I NME-Europe Battle Of Bands: Let's Hear It For The Winners

The dust has settled, but the show goes on for The Little Hydes, winners of the I NME-Europe Battle Of Bands contest. Despite a heavy schedule, which includes an unplugged set this Wednesday with Ian Prowse at Mojo in Liverpool and studio work on a new single, the 'next four lads to shake the world' managed to find the time to have a quick natter to NME-Europe and tell us all about being champions and what's happening in Hydesville at present. Here's what they had to tell us:

NME-Europe: Well lads, you were the first band to be interviewed on this page and now you're the winners of the I Battle Of Bands. What are your impressions on having beaten some really excellent acts to win the title?

TLH: Yeah I saw a Number Of Fires (who were second) ran us pretty close. When you do BOTB's (and we've done a few! One that we won took us on a mad tour of Europe gigging), you enter if you know you have a good chance of winning it.

NME-Europe: For those who are still thinking 'The Little Who?' (God forgive 'em), tell us a bit about yourselves.

TLH: We've been together about two years now. Myself and Tony (drums) have been playing in bands round town since we were 14/15. It was in my last year of school when things started taking off. Our first recordings had a nice poppy 90's feel, they started getting played on local radio and started a bit of a buzz. These first demo's set us up well and we got a slot at the Mathew St Festival and Creamfields (on the same day!). The first year set us up great, and since we've been working hard on just fine tuning our sound really. We've got an album's worth of new material that we're dyin' for everyone to hear.

Well, I saw The Little Hydes at that Mathew Street Festival (you can see a small excerpt of that set in the video below - there's even a cameo role from me!) and was really impressed by the stage presence of such a young band (in fact, they were part of the reason for starting this site).



You can also hear two tracks, 'Absolute Youth' and 'Dear Diary Days' on the NME-Europe Battle Of Bands contest page and an additional song, the delightful 'As Back When' on their myspace page. Only a fool would not give them a chance and it certainly is an exciting prospect that the lads have an album full of tracks raring to go.

NME-Europe: Apart from being an NME-Europe Battle Of Bands winner, what else does 2010 hold in store for you lot? Any plans for a release or tour?

TLH: We're actually recording our first single at the moment. All of our other recordings are sort of rushed, due to the amount of time and the amount of money it costs to rent a studio even for a weekend. We wanted to do it absolutely properly this time, in terms of a pop single. We have a great pop song that you wont be able to get our of your head (im told this is our trademark) and we'll be releasing it in a few weeks time. We've all got a good feeling about this one. Keep an eye out. 

We certainly will be! It's always a pleasure hearing from this band. They seem to go about things in the right way; quietly confident without loosing sight of reality and above all producing some absolutely sublime tunes.  While you wait patiently for more news on The Little Hydes, why not read some more about them from previous NME-Europe articles? In particular, a special piece on the three aforementioned tracks and the original Myspace Magic interview.

If you're in or around Liverpool, you can see them for free at Mojo on Wednesday, where they'll be playing an acoustic set with local legend Ian Prowse and they're also on at the O2 Academy on March 7.

Last, but not least, many thanks to David, Mick, Ste and Tony for taking the time to speak to NME-Europe. Looking forward to the single, gents!