An interview with Broken Hands

Broken Hands - a refreshing addition to new rock music with heavy, urgent and intense growling guitar riffs and catchy lyrics with occasional distorted whirring space sounds adding a sense of uniqueness to the band. With their recently released debut album - Turbulence, the five piece have embarked on their headline tour across the UK.
   I went to go and watch Broken Hands at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham last night due to front man Dale Norton very kindly inviting me along to the show. I can honestly say that it was undoubtedly one of the best live performances I've ever seen; as soon as the set had finished I was left wanting to see them again. The whole show sounded colossal. I'll definitely be around for the next time they come to Birmingham as I know they'll be selling out bigger venues for sure as the rather intimate size of The Sunflower Lounge did not stand a chance against the enormity of the sound that they were emitting. The band were truly captivating to watch onstage, with each member putting on their own individual show and fully getting into the music. It was difficult to break yourself out of the mindset that you weren't actually travelling full force, hurtling through space; with everything from the sketchy flashing lights erupting in sequence alongside the almighty bass lines that pulsated throughout the room, the background covered in what looked like aluminium to the band's spaced themed blue boiler suits contributing to the undeniable futuristic feel.
   I also managed to have a little chat with Dale about the band's music before the show. Have a read of what he had to say below:

You've just got back from touring in America, how do you find the US audiences in comparison with the UK ones?
"People in America seem to have taken to us pretty good. We've only done six shows out there and we only played New York so progressively I think people are tagging on. It's almost like playing your first gig all over again. It's hard to tell but generally speaking we seem to be going down quite well. We're going back there soon too so we'll see."

I've heard about the price of touring in America being really expensive now, what's that about?
"One of the main reasons it's so expensive is because there's five of us in a band so to play/work out there in the U.S. it's £700 for a visa each; so you've got that before you've even started thinking about touring costs. You need to be in a position where someone can back you to get to that point. You can actually go and play a showcase which is good if you're a new band cos it's what we did at the start but you can use an ESTA and you can do up to three shows if you're not being paid. So that's a good bit of info for anyone trying to get out there. SXSW is especially good if you want to start playing out there - it's one of the first things we played there."

The album cover for Turbulence is rather distinctive, are the symbols representative of anything?

Photo credit to www.brokenhands.co.uk

"It's a bit of a concept which is a bit of a dirty word on our record, each song has a symbol and the main cover is just all of them put together; like the cover for one of our singles - Meteor, that has a symbol on it there so that's one of the ones that's been put together on the album cover. A graphic designer did it called Stuart Ford - who works at the label. Because we had quite a strong idea of what the music was about and all of the themes were in the titles and the lyrics, cos it's about a flight taking off, it was easy for him to portray his own take on it. It's made the whole process easier as when we first started we didn't really know what we wanted to do, we were just playing to figure out how to get better and to build a fan base. It got to a point where we were a bit disillusioned and we were semi copying off other people and it wasn't getting us anywhere so we just thought we'd do what what we wanted to and that's how the whole idea came up."

How do you want people to perceive your sound?
"Someone asked me the other day 'how successful do you want to be or do you just want to sell your records' but if people get the idea of the concept that it's a big analogy for coming up and taking off and the paranoia of coming down and weather they like it or not, I'll be chuffed. That's all we've tried to say, that's the whole conversation of the record so if they get that then I'll just be proper chuffed. Sometimes, I'll get a review and people are just like 'they've worked with Royal Blood's producers so they just sound like Royal Blood' - we do sound similar because we're a heavier band but if people gave it a bit of time and understood the concept then our job is done weather they like it or not."

Is there a message that you try to get across in your songs or is it more about the sound?
"Yeah, I think there is a message. Like I was saying when we were a bit of a loose end and we were just copying other bands at the time, we kind of got to the end of the road. I was dropping off a few friends at the airport, this was when we were thinking about maybe stopping it, but I sat down and basically as I was coming down I dropped them off which is weird cos have you ever dropped someone off at the airport? It's fucking bollocks because they go off to have a nice time and you get really excited but it's like 5am and you've gotta go home. But anyway, as I was dropping them off I thought - fucking hell, everyone I know is getting on a plane and going abroad or travelling and all in their early twenties so they were gonna get absolutely wrecked and 'expand their minds' and all that. But I saw a correlation; the idea of flight and travelling and the idea of actually going up in your head so I think the message is about us trying to get out and see a bit more. The only reason we started playing music was that so we could go round and get a free pass to travel - which sounds bad but I'm sure most people have thought that."

Myself  and Dale

How does your songwriting come together?
"For a long time I wrote all of the songs and then when we came up with that concept I explained, we all moved in together to try and make it work and that was when we started writing together more. Half of the record is written by me and the other half is a co-write between us all. Because we had this idea of what we wanted to say planned out, it made it easier for us. But, co-writing has been wicked and I hope that we do more of that on the next records. It's a bit awkward sometimes in bands if there's just one person who writes all the stuff because it's a bit awkward for the other members to try and approach it. Sometimes I used to go up to the boys with an idea and they wouldn't really agree; it's like you can be best mates but it's like an elephant in the room - you can't really say you don't like it. So having a joint idea and direction made it easier to talk about."

What do you think is influencing you right now?
"It's a bit weird because the whole record was about getting on a flight and taking off so getting on a flight and taking off now is a bit weird, and when we actually play the music now it's like 'this is great'. I was actually really stressed out because the last time when we were working abroad before the album came out I was thinking - fucking hell imagine if we all crashed and died and we've made this whole record about it - it would be absolutely dreadful! But at the moment, we've been really interested in kirlian photography; it's when they load electric into different items and it shows you where the energy fields are. So, for the next album which we're already writing, it's going to be based on plus, minus, magnetism and the relationship between people, so I guess it's a relationship record."

You can purchase Broken Hand's album - Turbulence on Itunes by clicking HERE

Or, you can buy a physical copy by clicking HERE


Written by Rosie Mulhern

An interview with Pretty Vicious

   You might not have heard of them now but you will do soon. New four piece teenage band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales caught my ears recently after stumbling across their newest single online - National Plastics. (listen HERE) It's an urgent, anger fueled take on modern rock; an explosion of noise impressively contained into a four minute long track; with sounds relating to a more intense, punk-rock take on The Black Keys, slight correlations with Jet's - Are You Gonna Be My Girl and a heavier version of The Strypes. It seems to be going pretty well for these guys after only a year of being together as they have already played numerous festivals with the likes of Reading and Leeds and Latitude sat comfortably in their back pockets. They're also currently on tour with Nothing But Thieves and are admirably scheduled to be playing as a support act for The Vaccines late next month.
   I managed to catch a quick couple of minutes with the band before they went onstage on Wednesday night in Birmingham at The Rainbow in Digbeth. So, meet Jarvis (bassist), Tom (lead guitarist), Elliot (drummer), and front man Brad.

You're currently on tour with Nothing But Thieves, how's that been so far?
All: "Brilliant, it's been really good so far"
Elliot: "The crowds have been awesome too and it's been a great opportunity to get more gigs under our belts."
Tom: "We've had some really nice venues so far as well. This one seems pretty good so we're looking forward to tonight"

Have you played here before?
Tom: "Not here but we've played Birmingham before, I think it was the Hare and Hounds."
Elliot: "But this is a really cool venue by the looks of it. We're excited."

How did you get into music?
Brad: "Our families got us into it but I just wanted to learn guitar when I was about ten"
Tom: "I always fancied playing an instrument and my dad was a drummer but I just didn't fancy drums. I remember he was playing guitar so I had a quick go on his and I just really wanted to learn."
Brad: "I told him that if he bought a bass he could be in the band so that's what he did"
Elliot: "I remember my father and my brother were all into music so for me I guess it was always around and I was born into it and I just ended up getting into drums"

Photo credit to Simon Sarin 

How did you get together as a band?
Jarvis: "Brad's really good at telling this story"
Brad: "I think it was a random Thursday night and everyone from our school was in this field and we all decided to have a bit of a campfire and we all got a bit drunk. I was in a cover band at the time but they didn't want to play original songs, so I saw Elliot across the fire and I knew he played drums and I just asked if he wanted to be in a band. I decided to start messaging him on Facebook and we really got on-"
Elliot: "I still have the messages actually. There's one where Brad said 'You never know what's gonna happen'"
Brad: "And now a year later it seems to have gone a bit mental."
Elliot: "Three days later Brad asked Tom to learn and buy a bass and he did and it took off from there. We recorded Cave Song six months after and four months after that we got signed."
Jarvis: "I met some guy at the train station from GumTree and he sold me a bass guitar for thirty quid."
Brad: "We just lived in a bit of a unit then. We practiced every day and worked really hard for the next six months just writing and grafting and then it started to kick off"

Who would you say were your main influences?
Tom: "There's honestly loads like Nirvana, The Jam-"
Jarvis: "Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols..."
Elliot: "Iggy Azalea that is of course, not Iggy from The Stooges obviously" (laughs)
Brad: "The Smiths, The Cure, Oasis"
Elliot: "There's a load of different genres too for instance, Brad is into a load of different ones like electric and house and shit like that"
Brad: "Well I like The Prodigy sort of dance stuff, I like a bit of rock and electric too - especially after the gig; it keeps you on a high"
Elliot: "Basically just any good music, not really specific genres."

I saw that you're playing with The Vaccines in November, how did that come about?
Elliot: "I actually have no idea how the hell that happened"
Brad: "I think they mailed us actually"
Jarvis: "What, The Vaccines asked for us?"
Joe: "Yeah I think they literally just mailed us, it was really weird"
Brad: "We played with them in Jersey when they headlined Jersey Live Festival"
Jarvis: "We also met them at Latitude Festival when we played there, they're really nice, they're really tall as well actually"
Brad: "Well I was drunk so I can't really remember it but from what I can remember it was really cool."

Is there anyone you'd like to tour with?
Tom: "Queens of the Stone Age"

Myself and the band

Jarvis: "Public Image"
Brad: "We're not really into many new bands so I can't really think of many else."
Jarvis: "We of course appreciate a lot of new bands but it's like you're so focused on your own music you don't really pay much attention to new stuff that's going on"
Tom: "We'd like to do our own shows too where we can play more of our own stuff. When it's a co-headline show there's like different groups of fans so it's nice to have your own fans at your shows"
Brad: "And we do have our own tour in November so we're really looking forward to that. It's all on our Facebook page if you're interested"

How's the album process going?
Brad: "We've pretty much got it all written out it's just timings we're waiting for."
Elliot: "We've basically got the next three albums written it's just waiting for the right time so doesn't clash with other people's and building up a fan base. Hopefully we'll record it soon and be releasing it in the summer right before festival season."
Brad: "It'll be good then because people will be able to sing our songs back to us when we play festivals"
Elliot: "That's the main part of getting your album out - just being able to tour and play your songs to people and seeing that people actually know your songs that you've made"

What's the one song that made you want to be in a band?
Brad: "I don't actually know but All Day And All Of The Night by The Kinks is a good one, I wish I would've written that. I remember being gutted as a kid that I didn't write it.
Tom: "Sunshine Of Your Love made me want to learn guitar."
Elliot: "I used to be into bands like Oasis so probably one of their songs, but I'm a bit past that now."
Jarvis: "I think I've just always had that mentality to want to be in a band"

What the first album you bought?
Tom: "I don't think I've ever bought an album, I just downloaded them all. (laughs) But my first one was Youth & Young Manhood by Kings Of Leon"
Jarvis: "Mine was probably The Simpsons soundtrack" (laughs)
Elliot: "I think it was the live soundtrack to when Led Zeppelin played Royal Albert Hall"

Listen to National Plastics by Pretty Vicious HERE

Written by Rosie Mulhern.

An interview with Sundara Karma

   Last night I was lucky enough to attend Sundara Karma's sold out show in Birmingham. If you haven't been caught in the rising of this Reading-based band's success so far, I strongly suggest you look into them soon as after the performance they put on at the packed out Sunflower Lounge last night, I'm placing my bets that they're going to be the next big thing in 2016. If you're a fan of Arcade Fire or MGMT you're sure to like these guys. The venue felt as though the floor was going to break and the walls were going to cave in; everything about their show sounded big, almost too big for them to be performing at such a small venue. It was hair swishing gallore - coming from both the band and the audience; with a welcomed stage dive from Oscar thrown in every now and then. They seemed really experienced and comfortable in the spotlight, knowing full well how to put on a good show and get the crowd going - almost as if it was second nature to them. Pretty much all of their songs sounded like hit singles, each one possessing the rare quality of a potential euphoric arena singalong, so I am very much looking forward to see what their album will bring.
   I managed to sit down and have a chat with the band in their dressing room before the show. Have a read about it below..

Meet Dom (bassist), Ally (lead guitarist), Haydn (drummer) and front man Oscar.

Photo credit to www.tumblr.com

So, where does the name come from?
Oscar: "Sundara Karma means beautiful Karma and we're all into that hippy shit. I suppose the phrase means just 'be nice'."

How did it all come together for you as a band?
Dom: "We all went  to school with each other but at different times. Me and Ally went to school together when we were really young and so did Oscar and Haydn. Oscar and Haydn were in a band together called 'Ricochet'"
Oscar: "Such an awful name and such an awful band"
Dom: "Also, me, Ally and Oscar went to school together and sort of formed a little group. I remember Oscar telling me that he knew a really good drummer that he used to be in a band with -"
Oscar: "But we couldn't find him so we just settled for Haydn instead (laughs)"
Dom: "But yeah, that was when Sundara Karma was properly formed, I guess. We had many other names before that too but they were pretty bad."

Who are your main influences as a band?
Oscar: "Gordon Ramsey. (laughs) Lionel Richie and Luther Vandross? Sum 41. I really want a Sum 41 tattoo, actually."

How did you get into music?
Oscar: "School Of Rock! I saw that film and I was like "I've gotta fucking play guitar and be in a band, man" yeah, that was pretty much it for me"
Haydn: "For me, it's always been in the family. My dad works in the music industry so I grew up with a lot of music and it's been enjoyable since"
Oscar: "Yeah, he's Simon Cowell! (laughs)"
Haydn: "Oh, yeah - and my mum's Sunita"
Ally: "Guitar Hero - last week, actually. We had a go on the new one. But no, I just really enjoyed playing it years ago so I thought I might as well give a real guitar a go."
Dom: "Every kids dream is to be a rock star, isn't it? That's how it always was for me. When anyone gets asked when they're younger 'What do you wanna be?' I always just used to say I wanted to be a rock star...I'm still trying to make that happen.. I'm not quite there yet"

Have you played this venue before? It's of course sold out too tonight - congratulations.
Oscar: "No, never. We've played in Birmingham but not here. Is it nice? it seems nice cos it's small. I'm really looking forward to it, I think it's gonna be a sweaty one. Hopefully another stage invasion maybe? That happened last night in Nottingham and it was mad. But yeah, thank you, this one sold out pretty quickly, too. Birmingham is always one of the ones we look forward to so hopefully it goes well."
Watch the music video for Vivienne HERE

This is your first headline tour too, isn't it?
Oscar: "Yeah that sounds really weird. It makes the fact that we've sold out like 5 or 6 dates even weirder - it's madness."

You've literally just come off tour with Circa Waves too; how does that feel coming from being a support act to starting your headline tour a few days after?
Oscar: "For me, it's the weirdest thing. You get so used to playing to an audience and trying to win them over so then when you're playing your own show it's completely different. And also, with your own headline show you've got to meet expectations and you're constantly in a different dynamic, so it's just about trying to get used it. They're both just really fun."

Is there anyone you'd like to tour with?
Oscar: "The Maccabees would be so sick. Also, I think it would be pretty cool to support The 1975. It would be awesome to do another Swim Deep show and maybe to do a show with Peace - that'd be so cool."
Dom: "I think Friendly Fires would be a good one as well."

Myself and the band

What's the one song that made you want to be in a band?
All: "In Too Deep - Sum 41"

What's the one song that you can't get out of your head at the minute?
Haydn: "That Cheerleader song! It's just been fucking stuck there forever"
Oscar: "That's probably the worst song. For the rest of us it's probably Distant Past by Everything Everything - it's such a tune."

So, your new song - 'Vivienne', the video for that has just come out, tell me about that.
Oscar: The water scene was absolutely freezing! It was shot in Berlin. We were out there doing the album and we got inspiration from out there so we decided to do the music video there. It was so cool. It lasted from 9am until like 4am the next day so it was really long but so much fun - it was like being a movie star. But the song itself - it's not about a person called Vivienne. I haven't met my 'Vivienne' yet I don't think, but it's about what I hope Vivienne would be like."

You've just mentioned the album, can you tell me anything about that? Have you finished recording it?
Oscar: "We've finished half of it I think. We've got like 12-16 tracks so far, obviously they're not fully mastered yet but they're there. We need to do about 4 more I think. We still don't know how many we're putting on the album but we've gotta do a deluxe as well so maybe like 16-18 tracks all together?"

Are there any main themes there already for the album?
Oscar: "Escapism, definitely. Either just wanting to escape your boring, mundane life and getting out of your hometown or escaping to like a spiritual truth."

What would you like to have achieved by this time next year? Maybe in the next five years?
Haydn: "A load more gigs"
Ally: "Retired with kids and maybe living in Thailand (laughs)"
Oscar: "Next year? probably here, again - maybe not the same venue but hopefully with you like we could have a reunion! That'd be really weird. But in five years time - I don't know and I actually don't wanna know, either. As long as we're happy that's the main thing."

You can purchase their latest single - Vivienne by clicking HERE

Written by Rosie Mulhern.

Top five new releases this Autumn

Broken Hands - Turbulence (album)

photo credit to live-manchester.co.uk

Kent-based five piece Broken Hands are one of this years outstanding rock bands on the rise. Their debut album Turbulence was released earlier this month and I've pretty much had it on repeat. With the album entailing killer and rather intense guitar riffs throughout accompanying futuristic and mechanical, space sounding synths; each song so carefully crafted yet at the same time each song screams that they mean business. Favourites of mine being 'Spectrum', 'Who Sent You' and 'Death Grip'. I reckon it will soon be non stop for these guys as they're easily one of the best new rock bands.

Listen to the full album on Spotify by

clicking HERE

photo credit to www.nme.com

Sundara Karma - Vivienne (single)

Sundara Karma have been catching the ears of indie teens recently after supporting Swim Deep not so long ago. The alternative quartet have also just set off on their very own headline tour across the UK. Vivienne, their newest single, stays nicely in line with their reputation for creating fast-paced euphoric summer sounding anthems; sounding as if they'd easily feel at home within the walls of arenas with the tendency for uncontrollable singalongs 

Listen to Vivienne by clicking HERE

photo credit to www.sthelensstar.co.uk

Blossoms- Charlemagne (single)

To say this has been a good month for Blossoms would be an understatement; with a UK headline tour now over and done with which went out with a bang last night at a sold out show at Manchester Ritz, the band also released their new single Charlemagne earlier this month. With the song throwing out catchy and foot tapping melodies, featuring prominent guitar synths putting a spin on the track, differing from the 70's sound of older tracks on their Blown Rose EP and setting the way for other up and coming rock bands.

I interviewed the band just last week - click HERE to read.

You can listen to Charlemagne by clicking HERE

photo credit to www.theguardian.com

Splashh - Pure Blue (Single)

Meet Splashh - an indie-grunge band formed in Hackney; however, none of the members are actually from London, with two members coming from Australia. I first became familiar with the band after seeing them support Peace a couple of weeks ago whilst deep in a moshpit created by their presence. Pure Blue, their newest single, consists of grungy feel good vibes alongside breezy reverb-heavy vocals. 

Listen to Pure Blue by clicking HERE

photo credit to richerunsigned.com

Mayflower - Sienna (single)

Introducing new Manchester four piece - Mayflower; with their sound similar to the likes of Kodaline and Elbow, I instantly took a liking to them after hearing the delicacy of this song. They've already got the likes of BBC Introducing and DJ Steve Lamacq behind them and have a few other singles available to listen to on Soundcloud. Despite the fact that the band have only been together for a year, I think that this track sounds impressively tight and refined. 

Listen to Sienna by clicking HERE

An interview with Blossoms

photo credit to slatethedisco.com

New five piece guitar-pop band from Manchester - Blossoms, have been on the rise recently. Having had their first EP -Blown Rose released this year, the band now embark on their headline tour. With thanks to their very kind manager and the willingness of the band, I was lucky enough to be able to sit down and have a chat with them before their show in Birmingham yesterday at The Old Crown pub in Digbeth (the oldest pub in Birmingham). If you haven't already heard of these guys then I highly recommend you go and listen to them. With the sound of the band consisting of upbeat yet at the same time rather deep and dark tones along side lusty vibes and slicked back guitar riffs, Blossoms are definitely ones to watch with their new take on slightly older sounds.  It was nice to see how down to earth and genuine the band seemed, they really are just normal guys and it truly was a pleasure to be able to talk to them.

Introducing - Tom the lead singer, Josh who plays lead guitar, Myles who plays keyboard, Charlie on bass guitar and Joe who's the drummer.


How did the name Blossoms come about?
Tom: "Our band is named after a pub in Stockport called The Blossoms Pub. Basically I was in a car with Joe and we drove past the pub and I thought 'that's a good name for a band.' Two weeks after Joe was with Charlie not knowing I said that it'd be a good name for a band and Charlie also said that it was a good name so I guess it was fate."
Joe: "it was a bit like a light bulb went off in my head"

How did you become a band?
Tom: "We've been together for about two and a half years now; Joe was mutual friends with me and Charlie and we knew Josh as he used to be in a local band and after that we just got Myles in." 
Myles: "I learnt the keyboard with a broken wrist so I couldn't really play when I joined the band.
Tom: "We used to go to a lot of parties and we were at one at Myles's flat above a curry house and us four (Tom, Josh, Charlie and Joe) were already a band and I was saying that we were looking for a keyboard player so Myles raised his hand"
Joe: "A broken hand"
Tom: "So yeah he couldn't even play the keyboard at the time 'cos his wrist was broken but I just texted him one day like 'right we're coming round your house to do band practice' and so it made Myles just lock himself away for a month to teach himself how to play. It's been non stop since then really, we rehearsed four times a week and we had a gig every week which lead to two gigs a week which lead to a tour which takes us up to now."
Charlie: "Before this band came around it was kind of strange really; Tom and Joe used to work at this hotel in Stockport and there was a band night on there and we were all on the same bill but in different bands which is kind of weird."

Did you know that you always wanted to be in a band since being younger?

Joe: "Tom used to write songs in the bath when he was younger"
Tom: "But I didn't realise it then I just used to make songs up in the bath when I was really young which sounds quite weird. But personally, I've always liked music from my mum and dad and they've always played me music that they're into. I remember from being really young The Stone Roses were played a lot and I always remember that song by Dodgy - Good Enough. I started playing the keyboard when I was in year 8 at school but I only learnt things like the James Bond theme tune and I wasn't very good at it either. I started learning piano just so I could get out of class but then I started getting alright at it. When I was around 14 I started writing stuff and I started a band with my mate at school and that's how I started properly getting into music. Obviously, as you get older you experience more and go through more things so you start writing better songs and start finding more people who wanna do the sort of thing that you're into and it helps you out a bit with where you wanna go.
Joe: I was a bit of a late bloomer in music. I was always mates with Tom and me and Tom became mates through similar music taste such as Oasis and I used to follow his old band around. I had an old drum kit from my uncle but I could never play at all - I was terrible like really really bad.
Tom: Joe's got the work ethic whereas I could write tunes but I was more laid back like I could never really be arsed. Joe was always really proactive and trying to make things happen even though he couldn't play the drums at first but eventually he got to a point where he could play and he started his own band; so then when he wanted to start a band with me it was like 'yeah come on then let's do it.'" 
Charlie: "I was probably about eight or nine and I was on holiday in Llandudno in Wales in the back of a car and my mum stuck Rumours on - (Fleetwood Mac) and I remember hearing the opening lines of Dreams which made me really wanna be in the industry. After that I started to walk to school with a Walkman and I always used to play Somebody Told Me by The Killers and it got me into other stuff like that. Also, my dad used to play bass in a band and he taught me my first bass line - Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple and I was in quite a few bands before I joined this one."
Myles: "I started listening to Nirvana which got me into Muse and Radiohead. I was in a few bands but they were all pretty naff. I was in one called Moving Traffic but funnily enough that wasn't going anywhere. I did a few gigs but I got kicked out cos I didn't turn up to band practice. I can pick up things really easily though so when I started playing I moved on to synths pretty quickly. I'm quite a perfectionist with the way things should sound and i'm good at making sounds."
Josh: "I was born into music as my dad is a jazz pianist so music was always around the family. I've got early memories of him sitting me on his knee and playing me the piano. Then I saw someone playing the drums on the TV and I thought it was cool so I started of with a drum kit and then I just picked up a bass after that when I was like eight or nine  but never really did much with it until I joined a band at 14."
Joe: "Josh taught me how to play guitar."
Tom: "Yeah, Josh's dad is a genius he played piano on one of our songs Stormy and he plays on a track off our new EP as well (which isn't out yet)"
Joe: "It's almost as if it was all meant to be because I think everyone's talents tie in quite nicely. Tom writes really good lyrics and Charlie just holds everything together with the backing vocals and they all compliment each other. Also Josh does these amazing riffs and knows exactly when to play the right thing and with Myles he adds a bit of a mad edge to it all."
Charlie: "In the beginning, we had to find a rehearsal room and it's like £30 a night and it's never night after night it's always every week or something. My granddad owns a scaffolding company and there was already a rehearsal room kitted out in there so we were lucky enough to be able to use that for free."
Tom: "That's always a big barrier like you need somewhere to rehearse and you have to keep at it constantly so that's how we started to develop more."

Is there anyone you tend to get compared to a lot? Does this fit in with your own musical influences?
Tom: "Not really, I think when you're a band and you hopefully get your own sound and you become successful; you become a band and people say that other people sound like Blossoms. Obviously, you can hear the influences but some people are just quick to write 'you sound like so and so' without really thinking about it but luckily we haven't really had one main person we're compared to. In the past when we were more older sounding and we used to wear turtlenecks we got compared to more 60's music but we've evolved out of that now naturally. I think with the new single Charlemagne that just sounds like 'Blossoms' definitely. In terms of influences there's the obvious ones like The Beatles, ABBA, The Doors, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Oasis and Arctic Monkeys."
Joe: "I'm into more hip-hop like Dr Dre and so I think all of our tastes come in quite nicely to form our own sound."
Tom: "Pop music is pop. it's popular for a reason, do you know what I mean? we're not ashamed or shying away from the fact we want to be as catchy as we can be. Our aim is to make people put their arms round each other and sing and be able to dance at the same time. I've seen that happening on the tour so far so I think we're succeeding - we just wanna grow and get bigger and bigger. There's bands like Catfish (and the Bottlemen) setting the benchmark and we wanna follow in their footsteps." 
Charlie: "We also influence each other as people which is really important in a band
Tom: "I think you write with what you're listening to at the time. Anything could influence you like the people you're around or even a pub for instance."

Is the new single Charlemagne a representation of what the album will be like due to your new sound?
Tom: "Kind of cos the ones we've already released are gonna be on the album too but to be honest I think they're all in the same wave as Charlemagne but Charlemagne is a bit of a crossover. Charlemagne is one of those that just has 'The X-Factor' and there's plenty more of those songs on the album. Tonight we're playing a song called At Most A Kiss; it's like Charlemagne but with more balls. (The Stone Roses - Waterfall comes on in the background) This is what got me into music actually."
Charlie: "Have you ever heard of the film 'There's only one Jimmy Grimble?'"
Tom: "The soundtrack for that is great I really got into it, this song is on it actually"

Has there been any obvious highlights of the tour so far?
Tom: "Yeah definitely London. We played two nights ago and that completely sold out. That was the biggest headline gig we've had anyway and that's just mad for us. We came from Stockport, you know? so having that many people know your songs without even having an album out is dead nice. We've got The Ritz in Manchester too which is sold out. We've come from the Deaf Institute last year which holds two hundred people to this which is like fifteen hundred so to do that in a year we're all dead proud. It's the best thing in the world."

What are your plans after you've finished this tour?
Tom: "We've got a couple of dates with Paul Weller in Dublin in November, we're going to Paris and then we're doing a few other festival things."
Charlie: "We've got a gig with The Charlatans in December - we've got a pretty good relationship with Tim Burgess,  and we might be doing a tour earlier at the beginning of next year too."

If there's anywhere you could tour where would it be?
Charlie: "We were fortunate enough to go to Japan and that was one of the best experiences we've had collectively as a band."
Tom: "A full tour of America and Australia would be cool. We'll go anywhere. The moon maybe? yeah that's where we wanna tour"

What would you like to achieve in the next ten years?
Joe: "Global domination"
Charlie: "The whole world will just be Blossoms by then."
Tom: "I think to just keep writing good songs. We wanna reach out to as many people as possible and get as many people on board as we can and mean something to people. We don't wanna be that band that gets on the cover of NME once and then no one gives a shit about them two years later. We've done it the old fashioned way - we've gone up and down the country without a record deal, knocked on everyone's door to the point where it's like 'fucking hell - we better give them a record deal' Now that we have a record deal it's like right - put us out to everyone and we won't disappoint. I think also to stay in touch with the fans whilst trying to get yourselves as big as possible is also really important."
Charlie: "You've just gotta enjoy yourself too. As soon as it becomes a chore it's time to give up."

I see you've been doing a few live videos on Facebook, what made you want to do them?
Tom: "We saw Ricky Gervais doing them so we were like why don't we do that? we're big fans of his. Maybe one day when your blog goes massive you can do one! No other band does it so why not? it's like a tour diary as it's happening. Growing up, I used to spend hours in bed watching tour diaries of people like the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and more recently Catfish and the Bottlemen - anything I can get my hands on. You get a real insight. If people can watch us just eating pizza I think that's good in a weird way; it shows we're just normal."

On the topic of social media, do you think it's a big part of being successful these days?
Tom: "It's undeniable now it's just the way the world is, you can't get big without it now."
Joe: "You can't really hide away from it"
Tom: "It's a great platform. We've gone up and down the country and utilised social media. Then again, a fucking chicken being thrown out the window would go viral and it's just like that's no talent is it? they've not worked for that. In that sense it's annoying sometimes but it's 2015 you've just gotta deal with it and accept change. We've gotta step up now that we're started to get played on the radio more. We have used social media a lot and it has helped but radio does definitely help and it's still important."
Joe: "People are a lot harsher on the internet."
Tom: "You can't take it too seriously, you can't take the highs too seriously cos you'll just become a dick and you can't take the lows too seriously either. It's like someone saying 'If you step foot in Manchester i'll kill you' and someone actually said that to us when we supported the Courteeners. If someone said that to you normally you'd freak out but you just take it with a pinch of salt on the internet.

And finally, what's your opinion on free music streaming such as Spotify?
Tom: I'm sound with it. Like Noel Gallagher said the other day, it's £5.99 for an album but £50 for a gig ticket so you're not bothered are you?. It's a lot more to go and watch someone live. As long as you get to that level where a load of people wanna see you then Rock n Roll will still live on.
Charlie: "I'm speaking from experience here, I have Spotify and I think it's great."
Tom: "It's all there for you to listen to so more people are gonna hear your stuff if it's free and then more people will come to your shows. As long as you're successful and you're a good live band then more people will pay to come and see you and support you at your shows which means a lot more so it doesn't bother me."


Written by Rosie Mulhern
  

Peace Happy People tour

Photo taken by me

     It's pretty much been non-stop for the Birmingham quartet recently, with second album Happy People being released earlier this year and yet another UK tour over and done with, Peace's success has only grown. Their success first begun back in 2012 with their EP - Delicious; an exuberant record with memorable lyrics full of lust hidden beneath flares of catchy pop hooks building up to the rather intense 10 minute long '1998'. After the success of first album In Love, capturing the attention of an audience primarily consisting of indie teens, Happy People followed two years later; everything sounding a lot bigger and more dramatic, with the record consisting of scruffy love songs reeking of angst - disguised by upbeat energy, fuelled by sleazy indie tones powering on alongside memorable guitar riffs, each song sounding like it was made to be performed live.

Photo taken by me

        I managed to catch the four piece on the last date of their tour last night in Wolverhampton; they were playing at the Civic Hall, a pretty nice sized venue; along with the likes of other well deserved spots at places such the O2 Academy in Brixton and an admirable sold out show at the O2 Academy in Liverpool. The band had compiled a rather impressive set list, including hits from the likes of well known tracks such as Follow Baby, Bloodshake and Wraith - the songs that started the snowball-like effect with regards to their fans, to more recent tracks including Lost On Me, Money and Perfect Skin; producing a full on set lasting over an hour and a half.
      The band begun with O You; a track repetitively enforcing that lead singer Harrison Koisser is merely 'trying to change the world that we live in', another song with a rather deep meaning if you listen to the lyrics however disguised by the upbeat-ness. I feel like they could have chosen a better song to kick off the show as it was a little middle of the road; however this didn't appear to have an effect on the crowd, living up to the reputation of Peace's audiences normally being rather rowdy (and a little crazed?)

Photo credit to www.peaceforever.co.uk

    As the night progressed, the crowd only got more excitable, as if feeding off everyone else's energy, including the band's who were very much giving it their all.
    An array of spectacular stage lighting, backdrops and effects that projected around the room made the night feel just that little bit more special; becoming more apparent with slower tracks Someday, Saturday Girl and California Daze producing a sea of swaying arms and an orchestra of singalongs - adding to the unmissable atmosphere; similar to the unity of chants at a football ground.
    Peace ended their set with World Pleasure; entailing of favourable, laid back bass riffs accompanied by an uplifting chorus; the band giving the song their last few burst of energy and playing as if angry at their instruments - evidentially trying to savour the last few moments of their tour.
     Overall it was a truly enjoyable night and I would definitely go to see Peace again as they're an excellent live band with contagiously wild crowds; personal highlights of the night being the performance of classic Follow Baby, 1998 and World Pleasure.

Written by Rosie Mulhern.