Ralph- Well I met Nick at Glastonbury, back in 2003 and it was weird as we lived in the same village but had never met before.
Nick – It was freaky really!
Ralph – We started jamming and Gav and Nick did open mics, then we met Adam who joined on synth and I started doing more guitar and then later Did joined on drums.
Gavin – It has been a growing process, we started with the idea years ago, but as more members got involved we have changed the sound and now with the new album I think this year we have started really seeing Seretone as we want it to be.
Gaz – What sort of things influence you and how would you describe your music?
Gavin – It is from the streets really innit?!
(everyone giggles)
Adam – We all have so many different influences, it is a bit weird as we have somehow mish-mashed it all together and ended up with this sort of dark synthy rock sound and it brings in what we all kind of like…and so we all kind of like it!
Nick – I think it is hard to say where the sound comes from. We are influenced by everything we hear really but even if we think somethings good and it might bring something to the sound we still put our own touch on it. So I don't think it is overly obvious as now we certainly feel we have found our own sound.
Did – Definatly, I think live we have a very dance sound at times that builds and moves more with the synths but it works well in our favour as we have the rock edge too that gives it power.
Adam – I think when we first got together as a band we all had our own ideas of how we wanted the band to sound but it took us probably a good year before we got a sound that we all liked. So now we just do what feels right and have that understanding of the sound without even talking about it really any more.
Did – You know it is the right sound cause we don't need to talk about it as it gives us that good feeling nowadays.
Nick – It is like finding the last pieces of a puzzle, it is a happy feeling!
Gavin – We always liked the way dance music builds up but we wanted to capture it in a rock song and I think we have started to do that now.
Adam – We started off listening to a lot of Lemon Jelly and Air and stuff like that as before Did joined we used sampled drums and stuff more so I think we still keep that influence with us.
Did – I remember walking into my first practice and these guys were jamming along to these crazy drum loops, all big and mad….
Nick – Is that when you realised that you'd never be as in time as we were back then!!!
(everyone laughs)
Gavin – I know what can fuck the band up, let's get a drummer in!
Ralph – It was funny in fact the first time Did came to watch us rehearse, we were upstairs in The Castle and we played a bit and it was okay but afterwards Did and Nick were at the bar, and they have known each other for years and already after one practice they were arguing. We knew he was gonna be the drummer for sure then!
Nick – It was more acoustic before Did joined but then we just wanted to get louder…it has been an interesting journey so far, we have changed quite a bit.
Ralph – We still have the melodies and the loops but now we have we beats and the big synths and loud guitars…we are pleased that we have the right sound now.
Gaz – I first saw you at the arboretum last summer, you have said that your sound has evolved since then so what have you been up to in the last year?
Nick – I think a problem we had for a long time was we had so many ideas and everyone wanted to go in so many different directions we could never decide what to do and how to get there but this year has been a real milestone for us as we have started really putting things together into a format we are all happy with. We played a gig in London and we got asked to produce an album afterwards but we only had a month so that really got us working fast and kicked our arses into gear!
Adam – So now we have our first album available online and we are pleased with it, so hopefully that can lead to bigger things.
Nick – We have suddenly found our sound in the space of about 6 months, even though we have been looking for years!
Ralph – We have written about 7 songs in that time too, which was good for us!
Gavin – SInce last summer we have just got a lot more serious, we have gigged more, written more and now recorded this full album so it has been full on.
Gaz – Well tell us about the new album, it is called 'Secret Robot Romance'….what is behind the name, when did it come out, where do you hope it can take you…tell us all about it!?
Gavin – It turns me on, it does!
(everyone laughs and gives Gavin a few odd looks)
Nick – I think the name just says that we are a bunch of si-fi geeks really….. Doctor Who is so cool!
Adam – There is the obvious thing with the title but for me it is sort of about escapism, with all the technology now, the internet….we can now create our own realities, our own worlds and……
Gavin – Adam just got online and has basically just discovered a lot of interesting sites *wink* *wink*
(Everyone laughs)
Ralph – It is sort of like that though, so many people seem to me having a romance with their computer, their robot!
Adam – I think the songs even though they are quite personal also have quite a futuristic feel, people can relate to them but they have that robotic, dark, futuristic, ambient edge still.
Nick – Our music is quite emotional and a lot of people these days don't get in touch with their emotions, they go on the internet, watch T.V rather than speaking and communicating face to face and talking about feelings, I think the album title works on a lot of levels there and fits with the music and songs.
Gaz – Where did you record it?
Gavin – We recorded it ourselves. We decided that was the best thing to do, you know being in a band one thing that is really hard is lugging all your equipment about so the fact we had a room in Sneinton which we could just and record in made it easier so back in January whenever we were all free, we recorded. It is a cheap way to record an album and you get more control of your sound, so it is good.
Did – It was good to have that control but we had a deadline for the disturbution so we still had only a month to get it all sorted really. I think you can hear the urgency of the recording in the music but that isn't a bad thing always….and I think having that timeline got us into gear…some bands take forever and it means the album doesn't feel together or focused but we were very focused I think.
Nick – You are always gonna look back and think you could have done things better or different, but we are all pleased with it really. We are all proud of the final outcome.
Ralph – It is a good snapshot of where we are now.
Adam – We have had loads of good feedback from it so there is no point looking at it and saying what if cause this is what we did and we are happy and the guys who gave us the deal were really happy so that was great.
Gaz – You have a lot of gigs coming up now, tell us about past favourite gigs and where everyone can see you in the future?
Gavin – The best gig we played I think, for me anyway, was when we played Secret Garden Festival in London last summer. We played the unsigned band tent, Desmond Decker was headlining and he borrowed Adam's Keyboard!!!
Adam – That's my claim to fame!!! It was cool cause he borrowed my keyboard in return for a load of food and beer so we watched his set whilst drinking his beer and eating his food, like cheers mate!
Ralph – It was cool being on a set with someone like that….a real legend.
Nick – It was a great festival, we have done a few good gigs down in London. We have played the Garage a few times, so we have been quite lucky with the scene down there. We seem to have made good friends down there and there has been a lot of promoters down there who have been keen on us and stuff which is great.
Did – We have some more London dates coming up, it is always a good experience down there. We have a few dates up here in Nottingham too though so that is great.
Gavin – We are playing the Saggy Pants gig at The Maze on July 13th with La Maison, Lucky Bullet and The Silver Tongues so that will be ace. By the time this is out we will have played Drop In The Ocean so that will be good, such a big day with every band in Nottingham getting involved for charity.
Adam – There are a lot of good bands in Nottingham at the moment. We played at Blueprint a while ago and it was great as we saw some bands we had never seen before and they were excellent! We really love Computerman, they are great.
Nick – I like Quartershade, who we played with before. They are very good.
Adam – I think there could be a better scene in Nottingham, there are a lot of good bands and venues and good promoters who try to do good things, but the general public don't know about it and there isn't always a togetherness. We try to get to see other gigs and bands but we are often rehearsing and busy so it is a hard city to break I think. You go to Leeds or Manchester and there feels like there is a vibe where all the bands help each other more and go to each others gigs support each other and help promote their local music scene.
Nick – There are so many brilliant bands in Nottingham. In the studio were we rehearse there is Lo-Ego and Hinterland who both are great and have pretty good reputations in the city but if every band just when and supported each other and got to know each other it would get the public more aware, I mean we are as guilty as anyone of that, but if people want to know what is happening and get a buzz then we need to work together.
Did – It is hard to because of the monopoly of big venues in Nottingham which don't help the local, small acts and scene.
Nick – That is bad news……they get some good bands in to play but it destroys the local scene when they pull crowds and publicity away from that.
Gavin – It is all about money for them though, they don't care really what is on as long as it is making cash…it would be great if when bands did get bigger they refused to play those venues who don't support the roots in Nottingham….we won't mention names…..
Gaz – No we won't…..but..so moving on, where do you want to go next?
Ralph – Sell millions of albums!
Gavin – It would be wicked to be watching Emmerdale and hear one of our songs on the jukebox in the Woolpack! You know you have made it then!
Adam – We are pretty busy with gigs now til September and then hopefully we have a US tour in the pipeline for a few weeks after that. We will see what happens with that, it is just all promoting the album at the moment.
Nick – We just gonna se how things go over the summer and if all goes well there is that tour and talk of a single in September
Ralph – It is all just about evolving over the next year, pushing ourselves forward and challenging ourselves.
Adam – We don't want to be one of those bands who relies on a sound and every album sounds the same. We want to devolope our sound and improve it.
Gaz – Okay, Any shout-outs? Tthankyous?
Nick – Gav's Dad, for keeping it real!
Adam – Thanks to Barry at the Running Horse!
Gavin – All the fans who downloaded our album and made it the biggest seller on www.7digital/organic
Did – Just everyone who is in it for the right reasons and has supported us, the last few months have been great.
