IN CONVERSATION WITH...... THE MUTINEERS

Interview by Jon Birch

Listen Up Manchester caught up with the Mutineers - one of Manchesters favourite up and coming bands! Here is our full interview with Mikey from the band:

- Can you give us a brief history of how you came together as a band?

We came together out of the ashes of a couple of different bands, partly due to the frustration of long periods of inactivity i think! We were all in our mid 20s and needed to pretty much do something different and fresh...something to get excited about....

- What artists did you listen to growing up? Who do you feel influenced you the most?

I can only speak for myself really but i think i was fairly lucky to have been a teenager in Manchester the 90s when the Britpop thing happened, so there was a real wealth of bands writing relevent music and meaningful songs...sometimes commenting on society and things like that...it was also a plus that a lot of them were pretty cool...so i guess the likes of Pulp, Blur, Suede...Verve, Manic Street Preachers,Radiohead...and in america perhaps REM who were still making pretty good music then aswell...so all that sort of stuff was an early influence.....inevitabely, throughout time tastes changes and you grow a little more mature and you check other stuff out...so i love lots of the good 80s stuff...loads of Motown/Northern soul/60s sort of stuff....Nick Drake & John Martyn from the folkier side of things, early Van Morrison.....

- Who are the bands you have seen live who have completely blown you away?

I went to see Depeche Mode play an Arena gig about 7 or 8 years ago. That was an amazing spectacle in itself.....the sort of gig that is a real show...not just a band standing onstage playing their instruments. I'd one day love to utilise all that sort of stuff, lights & movies.....more narrative sort of stuff...

- Whats your favourite album of all time?

That's a pretty hard one to answer! I like different albums for different reasons....so for pure melody and emotion i might pick Pet Sound by Beach Boys....for synthy & electronica vibes i'd probably pick violator by Depeche Mode.....if i want to listen to some classic intelligent moody sort stuff i might stick The Bends or OK computer on....so in some ways it sort of depends what mood you're in....

- Whats been the best gig you've played so far?

Probably the last Manchester show we did at Sound Control. We've played larger venues as support to some big bands but i think the fact that we sold out a 500-600 capacity venue in our home town was pretty special and it was quite exciting to hear the songs sung back to us whilst onstage.

- What three Mutineers songs would you recommend that people listen to give them a flavour of the band?

I think i can be bold enough and say pretty much anything on the album...other than perhaps "Landlords Daughter" which, although one of my favourite songs, isn't the most immediate of tracks!

- What are your hopes and plans for 2013 both in the Studio and on the road?

More than anything to get this next single out and hopefully have it sneak into the indie charts and then get the album out. In terms of live stuff i think we're going to see how the album goes down and then make a plan....although i'm sure we may stick in a couple of little launch type gigs between the single and album release.

- What other up & coming Manchester bands would you recommend we check out?

There's a band called The 1975 who look like they're going to blow up this year, so i'd give them a go and then there's Slow Readers Club who have been around for quite a long time now but if you're into darker sort of stuff give them a whirl.

- Whats your ideal night out in Manchester, where are your favourite places to go?

It's got to be the Northern Quarter really as a starting point....and then as things get a little hazy maybe head up to big hands on Oxford road with a couple of stop offs at Temple of Convenience and The Deaf Institute.....possibly ending up in some cheap studenty indie dive drinking £1 bottles of weak lager and preteding to still be 20!

-...Whats your favourite cheese?

It has to be Martin Platt's "How's yer father" - http://www.saddleworthcheese.co.uk

IN CONVERSATION WITH: THE HEIGHTS BAND

Interview by John Cooper

After stumbling across The Heights Band online we featured them in our New Bands to Watch in 2013 article. Since then we have been in contact with Dustin Dockery from the band from Akron, Ohio to talk about music, plans for 2013 and to find out some more about..... the Heights Band.

LUM: Having heard your music, we instantly recommended you as a band to watch in 2013 on Listen Up Manchester. For our readers who haven’t had chance to listen to your music, how would you sum up your sound?

HB: I think we fall somewhere between punk, grunge, blues and rock. We constantly have new influences on what we write or how we write it. So ask me next week and it might be a different answer.

LUM: Can you give us a brief history of how you came together as a band?

 

HB: The four of us grew up in a small town outside of Akron, Ohio. We were introduced through some mutual friends in high school and we've pretty much been in bands together since. The four of us all finally started playing together as The Heights Band around 2008 and the rest is history.

LUM: You have 2 lengthy EPs released so far, do you have plans for a full length debut album on the cards this year?

HB: The plan is to release our first full length album later this year. We have some other stuff that will probably get released before the album but we haven't made any final decisions on that. I can definitely say that there will be plenty of new music from us this year though.

LUM: As a band who would you put as your main influences? And who are the bands you have seen who have completely blown you away?

HB: Bands like Brand New, Modest Mouse, Manchester Orchestra and the Pixies are a few that we all agree on. I know for me Brand New is the best show I have ever seen by far, Manchester Orchestra was also amazing but both Taking Back Sunday and The Academy changed my idea of how to perform.

LUM: Coming from Akron, Ohio - hometown of one of our favourite US bands, the Black Keys, who have had a lot of success over here in the UK over the last few years, do you feel you have a similar sound and feel to your music & is there such thing as an“Akron sound”?

 

HB: We have got those comparisons before, I think it is almost unavoidable given their success of late. I would say there are similarities between our music for sure, I think that mainly comes from our shared blues and rock roots but at the same time I think when you grow up in the same city you see a lot of the same things, get exposed to a lot of the same ideas and it influences the music you write. So yeah I think there is definitely some truth to the "Akron sound" idea.

LUM: What other Akron, or Ohio, or even American up and coming bands we may not have heard of can you recommend?

HB: Maid Myriad and Red Sun Rising are two of our favorite Akron bands. The Buffalo KIllers are from Cincinnati, Ohio and happen to be signed to Alive Records The Black Keys first label. The Fake Take is a great band from Detroit, Michigan.

LUM: you plan to hit the road and tour much in 2013?

HB: We are planning some exciting stuff with our friends Red Sun Rising for early this year but the main focus is the new album. After that we will be doing a lot more traveling.

LUM: What does this year bring for the Heights Band?

HB: A lot of new opportunities and new music.

LUM: We would love to see you play in the UK – have you ever had the opportunity to play over here?

HB: We haven't made it to the UK yet but it is in the plans down the road.

Thank you for your time the Heights Band & we urge all our readers to go check them out. If you want a taster before investigating further then check out the below tune!

IN CONVERSATION WITH: NEWTON FAULKNER

Interview & photography by John Cooper

10th October 2012 - Manchester Apollo

Listen Up Manchester was granted an interview with Newton Faulkner prior to his Manchester show to talk about his new album and tour, music & cheese!


Listen Up Manchester:  Hello Newton, welcome back to Manchester, your new tour started 10 days ago, how has it been going so far?

Newton Faulkner:  REALLY good..... the new songs work so well live, they're instantly translatable & are very sing along. I'd really like to get the crowd harmonising somehow. This is the first all seated gig so maybe I'll try to get them harmonising tonight.

LUM:  You're on tour with your new album - how would you say "write it on your skin" differs from your previous 2 albums?

NF:  It's definitely a different animal & writing wise its a big step up, the songs are much bigger. Looking at the whole situation my last album was the most personal album i've done...... most of it was written on tranqualisers, but this album has an overriding positivity, but it's balanced - you cant really have a song saying everything's great, it's not really the time for that, so it has a layer of realism to it.

LUM:  In my research I noticed that you started out playing in a Green Day covers band - are you still a big fan?

NF:  Yeah, I played bass! I still love to see they are still going now. Whenever they have a new album out....... (he grins and lets out a reminisent) Awwww.

LUM:  Who else are your main musical influences & heroes?

NF:  They're massively numerous - there's so many different streams - the singers, writers, players. Eric Roache, Thomas Leeb in terms of playing. Tom Waits, Randy Newman writingwise. And vocally Bobby McFerrin - he just makes everone else look lazy. Recently I've been listening to the Son of Dave album "Shake a Bone" a lot.

LUM:  That leads us on to the next question nicely - are there any new bands you've been listening to lately you would recommend we check out?

NF:  I'm still catching up on the last 400 years of music. For new stuff I saw Metronomy & AltJ play to about 20 people before they took off. Fiest - which is just increadibly recorded. Grinderman. And Keaton Henson who is beautifully depressing - he's on spotify.

LUM:  What would you say are your proudest achievements to date?

NF:  Hmmmm........ (after quite a pause Newton gives a baffled smile and says) no idea! (a bit more thought and another grin he comes up with) I haven't had to get a proper job yet!!!...... Oh and my son, he's just great right now and becoming more and more interesting.

LUM:  So what is next for you after this tour?

NF:  There's a possible Japanese trip and then its Christmas! I'm gonna spend some time at home & writing..... I'm always writing. The lifespan of albums have gone down dramatcally in recent years. You're constantly in demand for new stuff - you can probably survive just on EPs these days, the rules are changing all the time.

LUM:  I have to ask.... I noticed your middle name is Battenburg (the previous interviewer had given him a knitted Battenburg Cake as a gift - to which i pointed). Is your middle name in any way cake related?

NF:  It's actually my mothers maiden name so probably goes back........ years - i dont know how far, maybe I should look into it.

LUM:  Just to finish off with & also on the subject of food, I actually also run a cheese blog, and would love to know, are you a fan of cheese and what is your favourite cheese?

NF:  I'm a big fan of cheese, I tend to go extreeme with cheese like a strong blue - I like Roquefort. And you really cant beat bacon with melted brie - possibly the best flavour combination ever!

LUM:  Thank you very much for your time Newton.