Weekly > Interviews
The Music
The Music burst onto the scene with their debut album, struggled a little with the follow up and then things went worryingly quiet for a few years following a ‘parting of the ways’ with their record label at the time. This has in the past been enough to see a band resigned to the scrap heap and falling out into the bargain, but The Music are made of far tougher stuff.
They’ve edged their way back in to the scene with a number of ever increasing capacity gigs in the early part of the year and have released their third album Strength In Numbers this week. I caught up with Phil from the band recently to put a few questions to him, it seems that The Music spirit of old is back and as strong as it ever was.
Firstly, it’s good to have you back, although Leeds has had a succession of bands doing well in the last couple of years, you were at the time you first broke through the first for ages, do you feel you helped pave the way at all?
I don’t really feel like we helped the Leeds scene at all. I’ve never felt like other bands really listen to our music and I don’t feel we had such an impact that labels would come scurrying to Leeds looking for the next big thing! They should have though!
What do you make of all the bands that are coming through in Leeds and the surrounding areas at the moment?
There are very few bands around at the moment who get me excited, feeling at odds with the industry is good for me I think, it drives me to make better music.
Despite the fact that you’ve been away for a while your fanbase has stayed with you, you must be pleased by the reaction to your return?
Our fanbase standing by us is the most important part of us returning to music, i’m very humbled by the patience and dedication of our fans and hope to repay them.
You must feel vindicated to a degree after the response Welcome To The North received in the press?
It always mattered more to us what the fans felt about our music, as good as it is to receive praise we can’t take it seriously.
You didn’t get the best in the world from your previous label (Virgin) are you feeling happier with how things are going with Polydor?
Signing to Polydor was another major part of us returning. Getting dropped fueled the fire of desire to better ourselves and prove some people wrong. Then when we had some great songs and met Polydor we found some people who were passionate about us and what we are trying to achieve. This gave us a lot of confidence.
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Add to favouritesWere you at all wary about jumping from one major label to another, they can be notoriously fickle when it comes to the expectations they put on sales etc?
It’s never felt like too much of a concern how many records we sell. It’s not something I worry about.
Can you tell us a bit about the four cities tour you are doing and the various gigs involved in that, how did the idea come about?
Coming back in from the touring wilderness we wanted to do something different but ease into it as we were out of practice and nervous about playing live again. So by starting small we could test the water and build our confidence. We chose those cities as they are pretty much accessible to everyone in the country.
How have the gigs gone so far?
The gigs are going down way beyond expectations, some of the new songs are being received just as well as old classics which is flattering.
Is it fair to say that The Music really come into your own when it comes to the live arena and that it’s not been easy for you to recreate the energy and intensity that comes together in one of your live performances?
On previous albums we have written songs which were more live orientated and the recording process was, like you say, an attempt at capturing this sound. Which is a difficult thing to do. With this album it was the other way round, trying to create a studio album live is an exciting thing.
Strength In Numbers by The Music is out now through Polydor.
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