Myspace Magic: The Rackets

This week's featured Myspace Magic band are, again, from Liverpool. The trio are, in their own words, a ska/punk/alternative act who sound like "a right racket". And that's not far from the truth! However, perhaps modestly, they forgot to add that their racket is actually well-worth taking the time to listen to. They (Alex Stenhouse, Guitar and Vocals; Connor Dickson, Drums and Vocals; and Nick Daniel, Bass) currently have 3 tracks on their myspace page - 'It's All Looking Up', 'In The Open' and 'The Usual Suspects' - and were kind enough to tell us a little about themselves. Here's what acting spokesperson Conn had to say:

NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
TR: We're The Rackets, we're a three-piece from Liverpool. We have Connor Dickson on the Drums and backing vox, Alex Stenhouse on Guitar and vox and of course Nick Daniel on Bass. We started off as a 5 piece, but it started to drift in all different directions and so us three split off and it's been going pretty well for a while now, we're steadily making a name for ourselves throughout the UK and have recently started to pick up fans outside of the UK and Europe.

NME-E: What are your releases to date?
TR: Ermm... Well, our Nick was released on bail last year if that counts? Haha... we're waiting until we get a decent offer from an established label before we properly release anything, we don't want to release anything just for the sake of it. When the time comes we want it to mean something, and be something we can look back at proudly. But for the moment we're just being ourselves, getting up to mischief, generally messing around and just having an absolutley boss time playing gigs for everyone and anyone that gives a shit really.

A sensible approach and, surely it can't be long before someone gives them a chance.

NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be?
TR: Haha, a band to support us..... Uwwf puzzler, hmmm it may seem like a cliche, but i think it would probably be The Libertines, they seem like a good (ish) bunch of lads and we think that together we'd have such a brilliant laugh. Yeah, The Libertines, any gig with The Libertines would be a big, big, big achievment.... So if you can sort that for us haha... ;)

Would happily organise something if I had a clue of how to do it!

NME-E: What was your favourite album of 2008?
TR: Hmmm.... I think it would have to be The Cribs with 'Mens Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever'. Brilliant album, brilliant band. We saw them on the NME tour at Liverpool Uni aswell, one of the best gigs of 2008 I'd say. Nuff said on that one really...

Can't argue with that choice...

NME-E: What are your objectives/prospects for 2009?
TR: Haha, well there's the obvious one of course, but we're realists you know so we won't get full of false hope just yet. Ermm.... to be honest, just to sort out a permanent manager and broaden the fan base would be a really pleasant and helpful goal. So yeah i think we'll go with that, and if anything else comes of the year, then of course that would be amazing, but we're going to keep our feet on the ground for now and just make sure we're getting the help from the right people. Cool....

Well, NME-Europe certainly wish The Rackets all the best and hope that a little exposure on this humble page will do more good than harm.


As usual, I'd like to thank The Rackets for taking the time to answer my questions and would like to wish them all the best for the future. If you haven't done so already, check their myspace out and give them a chance.