The latest in the NME-E Myspace Magic section takes us across the Pennines and almost North of the border! Scarborough is the hometown of Loveday Fools, a (soon to be) quartet who really caught my attention just recently. A friend request followed by a listen to the track 'The Morning' on their Myspace profile soon had me wondering what this bunch were all about. A quick-fire interview later, I found out a good deal more. Here's what they had to say:
NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
LF: We’re still in the process of nailing it all down but currently we, Loveday Fools, consist of Me (Ben Chapman – Vocals, Guitars, Synthesizer and Organ), Michael Blake (Guitars, Backing Vocals and Percussion) and Daniel Bird (Drums). We’re auditioning a bassist next week, one of Birdy's mates, he won't say who. I write a lot of songs and Micky writes tons too, we’re never short of stuff to do. Me and Blake met at school 20 years ago when he moved to Scarborough, we’re both Wonka heads and Beatle heads – that and our love of snooker kept us together through childhood and we met Birdy at secondary school in 1993. I didn’t see Birdy for a while after school until I went to a party round his flat a few years back and met my eventual Mrs there, so I’ve got him to thank for that. We’ve all played round Scarborough in various bands and solo guises down the years but it’s only in the last couple of months that we’ve got playing together.
NME-E: What's the reason for the name?
LF: I work in a call centre, doing the devil's work selling double fucking glazing, right, and a couple of months ago I heard my mate Syd on the phone to this old dear, posh nob, Mrs. Loveday-Foulds. When he said it I misheard him and went ‘Loveday Fools, I’m having that brother’. Googled it, nowt came up so it stuck. It’s a ball-ache trying to think of a band name that everyone likes and that doesn’t exist already anyway so when it lands in your lap like that it's good. You can stop racking your brains, trawling through newspapers, looking at graffiti, doing anagrams of stuff to find a name and just get back to putting your energy into playing or writing or whatever.
Job done, then!
NME-E: Do you dare describe your sound?
LF: I’m very particular about lyrics and I won’t let a song go on the tape until every single line is how I want it to be. I never just say ‘That’ll do’. If it takes 4 years (and trust me, it has) so be it. Musically I want strong melodies, every note has to be there for a reason and I like hidden depths to a song, where new stuff jumps out from the darkest corners with every listen. I never like mentioning bands you like or listen to 'cos people will just listen to you and pick out what you’ve nicked :).
I’m happy if we can satisfy my Scouse-pop and Shoegazer tendencies in one song. Blake’s into more jaunty songs than me, it's a good balance and he gets a lot of good ideas from playing the Mandolin. It sounds top when he translates it onto electric guitar. He’s great at writing about real life too, I think that’s something we both look for both in our music and the music we listen too – normality, reality, everyday things our mates can listen to and get like making your bed, knobheads on the estate or eating your tea. On the MySpace we’ve got it as ‘Backwards sounds, words and soul, mixed in a bowl of Rattle and Roll’ and that’s the manifesto, our campaign promise.
I must admit, when I heard 'The Morning', I instantly thought of a Scouse-pop band. It was a pleasant thought. See what you think.
NME-E: What are your releases to date?
LF: So far we’re in the middle of recording our demo album at our Scabbey Road home studio. It's a spare room in my house that I’ve lovingly converted. We’ve got umpteen guitars up there, a few amps, a mountain of old keyboards, a Hammond Organ, a big box of effects pedals, loads of old mics, flipping cables all over the place, we love it man. The album's called ‘Ten O’Clock Horses’, it’ll be done in a couple of months. We’ve got a few songs on MySpace for the minute, had some positive label and radio interest but thus far you’ll have to sit tight till its finished.
Seat belts fastened!
NME-E: What band/artist would you like to support you?
LF: I’d want someone who’s completely different to how we sound, so I’d say Doudou Cissoko. He’s a Kora player from Senegal. A Kora is like a giant pumpkin with 200 strings and how the man plays it I have no idea, he belittles me man, soul music. Blake would say The View, who he’s obsessed with and would runaway and join tomorrow if they’d let him :).
NME-E: What's your favourite record at the minute?
LF: I never buy new music really, but one that I have bought recently by a new band and loved is ‘Oracular Spectacular’ by MGMT. There’s an old 12” called ‘The Beatles, Bach and Bacharach go Bossa’ that I always throw on. It’s like 1970’s, Bossa Nova, instrumental lift music interpretations of 'Fool on the Hill' etc, I just love it.
Again Blake would obviously plump for The View’s new record ‘Which Bitch?’
NME-E: Finally, what are your objectives for the next 12 months?
LF: First off, let’s get the demo finished cos its getting on me nerves having it in me head and not on tape. Next, we can’t wait to get out on the live scene (if Scarborough gets one of them) and get a rep. Like I said, we’ve had some positive feedback from one or two labels and what not, so signing a deal and putting some singles out is in our sights. I don’t want to be all over Radio 1 or owt, winning Brit Awards is not something I’m interested in, but having people hear us on the Radio and going "Loveday Fools, good tune" – that’ll do. That, is what it's all about. If we can get on Wogan, and he's buzzing off us, my work here is done.
Well, I'm not Wogan and the BBC is my Beer Bottle Collection, but I am going "Loveday Fools, good tune". I think fellow readers and music lovers might too, so Ben and crew have given me permission to put a song on here. Check it out and see what you think:
Hope you liked it! My thanks to Ben for answering the questions and to Loveday Fools for giving me permission to play their track on here. If you like the song, check out the rest on their myspace profile. The others are at least as good, I promise.
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