The latest Myspace Magic band to be featured are from Liverpool. The Manse are a five-piece alternative rock band who have only been together a relatively short period of time (a little more than a year) and are starting to gig locally now they have got their act together. Here's what they had to say to NME-Europe.
NME-Europe: OK guys, tell us a little about yourselves...
Man: We're The Manse and we're a alternative rock band from Liverpool - we started out as just three mates - myself, Joe Ainscough - Vocals, David Wilson - Lead Guitar and James Tickle - Bass - jamming together, playing some covers in January 2009. As we progressed we recruited a drummer, Jordan Welsh and a rhythm guitarist, Daniel Davidson. Four of us attended the same school, while Jordan is a childhood friend of mine.
NME-Europe: The Manse? Where does that come from?
Man: Our name comes from a mutual decision to name ourselves after something which played a major part in our first year as a band. We were given the use of a local church hall in which to practise, the church was packed out with top of the range gear so this helped us to develop. The name 'The Manse' was the name of a small disused house that was attatched to the side of the church.
NME-Europe: Tell the readers what you sound like.
Man: Our sound is a mixture of lots of different types of rock. Focussing mainly on alternative, though touches of indie, classic rock, heavier rock and post punk are apparent in our original songs. We are influenced by a range of artists, obviously each band member bringing something different to the table. Some of our more mutual influences are bands such as Radiohead, Muse, The Killers, The Beatles, Metallica, The Jam, Arctic Monkeys, Joy Division and Kings of Leon.
The two tracks available to listen to on their MySpace page are certainly raw. These guys don't take any prisoners!
NME-Europe: You haven't been together long, have you had time to release anything yet?
Man: No, but we have a couple of tracks up on our MySpace and are hoping to add to them in the near future. Our aim is to be able to put a short EP together within the next 18 months.
NME-Europe: How about some live performances. Are there any on the horizon? And who would you like to support you?
Man: We have a number of gigs lined up over the coming months around various venues in Liverpool and Lancashire. After recently headlining the O2 Academy we are looking to play a wider range of venues; including places such as Korova, Heebie Jeebies or The Herald (in Southport). One gig we are really looking forward to is a slot in the O2 Academy in April supporting My Auntie Sam.
If we could choose one band to support us it'd probably have to be Muse, purely because they are so amazing live. Actually come to think of it - they'd make us look really bad. So maybe not!
You can find details of those gigs on their MySpace page.
NME-Europe: What albums tickle your fancy at present?
Man: As the lead singer, I am currently loving the latest Arctic Monkeys album 'Humbug' but I know for a fact the rest of the band aren't into it. I'd say the main artist that got most of us interested in music has to be The Beatles. Being five lads from Liverpool you can imagine we were introduced to them at an early age, I think from there we've all taken a keen interest in exploring many different genres, which comes across in our music.
Well, regular readers of NME-Europe know what our opinion of 'Humbug' is (and if you don't, read about it here). You can't go wrong with a bit of The Beatles though, can you?
NME-Europe: Finally, what are your immediate plans?
Man: Some of our main objectives for the next 12 months are to really start to build up a fan base as we gain momentum on the gigging scene. Another goal is to host an Oxjam Event, we held one last year when were an extremely new band and it went really well - so we're looking into putting on an amazing gig for Oxjam. We'd also like to play some more headline slots. Aside from gigging we really want to look at expanding the amount of original songs we have and also get some good quality recordings down.
Our main priority is to just enjoy ourselves, we love having a laugh and we like to think that people appreciate that. I think we all agree that if it ever gets to a point where we're just a band and we're not enjoying it anymore then it'd be time to stop. But hopefully that's not going to happen.
Well, let's hope the energy and drive stays with The Manse. For now, you can give them a chance and have a listen.
NME-Europe wishes to thank Joe and the lads for taking the time to have a chat with us and wishes them all the best for the future.
NC
Last 5 NME-Europe interviews:
A Number Of Fires (Liverpool, UK)
My Raining Stars (Lyon, France)
Christopher Young (Birkenhead, UK)
Four Dead In Ohio (Shoreditch, UK)
The Temps (Liverpool, UK)
Read all NME-E interviews
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