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Thursday 3 January 2013

introducing : catfish and the bottlemen

Last month, I went to see the wonderfully talented boys that are The 1975 at Sound Control in Manchester (you may already know from previous posts) and came home with a new discovery, if you will. 
They were the opener, which can't be an easy job.. The first thing I noticed about them was the unbelievable energy the lead singer had, and as their set went on, more and more people seemed to be enjoying it. 'Sidewinder' is a cracking song, you can listen to it here. North Wales' music scene has always been.. well.. nonexistent - until now! I'm racking my brains trying to think who I can compare them to.. I'll let you decide for yourselves.

As it happens, the exceptionally obliging (and ever so lovely) Van (lead singer) has answered some questions for me!

photo: hootingandhowling.com 



How did you guys meet then?
Me, Billy and Blakes met in school. We've just always hung out together, played football in the same teams.. We met Bob because Billy used to go out with his sisters.. as in he went out with one, they split up, then he went out with the other.


Where did the name 'Catfish and the Bottlemen' come from?
It's a long story, but my mum and dad ran away to Australia when I was a kid and took me with them, and I remember meeting this busker on the streets who I was just fixated on every day! He used to busk on the streets playing these half-full wine bottles. He was called 'Catfish the Bottleman', so when it came to naming the band I wanted something memorable and bold. That came to me and it brought back nice memories so we stuck with it.



Do you think it's more difficult for a band coming from somewhere like North Wales, rather than a city, in terms of gig opportunities and forming a 'fanbase'?

I think it's kind of a double-edged sword in our case.. as much as we'd love to only have to drive for an hour or so to get to gigs, the dullness of this town is what drives us to get out and play up and down the country. It pushes us harder and harder to make something of ourselves as opposed to being stuck here (no disrespect, but it's not great for music, as you probably know).



You're tipped to be big in 2013, what are you hoping to achieve in the next 12 months?

Really?! Thats nice! Who's tipping us? Are we underdogs or favourites?
We just want to work hard, meet new people along the way, make the shows bigger, and get our music out to as many people as we can! 



Your current favourite bands/albums?

My lovely charming sweet-hearted girlfriend bought me the first two Streets albums for Christmas, so I'm back with Mike Skinner! If you've not got them already, I suggest you do so. Mike Skinner is the finest poet on the planet. Some cracking new bands out there at the moment though! The Heartbreaks, from Morcambe.. they're like a Smithsy Springsteen, if that makes sense? I think you'll like them.

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