Medallist Interview - Part Two

By Jodie Humphries

At the moment, every band wants to be the one to put Bristol on the map, and of course, Medallist are no exception to this. “I really hope we can. There are loads of bands trying, like Fortune Drive, they’re really good, we’ve done a lot of gigs with them. We do want to put Bristol on the map, I’m the only local lad, the rest of the guys are from Liverpool and Winchester, and Kent respectively. We’ve lived here for six years, so we haven’t got the ownership of Bristol like other bands like Fortune Drive have, with their songs being about the river, and with them living in The Duke. We just want to draw attention to the fact that Bristol does have great musicians and the whole stigma of trip hop with Portishead and Massive Attack, I mean I love Massive Attack. I really hope that Bristol isn’t defined by that. I feel that there’s enough people like Tim Sensation, who is a great promoter and DJ, he’s getting some great bands into The Loui. I really hope that there’s enough people in Bristol who are going to put Bristol on the map, but hopefully we can kick start that by getting people to look. I hope that Bristol is looked at for being a place that is innovative in music.” Whilst on the subject of Bristol, Thom says, “You can’t talk about Bristol without talking about Jeff. He’s a top guy. He’s like a barometer for coolness.”
As Medallist prepare for their first recording, I wondered if there was ever a worry about the material not being as powerful recorded, as it is live, Thom says, “I think that’s been our experience in the past. I've heard that Medallist have this reputation of being this loud rock band. I think we’ve figured out how to make our sound transcribe on to record because we do our own stuff, Sparky is a great producer, and he’s probably going to co-produce the album, he’s absolutely brilliant, he’s got the technical abilities, but also the imagination. The reason we got a record deal, was because our demos were so good, that they shocked them. I’m really excited, because we’re looking at some great producers at the moment, we’re being really picky with who produces our album as we want it to sound as hard and as good as we deliver live.”
If you’ve taken any notice of the stage lately when Medallist play, you’ll notice there’s hardly any space from all the gadgets. “We’ve got the toys; we’ve got so many cool instruments. I looked on our stage just before we played The Croft the other day, and there’s so many flashing lights, it looks like a spaceship. We’re gear fanatics; we have about six or seven keyboards hanging around, which make the strangest, weirdest loud noises. We love it; it’s such a creative atmosphere.” Of course, being signed has helped the band to be able to afford all of this new equipment. “We’ve been given tools to make cool music since we’ve been signed. We’ve all given up or jobs, so music is full time which is bizarre. It can be great, it can be frustration, but I’m not going to complain. I heard the scariest statistic the other day on how many bands get signed, I think it’s something like 1% of bands in existence get signed, and then an even lesser percentage of them getting to release an album, they get signed by a major, and then dropped. We’re in a good position right now with an imminent release and all that and people are excited. We’ve been given money to live and buy some awesome stuff, there’s still a list of stuff we want to buy.”
The future of the music industry, at times is looking a bit shaky, so I wanted Thoms’ perspective as a musician on it. “I think that because there are so many bands, I think it’s harder to get noticed. For people buying music, they’re bombarded with the latest thing, so it’s quite hard to stick out. I think what you need to do from your website, to your merchandise design to your album tracks, all needs to be brilliant, the whole package. You can’t just have one or two great songs and the rest filler on your album. As far as an artist is concerned, it needs to be brilliant through out. Our album has to be brilliant, because it can’t be anything else, and we’re aware of that. I think that for someone who’s buying music, people want to feel part of it more. We’re trying to think of new ways for people to get involved in what we do. For example, we are thinking of using a simple computer program where people can remix one of our songs in their own way. It’s something that we’re really interested in, as it means that you can feel as much a part of Medallist, as I am. I don’t think it’s anything to do with being industry savvy; it’s about being excited and finding new ways of doing what you do. We’ve also been messing around with this Bluetooth thing; we tried it at The Louisiana of sending free tracks to people who had their Bluetooth on. I think the music industry is heading for a huge crash, and people won’t make money like they used to anymore. I’m not particularly worried about it from an artists perspective, because you don’t get into it for the money, if you want that, be a businessmen or work in a bank, you get into music, cos you love it. Watching Muse play at Wembley, inspired me, and I think as a band, we’re not happy to just survive, we want to reach for the highest thing we can and see what happens.”
For Thom, he would have to say that the bands biggest achievement to date, would be “Writing a few songs with Medallist that we’re collectively excited about and writing some songs that ‘we didn’t know if they were any good or not, but we believed in them and loved them’, and literally getting a record deal within four months. It was more or less instant. I think since then, the biggest achievement has been writing some songs that I fully love, like ‘The Music’ and ‘Communicate’ which were songs we wrote after being signed. I love playing them live, and they go down really well. I feel there’s a lot to achieve, but we haven’t done it yet as we haven’t done an album or gone out on tour. With everything, we want to try and do it a bit different from everyone else.
For most bands, Myspace has played an important role, according to Thom though, “I think Myspace is old news, I know there’s people that love Myspace, but it’s a few years old and with everything, its days are numbered. It has been really important, that’s the reason we got a record deal, because someone found us on Myspace. I think something better will come along. But Myspace is brilliant too, especially for the music industry. I think what is frustrating about Myspace is that it’s not a secret anymore, everyone and their mum is on it trying to promote what they’re doing now. It’s all a competition to see how many friends you can get on there, but Medallist personally aren’t bothered about having ten thousand friends because they’re not all going to go out and buy your record. I help to run the three sites we have, Myspace, Facebook, and Bebo, we try to spread different material over the three so it’s not just the same thing on each one. If the fans that we have on the sites go out and buy our album, that would be brilliant.”
On that note, I wanted to know, what was more important to Medallist, the number of people at a gig, or the number of album sales? “I think they’re both important. I think album sales are important as you can gauge how well things are going down, and it obviously means that you can carry on doing it for a while longer. We’ve never released anything, so I don’t know, but it’s the aim to sell lots of records. If there’s a lot of people at gigs, clearly enjoying themselves, then you know you’re denting their lives somehow. There’s nothing better than being on stage and knowing that people are enjoying it, that’s the reason I play drums, as you look around, and you’re enjoying it, and so is everyone else.”
And for Medallist in ten years? “Who knows! The music industry is so fickle, one minute everyone loves you, the next everyone is bored of you. The ideal scenario would be that we’ve released records that have progressively changed with us but also people have stuck with us too, and we’re all happy people living fulfilled lives, and still excited by music. The idea is to be successful, and be happy at the end of it, to not let the whole money game affect you. If we’re not excited about making music in ten years time, we won’t be doing it. We’ve all got other things we’re excited by, not just music. We’re not a money-motivated band. We look up to people who help other people.” It’s a long way off, but in ten years, we’ll have to see if Medallist have achieved this.


www.myspace.com/medallist

Medallist Interview - Part One

By Jodie Humphries

I met up with Thom from Medallist on a wet Friday morning in Bristol where we eventually settled in Mackenzies for non-alcoholic drinks, as it was 11.30, which was even too early for a potential up and coming rock star. Thom had decided he would be more interested to meet in person to do this follow-up interview. We certainly had a lot to chat about, and the notes from the recording took up ten pages of typing, so there was a lot to cover.
The first thing I wanted to know, was how things have been lately in the Medallist camp. According to Thom, “They’ve been good. It’s very positive. We’re all very excited about the eminent release of something this year. Me and Nick have been trying to DJ a bit to fill in the gaps. We played at a place called Bijou on Whiteladies Road a couple of weekends ago, which was fun. We learnt to DJ in a week.” With the mention of a release, I know that’s the question on everyone’s lips. Thom says, “The question when’s the album going to be released is on all of our lips too. We’ve literally been sat in our rooms and in the practice room for the last eight or nine months chained to our laptops and instruments trying to come up with amazing songs. I think it’s going to be out in 2008. We’ve got a couple of good songs at the moment, and we’ve written loads. I think the record label is waiting for us to write a few bigger songs. It’s been a little bit frustrating because we’ve been sitting on a few good songs for the last year. We want to put something out that is completely amazing, something that makes a huge, I don’t want to say splash, something that makes a really big dent in the industry. I think we’re aiming for something that is really going to turn heads rather than be yet another album that is filling a gap in the charts.”
Like me, I bet there are those of you out there, who are hoping that Gut don’t try and change Medallist, and according to Thom, “Gut haven’t tried to change us, which is really good. They have just encouraged us to exaggerate everything that is good about us already, to just to try and get a more raw sound without the smooth veneer of production. We chose Gut because they are such a good label in the fact; they aren’t a huge label in the sense of what people know about them. They always seem to pick bands that are quality, like Fightstar. I didn’t know about them until we signed to Gut, I knew Charlie's history, but that record is absolutely amazing. It puts confidence in me that Gut have signed bands like that. The reason we chose an indie, is because Gut have got the resources to break a band, but they’re relatively unknown. The people there are really innovative in the sense of using technology to promote a band. The director of Gut, Guy, is really focused on where the future of music is going, and the future of the industry. He’s involved in the thinking of how the future of selling music is going to go. That excited us because it’s what we want to do. They understand us as people too, as we’re family orientated, two of the band are married, so it’s very important to us.”
For a band to succeed, they need to have ambition, and it’s clear that this is no problem for Medallist. “I think we’re quite ambitious as a group. When we first started out as a band with Medallist, we wanted to push things and make exciting music that was different to what was out there. We wanted to make music that turned heads. We always felt like underdogs previously, and felt that we had something to prove from reviews we received in previous incarnations, like Underdown. We’re not ashamed of the whole Underdown thing. When we started Medallist, people didn’t have a clue we were Underdown, we just told them we were finishing, and came a few months later a completely different band. We wanted to start something completely different off its own merit, not with the stigma we had before. A lot of people did make the transition to Medallist. We want people to go away from our gigs buzzing, so we can try and recreate the feelings we get when we go to gigs, like I’ll always remember going to see Soulwax at the Fleece a couple of years ago. We want to try and convince people we’re something worth listening to and believing in. We want to change the landscape like bands like Muse have done. I think that Muse blow everyone out of the water, they’re absolutely amazing. I think for us, that’s what we’re trying to achieve when we release an album and tour.”
People know that when they see Medallist, something different is going to happen. “It’s really important for us that we put on a show. I hate going to see a band if they look like they’re not enjoying it. If I pay to see a band, I want to see a show. Generally you might see us throwing things around, not that we enjoy destroying things, but its fun. If people have paid to see you, you have an obligation to them to put on something that they’ll remember. Like Sparky doing a dive into me. I don’t want to sound like an idiot, but I love it, I don’t care about Sparky jumping into me and things getting broken, because people will go away remembering it. If we have to pay the damages, that’s the price of the fun. What’s the point in being in a band if you don’t love it? With the performance side of it, I get so into it and carried away, things are bound to go wrong.” Not only are Medallist getting a reputation for having a bit of a wild streak whilst on stage, they’re also getting known for being a loud band. “I was talking to our sound engineer, Paul the other day, and he was saying how we’ve started to get a reputation in Bristol for being quite loud. I’m quite excited, because if people come and see us, they come away remembering it.”
As a group of people, there are going to be differences. Thom says “Our tastes are so vastly different, and sometimes we have to work through it, but I think we’re better for it. I have confidence in us as a band, and I think we’re all competent musicians, when we play live; there is a mix of improvisations, so we’re always different. That’s what I rate about everyone, they’re able to get up and perform, and do what they want. If you want a perfect version of something, listen to the CD, if you want to see something different, come and see a live band. I’m a big fan of bands like The Who, who were always on edge, Keith Moon was on the edge of collapsing the whole time, it was a shambolic mess, but at the same time, amazing. You never know what you’re going to get, and that’s exciting.”
On the subject of arguments, Thom says, “Yeah we argue, cos we all care about what we do. I think if we didn’t argue, I would be worried in the sense that it would feel like the other people didn’t care about it. Because we are so close, we argue and throw stuff at each other. That just makes me think, ‘brilliant’. It just shows that everyone wants to do something that is amazing. I enjoy being part of a group of people who are like that, there’s no one else that I would rather be writing music with because I think that everyone in Medallist is so quality in their own way.” Although there’s arguments, Thom says, “We’re all really close as a band. We’ve all spent the last seven/eight years hanging out together. At various points, we’ve lived together, I live with Sparky and Will at the moment. There’s this real closeness. I’d say we’re like brothers, but not in that Happy Days cheesy sort of way. We fight and we bicker, but we hang out all the time.”
Medallist, wherever they’re playing, put on a show. Recently, they’ve been lucky enough to play with some bigger acts, but they’ll always remember their roots in Bristol. “We’ve done some bigger shows with Go Team and Athlete, and got a really good response. I think that as a band, with local shows, we prefer places like The Louisiana, which I think is probably the best venue in Bristol. The Fleece is a cool venue, but The Louisiana is the best one, as it has such a cool atmosphere. Our sound is just so hectic and eclectic. With places like The Loui, it just gets people jumping. With some of the bigger shows, sometimes it takes a little while longer for people to get involved as we’re relatively unknown and we look like boys getting on stage playing dance rock music. Sometimes people need convincing, but always by the end of the show, people are loving it and asking where we’re playing next and if we have anything released. I think generally, 2008 has been really good period of live shows. I think we’ve all only just discovered how much we like playing live again, after not doing some shows for a bit. I think doing gigs, has really inspired us to write some better music and stuff like that. It’s going really well.” It seems to Thom, that it’s important for people to come out of Bristol, and show their talent elsewhere, so that people will keep looking to Bristol for emerging talent. “I really believe that we should have new bands coming through who are pushing it, trying to do something new. We have a lot of ambition as a band, so it’s really exciting to see bands like The Naturals, as I can’t sing their praises high enough, as they’ve got ambition, and they attract attention. It’s exciting for us, because Bristol is a strange place, it does have a scene, but it’s not like Sheffield or Brighton. We were in Sheffield last year, and there’s a really buzzing scene there. London is the obvious one, there’s always a buzz and excitement, there’s tons of bands there. I think Bristol is starting to get this scene because of the younger bands, and I think that’s exciting. A couple of years ago, it was Cuban Heels and Halo, they were the biggest bands in Bristol, the biggest ambition was to be the biggest band in Bristol. Now there’s really great bands like TurboWolf. Andy from the band has just designed us some t-shirts. They’re a wicked band; they’ve just released a single. They’re a bit different to us, in a metal way.”

www.myspace.com/medallist

Interview with Gary Smith from Bristol Uncovered by Jodie Humphries

1. What first got you interested in music?
I’d been a comedy geek for years but that all came to an end after I stopped running a comedy club. Simon Pegg was one of the compeers and he was brilliant even then. However, I lost interest in comedy and filled the void with music. My partner Elaine introduced me to a lot of new wave stuff and I started doing bits on Richard Pitt’s hospital radio show. He was playing a lot of new music and I started to get into it. He’s responsible in large part for my love of new music. So blame him.

2. What part do you think you play in the Bristol scene?
As far as Bristol Uncovered goes, I try and give bands an opportunity to be played on radio. Obviously, there are more outlets for that now with 6 Music and the whole BBC Introducing thing, but I think it’s important for local radio to play its part too.
Uncovered is often the first place a band gets radio play, or an interview or a session. And if we like a band we try and give them as much support as we can with regular plays etc. I hope that has a positive effect for the bands we feature.
I’m also involved in a number of other things like Bristol Scene Records, which is just starting up, and the Bristol Music Industry Forum, all of which is for the promotion of Bristol music. In short, I help spread the word.

3. Do you get to go to many gigs yourself?
Yes, but not as many as I’d like to.

4. How do you select the play list for Bristol Uncovered?
We try and cover as many gigs in the coming week as we can, both local and visiting bands. Doing that allows us to play local bands, new bands, new releases and support bands we’ve played before who we think deserve that bit of extra radio play. But we also play a lot of demos and new releases that we think need to be heard. We mix local, national and international acts together to put everything in context. Richard and I pick everything ourselves, no one tells us what to play. If we don’t like something it doesn’t get on the show. We really lucky, not many DJs get to do that in radio.

5. What do you think of the Bristol music scene at the moment?
It’s amazing right now but then it has been for years. So many great bands who are up there with the best of them, and so many venues putting on gigs too.

6. How are things going with the BMIF Label?
I should be spending more time on it, so it’s going more slowly than I’d like it to, but we’re getting there. We’ll have the first release out this year but I can’t say when at the moment. Once I get all the masters in it’ll probably happen quite quickly, I’m looking forward to that.

7. Was it a hard decision to choose the acts for the CD for the label?
It was really hard to cut the shortlist down to a number we could get on to just one disc. I’d have loved to have had a 3 disc compilation but even then we’d have had to leave some bands off. If this first compilation works then hopefully we’ll get a chance to incorporate all the other bands that deserve to be included. It’s not hard to pick good bands in Bristol to include though, there’s loads of them.

8. Do you wish that you could do more for the Bristol scene?
Oh yes. There’s so much I’d like to do. Come on lottery!

9. What sort of music are you personally into?
Blimey, I don’t know where to start. It’s easier to say what I don’t like, which is funk, boy bands, girl bands, disco, X Factor/Pop Idol wank, pretty much all chart stuff, really weak weedy trance tracks, and RnB. I like most other stuff.

10. Where do you see Bristol Uncovered in the future?
Hopefully still at BBC Radio Bristol, but with a programme budget. I’m not ambitious, I’m where I want to be, I’d just like to get paid for doing it.

11. Do you believe that sites like Myspace now play an important role in the music industry?
It’s vital now, especially with all the independent record shops closing. It’s a great way to discover new bands. But in the end you still have to go and see the band play live. Nothing can replace that.

12. What do you see happening to the music industry?
If I knew the answer to that I’d be a rich man. However, I do predict the return of skiffle, downloads will be discovered to cause cancer, Muse will only play venues with a capacity of just 50 and middle aged DJs will be in great demand with shockingly high wages.

13. Do you wish that you were on at a different time on the radio from what you are?
In an ideal world we’d be on after lunch time. Realistically though, a show like ours will always be on late. It looks as if one of our shows might be moved to an earlier slot, probably from 10pm. If they do put us on earlier I’m not sure all the late evening audience will want to hear the kind of thing we do. But if we can get away with it, then great. Still, there’s always the “listen again” on the BBC i-Player which has worked really well for us so far. And we might be able to have the shows available as a podcast in the future but we haven’t discussed that yet.

14. Who are the acts you hope are going to break out of Bristol?
Check our playlists; if they’re on there and they’re from Bristol then I want them to be the next big thing from our city. Whoever does it though, I hope they manage to stay in Bristol and still be big. I don’t want to lose any of them to London.

15. Why do you think there hasn’t been an act to break out of Bristol for a number of years?
I’m told it’s because we don’t have the business side of things based in the city. It makes more sense for a band to go to London to make it than for a big label or management company to move here. If we had the infrastructure in Bristol it would be a different story. I do think it can be done.

www.myspace.com/bristoluncovered

Interview with Richard Pitt from Bristol Uncovered By Jodie Humphries

1. What first got you interested in music?
It’s in my blood, especially on my father’s side. My Nanny taught me piano, and then I had bands until they went nowhere. This way I get to listen to loads of great music.

2. What part do you think you play in the Bristol scene?
We’re in a very privileged position of being able to help promote the great scene that exists in Bristol. Being on the BBC undoubtedly means that the exposure is greater than in the past and we look forward to developing the show and spreading the gospel of new music, especially Bristol music even more.

3. Do you get to go to many gigs yourself?
Not as many as I’d like, but my aim is to do at least 1 a month and by large I achieve it. This week, I’ll be going to 3, but that’s unusual.

4. How do you select the play list for Bristol Uncovered?
By trial and error. We have a pile of CDs and downloads each and we throw them in the mix and see what comes out!

5. What do you think of the Bristol music scene at the moment?
It’s as strong as it ever has been. We just need the rest of the world to realise and light the flame.

6. Do you wish that you could do more for the Bristol scene?
Always, but we try and do as much as we can with the time we have. And without blowing our own trumpets too much, I think we do a damn fine job!

7. What sort of music are you personally into?
First and foremost, it’s alternative guitar music. But I try not to be narrow minded when it comes to listening. Bristol Uncovered has been instrumental in broadening our musical outlook. So now we’re likely to play Americana, Thrash, Electro, Folkabilly or Psych and any other genre you care to think of.

8. Where do you see Bristol Uncovered in the future?
I’d like to think we’d continue to develop the excellent relationship we have with the BBC and through that bring Bristol music to an even wider audience.

9. Do you believe that sites like Myspace now play an important role in the music industry?
We use Myspace as the most important tool in presenting.

10. Do you wish that you were on at a different time on the radio from what you are?
We’d always prefer to be on earlier in the evening, but we’re the first to admit we’re never going to be daytime!

11. Who are the acts you hope are going to break out of Bristol?
There are too many to mention here, but the likes of Angel Tech, Turbowolf, Babel, Countryside and Jane Taylor are as good if not better than any in their field anywhere in the world.

12. Why do you think there hasn’t been an act to break out of Bristol for a number of years?
We call it Londonitis! But nowadays it doesn’t actually matter as much as it did. Bristol is a developing, thriving city of art and culture. Before too long, they won’t be able to resist us any longer!

www.myspace.com/bristoluncovered

Evil I Interview

By Jodie Humphries

Hailing from Bridgend in Wales, Evil I are Mike, Paul, Rhys, Miff and Chris. Paul and Mike took the time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions. Unfortunately because of time restraints and distance, this interview was done over Myspace, but the guys certainly did an excellent job of answering my questions. It showed that they had put real time into answering them.
The start of the current line-up was complete in late 2007, but as Paul explained, “We know each other mainly though school. Mike, Rhys and Miff were at the school right next door to my school. When I found out there were after a drummer, I applied and the rest is history. Chris came into play in late 2007 when we advertised for a new bassist.” The name of Evil I, is certainly a different one. According to Paul, “It originally came from Miff, our guitarist.” Mike explains that “We’d been struggling to find a name for this project for over a year, and Miff suggested it after a conversation with his Dad in the pub where he thought someone was giving him the ‘evil eye’. Miff thought it would be more interesting if we flipped it to be ‘I’ rather than ‘eye’, and we agreed.”
As usual, I had to ask ‘how would you describe your music to others?’ I could sense the groans coming from Evil I, as no band likes this question. “This is always a nightmare question, as being an artist, you’re always reluctant to pigeon hole yourself; but it comes with the territory I suppose,” Mike explains. “I would say we’re a hard rockin’ band who aren’t afraid to write a hooky melody and bring out the ass-kicking guitar-solos.” Paul adds that “Our performances are energetic. We try to put on the best possible show both visually and musically. We’ve had positive feedback on our performances, so come to a show and judge for yourself.” I don’t know, this far in and Paul is already trying to persuade people to come to a show!
A musician’s choice of music to listen to, will some how worm its way into their music, even if they tried their hardest not to let it. Mike says that “Personally, I love Seattle Grunge, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. I’m also quite partial to a bit of pre 90s U2 and recently I’ve got into The Manic Street Preachers. Collectively there are very few areas of agreement when it comes to music. What binds us together is a friendship and willingness to find the middle ground. It’s much more interesting that way. If the band was full of people with the same musical tastes, we’d end up being a Pearl Jam tribute band.” Paul says “I love more of the newer sounds, such as Paramore, Coheed and Cambria. However, the bands Mike said are my type of music too. I’m open to everything!” The influences of a group, normally leads to their ideal line-up for a gig too. Paul says “Gotta have Paramore there.” While Mike says “The best two live bands I’ve seen are Pearl Jam and The Manic Street Preachers. It would be amazing to play a show with those two bands, Pearl Jam headlining, of course.
Paul says “I find Evil I more than just a band, we’re deeper than that. It’s more of a family nowadays. Once we start to travel, I think it’ll only bring us closer as a group.” “I agree with Paul, it’s a family affair, we’re pretty close. They’re my best friends,” Mike says. Although Paul and Mike say they’re best friends, there’s bound to be arguments, no one I know can spend loads of time together and not argue. “Myself and Rhys tend to have a monthly bicker at each other for one reason or another,” Mike laughs, while Paul adds, “It’s usually that time of the month,” whilst laughing. Mike added that “We see sense and come round eventually. It’s because we’re two strong minded people who care passionately about this band. Sometimes we disagree and sparks fly. I never hold grudges.”
Although Evil I are from Wales, they do have plans to play Bristol. Mike explains that “We were actually offered a slot in Area 51 before Christmas, but had to turn it down because we parted company with our bass player at the time, which was unfortunate. We’re looking into touring sometime after June, and Bristol is on our hit-list.” Paul says “So if there’s anyone in the Bristol area putting on shows, let us know, we’d be more than happy to oblige.”
Those of you, who have been on the site before, will know that my CD reviewer Dave, has just done a review of the latest offering from Evil I, so a lot of time has been spent in the studio of late. Mike explains “The plan at the moment is just to get gigging as much as we humanly can. We spent a lot of last year going back and forth to the studio working on our debut EP. As much fun as that was, playing live is the most important part of being in a rock band. That being said, I’m sure we’ll be returning to the studio before the end of the year.” Some musicians love being in the studio, others don’t. Mike says “I love it. We record near Llanelli, in a place called ‘Sonic One Studios’. It’s great fun, we tend to make a weekend out of it.” Paul adds that “The studio is amazing; I love the atmosphere of it. I can’t wait to go back. The whole idea of setting up, recording, going out in the night, then waking up and going straight back into the studio, I love it.”
When it comes to the song writing, Mike says “We’re lucky in the sense that we have the ability to write in different ways. We’re each great individual songwriters in our own right, and sometimes we’ll write songs alone and bring them to the table, but at the same time there’s musical chemistry between us whereby we can just have a ‘jam’ and a song will come out of that. We do all feel that everyone makes a sufficient contribution to the overall sound that any song we create should be classed as ‘ours’, regardless of where the song began.”
Time is always an issue when you’re busy, and Evil I find that it can be hard to fit the band around everyday life. Mike says that “In all honesty, I’ve been struggling as of late. The band is working out really well at the moment. We’re getting busy with various gigs, radio interviews, plus the time spent hounding people for more gigs and promoting the ones we’ve already got. It takes time, and being in the last year of a philosophy degree, it’s time I don’t always have spare.” Paul agrees, “I find it hard with commitments, an eight until five job and a HNC college course one day a week, but the band is the, well the band.” Although Evil I are busy, they still have some plans in the pipeline. Paul says “We are currently looking into putting on a massive show in Bridgend so that all of the local bands and a few outsiders (secrets as to who) can try and bring the music scene back in force to Bridgend.” Mike says on the music scene and getting gigs that “I think the music scene in South Wales is generally terrific, there are plenty of live music venues and plenty of promoters willing to put you on. You do have to be persistent with some of the promoters though, but it all pays off. We’ve been particularly tenacious over the past few months in regards to getting in the faces of some of the promoters, and it’s paid off with an extended gig list.
Needless to say, there are going to be moments on stage when things go wrong. Mike says, “I remember playing in the final of the Welsh Battle of the Bands in Jumpin’ Jaks (Cardiff) back in the days when we were called ‘Splinter’. I forgot to turn my amp on and didn’t realise until half way through the first song. What a plonker! What was worse, was a few songs later I lost all guitar sound again. I started shouting at the sound guys for some help, not realising my cable had just slipped out of my guitar.” Although there’s been gigs when it’s gone wrong, there have been some great gigs for Evil I. Mike says “We’ve played a couple of packed shows at Cardiff Barfly, under the name ‘Splinter’, which was really fun. In terms of audience response, they are up there. But in terms of performance, we recently played Milkwood Jam in Swansea, and I thought we were on fire.” Paul says that as “Evil I, I’d say it has to be Toms Bar in Treforest, with Alkalay and Stopmotion Men. We had a really good crowd, atmosphere, and just an all round fun night, but then again we have a lot more gigs lined up.”
For Mike, he says his favourite venue is “The Charter Club, at the top of the Garw Valley. It will always be close to my heart as it’s where it started for Miff, Paul and myself. It’s where we learned our trade so to speak. Also there’s an abundance of the weirdest characters you’ll find our side of the seven bridge. I was washing my hands once after using the toilet and a guy turned to me and said ‘oh butt, wha’ you washing your hands for? You posh or sumink?’”
Currently, Myspace is playing an influential part in music. Mike says “Myspace is fantastic from a bands perspective. We’ve seen how it’s made the careers of artists like Artic Monkeys, Kate Nash and Kids in Glass Houses. It gives you a first point of contact with millions of music lovers and promoters. The internet, and particularly Myspace, has made being in a band easier in terms of promoting yourself. Ultimately I think it puts more power in the hands of musicians and fans alike, which is always a good thing.” Paul says that “Myspace has helped us greatly. We’re able to get so many contacts and gigs from wading through the site, and contact other bands too.”
I asked Evil I, what they think could be done to help unsigned bands, and by the length of the answer Mike gave, you can tell he feels strongly about it. “One thing that I find frustrating about the whole music scene at grass roots level is the amount of expectancy for new bands to pull a crowd without ever playing a gig before. Some venues and promoters will not book a band unless they guarantee than can bring twenty plus people with them. If they fail to bring that amount of people with them, they won’t be booked again. What tends to happen is that any band stuck playing these sort of gigs end up playing to the same crowd every time, and they get stagnate. I’d like to see more of an effort on the part of venues and promoters to take so much of the pressure off of new bands by getting off their arses and promoting the gigs themselves. After all, being a ‘promoter’ surely should entail ‘promoting’. I must say though there are some good promoters out there that genuinely care about unsigned music and do put the effort in, and equally it’s unfair when bands make no effort to get bums on seats themselves, it’s a two-way thing,” he explains.
For the future of Evil I, Mike says, “In the immediate future, we’ll be gigging the hell out of South Wales, writing bigger and better songs, playing a few summer festivals (fingers crossed), organising a tour, and generally just getting in the faces of as many people as we can. As far as long term plans are concerned, we’re very ambitious and so we’re aiming for the whole caboodle of album sales, world tours, etc, and then maybe coming back to Live-Music-Scene for an updated interview.” And as Paul says, “Watch your space.” These guys have plans, so keep your eyes peeled.

www.myspace.com/evilimusic

Electrolite Interview

By Jodie Humphries

A couple of weeks back, Nick from Electrolite took the time to meet me at The Boat House in Bath for a drink and chat.
Under the name Electrolite, Nick, John and Al have been playing together for about two and a half, to three years. Nick explains that before, “We were in a band from 2000 to 2002 called Seven Minute Abs. There were four of us and we had another guy who was the drummer. Al was originally a guitar player, but it turned out he was really good on drums. We basically split up when Al and John went travelling. When they got back, we thought we might as well start up again.” The story behind the name, as usual involves the pub. “Electrolite is off an REM album. Literally the only reason we picked it was because we were sat in the pub one night trying to come up with a name. I just said ‘Electrolite’ as it rolled of my tongue. The other lads went ‘yeah that will do.’”
Nick says the description of the band he uses is from a mate who said they were like “Grunge, blues and punk, with hints of melody. That’s my favourite description if people ask.” Bands may not know how to describe themselves musically, but they certainly know their favourite venues. Nick says “The Croft because you always get a really good sound there. It’s not a knock on any of the other sound engineers; we get a great sound when we play The Loui. I think with The Croft it’s the general atmosphere of the room because it’s a big blank room. If you go down well there, it pretty much means you go down well any where. I think Al prefers The Loui and John prefers Mr Wolfs.”
Anyone who knows the website knows that I always ask what would be your ideal line up for a gig, but Nick couldn’t answer this. “I read your website and I’ve been trying to come up with an answer all week, and I can’t think of an answer. I could come up with an ideal festival as there’s just too many.” Nick didn’t have trouble listing Bristol bands he’d like to play with. “I’d love to play with Babel, I think they’re great. They’re kind of folky to be honest; they’ve got this really stomping sound. Santa Dog I’d like to play with too. These are the bigger bands in Bristol, the ones that bring in the crowds. Our last CD, we actually recorded with the guitarist out of Santa Dog, he’s the sound engineer at The Loui. I think everyone wants to be on the same bill as Fortune Drive.” A band that Electrolite play with a lot, are LeScour. Nick says “We all agree we like them.” Electrolite and LeScour always compliment each other really well when they play together, as they both have a great sound.
No band can play the number of gigs they do without something going wrong, and Electrolite are no exception. As soon as I asked Nick, he laughed and replied “Yes. It doesn’t happen a lot, but when it does happen, it’s normally to me. It’s usually something pathetic like my pedals don’t work, or a cable has gone. We had a review in The Evening Post, and that night, literally the first strum of my guitar, and two strings went. One you can cope with, two you’re fucked quite honestly, so that was a bit of a nightmare. It’s never all gone wrong. We’ve seen enough bands and played enough gigs to learn you just play on. I think that the most unprofessional thing you can see with a band is if things go wrong, they all stop half way through a song. You just have to power though it and make it to the end.” Electrolite certainly have a number of years experience under their belt. “When we were in the original band, there were no other bands around; we could get a gig at the drop of a hat. We didn’t have to worry about the three week rule. Our first gig, we had a DJ up at the start, us in the middle and a DJ at the end.”
Electrolite know that it’s important to play their hearts out no matter how many people are in the room. “It would be fantastic if there were loads of people in the room. But being realistic, we’ve always had the attitude that it doesn’t matter if there are two or three people in the room, one of those people might be the right person. For all you know, that could be your future manager, or someone from a record label. You just have to plough through it and think that there are three people in this room that I know, and two that I don’t, so I’m now playing to those two people. They could be another two people you get along to the next gig. The one thing that is disheartening for a band, is if you’re in the room watching a band before you play and the room is rammed, then you get up on stage and realise the room has emptied.”
I wanted to know if Electrolite have any plans to play outside of Bristol, Nick explains that “We don’t have plans to, that’s not to say we wouldn’t like to. It’s quite difficult to organise because what you find out is pretty much everywhere operates the same way as Bristol, with ‘right we’ll put you on, you’ll be on first, you better bring some friends, because if you don’t bring enough people in, we’re not putting you on again.’ To get around the country is pretty hard to do unless you’ve got some great contacts, and networking isn’t our strong point to be honest. Things like Myspace are a brilliant tool for getting fans all over the place, but it’s literally a thing of sitting down and going through it. I just find it clinical; it takes away from the song writing, which is the bit I enjoy, I want to focus on that, not tapping messages into Myspace all day. If I start, I’m sat there all night, and then I think there are other things that should have been done. We have considered doing gigs in London, that sort of thing, just for the sake of doing a gig in London, also maybe playing Cardiff. It’s all things we’ve considered and haven’t done yet. I think this last year, we’ve been on a bit of a mission to find out what we’re actually doing. I think every band goes through it where they have a certain amount of ambiguity, they’re floating around saying, ‘what are we actually doing here?’ We’re trying to figure that out before branching out. If you can generate a local buzz, then you’re probably in a better position to try other places. It’s difficult to tour unless you have a reason, bands like Left Side Brain have a reason as they have an album.”
Although Nick says they don’t have any plans to tour, Nick explains that “We played somewhere up north; it was some really remote northern town. We played in this pub, it was a friend of Al’s from university who ran this night, it was literally this PA in a pub, speakers and a monitor. My guitar amp had to hold up the drum kit as it kept slipping on the floor. There was this guy at the front who looked like he was going to nut me the whole time. It turned out he quite liked us, but everyone was going, ‘is that guy going to nut Nick?’ I think he then came down to see us at The Loui or something, and was completely blown away with the professional sound.”
I think it’s always great when you see bands watching the bands they’re playing with. Nick says, “It’s important to watch bands to show support, but you might also see a band you really like. Even though the last gig at The Fleece went really pants for us, I really liked the first act on, Light of Words. I thought they were amazing, so if you get a chance, check them out. I also see it as research; you can see it as ‘I don’t do that, maybe I should’. And to be quite honest with you, I kind of get into the competition frame of mind watching other bands, so if you’re on second, and the first band are really good, that’s going to make you play even better. It doesn’t matter how friendly the band are, as soon as you’re on stage, you want to play better. It’s an ego thing; you’ve got to have an ego to do this in the first place.”
Playing in Bristol, bands build up friendships with other bands. “I use to go to college with Iain from The Exhibition, and John was mates with Gray and Iain. Me and John ended up chatting at one of their gigs we were both invited to; this was the band they were in before Halo. We were daft and turned down a gig with The Exhibition after The Harbourside Festival. We couldn’t play as we didn’t want to upset The Croft I think it was. The gig was then reviewed in Venue, so we would have had a proper review.”
When it comes to rehearsing, Nick says “We do about four hours a week, something like that. Every Thursday we rehearse, John is a waiter, so he has to get every Thursday off, so if we changed it, it would be a pain in the arse for him. We rehearse every week without fail.” Electrolite are also trying to decide what to do about recording at the moment, Nick says “I am personally in two minds about what to do at the moment. I’ve got a project studio at home, the theory at the moment is to maybe take the project studio stuff into the practice room and do it that way. Most of the stuff that me and the guys listen to is quite lo-fi anyway, so we’re thinking of maybe going for that and sort of using that as our sound as such. We’ll see how it goes.
For Nick, the ideal scenario for the future of Electrolite would be to make enough money to live off. Electrolite are certainly worth seeing for the energy they have on stage, so if you get a chance go and see them.

www.myspace.com/electroliteband

Roxy’s Wardrobe Interview

By Jodie Humphries

I met up with Roxy’s Wardrobe back in November in a pub just off Park Street in Bristol. What I didn’t notice when they were all there, was they were all dressed in grey. Rich was quick to point out “We hadn’t all planned on wearing grey tonight.” If he hadn’t had pointed it out, I would have never noticed, which shows how observant I can be at times.
Like many groups in Bristol, Roxy’s Wardrobe have had a few changes in the past, but they are now firmly settled in their line-up. Originally it was Andy, Luke and Alex who knew each other from school, along with another drummer. Alex explained that before Rich joined the band, “We played with another drummer for about a year, and there was a few years before that. Rich came to be a member by a friend of ours recommending him. Rich came down to one of our gigs where we arranged a rehearsal with him, from there it all fell into place. The four of us have been together a year. Before it felt like there were three of us and a drummer, but as soon as Rich joined, it felt natural. The highlight of Roxy’s Wardrobe so far is being in a group where I’m completely happy with everyone.” Rich said, “I would say women, but there’s none of that. It has to be playing with your mates.”
The name ‘Roxy’s Wardrobe’ is certainly a different name. Luke says the name was down to him going to a gig a few years back. “I went to a Jet gig; while we were there my mate got talking to this girl called Roxy. After that I couldn’t get the name out of my head so when we were trying to think of band names I was just using the word ‘Roxy’ and putting things around it. Alex and Andy hated it at first, but soon came round to thinking it was a quality name.”
Roxy’s Wardrobe are a group that are hard to categorise into one genre of music as their sound tends to vary depending on the song. According to Alex, “It’s hard as we all have different influences so each song is different, but I would say it’s energetic, raw and passionate, that’s probably the best way to describe it.” Rich added that “No one ever says we sound like this band, or that band.” When it comes to the song writing process, they explained that Alex and Luke come in with a song or song idea, we then all work on it in rehearsal until is everyone is happy with their parts. In every band, there is some who prefer playing live, and others who prefer life in the studio. Roxy’s Wardrobe are no exception. Alex certainly prefers being in the studio as “It’s endless ideas. When we do recording, I don’t want it to end as we’re in control, I don’t feel in control when we’re live.” Andy straight away said “I’m more live.” Rich said “I love being in the studio, but I love the rush of playing live.” Then Luke expalined, “I like both, I’m in the middle, and I don’t want to get into another argument,” he joked. “I like being able to add things to the recordings.” Currently the only thing holding Roxy’s Wardrobe back from being back in the studio is finding the money, as Luke explained that “We’d like to record some new stuff.”
No matter how many gigs a band plays, they are going to have their favourites; Alex explained that for him it was a few months back. “We headlined The Louisiana to quite a few people with a band called Parma Violets supporting. We played a really good set, that when it came to the last song, it sounds really cheesy but people were clapping along. That was the first time we’d had crowd interaction with a song.” Rich says “Supporting The Little Ones was probably the biggest audience we’ve played to who didn’t know us. We got quite a few cheers saying we weren’t anything like the headliners.”
Later on, I think I found out why Alex prefers being in the studio. As soon as I asked if there have been any moments where things have gone wrong on stage, Alex laughed before Rich explained why. “We played The Louisiana and Alex’s guitar randomly went out of tune. It took a while to fix so we were talking on stage; I remember being sat behind the drums pissing myself. He thought he fixed it and as he stroked it for the first time, the guitar strap broke and it fell to the floor.” Alex says “Things like that seem to go wrong for only me, and as Andy is next to me, he gets the brunt of it.” That’s not been the only incident. “The last gig at The Loui he managed to hit the sound bits on the ceiling and one was hanging and swinging,” Rich laughs.
As Rich says, “Bristol has got some really great venues and it’s really put together well.” This means for bands, there is preferred venues to play. Andy says “I always feel better on stage at The Loui.” Rich says “I love The Fleece, but I love The Loui cos it was the first place I played with these guys. But the last few two occasions we’ve played The Croft, the sound has been amazing.” Although they get to play with some great bangs locally, each member of Roxy’s Wardrobe has their own ideal line-up for a gig. The first answer given by Rich was “Spice Girls and Take That,” but then there had been a theme of Take That since they were being played in the pub. The real answer was “Queens of the Stone Age, us and Kings of Leon.” Andy said “Us, Muse and Interpol.” For Alex, “Support starting with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, then us, and I’ve got to say Nirvana really.” And for Luke? “I don’t know, I’d have anything. David Bowie and someone really randomly old school.”
Any group needs to do a lot of rehearsing to stay as tight as they can, but this can be a problem for some fitting it in with everyday life. According to Alex, “It’s kind of a social thing too because we’re really good friends, so we practice and chat. But we do take things seriously, we try and practice twice a week.” With four different personalities in the group, there are bound to be arguments. Alex says “Yeah, but it all gets sorted pretty quickly. We’re not afraid to tell each other what we think, we don’t go behind anyone’s back.” With different personalities, you’ll also get habits that will annoy others, Roxy’s Wardrobe just agreed to say “Yeah, as we’ve all got bad habits but they shouldn’t be discussed.” It does make you wonder what these habits are, especially when Luke says “I think we get on well considering.” I think they’re keeping these bad habits close to the belt though, maybe for the safety of others.
Now you would think that four guys in a band would get more female attention, but according to Rich, “It’s always been the same, I’ve never had any female attention, and never get any now. But we do all have girlfriends.” Alex was quick to point out that “I’ve never used the line, ‘I’m in a band.’” After Nick from Decora saying they get asked for autographs, I wanted to know if it’s the same with Roxy’s Wardrobe. Rich was quick to point out that “Alex can barely write.” With Alex saying “I have the writing of an eight year old; it’s literally the worst writing you’ll ever see. If I was asked, I’d sign it, but I’d feel like ‘do you really want it from me?’”
Every band has another band that they prefer to play with. Andy says for them, “It’s Parma Violets, they’re awesome.” Rich added that “For some random reason, their singer has left them, they’re trying to reform. They’re really nice guys and really musically talented.” Although Roxy’s Wardrobe are well known on the Bristol scene, they aren’t outside of Bristol. But Andy says “We want to play outside of Bristol, but it’s so hard to promote it.” Luke explained that when they have played outside of Bristol before, they seem to have had bad luck with sound in the venues. That’s where we are lucky with venues in Bristol, that the sound is great. As Rich said, “Sound is wicked in The Loui.”
Unlike some, not all of Roxy’s Wardrobe had the passion for music straight away. Luke explains that it was “Football when I was younger.” Rich was the same when he was younger too. “I used to play so much football, but my cousin played drums. I happened to go to one of his gigs when I was about 12/13, after I just said to my Dad, ‘I want to play drums.” He was pleased as he plays drums, so we went out and bought a drum kit. From there I tried two lessons, but got bored and wanted to teach myself, so I quit and taught myself and absolutely love it.”
When it comes to playing gigs, Alex says “It’s all about trying to win people over.” Andy explained that “We get more of a realistic opinion when people don’t know us.” For Roxy’s Wardrobe, they don’t know what the future holds. Alex hopes “To be the biggest band in the world.” But then he was laughed at when he said that. I think that Rich summed it up well. “For it to be our full-time occupation and for us to be able to live off it.”
The final note of the interview goes to Alex, it’s not the usual ‘come and check us out.’ The final note from Alex is “I’m a bit broke at the moment, so if you see me and know me, give me some money.”

www.myspace.com/roxyswardrobe

Keep an eye on their Myspace for upcoming dates.