The Tides (Interview)

by Emma Wilcockson on 12.10.09


Recently we caught up with The Tides, a five-piece indie band from Oldham. Originally formed by vocalist Liam Pennington and guitarist Mark Boswell, and later welcoming guitarist Dave Furnival, drummer James Correy and bassist Ryan Comac, the band’s name was inspired in part by their dreamy and chilling music, but also by the simplicity of the names of other successful bands at the time.

While similarly named bands like The Doves and The Hives enjoyed commercial successes, The Tides remain an as-yet undiscovered gem who, for years, have been so close to success and yet in other ways far from it.

With such a long history, the topic of conversation inevitably focused on the evolution of the band; where they came from and where they hope to go. Drummer Jim, explains that when he first joined the band almost five years ago, it was all acoustic based, and it seems he has since had quite an influence on the progression of the band’s sound.

“The bands I used to be in were quite heavy. I prefer to play loud and fast and the songs have just kind of progressed that way over the years; a little bit louder and a little bit faster. We’ve started putting piano in, too.”

It seems strange that The Tides have received little recognition in their home land of Manchester, and yet really seem to be making headway elsewhere, particularly in Germany and Greece.

“We’re quite friendly with the band Twisted Wheel, and Liam got a text from Rick on Friday night saying they were just driving through Germany and our tune came on the radio. We did get a lot of feedback from Germany when we first got going, from radio stations and nightclub DJs saying that they played our stuff, and so we thought it was one of our earlier demos but it was actually our recent EP which we’d sent out.”

The band also tell us that the flip-side of their single, released last year, ‘Friendly Fire’, got voted best B-side of the year on a German website, and how Mandy Kane, Australia’s own Marilyn Manson, did a remix of one of their songs. Indeed, the band seem bemused by their overseas successes, and yet they’ve spent a small fortune on recording their material, all self-funded, even travelling to London to record. The band also sent demos to anybody and everybody, which is another drain on expenses;

“Having no manager, we have to promote ourselves and sell our own EPs. We get requests from Spain and Italy; it costs a fortune sending out CDs to all those places.”

So do they feel bitter about the lack of support in their own country and even their own city?

“We’ve been around quite a while but we’re just not really getting the breaks here, but it’s good that we’re finding our way elsewhere. We’ve always been just on the verge in Manchester.”

Liam explains that the band did actually make the Indie charts here last June;

“A friend texted me to tell me, and we were one place above Radiohead. It was mad, I was just sat there staring at it and phoning everyone, but no one was awake. We’ve just got to keep putting these songs out and hope someone picks up on it. Good bands that write good music, like us, will eventually get noticed. It’s about getting your chance and the right person hearing you.”

Discussing influences, the band tell us that they draw much inspiration from Elbow;

“It was something stupid like twelve years before they got any recognition, so they give us hope. It was just timing with them. They’ve always stuck to their guns with what they write, and it’s not that their other albums weren’t as good, but that one particular album which got the break for them.”

The band suffered a set back last year when original bass player, Sam, left, forcing them to spend a couple of months looking for a replacement. Step forward Ryan. Jim suggests;

“Probably since Ryan started, our stage shows, writing and attitude have all got a hell of a lot better. We’re getting stronger and our latest EP is our best. Ryan’s got good ideas as well… for a fourteen year old”, he finishes, much to the amusement of the band. “Stage-dives off my bass drum don’t you mate?”

“I’d do that but my knees have given way,” says Ryan.

“So have my fucking bass drums!” laughs Jim.

“I think our sound comes across better live,” adds Liam.

“It’s more urgent. We try to make every gig an event. Years ago we did just hammer the gigging, but our sound is made for bigger venues where we can feed off the audience. So, if we’re playing a little shitty pub, we sound shitty. Big occasion, big crowd and big sound is our thing. The people that do come and see us are hardcore, but we can’t really impress record companies with our fan base because we haven’t got two hundred kids turning up at every show. We can impress them with our music and stage show, but that’s not how it works anymore is it?”

The band have made two music videos in order to better promote themselves; “It helps to have a visual, that way more people take notice. We had Kev in from Puressence too, and that helped our popularity in Greece because they’re huge over there. A lot of their fans are latching onto us now, which is cool. We’ve been asking them to get us a support slot over there. We’ve never done a tour abroad.”

Still, money and work remain an issue, which is why the internet is such an invaluable source when it comes to increasing their fan base and getting more people out to gigs. “We’re hoping to get back into the studio and release a download, like a Christmas Number One thing! We’ve got a few songs for a new EP.”

So what’s next for The Tides? “Soviet Union have been doing [well] at getting our stuff out there. For example, our music was recently used for an advert in Australia. It could take just one thing like that to start our career.” The band also have gigs coming up at the Roadhouse and in Middlesbrough. “We did a gig in London a little while back and got more people there than both the London bands, again just through Myspace and the internet.”

For all their time and effort, the band remain optimistic. They now find themselves at the end of a voyage of self-discovery and ready to take on the world. As they say; “We’re there now, and ready to go.”

The Tides play the Roadhouse in Manchester on 19th September, and you can purchase their current releases at HMV, iTunes, Napster and Townsend Records.

http://www.myspace.com/thetidesinfo

Image Gallery

Sorry! No images in this gallery

Bookmark with:

Comment