Introducing...Horse Guards Parade

YMC chats to Archie from Horse Guards Parade

YMC: How did the name come about ?

James came up with it , horses seem to crop up in conversation a fair bit for no real reason.

YMC: How many are in the band, where did you all meet?

There are five of us, James Waudby [guitar and vox] and me {Archie ,guitar] have known each other for a while and both played together in a band from Hull called The Sorry Loves and when that finished we carried on working on tunes and recording them in my attic . In March 2009 we released a four track e.p and decided to get a full band together bringing in Carl Hogarth on keyboards who has played with James in Salako and Marble Valley and also Rob Marrs on drum and Chris Evans on bass who I had played in bands with before .  

YMC: How would you describe your music? Who are your main influences?

It’s hard to pin it down but there are elements of Folk, Psychedelia, Rock, and Country or so I’ve been told, mixed with a darkness that  only Hull could bring . As for influences too many to mention really  if you listen to us  I’m sure you can hear anything from Prince Fari  to Quo

YMC: Last year you played on the introducing stage at Leeds/Reading, was this a good experience?

Yeah we had a great time , plenty of capers and we got to play as well , this was down to Katy and Alan from BBC Raw Talent who put us forward for it and have supported us from day one . We were also lucky enough to support Pavement at Glasgow Barrowlands last month and we played at All Tomorrows Parties in Minehead which they curated which were both fantastic .

YMC: You are currently recording an album, how's it going?

We finished it at the beginning of May , the mp3’s are up on our Myspace site now and it should be out by August . We did it ourselves with lots of help from Vincent Van Huit who captured us well .

YMC: Do you have any plans to tour this year?

We are just sorting gigs out now for over the summer to promote the album, so they will be up on our Myspace very soon.

Find out more:

www.myspace.com/horseguardsparade
www.horseguardsparade.com
http://thenorthernline.com/2010/05/28/horse-guards-parade-ten-songs/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRfwmJB7vKc

Introducing...Electric Fan Death

YMC: You are currently living in South Korea, do you have plans to return to the UK?

EFD: We plan to return to the UK in early 2011 and gig/tour. We really want to play some good venues in Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield to name a few places. This should be about the time we release our second album.

YMC: Have you played any gigs in Korea, what's the reaction to the British indie sound?

EFD: We played some gigs in our local (Korean) expat bars and Korean clubs last year. We went down well with both the expats and Koreans. Ste played some acoustic versions of our tracks around London on a month trip to the UK, everyone loved the tracks especially ‘Landmine’ from the ‘Yeosu Dangerous’ EP and ‘A Sense of Things Less Fragile’ from our new unreleased recording.

I’m not too sure what Korean people make of British Indie but there are some cracking Korean indie bands who are really taking off. Korea should be proud of its own emerging indie scene which we hope to be a part of in the time we are here.

 YMC: Where did the name come from?

EFD: Well fan death is a Korean belief that if you sleep with an electric fan on in your bedroom and the windows closed you will die. Apparently the fan creates a vacuum or splits oxygen atoms or something crazy. Because we formed in Korea and the myth of fan death is so amusing we thought Electric Fan Death to be a fitting name.

YMC: What are your main influences and who are you listening to at the moment?

EFD: As with most bands we have an abundance of influences. For Ollie he grew up listening to Sonic Youth, Idlewild, Fugazi and My bloody Valentine, I (Ste) grew up on Nirvana, Boards of Canada, Placebo, The Pixies, Joy Division, and Aphex Twin. I think our sound is nothing like these bands, being a duo and sharing 100% of writing, production and recording has given us a very unique sound.

As for what we are listening to now; Ollie’s listening to Catherine Wheel, Jawbox, Future of the Left, Blonde Redhead, Twin Atlantic and His Name is Alive and I (Ste) am listening to Idlewild, Shellac and Autechre.

YMC: Do you have any recorded material, if so where is it available?

EFD: Yes we do, our debut EP was released on the AMStunes label in late 2009, it’s called ‘Yeosu Dangerous’ and it’s available to buy from iTunes (http://bit.ly/dzywF9), Amazon and loads of other stores. We have free tracks up to listen to listen to at our myspace http://www.myspace.com/electricfandeath, and our website http://electricfandeath.co.uk  amongst other sites.
 

If you haven’t heard our stuff and you like alternative indie give us a listen.

YMC: What are you plans for the near future
 

EFD: We are currently writing and recording our second album and getting ready to start gigging around Seoul and Korea. This is all preparation so we can hit the UK in 2011 with the best possible live sound and a 2nd great sounding album. We can't wait. As well as this we DJ the AMStunes alternative podcast where we play some of the best tunes from Myspace and beyond the third installment should be out soon so keep your ears peeled.