal lobe develop. He literally fully developed the other day.

GALLAGHER: I think mine will probably develop when I’m 40. I’m a late bloomer. Always have been.

SCHIAVO: I met Gene in a pub when I was on holiday, and we honestly just bonded over a shared love of Guinness, spoke about bands that we liked, about playing instruments and all that. Then by the end of the conversation, we were like, “Let’s actually start a band.” You think it’s one of those drunken conversations and then the next day we messaged each other and cracked on, so obviously the impression was good enough that one time.

RUSSELL: What were the early learning curves you experienced working together as a band, seeing as before that you were solitary musicians?

SCHIAVO: Well, I mean, I hadn’t even played bass before. 

TAYLOR: Lesson one, learn the instrument.

SCHIAVO: I was always a guitarist, Ben was playing drums. We were all figuring out what we were going to do and how the band was going to work, but we just wanted to jam together. Once we got that relationship and chemistry down, we knew that we could probably move on to filling the band out even beyond us. But it’s always been us three sole members.

TAYLOR: The learning curves were all the complexities that go with a band that you’re trying to put on the road, which you don’t really think about if you’re just knocking about in a studio or in a rehearsal room. But if we very quickly had to get up to Glasgow or something, it’s like, “Oh, okay, we’ll get a train. But hang on, we’ve got four guitars, we’ve got drums.” Then you have to start choosing, “Okay, what do we absolutely need? What can we leave behind?”

RUSSELL: Are you overpackers?

TAYLOR: Oh, yeah. Gene had three guitar changes at one point.

GALLAGHER: We started to really flex our muscles to the masses.

RUSSELL: What are your must-have tour essentials when you’re getting on the road? 

GALLAGHER: Melatonin. The problem with sleeping on tour is not falling asleep because you obviously just get absolutely hammered. Staying asleep is the hard thing.

TAYLOR: We’ve started putting fruit on our rider because we basically don’t eat. We just have one solid meal a day, which if that’s like a Nando’s, you’re like, “I’ve not eaten a fruit or vegetable in two years.”

RUSSELL: You don’t want to get scurvy. [Laughs] I want to jump into the EP for a second. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Too short, though.

GALLAGHER: That’s what our label said as well. [Laughs]

RUSSELL: But I understand it’s an EP. You have to give us a taste first so we know what’s coming for the full thing. What’s something that you did on this EP that you won’t do again when you’re making the full record?

GALLAGHER: Change drummers halfway through is probably a good one.

SCHIAVO: Yeah, a consistent lineup always helps.

TAYLOR: Something we’ll definitely do again, which we underestimated afterwards, was actually having the concept of what we were doing in mind before we go in and start doing it. We’d bashed about the songs on that EP for quite a long time, so when we went in, we were pretty confident with what we were setting out to achieve. 

RUSSELL: Do you think in some ways it can be a virtue going into the studio blind?

SCHIAVO: We definitely can sometimes. Jamie [Neville], our producer, has come out with some excellent ideas like that song “Squeeze,” which we play completely differently live to how it’s recorded. He basically said, “Let’s strip it back, make it quite ambient, have all of those synths on it.”  So we’re always willing to listen to these things.

RUSSELL: My favorite track on the EP is “Squeeze.” There’s a real melancholy tone to it with moments where you let yourself live in the negative space without necessarily having lyrics go over it. When you’re making music, what typically takes priority, lyricism or instrumentation?

GALLAGHER: Lyrics are definitely the least important thing in my eyes. I don’t think too much about them.

TAYLOR: You’re very beat-driven actually. I’m not saying the beats are necessarily anything too complex, but like “Measly Means,” we labored over those drums for eight beats.

GALLAGHER: The chords can be simple, but they sound amazing if the beats are right, and then they’ll sound rubbish if the beat’s wrong. Do you know what I mean?

RUSSELL: For sure. What’s been the concert experience that has influenced who you are as a performer today and who you want to be in the future?

GALLAGHER: Recently, when we watched Turnstile, we were gassed off that.

TAYLOR: That was one of those moments where not even just them, but you see the crowd and the energy. And although it was quite aggressive when you’re in there, it’s also full of quite a lot of love and everyone’s looking out for one another. They’ve created an amazing world as a band. 

RUSSELL: Do you guys like to mosh at concerts?

SCHIAVO: I’m a bit old for that now. I used to do that when I was 18, but now I’m quite happy just being behind it.

RUSSELL: You guys are uncs. Do you like people to mosh at your concerts?

SCHIAVO: Yeah, 100%. People on shoulders and all that kind of stuff. Honestly, the energy you get from a crowd when you see someone reacting to music like that is just insane. My favorite gigs we’ve ever played have all been about that. It’s not ever been about how well we’ve played. When we were in Toronto, the crowd was absolutely gassed from it. Same when we played that show in Belfast. 

TAYLOR: People forget as audience goers, it’s a two-way street.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, they’re not watching the TV at home. There’s a connection there.

SCHIAVO: We got a lot more of that, notably in America. American crowds are very receptive to bands that they might not know of immediately. Whereas English crowds, once you have them on site, they get really animated and boisterous. But if you’re playing songs they don’t know, they sort of stand there and go, “Hmm, I’m not sure yet.”

RUSSELL: They’re a bit skeptical.

GALLAGHER: Once you get them on your side, they’re the best fans in the world.

SCHIAVO: There is a bit of that herd mentality, whereas Americans are a bit more individualistic. They’re quite happy to just be grooving on their own in the crowd. They’re a bit more open like that.

RUSSELL: We’re attention seekers.

SCHIAVO: [Laughs]

TAYLOR: On the last US tour as well, there were a lot less preconceptions about us as a band, which was quite refreshing. We were going into festivals where I don’t think a lot of people even knew who Gene is or who Oasis are.  It’s not the same as being in the UK.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, it was one of the nicest things in the world to just be looked at as musicians. We’ve never had that before.

RUSSELL: I’m always curious with bands that aren’t from here about that pressure to break America. Do you feel that yet? Do you even care?

GALLAGHER: We just want to enjoy America. We had the best time out there, but there’s no sort of thing to be like, “We have to get them.”

TAYLOR: Also, we’re nowhere near that. We’re an EP at this point. [Laughs] It’s a bucket list thing to do for any musician. To tour America in general is a privilege and it was a super fun experience.

SCHIAVO: There is a bit less of an impetus on the whole idea of breaking America now because Spotify and streaming services have democratized music so much, it’s so widely accessible globally. Breaking America used to be the biggest consumer market in the world, but now you can pick up fans all over the world in random places. 

RUSSELL: There’s also a more Gen Z perspective where maybe you don’t prioritize breaking America so much, but honestly every label probably feels like you need a viral song on TikTok.

TAYLOR: The whole viral TikTok thing is building a house without foundations a lot of the time. Don’t get me wrong, there are some bands that have the foundation and they shoot to the sky with one song and it cements their career. But there are others that shoot up to the top, and then they’re gone again because it’s pushed through an app where—

RUSSELL: The algorithm is so fickle.

TAYLOR: I’m sure there are people around us that want us to be a bit more engaged with that kind of thing, but it’s just about creating good music and keeping our artistic integrity.

RUSSELL: What was your favorite city that you visited?

GALLAGHER: That’s tough. I’d say Nashville.

SCHIAVO: Nashville was incredible.

SCHIAVO: Toronto was probably the best gig of the headline club shows, but Nashville’s just a mad city.

RUSSELL: Fuck Canadians, tell me about Nashville. [Laughs]

SCHIAVO: We were on Broadway just absolutely lapping it up. We could not believe the amount of stuff going on. You’ve got two bands in one window competing for space and sound, and everyone’s just vibing with it. It’s mental.

GALLAGHER: It sounds like absolute shit is up.

SCHIAVO: Luckily, they’re all on in-ear mold, so they don’t know it’s all happening. But to the people on the street, you just hear five completely separate guitars with some bassist out the window.

RUSSELL: What was your favorite meal you had?

SCHIAVO: That’s tough, we went to The Barking Crab in Boston, which was really good.

GALLAGHER: That one banged.

SCHIAVO: And we did a really good one in Nashville, The Peg Leg Porker, which is like a barbecue joint. We went there twice, actually. And we went to Buc-ee’s and had a brisket band.

TAYLOR: We ate well, which is rare for us on tour.

GALLAGHER: Yeah, because in England on tour, the best you’re going to get is a Nando’s or Wagamama’s and it’s just the same food everywhere all along.

SCHIAVO: We don’t take many risks when we’re on tour.

GALLAGHER: Or we’ll treat ourselves to fish and chips if we’re in Newcastle or something like that.

RUSSELL: In New York, there’s a British-owned restaurant called Tea & Sympathy and when Brits are away from home, they go there.

GALLAGHER: I don’t want English food when I’m on tour. You know what we do? We always go to an Irish pub because that’s the one thing that we miss.

SCHIAVO: A proper pint of Guinness which you don’t really get in New York, I must admit.

RUSSELL: What do you mean? There’s so many Irish pubs.

TAYLOR: In New York, it’s not good.

RUSSELL: That’s a placebo.

GALLAGHER: [Laughs]

RUSSELL: Speaking of Guinness, before you go on stage, what’s in your system? 

GALLAGHER: 14 lagers.

SCHIAVO: I’m, like, maybe 12 lagers.

TAYLOR: I drink vodka soda with maybe a bit of juice bashed in it.

RUSSELL: Gosh, you guys are heavyweights.

SCHIAVO: It depends what we get on our riders. Some of them have been pretty poor.

RUSSELL: Got to get the budget up.

TAYLOR: Bonnaroo was forcing us to drink the hard spirit. We’re a four-piece band. They gave us three beers and a massive bottle of tequila, so we were like, “Well, we’re going to have to drink this tequila.”

SCHIAVO: Sun’s over the yard somewhere, boys.

RUSSELL: It’s five o’clock somewhere. 

TAYLOR: It actually was 5:00 PM in the UK.

RUSSELL: Spiritually, you were connected. Who is an artist dead or alive that you want to come see your set?

TAYLOR: Mine would be Mac Miller.

RUSSELL: Do you think he’d like the music?

TAYLOR: I think so. I never met him. [Laughs]

RUSSELL: What about you, Gene?

GALLAGHER: Mine would probably be James Brown.

RUSSELL: Soulful route. What about you, Jack?

SCHIAVO: I choose John Lennon every time.

TAYLOR: Not Paul McCartney?

GALLAGHER: But he’s going to get on it with Paul McCartney.

SCHIAVO: I will get on it with Paul McCartney at some point, I have the faith. If I could bring John Lennon back, I would, do you know what I mean?

RUSSELL: Totally. What’s an expectation you had about tour life that ended up being completely different from reality?

SCHIAVO: That you get paid.

RUSSELL: It’ll happen eventually.

GALLAGHER: That’s what they all say.

TAYLOR: The actual logistics that go into just planning the most basic things, like getting a guitar to a different country can prove to be difficult if you don’t want it to get smashed to smithereens.

RUSSELL: Or lost. 

TAYLOR: Our front-of-house guy, his entire deck went missing recently. 

SCHIAVO: It’s mad. I don’t know how they lost that. It’s massive.

TAYLOR: Even just the most basic of things for touring is crazy.

GALLAGHER: And the waiting around as well. You do 23 hours of waiting around and one hour of playing.

RUSSELL: But that’s time to explore the city you’re in.

GALLAGHER: You can’t because you have to be around to do soundcheck. You’re forced to wait, which is why it’s excruciating. That’s why you have to be drunk to pass the time.

TAYLOR: There’s a meme where it’s like, “Being a touring musician is basically 95% of being a box delivery man. 5% actually playing music.” Because all you do is move boxes around.

RUSSELL: Are you guys your own roadies?

SCHIAVO: We only recently leveled up. Before, it was just us.

TAYLOR: We would bring our friends. My brother would drive us around and then we’d all just be squished into a car.

RUSSELL: These are the stories that you need to save for your biopic in the future. It’s your origin story.

TAYLOR: It does sound cliche, but they are some of the best.

SCHIAVO: We’re just a bunch of silly boys.

GALLAGHER: A bunch of silly men, actually.