Introducing...Arizona Bay

YMC chats to Rob and Rhys from Arizona Bay

YMC: How did the name come about ?

Rob: All of us are big fans of the late comedian Bill Hicks, particularly Rhys and I, so we decided to name ourselves after one of his albums. His ethos on life is something that’s always rung true with us and what we hope to achieve with this band. He was always outspoken against the mass consumerist culture of the time, which doesn’t differ too much from the culture and state in which we now find ourselves.

Rhys: We also liked the premise of ‘Arizona Bay’, that idea of an earthquake wiping out the epicentre of commerce and mainstream mediocrity, of something good coming out of what would generally be considered a disaster. That album has a large musical element anyway and has already influenced some of our favourite bands, such as Tool, so we felt its themes were something we could totally get behind and hopefully reflect in our desire to make music which has its own voice and is made for ourselves, rather than the current ‘X-Factor’ trend of churning out a ‘product’ merely to make a quick buck.

Rob: It also has had the added benefit of making people think and talk about the name and what it means, which is something that’s always been important to us in the bands we love.

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

Rob: The band consists of myself on drums, Rhys on vocals, Sam Wood on lead guitar and Oli Tsakonas on bass. We all met at Leeds Music College whilst studying music. Sam, Rhys and I have been friends since we all started at LCM, and share fairly similar music tastes, so it was inevitable we’d get together eventually.

Rhys: Sam and I had played in a blues band together before, pretty much straight after arriving in Leeds three years ago. That band quickly broke up and it wasn’t until last year that we decided to try and do something else together, with Rob. That’s when we found and auditioned Oli.

Rob: He was the first and only bass player we auditioned and fits in really well with the sound we were going for.

YMC: Who writes the songs?

Rhys: I tend to get the bare bones of songs together on my own and then bring them out for the rest of the guys to flesh out. I generally have a vague idea of where a song should end up but it’s a really collaborative working process that hopefully means we’re each putting our own stamp on each song as well as creating some sort of ‘sound’ that characterises the band.

Rob: Rhys has the most songwriting experience but we are now starting to be a far more collaborative force. I wrote the last song on our EP and we’ve now started working on material together far more than we have done in the past.

Rhys: Yeah, when the band started I already had a backlog of songs and ideas that we were able to roll with. Now we’re working a lot more on completely new material which gives everyone greater scope to contribute.

YMC: Who are your main influences?

Rob: We all come from vaguely similar musical backgrounds and therefore share a common thread with certain influences, mostly 60s and 70s bands: Sabbath, Zeppelin, The Who, The Stones, etc.

Rhys: We obviously each have our own defining influences too though, for instance a lot of my songwriting influences are people like Neil Young, Tom Waits, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan.

Rob: Yeah, we each have our individual heroes. For me it’s Bill Ward, Vinnie Appice, John Bonham and Matt Cameron.

Rhys: Cameron’s a pretty important one given what we’re trying to do and his involvement with the 90s Seattle scene. Despite our eclectic influences I think the most prevalent are the 90s bands that we’re into. Bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees...they all still sound relevant today and are far more in tune with the mission-statement of this band. That energy and intensity is something that we hope to convey in this band too.

YMC: You're all from different parts of the UK, how does the Leeds music scene differ to where you are from?

Rob: I think Leeds is a great place to be if you’re a musician. I’m from Durham and there wasn’t really much of a scene there, so to have a city with a scene that is really geared towards all different types of live music and supporting unsigned bands is just brilliant.

Rhys: Yeah, I’m from Wales and there is a very vibrant scene there but it’s so spread out it’s really hard for new bands to really make a name for themselves. With the centre of Leeds having so many venues and promoters working it’s a lot easier for a band to establish themselves within the scene and build a fanbase provided you’re willing to work hard. It’s certainly something we’re constantly working on.

YMC: You are about to release your first EP (although with 8 tracks it could almost be considered an album), was it easy to decide which tracks to put on it? Tell us a bit about the recording process.

Rhys: The EP is really a collection of all the original material we were playing live at the time, and we decided that it would be best to record material which we’d been honing live for the past 6 months. In that way, it encapsulates the very early stages of the band forming its sound through all the songs we wrote together in the initial months we were together.

Rob: We recorded it with a couple of friends of ours, Tom Bramley and Simon Green, who we met through college. Tom really had a big hand in the mixing process and shaping of the record’s sound, and because we knew the material back to front we were really able to focus on just getting the best performance possible down.

YMC: You are now starting a mini tour, do you have plans to do a large tour at some stage?

Rob: Yeah, we’d love to. We’re hoping to begin organising something for next year as soon as we get through these current dates. This time we’re mainly focusing on The North and hitting venues in Leeds, Bolton and Liverpool amongst others, so we’d really like to expand on that and play a bit further afield next time.

Rhys: We’re predominantly a live band, and we feel like the only way to really grow as a band and build your fanbase is to play live, so we intend to do just that, as much as possible.

Find out more on http://www.myspace.com/arizonabayuk

Introducing...Penguin

Penguin are releasing their EP "This Is Believing" today through Dead Sober Records. YMC caught up with the inseparable threesome and decided to split them up and ask them the same questions, here's what they have to say.

YMC: Tell us something about the band,  Penguin, how did you meet, how long have you been playing together?

Matt: Danny and Joel have always known each other since an early age. I first met Joel in high school, then went through a couple of bands together until Danny opted in as bass player. We've been playing together for around 4 years now, only really starting to write our own material within the last couple of years.

Danny: I have known Joel for as long as I can remember (since crèche when I was about 2 years old). We were always involved in music in primary school and in high school. When Cornish moved over here, he and Joel were in a band together; at around this time I started playing bass guitar. After about 6 months we decided to start a band to play a showcase of music at our school which was called Hemstock. The day before the show we had our first practice and threw together some covers that we all knew. Hemstock was our first gig, it was in 2006 and we have been together ever since. In 2008 we won a competition at the loft in Castleford and that's when our now manager and Joel's cousin took an interest in us. Since then he has been getting us gigs and I think its safe to say that we wouldn't be doing even nearly as well as we are without his help, he brought us onto the music scene something which was new to all of us, even Mark, and he's been helping us ever since.

Joel: Me and Danny have known each other since we were toddlers and grown up together. Matt moved to Yorkshire about 6 -7ish years ago. We've been together as a band for roughly 4 years

   

YMC: How did the name come about, have Penguin-the people that sell books threatened legal action yet?

Danny: Before our début appearance at Hemstock we decided we needed to come up with a name. This involved a number of group brain storms in lessons, mainly English and French when there wasn't anything better to do. We came up with a multitude of ridiculous names such as Big Oily Men and Aquatic Giraffes to name just a few. We finally agreed on the name Drunken Penguins and we used this name until early last year. We decided to change our name for a couple of reasons. Firstly we felt we had outgrown it, we had changed our style and we felt a name change was well over due, and secondly we were turned down gigs because apparently our name made ties with underage binge drinking and no Penguin the publishers haven't threatened legal actions just yet, lets hope it stays that way.

Joel: No lawsuit threats as of yet! We were originally called Drunken Penguins, but we changed it to sound less childish.

Matt: Not yet! but if Danny keeps wearing his Penguin brand clothing we might have another lawsuit on our hands! It came around when we were all bored in class and the band started out being called Drunken Penguins, but later on promoters started to question whether the name was intended to promote teenage binge drinking, so we dropped the drunken and 's'.

YMC:  How would you describe your music, using more than 15 words?

Joel: We always find it difficult to put a name to our music, it doesn't really fall into any specfic genre. I suppose it's like.. alternative powerpop?

Matt: *sigh* this is always the toughest question. Usually it's a case of less than 5 words or in 1! We tend to describe it differently between ourselves, but I always come back to the very broad term 'alternative'.


Danny: We write music that we like, taking influences from anything and everything that we listen to. We try to make our songs as interesting as possible and we like to challenge ourselves. I would probably describe our music as alternative rock which is probably a bit of vague description but we have been described as "power pop" and "emo", the latter of which I don't really agree with.

YMC: Who mainly writes the songs?

Danny: We mostly write as a group, someone will bring an idea to a practice and we will go from there. However Cornish early on earned the nick name "Harmony Man" as he does write a lot of the vocal harmonies. Joel is defintely the most critical which can be irritating but it always works out for the best so its probably a good thing.

Matt: All of us write, whether that's separately or together we all contribute. Lately Danny has become a virtuoso on acoustic guitar, so I'm beginning to get quite worried about where my duties are in the band!

Joel: All of us.

YMC:  Whose the best dancer drunk, whose the best dancer sober?

Joel: Peewee can do the worm, with or without alcohol, so I think he wins both hands down.

Matt: Joel is definitely the best dancer sober, he can swing his hips like a motown legend! but if you give Danny enough to drink, he'll end up break dancing! his best move is 'the worm', no joke.

Dan: I don't know about best but Joel's probably the most entertaining from a spectators point of view, especially when he has had a few too many. As for the best sober dancer, that would have to be Cornish, the man can throw out some pretty mean shapes when he wants to. I would probably compare him to a young Beyonce crossed with an overly enthusiastic gangsta rapper "kicking it old school style".

YMC: Tell us something interesting about the artwork- writing-recording process of the songs on the new Dead Sober Records release EP-"This Is Believing"

Dan: We recorded the tracks at different places with different people. The first and third tracks we recorded in a studio in an industrial estate at the other side of Wakefield. It was a great studio and the guy we worked with was fantastic. The second and last tracks we recorded with Mike Heaton at his mums house in Heckmondwike which was a great day, Mike's an ace bloke and he's been helping us out for a while and we were all really happy with the final result.

  

Joel: Matt's girlfriend drew the album artwork, she's a really good artist!

Matt: This ep is really just two separate recording sessions thrown together so that we can start to get our music out to a wider audience. there was no definitive plan on writing or recording, because we are all so busy and commit 50% of our lives to the band and another 50% on whatever else we're doing. The artwork was a rough sketch my girlfriend drew out about 2 years ago, she's a fantastic artist and is so supportive in

everything the band does.

YMC: Who were your main influences growing up, who are your main influences now?

Matt: Growing up I only really started listening to music at the age of around 12. linkin park was my first favourite band, but I distinctively remember my dad showing me 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin around that age. I found myself really getting into american punk and loving bands such as Green Day & the Dead Kennedys, but i've also always had a love for film scores and soundtracks for film. Right now I could give an endless list for my influences, but the band's main influences really depend on who's writing the material as we're all so different in our tastes.

Joel: I grew up listening to everything from Zeppelin and Floyd to Bob Marley and UB40. When I was learning drums I took a lot from Travis Barker and Dave Grohl, the Foo's have influenced all 3 of us pretty heavily. We listened to a lot of bands like Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic while we were tying to find our sound, that style of musicianship and songwriting was something we all really respected and took influence from.
   
Dan: When I was younger my favourite band was "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" who's bassist inspired me to take up the instrument. I went to see them on there 'Stadium Arcadium' tour which was my first real live music experience. I was also introduced, at quite a young age, to Led Zeppelin by my big brother Joe which defiantly encouraged my love of rock music. I still love these bands and flea still blows me away. Influences now include Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro, Twin Atlantic and more recently Manchester Orchestra and Queens of the Stone Age. I think we could probably all agree on these bands but we each have our own guilty pleasures, in my case Take That and Mcfly.

YMC:  You played the BBC Introducing stage at Leeds & Reading this year, that's a big gig for a young band, did any of you, throw up before, during or after?

Joel: Amazingly, I managed to boycott any vomit for the entire weekend, which is a first at Leeds for me.

Dan: We didn't throw up before but I was actually shaking at the prospect of playing what was, and still is, our biggest gig to date. As for during that would have been both very funny and kind of disgusting but no. I manage to hold off vomit until sometime in the early hours of Sunday morning, this was probably due to a combination of raving and drinking a little to much.

Matt: Throw up? that's a very straight forward question! We were all shaking beforehand, even Joel who "never  get's nervous".

YMC:  Rumour has it Melvyn Benn himself, flew up from Reading Festival to the Leeds Festival site to catch your live set, are you still in touch?

Matt: Well, after the summer I imagine that he has a lot of preparation to do for next year's festival season. We haven't been in touch because there hasn't been any reason to, although we will keep him up-to-date with everything we're doing.

Joel: I think our manager's been in touch with him since the festivals yeah.

Dan: Yeah, so we have been told which was quite an honour. We got chance to speak to him after at Leeds and we even bumped into him down at Reading, his presence there was due to the infamous Axel Rose I think. We haven't spoke to him since as far as I am aware but it would be nice to hear from him again, maybe about Leeds 2011.

YMC: What were the best moments/bands you saw at Leeds. What were the best moments/bands you saw at Reading? 

Dan: We didn't really stay in Reading for long but the highlight for me was probably a band called Soul Circus who we played with on the BBC Introducing stage. They were a fantastic band and we got to see them twice. At Leeds my highlights were Pulled Apart by Horses, who were absolutely awesome, watching Biffy Clyro from the side of the main stage and actually meeting Simon Neil! All thanks to a guy from Scream Promotions called Tony Cook, Legend!

Matt: I don't want to get myself stressed about slots given to performers who couldn't deliver in my opinion, but the list could go on for amazing talent at that festival! Pulled Apart by Horses were absolutely mind-blowing! but then the best moment for us was watching Biffy Clyro from the side of the main stage at Leeds, that was truly other-worldy. 

Joel: We didn't really catch much music at Reading, although Watchmen were pretty cool. Watching Biffy from the side of the main stage did it for me, and when we met Simon.

YMC:  Where would you hope to  see yourselves in one year's time?

Joel: In an ideal world, touring with a debut album, but we can all dream.

Dan: Well still gigging for a start, maybe with some big support slots. We have played with some great bands recently and hopefully we can keep doing so. I'd love to get some more of our tracks recorded and we will just keep practicing and writing.

Matt: I'd hope for more songs to be honest, I'm trying to manage my time so that writing is a possibility but it's proving hard so far. At the moment we have at least one gig every week, and that is something I would like to continue doing.

YMC:  You have enough songs in your live set, for an album, is that part of the long term planning, can we expect a Penguin album in 2011 possibly?

Matt: It depends on what you'd call an album now. Artists have began more and more to write what are considered 'concept albums', and not just a bunch of songs thrown together to make a cd. I think if I ever got the opportunity to make an album, I'd have to put my heart and soul into all aspects of it.

Dan: All being well yes. It's something we'd all love to do and if the opportunity presents its self to us I think we'd be silly to turn it down. So fingers crossed.

Joel: you never know..

YMC: Do you blog?

Dan: I don't at the minute as I'm not really sure how it works. It has been explained to me but I'm not great with computers. I think I'm going to have to make the effort to figure it out and I think Mark, our manager would rather it be sooner than later.

Joel: Matt does..

Matt: Yes we do! ... http://3flightlessbird.blogspot.com/ - it will begin to get updated more often when I find the time!


YMC: Please list your top 3 fav social networking pages separate to your own, please list your own top 3 social networking pages.

Matt: modlife.com <http://modlife.com> . This is the only site I can think of separate to ours. It is a fantastic way for bands on the road to keep fans up-to-date with verything that's going on during a tour or studio session.

YMC: Finally if a venue - promoter wants to book Penguin, how do they go about it?

Dan: Well they can get in touch with us on Myspace or get in touch with are manager Mark Small at m-small@sky.com.

Joel: They can call our manager Mark Small on 07841 373195 or email him at m-small@sky.com

Find out more:
http://www.myspace.com/3penguinsuk

Download "This is Believing" from Itunes
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/..album/this-is-believing/..id401433036

Introducing...Down The Machine

YMC chats to Matt, Danny, Steve and Neil from Down the Machine

YMC: Tell us something about the band, how did you meet, how long have you been playing together?

Matt: Steve and Danny have been playing with each other (literally) forever. I joined the band mid 2009 with Neil joining soon afterwards.

Steve: Danny and myself have been in various bands together since high school, we pretty much have the exact same taste in music so we worked well together. The band had many incarnations before we eventually found Matt and we ended up as a 3 piece with me having to play the bass. We decided to take on a bass player to free myself up on stage – that’s where Neil stepped in to complete the line up in March this year.

YMC: How did the name come about?

Steve: Originally we were called Leatherhead and we were, ahem, asked ‘politely’ to change it as there was already an act using the same name. Danny and myself must have gone through hundreds of possible names and at the time, I was working in IT and a call came through saying “We have a machine down.” Stroke of genius.

YMC: Who writes the songs?

Matt: Steve writes all the songs for the recordings, these then get the personal treatment live.

Neil: Steve writes all the music, and sometimes lets me play with his knobs.

YMC: You've recently made a video, was that fun? Did you do everything yourselves?

Danny: Yeah, this was Neil’s baby... He did all the hard work organising from start to finish and then Steve had to go through all the footage and put it all together. Was a fun day, and a tremendous experience!! 

Neil: The Video shoot was awesome!! It was a home brew video, with help from a few friends, like James Reains from Brokenheart Undergound, Mark Stephenson, and Tim Hoadley. We had a great time shooting from start to finish – I can’t wait to film another!!!

YMC: Are the visuals very important to you because you've also made available for free download, a 14 page booklet from your album?

Matt: I think visuals and image are very important to any band or artist, it’s what sets you apart from the crowd. The 14 page booklet was to add something additional to the typical downloads that all bands put about.

Steve: For me, the visuals are very important. With our various releases and online content, I strive to have a visual style that is consistent and recognisable, and that included the free Losing Faith Booklet. 

YMC: You self-released your album Losing Faith, was that a good experience?

Steve: We had no choice but to release it ourselves at that point-we weren’t signed on a Label and felt it was the next natural step in the band’s journey. Again, it was hard work, but well worth the effort and experience.

Neil:  Releasing the Album ourselves seemed like the ideal move to get noticed as a band at the right time. I think we also wanted to prove a point. It doesn’t matter who you are, what band you’re in, your music can be heard.  I was absolutely stoked when I found Rock Industry Magazine has reviewed us and found a few other online reviews!!

YMC: So to the biggest news! You have just been signed byAmbicon records, what is this going to mean for you as a band?

Matt: I think it is going to be a real push for the band. Ambicon records are really excited to be working with us and we're over the moon to find a record label that really want to work with us to achieve a common goal as opposed to being just interested in how they can exploit our music. Having a team working behind the scenes takes a lot of the pressure of organisation from us, so now we can concentrate on playing, and the music.

Danny: I'd like to think that they will help us achieve our goals as being a successful rock band, give us the push we need to turn things up a notch!!

YMC: You have stated that you make music that you love, for yourselves first and foremost, without worrying about a record deal, and in the end you have got one. Do you think that's good advice to all bands out there?

Steve: I’d like to think that’s how we all feel. When this deal was offered to us we all agreed that it was the best thing to do, a natural progression of the band. I would say to bands out there to just do what we did: write music that you believe in, record as much as you can and get your music online and play as many gigs with as many different bands as possible. Put in the hard work and eventually it will pay off.

Danny: The music industry has changed big time over the few years, getting a record deal just isn't the most important thing anymore-it’s all about hard work, belief and getting noticed. Any band can work, I really believe that, it’s a case of playing hard, and trying to work smart.

YMC: Do you have any plans to tour?

Danny: TOUR..... Bring it on... It’s all I've ever wanted to do since I first picked up a guitar. Ambicon are setting up gigs as we speak, so we hope 2011 will be a big year for us to get on the road. I can’t wait!!!

Neil: It’s the name of the game. Ambicon have got plans in store for us, already working on booking shows, and soon we’ll be in a town near you!!

Find out more on http://www.myspace.com/downthemachineuk

Introducing...The Jones

YMC chats to The Jones from Leeds

YMC: Tell us something about the band, how did you meet, how long have you been playing together?

The band started out with the songwriting partnership of Kris and Kev about 8 years ago, they got a production deal with Will Jackson (Embrace,K Chiefs, The Music,) and from there started to learn how to write songs properly and then build a band.

From there a band was formed with Adam being brought on Will Jackson's recommendation. Then Chris and Jamie where drafted in to complete the line up. It all works the music, the vocals, the vibe it just all there, CHEMISTRY!

YMC: How would you describe your music? Who writes the songs?

Unique, Epic, Melodic, Dynamic, well written proper songs.  Kris and Kev write the majority of the songs but Adam also writes as well he wrote Killer Killer with Kris.

YMC: Who are your main influences?

Everyone in the band has different influences and thats what makes us as a band work, Kris most music loves Dylan, Kev Stone Roses, Chris Chilli Peppers, Adam Muse, Jamie likes Jazz and drummers.

YMC: What can people expect from a live show?

Now this is where we are at our best, in Kris we have a proper frontman think Ashcroft, Ian Brown no infact think Kris Jones he is a bit of a extravert, also adam is mind blowing to watch on guitar, Kev just sits back and lets it flow over him, Chris is quite energetic, and Jamie the drummer looks like he is having a fit.

YMC: Do you have any recorded material?

We have loads of stuff recorded, from being with our former management company Atomic London, and our current management Caral Management

YMC: What Yorkshire gigs do you have coming up?

We have a few gigs coming up in yorkshire check our myspace for upcoming shows.

Find out more on http://www.myspace.com/thejonesofficial

Introducing...Road To Horizon

YMC chats to Danny, Sie, Daz,and Mark from Wakefield's Road to Horizon

YMC: How would you describe your music? Who writes the songs?

Danny: We find this question pretty hard to answer to be honest lol, and we get asked it a lot, I think the reason people ask it is people find it hard to pigeon hole our music to a specific genre. We have some older songs that are really pop punk and our newer stuff is more what we call Alternative Rock with a heavy edge so we have a good mix.

Sie: I think thats just us finding our own sound as a band and also due to the line up change in January and just natural progression as a band.

Daz: We tend to write songs as a band not too much individually, we find we write better doing it this way as we can all have an input right from the begining.

Mark: People say we remind them of Young Guns which is awesome as far as were concerend cause there bands we love. Were not trying to be like them or write simalar music, we just write whatever comes natural.

Daz: Its a bit wierd somtimes, well be jammin and the next thing you know there's a new song pretty much writen in minutes. Its just a case of working out a structure for the song then Dan working his magic on the lyrics. Im not moaning tho weve spent days working on songs before which can get a little.......lets say annoying! 

YMC: Who are your main influences?

Danny: Not to sound too cheesy but life, a lot of shit happens and also a lot of good, so when I'm writing lyrics I try to use things that have affected me, it helps makes the songs more personal. Musically I LOVE Rise Against so there a massive influence on me too.

Martin (manager): Cough! Cough! poof Cough! lol

Daz: Blink 182, who isnt influenced by them in someway or form?

Mark:  Alcohol, Alcohol and erm.......Sorry What was the question!

Sie: I love listening to up and coming bands like Young Guns and Yashin, being a drummer obviously Travis Barker and.....Erm.....Phil Collins, Maybe not so much Phil Collins actually!

YMC: What venues do you like playing?

Sie: Everywhere, I love playing live. Its cool when we play the bigger venues with bigger band in front of a big crowds.

Mark: I like playing Bradford Gasworks its got a pretty good music scene so the crowds get a little crazy!

Daz: Leeds Cockpits always good to play.

Danny: Yeah I love playing Cockpit.

YMC: What can people expect from a live show?

Mark: Energy for sure, were very rarely stood in the same place for more than about three seconds lol.

Daz: Yeah we just like to have fun on stage and get the crowd involved as much as possible.

Sie: Probably a few penis jokes!

Daz: lol You cant beat a good penis joke to get the crowed involved.

Danny: We have something for everyone, So if you're not into the heavier side of our music we have some nice softer songs and some songs ya can have a little dance to!

Sie: People should definatly come check us out.

YMC: Do you have any recording plans?

Danny: Yeah were actually in the middle of recording our debut E.P now and are hoping to release it at the end of the year, We're two tracks in, weve only just finished the second and put it up on our player today so go have a listen if your reading this!...........Then you should probibly come back and finish reading this

interview! :  )

Sie: DO IT!

Mark: What!

Daz: You guys are wierd!

YMC: You recently played the Leeds Festival Fringe, do you think this sort of thing is good for the city?

Danny: Yeah definately, Thanks by the way for letting us play the first ever Leeds Festival Fringe! We had a blast. We know you were one of the promoters for the festival.

Daz: Its something Reading have been doing for a few years I believe so to be able to bring it to Leeds is awesome.

Sie: Yeah i think its a great idea and is good for the city, It may bring people to Leeds that have never been here to check out the awesome music scene we have.

Mark: Ditto!.....Im gunna throw it out there!......Can we play next year?

Find out more on www.myspace.com/roadtohorizon

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.

Introducing...The 48Ks

YMC chats to the 48Ks from Doncaster

YMC: Tell us something about the band, how did you get together and how long have you been playing.

We are the 48ks, a 5 piece band from Doncaster. We've been in a band together for about a year but our mutual love of the Beatles, The La's, the Rolling Stones, The Who, The Specials made us get together. We love vocal harmonies and hooks so try our best to put them in our songs. The band are Ryan-vox, Kato-rhythm guitar and vox, Steve-lead guitar and vox, Ad-bass and vox, Tilly -drums and vox.

YMC: Who writes the songs?

We all contribute to the writing of songs but mainly its Ryan, Steve and Kato who bring the ideas to rehearsal but we all bounce of each other.

YMC: I notice that in addition to the lead vocalist, three of you provide backing vocals, are harmonies very important to you?

Harmonies are important to us. We like experimenting and adding different parts to keep it interesting for us and for the listener. We try to put our influences together and mix them around to create our own unique sound

YMC: You have an EP out, where can people get it? What is on it?

Our e/p "Flick em the v's" is available now and we are handing it out for free at gigs or you can mail us and we will forward a copy. It ,will soon be able to download. On the e/p is Gotta Get Out, Flick em the v's, Falling Down, and Cotton Wool.

YMC: Is there a lot of support for local bands in South Yorkshire?

Doncaster doesn't have much of a scene at the moment and we don't really get involved in a clique like most other bands do but the scene in Sheffield is good and there are plenty of places to play so we;ll keep gigging and plugging away.

Find out more on www.myspace.com/the48ksband

Introducing...Alice Nicholls

YMC chats to Huddersfield based singer-songwriter Alice Nicholls

YMC: How long have you been writing music?

AN: I've been writing lyrics, or attempting to, since I was about 9 years old. Needless to say all my songs back then were awful - I like to think they've improved since! I've always been musical but I didn't start putting the two together until a few years later - I wrote my first proper song, words and music, when I was 12.

YMC: What instruments do you play?

AN: Anything I can get my hands on. Violin's my main instrument, I played it at University during my music degree - but I also play piano, guitar, bass, drums, viola, Irish whistle, and descant and treble recorder. I really want to learn mandolin and saxophone as well, they're two of my favourite instruments. And, of course, I've been singing for as long as I can remember!

YMC: Did you find it hard to build up the confidence to play solo?

AN: Definitely. For the first few years of doing music I couldn't play my own songs to anyone, it was way too scary. But once I got past the nerves and realised that this was what I was good at, confidence came easily. I think that with performing, as with any artistic discipline, confidence comes from experience. You're always gonna be scared at first.

YMC: Do you always play solo?

AN: Mostly I play solo nowadays, though during my years at Uni one of my friends would usually play guitar for me at gigs. I would like to do more work with other people, but because most of my mates are musicians, they're always playing gigs when I am so it's impossible to get hold of them!

YMC: What music are you listening to at the moment?

AN: Right now, this second? Lighthouse Family - Ocean Drive. They're one of my musical guilty pleasures. Recently though I've discovered a bunch of new artists and bands, in particular Krezip, Wildbirds & Peacedrums, Emiliana Torrini, and The Swell Season.

YMC: Have you recorded any material?

AN: I recorded my debut album 'Resonance' when I was 16, and followed it with a second one when I was 18 called 'the Coffee Songs'. I don't tend to count 'Resonance' as a proper album, more a demo nowadays, because I don't think it's very good compared with my newer stuff. 'The Coffee Songs' is much more my current style, and is now on sale at Wall Of Sound in Huddersfield. I'm currently in the process of recording a new EP as well - it's been ages since I was last in the studio so it's been good to get back into it.

YMC: Any plans for the near future?

AN: I'm moving back to my home county of Lincolnshire in the next couple of months, so I'll be looking for gigs there, and working on material for the next full-length album. I've got a few projects lined-up and I'm hopefully going to be working with some very talented musicians, but nothing's set in stone yet. It's all rather exciting!

Find out more on www.myspace.com/alicenichollsmusic