Thrilling crowds around the world comes naturally to dance titans Chase & Status, but when you add revealing the England Away shirt into the mix then it can become slightly more nerve-wracking! After the duo revealed the shirt at the Benicassim Festival earlier this year, we spoke to them about that night and their connections to Umbro’s home city of Manchester. Here’s what they had to say…

Revealing the England Away shirt must have been a big occasion, how did it feel?

Will (Status): ‘It was a mix of everything really…definitely a little bit nervous, because walking out in the England shirt in a foreign country is potentially a little… not hostile, but something similar! But we watched the video of Kasabian doing it in Paris, we saw how they did it, and it made us excited about it as well, and proud to be wearing the top. So, a mix of nervous excitement, and very proud! It ended up being an amazing night, and everyone was cheering along with us, which was really nice as well!’

Before you go out on stage, do you have a warm up routine?

Saul (Chase): ‘Not really, we always have a little team huddle before we go on, and Rage our front man says a few words of encouragement, gets everyone hyped up. But generally, everyone’s pretty relaxed, conserving their energy for the madness that’s sure to follow.’

How do you pass the time while on tour?

Saul: ‘We always have our laptops, so we can potentially be working on some sounds and loops, and we always watch a lot of TV series, like The Wire or The West Wing. There’s a lot of lounging about when you’re driving between venues, to be honest! It’s hard to work when you’re recovering from a gig.’

So there’s no time for some FIFA or Pro Evo?

Saul: ‘We don’t really play to be honest, those days are long gone! It used to be FIFA for me though…’

Will: ‘And for me it used to be Pro Evo, that was back on the PS1 though.’

You’ve played gigs all around the world, but what’s the most unusual place you’ve been?

Will: ‘We played in deepest darkest Russia, it gets pretty surreal out there and in some parts of Eastern Europe. Also, Japan is pretty different from what we’re used to with the crowds, and the whole experience of being out there. We’ve played some weird places in the middle of America as well, out in the Deep South, where you wouldn’t expect to find yourself…’

Is there anywhere you haven’t been that you’d love to visit?

Will: ‘We haven’t spent that much time in South America, we’d love to go down to Rio and experience what a gig is like there.’

We hear that the two of you met in Manchester while at uni, is that true?

Saul: ‘That’s not exactly true, we met before in London, around 1997. But we both went to Manchester University, and that’s where the music all kicked off for us.’

Will: ‘It’s a place that influenced us massively, it allowed us to grow as artists. It was very affordable, which when you’ve got no money is a massive bonus! We got our independence from Manchester, we were away from our families, living on our own for the first time. There’s a great vibe up there, we lived in a really cool place, and the musical heritage of the city is just massive. There’s loads of amazing clubs, we ended up putting on a few nights and getting really involved in the music scene in the city. There’s a really welcoming, friendly vibe to the area. It’s generally accepted that the northern part of the country is a bit more open and a bit more friendly to strangers. We made a lot of friends there. It’s a great place to go back and play, it’s like a home from home for us.’

Your music comes from all sorts of different genres, who would you say are your top musical influences?

Saul: ‘So many! From Nirvana to the Chili Peppers, to Biggy Smalls, to New Order, to U2, to Prodigy, to Andy C, The Steve Miller Band, Stevie Wonder…we could go on all day. We just love so much music.’

Finally, you’re well known for all the different artists you’ve collaborated with – is there anyone you haven’t worked with yet that you’d like to?

Saul: ‘We’d love to work with Tyler The Creator, who’s a really exciting rapper from America. The thing for Will and I is that it doesn’t matter whether people are famous or not, we just want people who are exciting, with an original voice, that’s our ideal collaboration really.’

Thanks to Will and Saul for taking the time to speak to us about their experiences of representing England Away. We’ve also got a Special Edition England Shirt signed by Chase & Status, which we’re giving away today on our Twitter page – head there now for details on how to win!

The England football team will also be representing their country tomorrow evening, when they hope to confirm their qualification for Euro 2012 in the match against Montenegro. The team will walk out for the game in a Special Edition England Away Anthem jacket – for more details head over to the Umbro website.