OK, so we are going to try a slightly new take on my blog with this post. Let me know your thoughts as usual…
I’ve been busy grabbing new bands/acts/DJ’s and chucking a few questions their way to help enlighten their fans and because…well…I’m a nosey little bastard. Nice.
Nothing too deep, just an overview and an opinion, with a teeny bit of insight is all I ask from them. Hope it adds to your RECOMMENDER experience. More to come when I get a chance to post them.
First up is a band I’ve written about below in THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 2, so for more info and splendid tuneage on THE HAIR go hunt it out down below. They hail from Yorkshire and brim with excellent riff-tastic, casio-cool Indie pop. I love it!
Their songsmith and lively frontman, SAM ROBSON, was the fella I managed to grab for a spare minute and throw some Q’s his way. Find his A’s below. Enjoy…
1.) For those new to The Hair, what’s your history and how did you meet?
Neil and Lee are brothers who were my next door neighbours..and vijay stepping in to drum earlier this year. We’ve basically been hammering away at gigs for a while, mainly up north but with the odd daliance in a festival or tour support.
2.) How is the Yorkshire music scene these days – any hot tips?
It’s as fabulous as usual. Lots of cool bands around…I’d look out for a guy called Jonjo Feather and also a band called Dinosaur Pile-up. Both are frikkin sweet.
3.) Who are your main influences?
I wasn’t like every other kid, you know, who dreams about being an astronaut, I was always more interested in what bark was made out of on a tree. Richard Gere’s a real hero of mine. Sting. Sting would be another person who’s a hero. The music he’s created over the years, I don’t really listen to it, but the fact that he’s making it, I respect that. I care desperately about what I do. Do I know what product I’m selling? No. Do I know what I’m doing today? No. But I’m here, and I’m gonna give it my best shot.
I can’t do these questions really, it’s tough, but I love all the music I listen to like ryan adams, bright eyes, the faint, the rapture, justin timberlake (!) etc etc but I’m not sure what actually has direct influence on The Hair!
4.) What’s it like having two brothers in the band?
Brilliant, they’ve done all their arguing at an early age so they never consciously disagree…
5.) When is your debut album, ‘Indecisions’, due for a release?
In the UK? We’ll probo not release that particular album but a mix of that and some new tracks…hopefully in the next 9 months…
6.) What has happened with the recent change of drummer and how does this affect you?
It’s made us a better sounding live band…a more commanding bass drum. Plus the band internally has a much better relationship. Things had broken down completely with the last guy (though we wish him well for the future) and now we enjoy it again!
8.) What is the best way for your fans to access your music?
itunes is most direct, but I would say if you want to get hold of the album before it’s remixed/remastered and released with different songs on a date yet to be decided then there are ways and means…and google is your friend…either that or buy it on import!
9.) Have you any tours planned for 2008 (particularly around the launch of the album)?
we’ve just done 10 uk gigs, one video shoot, and 8 days of work in 14 days, so I’m not quite thinking about other touring just yet! but I reckon we’ll do some extensive touring from the autumn onwards if things work out for us.
10.) Can you give us one random fact that no single fan would yet know about you?
I share my birthday with cliff richard!
11.) What is next for The Hair?
Free download (see above!)!!!
So that’s this Q & A’s first installment. More will follow once I get around to it. I list below, as a little taster, their recently recorded new music video for ‘HALF CUT’. It makes me feel drunk just watching it. It’s yet another bloody brilliant song that gets stronger as it develops. There’s plenty more floating about out there from these guys too.
Find their Myspace page here: www.myspace.com/thehair
That’s it for this first Q & A. More to come when I get around to them.
Look out for The Recommender - Number 5 real soon…
Mike
