|
By Abi Brydon
Life as an unsigned band can be hard, but after three and half years’ experience, Envy and Other Sins are more than qualified to comment…
But at the end of last year, they won a £1,000,000 record deal with A & M records on Channel 4’s talent show Mobile Act Unsigned. Well, that’s not exactly ‘unsigned’ now is it? I bet it’s all about the egos and ‘get me a bottle of water you mere peasant’ these days…
Heralding from Birmingham, Ali (vocals and guitar), Jarvey (keys and backing vocals), Mark (bass and backing vocals) and Jim (drums) sit in the backroom of the Carling Academy Oxford. Mark lurks right behind, milling in and out of the room, clearly keen to avoid a journalist. The other three cling to their beer (Newcie Brown), and so we begin:
The history between them is evident; they smile to each other as they recall the ‘old days’ as an unsigned, local band in their hometown. So how have things changed?
Jim: There’s a bit more riding on it now but our approach to playing hasn’t changed.
How about recording music?
Jarvey: We never got anything to sound how we wanted it to when we recorded ourselves. We just didn’t know how.
Jim: A good producer and engineer are extra members of the band really. Their vision is as important to the record as the band.
Ali: And they work so tirelessly on it as well
Jarvey: We’d already recorded all the songs previously ourselves. The bread and butter of it were already there. They’ve got the ability to step back from it.
Their debut album, We Leave At Dawn was released on the 31st of March, and is a testimony to the genuine talent they possess and to what can be achieved through working hard as an unsigned band. Finishing at just over forty minutes with a mere ten tracks, it leaves you wanting more.
On T4’s Mobile Act Unsigned they stood out by a mile; they were polished, accomplished and had that certain something that makes you want to know more.
And they certainly aren’t going to stop working hard now. So what tips do they have for unsigned bands?
 Jarvey: Its want you wanna get out of being in a band. Local scenes need a good local magazine that gives a lot of coverage, good lot of promoters, one or two venues and you need good touring bands to visit and locals to be able to support them. People need to get excited.
 Ali: We have put on some amazing gigs in a couple of places you would not expect. We went to Corby once and we turned up and there’s this switched on promoter whose got tons of kids in this pub and it was great.
Jarvey: Main piece of advice. Don’t hang around waiting for a record label….get your music out there. Don’t wait around thinking that one day the holy grail of this wonderful record deal will descend and say ‘it’s you’. That kinda happened to us but only because we’ve spent 3 and a half years going round the country so when it came to a vote we had a fan base.
Page 2-->
|
