Interviews 2009

Interviews with artists, singers, band members and stars on the Leicester arts scene

White Ashes | Third Time Lucky | The Chairmen |

Weekend schemers

Young indie band, Weekend Schemers, has been rising steadily recently, with a series of well played shows, some thumpingly ear pleasing songs and the beginnings of a charismatic stage presence. They came second in the finals of the Winner Takes All competition at the Shed, with a star quality performance that suggests they could become the next Heroes. If the finals had been judged, they would certainly have got a strong response. As it was they were narrowly beaten into second position by another young superband, White Ashes.

See our review of the Schemer's peformance at the Mandarin Lounge

The Weekend Schemers are

James Hazell, 19, (singer/guitarist),

Connor Evans, 16, (lead guitar),

Harry Radburn, 16, (drums)

and Joe Doyle, 16, (bass)

How did Weekend Schemers get started?

We first started playing in November after Harry and I (Conor) both friends from St Pauls school, asked James to come along to a rehearsal session. However it took over 4 months as a band to write our first 2 songs, "10 more steps" and "Little too late". As wierd as it sounds Harry and Conor contacted james on the internet. (To any children we would not recommend this, you should always take an adult when meeting strangers you have found online! ;) ) The newest member of the band, Joe Doyle joined us after our first few gigs in June of this year. The band comes from all over Leicestershire, with Conor and Harry from Evington, James from Mount Sorrell and Joe from New Parks.

So when did the band play its first gig? The first gig we played was at the Pavilion on Victoria Park, which was the 29th of May. We got the gig through our promoter BIG WILL! Playing in front of a packed out Pavillion of school friends, with no gig experience for both Conor and Harry was a little daunting. Needless to say we pulled it off with a few glitches along the way and we received a great reception from the boys and girls who attended.

The final gig of the Pavilion “Battle of the Bands”, stands out as our most successful performance to date; winning £800 in prize money and a recording session at Paddocks Studios. Last night’s gig (3rd October) at The Shed also was a very lively affair with a large crowd dancing away, which made the performance even more special as we were no longer, just playing to friends and family but were being appreciated by the public.

How do you guys compose your songs?

As a band we all go away and write our separate songs and lyrics and then compromise at rehearsals and see how it goes from there.
As a band we have many influences Joe and Harry are heavily influenced by the Arctic Monkeys, where as James is into let’s say, more softer sounds (Mcfly) and Conor is into his classic Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Killers.

Which bands have you played with?

We have already played with many well known acts in and around Leicester such as, Razmataz and are looking forward to playing with The Dobson’s and The Heroes at the end of the month, at the grand re-opening of the Charlotte (22nd of October) (First 14+ Night) and at The Half time orange (31st of October), hope to see you there. [Certainly will be! - ed]

What do you think of the live music scene in Leicester?

The music scene in Leicester is growing rapidly with a lot of fresh new stuff hitting the scene and looking to put their new stuff out there, as we were in the same position last year, we wish them success and would recommend getting yourself involved in free gigs and competitions.

Where would the band like to be in say, a years time?

As a band in a year’s time we hope to have released our firstalbum and still be gigging in around and around the region.

What do you think of Kasabian?

We think that Kasabian are the inspiration to many young bands of Leicester as they have shown that with the talent you can make it out of Leicester.

Young band White Ashes are making their mark on the live music scene. Here's their interview:

Artsin: When did White Ashes form? How did you all meet up? When?

White Ashes: We formed in late October 2008. We were all at the same school at the time but we didn't really know each other very well so when Joe decided to start a new band and asked me to play guitar, I assumed he was joking and told him to f**k off. After he convinced me he wasn't joking, I asked my friend Chris who agreed to play drums for us. We went a few weeks before we found Jack who was a friend of Joe and Chris, however I didn't meet him until our first practise! Since then the band has had a great spark and have become really good friends.

Artsin: When did the band play its first gig? How did it go?

"We managed to get the most votes out of all the bands playing!"

White Ashes: Technically our first gig was in the Christmas 2008 assembly at school where us and our friend Jake Felstead played Dick Dale's Miserlou. Our first gig outside of school was at The Shed on the 8th July in the first heat of the Silver Bullet Winner Takes All competition which was an amazing gig! We managed to get the most votes out of all the bands playing!

Artsin: How does your band write songs? Who are the main song writers?

White Ashes: Joe's the main songwriter; writing the lyrics and all the instrument parts apart from drums (we'd rather leave that to our awesome drummer Chris) But I'll usually give him a few ideas and suggestions and if it's a decent idea then he goes with it and gets writing, The next song to be recorded 'Social Bandit', for example.

Artsin: Which bands had the most influence on your song writing?

White Ashes: We find it difficult to compare our music to mainstream bands because we try to be different and the fact that it's ours so we find it hard to judge. Our songs vary in style and genre. We will leave you to judge who we are similar to!

Artsin: Which is the best gig you have played?

White Ashes: Definitely the final of the Winner Takes All at the Shed. We all played really well, got a good response from the crowd and made friends with a lot of other bands that night aswell as winning the whole thing!

Artsin: which other leicester bands have you supported?

"The Screening in particular, who we have a lot of respect for, it'd be awesome to support them."

White Ashes: We've supported the likes of Weekend Schemers, Formal Warning, The Dobsons and Neon Sarcastic and many others (sorry if we've missed you out). There are many bands we look up to in leicester and find inspiring. Autohype and The Screening in particular, who we have a lot of respect for, it'd be awesome to support them.

Artsin: Which venue in Leicester do you most like?

White Ashes: I think the shed is a pretty good venue but no question, The Charlotte is the best of them all. We're gutted it's being closed down again. We are really eager to play at venues like Sumo and The Musician.

Artsin: What recordings have you made? Got any Eps/Albums out yet?

White Ashes: At the moment we've only recorded just the one song however we had some more recording scheduled for last weekend which got cancelled due to maintenance so we need to re-book it. We're hoping to release a 6 track EP early next year around February/March time, we are very excited and have a feeling 2010 will be a very good year for us.

Artsin: Where does the band want to get to in say a couple of years?

"headlining Glastonbury"

White Ashes: Ideally, headlining Glastonbury. Realistically, I'd say to be a big and well known band in Leicester with a great reputation and touring around the country with a decent sized fanbase and lots of contacts!

Artsin: Why is White Ashes so popular? How comes its got so many fans?

White Ashes: Our fanbase at the moment is made up of various friends who bring their friends along and so on. If we're honest we don't have a great fanbase at the moment. But we hope that will change significantly when we release our EP as we will give them out for free at all our gigs and promote as much as we can. And arrange more gigs and play with more bands.

Artsin: What do you think of Kasabian?

White Ashes: I think they are a really great band and a real inspiration for Leicester bands. When you see the amount of bands coming out of places like Liverpool or Manchester, it makes Leicester look quite insignificant and Kasabian is a great example of the talent that Leicester actually has.

Zack Wisehall

3rd Time Lucky's Zack Wisehall talks about his band.

Artsin: When did you play your first ever public performance?

Zack: For me personally, it would have been about six years ago, but as a band it would have been September 2008.

Artsin: Which band do you most admire?

Zack: It would have to be bands that are pioneers of their genre, like Blink 182 and Green Day. However we're all massive fans of Eminem, and the hip hop scene. Also lyrically The Wombats are top of my list!

Artsin: When did Third Time Lucky form?

Zack: We started off as a four-piece in August 08, but started the new year as a three piece.

Artsin: How did Third Time Lucky come together?

Zack: After Connor (ex-guitarist) and I split from our old band, we wanted to do something similar with a new band, but actually make music we could be proud of, we had always performed and wrote together, so it was just a case of finding a drummer and a bassist. It's not all been plain sailing but thats pretty much the foundations of the band.

Artsin: What for you is the best thing about being in a band?

Zack: Gigs. Nothing beats an amazing crowd, singing along and dancing to songs you've wrote. Going up on stage means getting to be another person to the audience. For that short time you're on-stage, nothing else matters but the music. It's very theraputic.

Artsin: Do you ever sing solo?

Zack: The course i'm taking at college requires me to sing solo all the time. It ranges from musical theatre to rock and pop, but they all help to benefit each other.

Artsin: Where would you like your band to be in five years time?

Zack: Now there's not a band around who wouldnt answer with 'I'd like to be famous!' Of course i would but developing as a songwriter, and as a band are both top priority. Selling records and making money would be a big bonus though!

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

Zack: Theres this amazing Acoustic/Hip Hop band called Great Imitation, who have to be seen live. There's not a soul in the room who could leave without a stupidly big smile on their face. Their front-man James makes Freddie Mercury look timid. A must see!

Artsin: Where did the name "Third Time Lucky come from"?

Zack: I'd love to tell you an exciting story about sex, drugs and rock n roll, however, It was the third band our ex guitarist and I were in.

Artsin: Do you come from a musical family?

Zack: I owe everything i have to my family when it comes down to music. My mum introduced me to guitar when I was 9 and both parents have taken me to gigs for years. My dad has always liked the same music as i have and he was the one who taught me to keep an open mind about every genre. My mum was always friends with alot of musicians which meant i was always surrounded by them from a young age.

Artsin: Which band member writes the songs and who writes the lyrics?

Zack: That would be me 80% of the time. I'm very much of the opinion that only true experiences should be shaped into songs, and so far i've had a pretty dramatic upbringing. I've been writing songs for years and i'm still trying to find the formula for the perfect pop song. I have to be able to relate to every word i'm singing, so writing about myself is the way forward. I just think ' how can i expect an audience to relate to this if i can't myself.' That's just what you have to ask yourself.

Artsin: Whats good about the live music scene in Leicester?

Zack: The bands! The standard around Leicester is amazing and nowhere near enough bands get the recognition they deserve.

Artsin: Whats not good about the live music scene in Leicester?

Zack: The venues aren't great. They just don't attract a big crowd and i think this is essential if the music scene is to grow around here.

Artsin: If you could play anywhere in the UK, where would it be?

Zack: O2 would be amazing, but alot of little clubs in cities like Manchester and London are admirable, the atmosphere is intense!

Artsin: Did you ever go to the Glastonbudget Festival? What was it like?

Zack: I've not yet made it to one but hear it's as good as any other festival. We're auditioning to play on the 29th November at the shed, but regardless of the result, i'm planning to go and watch next year.

Artsin: What do you think of Kasabian?

Zack: One of my favourite bands. Very rock n roll! I've seen them 2 times and the atmosphere is amazing. Fantastic live and on record, i'm glad theyre doing so well for themselves! :)

Third Time Lucky on Myspace

Third Time Lucky on Twitter

Jonny Gavin

Our Staff Reporter Nick Furlong interviews Jonny Gavin from Hinckley rock band The Chairmen.

Carling Academy, Birmingham - Photos by Dominic Nicholls

A Friday afternoon sat in a rather imposing looking boardroom ready to delve into the experiences of the front man of a band that are arguably Leicester’s “next big thing”; so the interview began. Throughout I couldn’t avoid how pleasingly down to earth Jonny’s whole outlook was, maintaining a realistic and humble approach at all times…

Nick: Firstly, you have recently used the Y Theatre gig as a big comeback after a period of time out, what was the reasoning behind this break and how did you use it?

Jonny: Well first of all we lost a member of the band, so that was a big setback. But the main reason was because I had nodules in my vocal chords so I had to rest, I went to see an E.N.T specialist and had voice coaching to learn how to look after my voice, use it properly, basically change the way I was singing because I was putting too much strain on it. When we lost a member we brought in a keyboard player, but at the time we had loads of gigs planned so obviously we were in a situation where in that initial period we had them all planned but were without a member. So we brought in a friend named Adam Rowley who’s a keyboard player who was in another band and he basically left because he didn’t want to play keyboard, but then decided well why not, I’ll try it. So we started writing songs as a band and the sound sort of evolved that way. We didn’t plan it, it just sort of happened.

Nick: This new sound, how would you describe it, and how does it differ from before?

Jonny: Well it’s kind of weird really because we wrote a completely new set of songs, and from the first song that we’ve written to the most recent the sound is still changing now. So I’d say we’ve still got our own sound as the chairmen, in comparison to before it’s definitely a lot more mature. I definitely think it’s more current with what’s going on in the music scene and I think it will help us to break into the market.

Nick: Would you say the vocal training you have had has improved the vocal sound of the band?

Jonny: I’ve always been able to sing, because I’ve sang since I was sixteen. But now instead of using my throat to sing, I’m using my stomach to sing. The key thing is that we have changed the pitching of a lot of our songs to fit within a range that I’m comfortable with singing and that helps no end, because I was basically singing at a part of my voice which wasn’t doing it any good; but it’s (my voice) definitely stronger yes.

Nick: Obviously the Y Theatre gig was quite a big one, as a band, how did you feel it went?

Jonny: I guess it’s difficult when you’ve not played a gig for that amount of time, it literally was our first gig this year, we had eight new songs no one had heard before and it wasn’t as f we went and played at the shed to get a feel, we booked the Y Theatre and it was a big risk because you don’t know if people have forgotten about you, if they’re interested in coming to see you or what. After we played the reaction of the crowd was pretty phenomenal and I found it amazing. I think it was a difficult task to take on, to play eight new songs to a crowd that weren’t expecting it really, because they had nothing to go on, and it seemed to go down alright.

“The experience was amazing… It made us realise we weren’t quite there…”

Nick: Obviously you did very well in the surface unsigned competition last year, we’re you surprised at this success? And how did you find the experience?

Jonny: Yeah, the experience was amazing, we met a lot of industry people, a lot of friendly people and it gave us a lot of confidence. But the main thing it did really was that it made us realise that we weren’t quite there, I mean, you’d think winning a national competition would mean that your there, you’re the best, and at that time we probably did think we were the best but on reflection we realised that we still had work to do because someone from ish media came down and watched us and they said we needed to work more, and that’s what we did. I mean it is all about your songs and even though we had good enough songs to win that competition we just needed to improve, and we’re still doing that now.

Nick: There are many exciting bands coming out of Leicester at the moment and finding great success at a time where there is currently a huge culture for unsigned bands sweeping the nation, what do you think of this current scene and some of the local bands?

Jonny: Well we’ve always said that there’s a lot of talent, it’s incredible, I mean I remember being in a band when I was sixteen and in comparison to a lot of the bands around now, their work ethic and how they’re so mature with what they do and how they promote gigs and how they understand how important it is to promote yourself, I mean, I had no idea when I was that age. I find that quite admirable really that they are so mature, for example M48. I think certain bands, I’m not saying us in particular because there’s a lot of good bands, and if your in a small community and you were going to start a band today, you’ve got a bar to reach haven’t you, a level, and that’s been set by the bands around you. So no matter what you say, we’re all competing against each other, you want to be the best don’t you. You only have to look at the summer sundae fringe festival, that’s like all the local Leicester bands playing at summer sundae, and it’s mad, you’ve got about seven or eight different venues with all Leicester bands, all playing on the same night.

“If you can help raise money for a good cause then your going to do it aren’t you”

Nick: What would you say to any cynics that may suggest if you hit the big time you may leave Leicester behind, do you still feel it is important to remember your roots?

Jonny: Yes, well it goes without saying that’s important, if you can use your reputation as a band to help charity for example, if you can help raise money for a good cause then your going to do it aren’t you. It’s the same as if someone approached us from Leicester and asked us to help out with an event then we’d probably do it.

Nick: So, what do the band plan to do in the immediate future?

Jonny: Well the plan right now is over the next six months we’re planning to write and record these new songs and write more and more songs and recording an album of songs basically.

Nick: What has been your favourite gig so far as a band?

Jonny: Favourite gig was, summer sundae main stage, just because it was so loud on the stage and the sound was amazing! But the rest of the band have said that their favourite gig was at the Y Theatre because of the crowd.

The Chairmen on Myspace