Band of the month - January 2010

Back to Bands home page

Our band of the month is Kicking Habits, from Leicester

Kicking Habits - interview with the band up now - scroll down.

Some facts about the band:

They are four young musicians from the Groby area of Leicester

They have an ace drummer (Jake Sterland)

They write their own songs

They also play some covers including "you look good on the dancefloor" by the Arctic Monkeys.

We reviewed them in October 2009

They are appearing at the Glastonbudget Festival in May.

Our interview with Kicking Habits

Artsin: When did Kicking Habits form and how did you get together to form a band?

Kicking Habits: We formed in November ‘08. Adam was the last to join the band and it was definitely a great addition. “We were just four lads from Liverpool”... no that was the Beatles. We’re from Leicester and we know each other from school.

Artsin: What was the first gig the band played and how did it go?

Kicking Habits: We think it was a school concert. We had just formed and really wanted to do a gig, but Jake broke his collarbone and couldn’t perform. So we did an acoustic set. We did “Love Machine” and “Wouldn’t Mind” and we loved it man. It was sick.

Artsin: Who writes the songs in the band? How do they do it?

Kicking Habits: Well Michael writes the songs for the band Trev. He draws on his own experiences and shows everybody how insane he is through the expression of song. He’s a great lyricist. We all write our own parts on our individual instruments.

Artsin: What bands are influencing you guys right now?

Kicking Habits: Michael’s always been a massive Beatles fan, he’s also been intrigued by the work of Eminem, due to his lyrical genius. Jake loves Bring Me The Horizon and Arctic Monkeys. Adam has been influenced by Guns n Roses since he was a tiny little kid, oh man he was small, like...tiny. Now he’s a real man. Briggsy likes Aesop Rock, Kings of Leon and Flea on the bass.

Artsin: What do you think of the live music scene in Leicester? Which is your favourite venue?

Kicking Habits: The live music scene in Leicester doesn’t get enough press. We’ve witnessed it first hand though and it's shit hot. Adam likes the college concerts because its where we were born as a band. The rest of us like the Shed, it’s top.

Artsin: Do you think you'll always do some covers? Have you got any new ones?

Kicking Habits: Hell yeah, we’ll always have our favourites for the fans who aren’t so familiar with our own shit. We’ll pull out some surprises this year.

Artsin: So how many gigs has the band played now? Which one was the best?

Kicking Habits: Countless gigs, a load at the Shed. To think this time last year playing at the Shed was one of our targets, yet now were doing it every other week. It’s excellent. Best gig last year was the Glastonbudget Audition. We kicked off 2010 with an even better one though, Winner Takes All. There was some mad support from the crowd which gave it an awesome atmosphere.

Artsin: Which other Leicester band would you most like to support?

Kicking Habits: Formal Warning, Dobsons, Stone Park ... any of them would be cool.

Artsin: What plans do you have for the year ahead? What would you most like to do?

Kicking Habits: Get the recording time down, play a good gig at Glastonbudget, write a load of new material and increase the fan base.

Artsin: Have you been on Takeover Radio yet?

Kicking Habits: No, get us hooked up Trev.

Artsin: What do you think of Kasabian?

Kicking Habits: To be honest, we think they’ve been great right from the get go. Briggsy likes old school stuff like Processed Beats. Jake loves Club Foot. Adam likes the newer stuff – Fire etc. Mike likes the more melody based stuff like Thick as Thieves.

Kicking Habits on Myspace.

Previous Bands of the Month

The Manhattan Project, Backline, Messini Assault, Beat Club, The Utopians, Breek, Subdude, Full Circle, Forty More Autumns, Razmataz, Smoking the Profit, The Heroes, The Truth, The Chairmen (Oct 08), Kids in Cars (Nov 08), Formal Warning (Dec 08), The Steptoos (January 09), The Pennyhangers (February 09), Project Notion (March 09). Skam# (April 09), Shortwave Fade (May 09), The Waits (June 09), Kill The Batman (July 09), The Fazed (August 09), Autohype (Sept 09), Weekend Schemers (Oct 09), AstroManiacs (Nov 09), Azidify (Dec 09).