Love and Disaster (Interview)

We all know that Manchester has a prestigious musical history. We rattle off names like The Stone Roses, The Smiths and The Verve for fun, with more recent successes of The Ting Tings and the always excellent Elbow seeming to continue that tradition. Tradition, though, is a double edged sword, and with the long reign of lad rock bands like Oasis and the ongoing electro legacy of New Order, newer bands can find themselves buried under the heavy musical malaise that many people still associate with Manchester. These disparate groups are frequently overlooked while guitar bands become famous overnight and forgotten just as quickly, with imitation bands like The Enemy becoming irrelevant immediately following their first single.

In order to save these new talents from a hopeless future as blues cover bands, a new direction is needed to provide them with a chance to be heard without the ghosts of the past hanging over them. Step forward ‘Love & Disaster’, a new independently run label and musical movement designed to do just that. Here progression is key, with the next generation of young Manchester bands being collected together in an eclectic mix of musical tastes and styles whilst avoiding the same sticky clichés. Released on January 11th 2010, ‘Love & Disaster 1’ brings together four bands touted as the new guard for the Manchester gig goer, reintroducing a clear, identifiable movement. Sharing a stage on the record are ‘Airship’, ‘Dutch Uncles’, ‘Jo Rose’ and the currently exploding ‘Delphic’ (with a little help from ‘Everything Everything’). Although each band is in a different stage of success or development, they are united under the same banner to give those from the outside looking in a taste of what young Manchester bands have to offer. Spokesman Daniel Parrott tells 4Q that “Love & Disaster’s aim is to build a company that can help new Manchester artists stay in Manchester for as long as possible, be it through production of music videos, management or press plugging”.

So, with all that established, what are the bands all about? First on the list is ‘Airship’ with their Indie rock rattler ‘Kids’, an anthemic sub-three minute piece of riff-craft and echoing, retrospective vocals. Consisting of Elliott ( singer, guitarist, keys ), Tom ( Bass, vocals ), Steven ( Drums ) and Marcus ( Guitar ), the band members have been playing under various guises, becoming ‘Airship’ in 2006 following the recruitment of Steven and Marcus at a gig involving serious crowd surfing and threatened venue expulsion.

Still only 21, Airship have already notched up a number of tour supports slots with more established bands like Marmaduke Duke, Nine Black Alps and have recently finished up an extended UK touring stint with Editors. No strangers to stepping up their game then. According to the band, “When Steven joined, we thought we were further ahead than we were, but quickly realised the step up between an amateur and professional band is massive”. After locking themselves away to define their sound, the new level of commitment resulted in some seriously focussed studio time. The song itself was recorded in Leeds in just one day

Eventually they sent their work in to channel M where it proved to be a hit. “Dan [Parrott] liked it and invited us onto the show. At that point we felt we were ready to play live more and things started to open up”. Attributing much of their current success to the show, the band ended up playing a set at Leeds festival off the back of the exposure. “After that loads of people wanted to book us and we had about 20 managers getting in contact promising to put us on tour with other bands. Leeds was the most fun gig ever, we didn’t think anyone would be there, but there were thousands!”

In regards to the Love & Disaster 1”, the process itself couldn’t have been easier. “We got asked to do a compilation and had already heard the other bands and had a lot of respect for them. We already had our song recorded for about 10 months and had done nothing with it, so it was nice and simple. However, it wasn’t just ease and mutual respect that drove them to appear on the record- the band are under no illusion about the precarious fate of burgeoning fame. “There are a lot of bands who disappear because people get sick of the marketing drive quickly. Some bands, – like lad rock bands- if it doesn’t work here it won’t work anywhere because it’s too reliant on that sort of culture. Continuing to work hard, the band will be sticking it out on tour all year whilst working on an album, with a 10’‘ colour vinyl hopefully set for a May release.

Next to tickle our fancy is the band Dutch Uncles with the progressive indie- rock ‘OCDUD’. Citing such influences as Steve Reich, Talking Heads and King Crimson, the five- piece are known for experimenting with unique time- signatures and adventurous compositions blended together with subliminal pop hooks. Touring with various bands they have already made fans of the likes of Maximo Park, The Futureheads and Dananananaykroyd.

Made up of Peter Broadhead, Duncan Paton, Andrew Proudfoot, Richard Robins and the peculiarly named Sped, the group have been together under their current name for about 2 years. Meeting throughout their formative education, they started playing together in a band in secondary school as a hobby before becoming a more focussed outfit. “We already had loads of songs we had written together and played gigs all the way in London and Scotland” Following a progression of sound and a change of name, the band played their first gig as Dutch Uncles, getting signed in the process. As a result they played some tours in Germany, where despite being relatively unknown went down a storm. “Nobody knew who we were but the fans all went crazy when we played because they were all so crazy about English music”. Feeling they had reached a crossroads the band broke from their label to focus on playing in England to cement a loyal fan base. Like ‘Airship’ they took the direct route, telling 4Q “We did a live session for Channel M and they saw it, inviting us round to play”. Subsequently they have played a number of times, moving them into pole position to appear on the first ‘Love & Disaster’. Known for their complex time signatures, the band have been working on making their music more accessible to new fans, saying that “We have a single due to be released in March or April, meanwhile we’re taking a writing break to really focus on stuff we’ll be ready if the new album gets a UK release”. Thirdly we have the enigmatic Jo Rose, adding some moody gravitas with ‘Last breath, California’ a song of creeping, film noir settings that give the sunny climes of California a new, sombre mythos. Already a veteran of the music scene at 22, Rose is a former member of Indie-rock younglings ‘Fear of Music’, breaking off from his old influences after 6 years to embark on a promising solo career. “I didn’t want to be in the band any more”, Rose comments, “my taste in music was developing and I lost interest. Right now I’m just loving playing something new, playing with new people and being accepted”.

Newly inspired by the likes of Conor Oberst’s “Bright Eyes”, Jo started writing again and playing songs with the new material he had written, although initially he was sceptical of the response. “People have responded really well and right now I really want to form another band”. Unlike some other musicians, Rose finds the idea of having an overall plan a little odd. “For me it’s strange talking about a business plan when for me it’s about playing great music with my friends. I don’t necessarily want to play on my own any more”.

Meeting Jo Rose through a channel M, Daniel Parrot was instantly impressed, offering him a spot on the ‘Love & Disaster’ vinyl, though the song itself was already written and ready to go. “[Dan’s] been very helpful. Manchester is like that in that it’s all closely linked; it’s been great becoming part of these really awesome new music circles”. Continuing to work hard on his music, Rose has his immediate future laid out in front of him, saying “I find it hard not to play, so I’m constantly writing and gigging, all the updates of which will be on myspace”. Make sure to check in regularly.

Lastly, but by know means leastly if that’s a word Delphic wrap up the four song collaboration with the Everything, Everything ( newly signed with Geffen Records ) remix of ‘This Momentary’. Highly touted and set for a hell of a career boost in the near future, the trio has just released their debut album ‘Acolyte’ to great critical praise. Everything, Everything are already Zane Lowe’s new favourite band and don’t do themselves any harm by appearing on Love & Disaster, with both bands on top form. Having both been short listed for the ‘BBC sound of 2010’ award, success appears to be a foregone conclusion for the leaders of the new Manchester music incarnation. ‘This Momentary is an infectiously upbeat pop morsel that is both easy to digest and tricky to forget, complete with warping sound loops and wistful echoes.

The band themselves are as aware as anyone when it comes to the difficulties of breaking away from the city’s old musical representation. “Manchester has been bogged down with the past 25 years through either bands the likes of Oasis or 808 State. It has one of the richest musical heritages in the UK but it is in real danger of weighing itself down through its musical past”. Getting involved in Love & Disaster, then, seems like a match made in heaven. “Love & Disaster is important as it is run independently by people who are passionate about what this city has to offer. Without such a label, exciting new music from Manchester might not be as easily heard”.

‘Everything Everything’, for their part, feel the same- “Bands emerging at the forefront are finally able to largely disregard the city’s past without disrespect. These bands don’t really sound like each other either, which is refreshing. There’s a scene, but it’s not based on a particular sound, it’s based on an attitude”. They too, have felt uncomfortable with the preset attributes associated with Manchester bands, “There was a kind of preset for how a Manchester band should sound, look and behave. All the acts involved with Love & Disaster are not interested in that, we’re just interested in making good music that offers something new- this EP does just that”

With the bands only too happy to get together and create an un-apologetically different avenue of music, the only way is up for the Love & Disaster label, with releases of Airships new 4-track EP ‘Algebra’ set to be released through them on May 10th, and Love & Disaster 2 set to be released in May. The second lineup is promised to sound “more electronic”, with the bands yet to be confirmed. Love & Disaster will be launching ‘The New Mancunian’ website later on in the year which is planned to become a Music TV platform for the city. Welcome to the new wave, let’s just hope Manchester Day doesn’t let us down, eh?

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