Interview with The Baron Von Marlon at Nambucca!

Last week we met The Baron Von Marlon at Nambucca in London before their gig. We really spent a good time with these really nice and talented guys who show us that music is also a great adventure that you can live and share with friends on stage! 

From the left to the right: Andrew, James, Shaun, Tom and Robert.

Sitting on benches with few drinks we get to know more about this cool band, through this interview:

Walk on the B-side: Could you introduce each one of you?

Shaun: Hi, I'm Shaun, I'm the singer and somewhat the guitarist of the Baron Von Marlon.

Tom: I'm Tom, I'm bass.

Andrew: Andrew, I play violin.

Robert: I'm Rob I play drums.

James: I'm James I play guitar.

How did you meet each other?

Shaun: Years ago, I met Tom since I was like 2 and then we all met at school through friends of friends really. So through school and primary school.

Why did you call the band the Baron Von Marlon?

Shaun: It's from the Streets do you know the Streets? It was an over joke and we thought it's sound cool, that's it, it's from a silly Street's lyrics.

How long have you been playing together?

Shaun: A year and a half? It's June last year is it?

James:  All the rest of the band has been playing for a year, I've been playing for like 6 months maybe.

Shaun: We were 4 peers... and then..

Robert: No we were 5 peers then a 4 then a 5 again, and then briefly a 4...

Shaun: Somewhere around a 4 or 5 so now we are 5 and we have been playing for about a year and a half.

 How would you qualify your style of music ?

Robert: We've got violin which probably makes it a little bit folk. I guess it's kind of rocky poppy alternative.

Shaun: Someone calls us folk core, how do we just go for pop folk?

James: Folk with electric guitars...

Andrew: Yeah and tight jeans and folk... (laughs)

James: We would do pretty well with the tight jeans. (laughs)

James to Shaun: Why don't you tell the story? What the story?

Shaun: I shrank my jeans twice in the wash they are now too small. I don't like skinny jeans these are normal jeans but they shrank now they are tight. Anyway! (laughs)

Could you tell us more about your album?

Shaun: The EP? It came out a while ago now, we recorded it at James', our guitarist's studio, in Leeds, just spent a week at the studio and got 5 songs that we are pretty happy with. We just released a video for one of them last week (end of November*) which is set in a local church and it's all like really gothic... It's a kind of bouncy, it's very depressing lyrics but with happy melodies.

Andrew: So now people will know that our music is depressing... (laughs)

Who compose the most in the band?

James: Shaun composes most of it..

Shaun: A part from the drum.. I suppose I write the songs and then everyone fills in the gaps and we just play out constantly about the same song over and over again.

Do you try to transmit something special in your music?

Shaun: I suppose so... I'm quite in to literature so I like to convey or have quite sort of points, lyrics to the point. I don't know...

James: What literature are you in to?

Shaun: Ernest Hemingway...

James: Ernest Hemingway, what's your favourite Ernest Hemingway?

Shaun: Fiesta but the American change the title by the Sun which also arises.Yeah Ernest Hemingway is a good author.

Is it difficult to be 5 on stage?

James: It's pretty difficult... I have too much stuff...

Shaun: Yeah Jame has way too much equipment.

James: But you have 2 guitars, you're just going worst...

Shaun: We play stages like we can't even move, I fit like Andy's violin with my guitar... but the stage here (Nambucca*) is very nice, quite spacious.

What is your best or worst memory as a band? 

Shaun: Just gigs that seem pointless when like no one really interested in... yeah, that's probably the worst time... when you're just feeling empty of playing music for people who just doesn't care.

Thomas: Good is being in the studio and buy the 12-pack of doughnuts for a pound.. (laughs)

James: Yeah that's pretty amazing... the 12-pack of doughnuts wa good.

Shaun: Yeah when we were recorded our CD we just bought a lot of food... (laughs) a big pack of doughnuts for one pound.

James: That's the north of England (laughs)

Shaun: That's on the same level as actually creating music, we quite enjoy that..

Have you ever performed in an other country than the UK?

All of them: No we haven't

Robert: First the UK then progress into the rest of Europe..

James: And France... it could be fun...

Shaun to James: You've played in Paris?

James: Couple of times...

Shaun: James have played in lot of bands.

What are your favourite songs, if we have to recommend it to our readers, which song would you recommend?

James and Thomas: Probably Conrad's Daily Rose or Bedbugs.

Shaun: Our main popular song is... (laughs) the pop, the one which is like really cheesy is one called Bedbugs.

Robert: If you listen on Conrad's Daily Rose song there is also a video for that, then you get both songs.

Andrew: Yeah the video and the audio which is lovely.

Robert: And there is a link to our website.

Shaun: We've got a new song we are playing tonight or 2 new songs I don't know... at least one new song which we really want to see where that goes and hopefully recorded it soon... Really excited!

Would you like to play music for a living and become famous?

James: It's pretty much fun right now...

Andrew: I think we're not chasing fame or fortune right now, just play for fun...

James: But if it happens that's cool...

Thank you guys for the interview and for this great gig!

Follow them and listen to their music on Facebook, Twitter, their website and their blog !

Interview Young Aviators

In " Movember ", we went at Young Aviator's gig at KOKO in Camden.

Just 30 seconds after the curtain-raiser, the gig starts very energetic and it goes on until the 

end. What a great feeling to go with the flow in the music and enjoy every seconds... I didn't shake my butt this way since Birdy Hunt's gig !

We couldn't miss it... Here is the interview with Decky, the singer:

Walk on the B-side: Could you introduce each of you ? 

Decky: John Markey plays drums and backing vocals,  I am Decky Mc Kay, I am the lead singer and I play guitar, and Kyle Haughey plays bass and backing vocals. 

from the left to the right: John, Decky and Kyle

 How did you meet each other?

We met back in our hometown in Ireland. Me and John met in primary school, we met Kyle in secondary school. There's quite literally nothing to do where we come from but drink and play music, we had no choice. It's the cross we bare.

Why did you call the band Young Aviators ?

Just find the idea of guys like us flying planes really funny, it would be so dangerous. None of us can even drive.

How long have you been playing together ?

As much as it pains us to say it, we've been playing music together now for most of our adult lives. We started jamming together when we were spotty teenagers in a church basement, roughly around the age of 13. Not much has changed for us really, though we have much better skin now.

How would you qualify your style of music?

[Short Answer] Alternative Pop. [Pretentious Answer] A fierce attack on the senses, a delicate blend of cosmic harmonies, neatly sat on a wide slabs of rocknroll. Beefy, simply beefy.

 What are your influences?

Alcohol mainly.

Could you tell us more about your next new album? How many songs ? Do you 

try to transmit something special in it ?

The album with have roughly 9 songs on it. Mostly new ones. Mainly dealing with the theme of being young, broke and desolate in the 21st century. All the songs are inspired by a life on minimum wage and fears of the future for yourself and the wider world. Hopefully they don't come across too heavy going, they're meant to embrace the humour and poetry in being fucked.

What are you inspirations when you are composing ?

Anything and everything. Its all up for grabs.

Who compose the most in the band ?

I write the songs to begin with, the lyrics and the original structure and melodies. Then John and Kyle put their parts to them and the song begins to take shape.

What is your best or worst memory as a band ?

The London NME show in November 2012 was a definite highlight. In terms of bad memories, I have too many to choose from. Being in a band is 15%  pats on the back and 85%  slaps in the face. That's an exact figure worked out over hours of research, you can quote me on that.

Have you ever performed in another country than the UK?

Not yet. It’s one of my big ambitions, particularly a European tour. The U.K is nice an all, but where would you rather wake up Bradford or Berlin?  No offence to Bradford.

 When will your next gig be?

Our next gig is Boxing Night in Ireland; we have an annual tradition of putting a show on in our hometown on Boxing Night. It's usually very drunken and a bit crazy; things can get out of hand, guys losing teeth, women roaming the dancefloor covered in sick with no shoes, it's like the last days of Rome. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it is very drunken. And as any band will attest, hometown shows are usually the best.



Thanks to Decky Mc Kay and Young Aviators. 

You can find them on www.youngaviators.co.uk, twitter, youtube and tumblr

A night with Boxset!

Hey! A week ago we've met a great pop rock band called Boxset! They invite us in their studio, we spend a really good time with them! We had a nice "private gig" and had the chance to listen them rehearsing!

From the left to the right: Monica (Organ, keyboards and vocal), Harple (Drums), Bruce (Singer & bass), Sanjay (Banjo & guitar), Nicola (Keybords & vocal).

Now discover more about this band and their project :

Walk on the B-side : How did you meet each other? :

Bruce: I met Nicola and Monica through a friend of mine, also musician, I met Sanjay on a course we did and Harple because it was destiny! (laughs)

Harple: It was always meant to be!

Bruce: (speaking to Monica and Nicola) We used to play in a folk band together.

Monica: I used to play violin with Nicola, we kind of change the style!

Nicola: We still do!

Monica: Yeah, just not in the band.

Why did you call the band Boxset? :

Bruce: Because we actually grapple for a name for about 3 months. We had a gig and we didn't have a name. A friend of us, can we call him a friend? Okay yes we can, just hope he doesn't see this. (laughs) So a friend of us who's in a band called Gram suggested it and we thought yeah good, we'll go with that!

Sanjay: That's the shitiest story ever! You could have made something up! (laughs)

Bruce: That's what happened!

Sanjay: We found Bruce in a box...

Harple: There were initially a set of him but a lot them got away!

How long have you been playing together? :

Harple: Six months?

Bruce: First gig was May, wasn't it? We've been playing together, us 3 (with Monica and Nicola), for about 2 years in a different band and then we kind of all teamed up, in February?

Harple: Really?

Bruce: We had a different drummer but we just didn't tell him.

Harple: Alright ! (laughs)

How would you qualify your style of music?

Bruce: It's pop music isn't it?

Harple: We hope so!

Sanjay: Is it?

Bruce: It's pop, it is just like pop songs.

Sanjay: No, lo-fi dance.

Monica: Indie pop!

Bruce: What did I say?

Harple: Ok, it's post dub step!

(everyone laughs)

Bruce: We like stuff like LCD soundsystem, DFA, that kind of dancy pop music.

Harple: Yeah, Orange Juice, Miles Davis, Talking heads...

Sanjay: I think we're answering a different question!

Do they influence you when you're composing?

Harple: They mainly influence Bruce, and Bruce tells us what to play so…

Bruce: I'm like Prince, Prince from Preston. (laughs)

Harple: I think we've all got different influences.

Bruce: (to Sanjay) You love a lot of shit, don't you?

Sanjay: Yes, I like absolutely twat music!

Could you tell us more about your next EP ?

Bruce: The first thing we are releasing will be coming up in February or something? February seems realistic. We're releasing a single called Stop what you're doing. The old version is on Soundcloud but we're doing it and we're going to put it at on a 12 inch vinyl, that would be nice!

Harple: Is it gonna be a B-side?

Bruce: There is gonna be a B-side! That will be called Walking stick.

So how many song there will be exactly on the next EP ?

Bruce: Well, we're just going to do a single to start, but we've got an EP sort of taking shape for after it.

Harple: I think we've got a tone of songs...

Bruce: Have we?

Harple: Well there's so many ideas running around but…

Sanjay: …we're not ready yet!

Harple: I don't think we'll never be ready.

Sanjay: I don't think anybody is ever ready! I think it's a sort of lie.

Harple: I'm pushing Bruce to make an album.

Bruce: But I think it's too early for an album. If we did, it would just kind of sink into obscurity. It wouldn't be coherent and wouldn't lead to anything. That's a lot of work to do an album. So we need to maybe build ourselves a platform before we do something that big or ambitious.

Do you have the stage fright before performing?

Monica: No.

Bruce: I do!

Harple: He's afraid of himself.

Bruce: I always get that kind of anxious hate thing. I don't know why because people don't really pay attention when you play in London. But I get nervous.

Harple: You do get nervous.

Bruce: (speaking to Harple) You have to talk me down.

Harple: I have to do this (doing a hug to Bruce while saying it's ok)

So it's your trick to feel better?

(laughs)

Bruce: I don't think it would be fun without having little bit of anxiety.

Harple: Yes it's true, it keeps you on your toast.

Sanjay: If it wasn't a bit scary it will be a bit boring. That's what makes excitement.

When will be your next gig?

Bruce: Hopefully, I plan to organise a couple of thing on the built up to our release but we have not got anything yet. We will probably do something as a warm up, like something bigger with a lot of our other friends bands. And we'll do a launch party for  our record in February hopefully.

Sanjay: Just watch our Facebook.

It was really nice to meet them and be part of their world for one night!

Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud.

Check out one of their song they play during their rehearsing session :

                              

Enjoy!

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Find us now on Facebook you will find updates on our blog and the next band that we will meet soon !

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