The
Jack Daniels Set Unsigned 2008 hit Sheffield this month, bringing four unsigned university bands to the Raynor Lounge. The bands competed against each other to win a session at a recording studio and our very own
Alexandra Rucki helped to judge the competition. Forge Music went to check out the latest in Sheffield local talent, and got the chance to speak to the bands before they played…
Epic Fail:How would you describe your music?Nothing more specific than alternative rock. Tonight our sound might be a little bit different as we have no keyboarder today, as he’s had to go home this weekend for a family gathering.
How did you meet and how long have you been together?Two of us met by living together in Ranmoor, and we advertised on the Union notice board for other members. We have been together now for about 18 months.
Has your music been influenced by the Sheffield music scene at all?No, we don’t like to say we’re influenced by the whole Artic Monkeys scene or anything like that.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you whilst performing live?We have actually never performed live before, this will be our first time. There was this one time when we were rehearsing though and got threatened by a load of chavs…
If you were to form a tribute band who would it be too?Girls Aloud, obviously.
Do you believe you could win tonight? Yes, of course.
The verdict: For their first ever gig Epic Fail, although insular onstage, do impress with their rock sound and driving bass. The singer has a classically grunge voice with a rather strange quality. Epic Fail hit their stride further into the set, bolstered by the loud applause from the crowd. A definite runner for first place.
The Red Shark:How would you describe your music?Loud, classic rock. Someone once said we were quite like Ash mixed with Guns and Roses, and I quite like that description.
Has your music been influenced by Sheffield bands and the Sheffield music scene at all?Not really, we’re more influenced by people like The Wildhearts and those sorts of bands. I like Sheffield though; we’ve met some really cool bands. Say Things Twice have played a couple of gigs with us, I really like their music. Scutty Neighbours are also good; they sound like us - just plug in and rock out. Also, we like Goodbye Jimmy, they are really cool and we played a gig with them quite recently.
How did you meet and how long have you been playing together?We lived in a house in our first year and we had a spare kitchen, so we stuck a drum-kit and my ludicrously large amplifier in there and started a band with our housemates. They’ve graduated now and moved on, so Peter knew Will through kayaking and was roped in. (
To Will) I think we knew you were in the band before we had even met you
What has been your highlight of the year as a band?Well we’ve only played one other gig this year, which was at the Casbah and it went really well. We actually won over a few people which has never happened before and got to give away quite a lot of stuff.
Do you think you have a chance of winning tonight?(
Laughs) Well we’ve played three times at battle of the bands before and came last in all of them.
The verdict: With a prog and post-rock sound, The Red Shark bring heavy guitars and grungy undertones to the stage. On stage, the front man is energetic and entertaining. Despite their intense sound, The Red Shark are relatively inoffensive and could do with a bit of spicing up. Having said that, they do pull off some epic riffs tonight – impressive.
The Great Deception:Can you tell us a bit about how you met and how long you’ve been together? We lived in halls together because we all joined uni at the same time and we’ve been a band for about three and a half years. We’re all still living in Sheffield.
Do you draw heavily from your influences? We’re all into quite different music – we all have common interests but we all like lots of different stuff. One of us likes ‘emo’ and one of us likes punk, the other one likes prog rock. It’s a bit of a weird mixture. We all like Metallica though!
As a band, what has been the highlight of your career so far? (
All laugh) We once did a gig that wasn’t in Sheffield! Our best gig was probably at the Frog & Parrot about a year ago.
What do you want for the future of the band?It would be nice for people to just enjoy our music; we were really excited to be playing at the union. The scene here is very indie, we’re not really into it – it’s difficult to get gigs in Sheffield anyway…unless you’re an indie band! We’ve asked so many places for gigs – we’ve actually never played at the union before tonight either. We did enter last year’s student band competition and we also played at Tapton Hall of Residence, which was our first gig. There are so many uni bands; there should be more competitions like this.
Finally, do you have any other upcoming shows?Yes, we’re playing the 13th of January at the Boardwalk. We’re also trying to enter a national unsigned band competition at the moment.
The verdict: I sympathise with The Great Deception over the fact that the Raynor Lounge hasn’t filled yet and the tech guy only dims the lights a few minutes into their set. They provide post-punk style tunes, but seem a little nervy, particularly when lead singer Mark only thinks to respond to hecklers with “Shut up.” With song titles like the ‘Worst Cigarette I Never Rolled’, they are not by far the best or most practised band playing the competition tonight. However, with some practise there is room for improvement and their lyrics supply a good bit of catchy punk.
The Crookes: How did you meet and how long have you been a band?Two of us lived together and we met George after an Eng Lit exam and then at Fuzz Club. Dan (
guitar) couldn’t even play guitar when we first met! We formed at about the start of this year.
So how would you describe your sound? One of the other bands here described you as ‘very pleasant’. (
All laugh) I don’t know if we could be described like that! We’ve been compared to Belle and Sebastian.
Dan: I think the influences we have are a kind of an odd mixture of like sixties music, especially girl groups. Then we also like modern folky bands too.
George: I’d say we sound like jangly folksy pop music.
Alex: With lots of hand-clapping!
How would you describe the Sheffield music scene and has it had a big impact on you as a band? We never wanted to have the ‘Artic Monkeys’ side of Sheffield music. The bands we’ve played with in the past obviously draw a lot from the Artic Monkeys but I feel that it’s been done a bit too much now. We do play with, and like bands such as ‘Slow Club’.
You just played Fuzz with Slow Club didn’t you? How was that?Dan: It was a real kind of marker for us, seeing as we met there. They played our song ‘Backstreet Lovers’ at Fuzz the week after the show, which was strange as people sang along.
George: We managed to find each other on the middle of the dance floor.
Alex: We always said we would never dance to our own songs but we all went mad, it was an honour really.
Finally, do you have any other upcoming gigs? The Stockroom on the 18th of December with the Situationists and Champion Kickboxer – well respected Sheffield bands.
The verdict: My personal favourite, The Crookes are a band which exemplify how Sheffield indie has moved away from the post-Artic Monkeys style copycat bands and onto something new. With a variety of instruments, ranging from a banjo to a xylophone; praise goes to them for playing to a tough crowd, which is mainly made up of people in support of the heavier rock bands. At times they could have performed tighter, but top marks go to the four-piece for attempting something new and ambitious.
The overall result: The marks are collected from the Judges and the winners are announced:
The Red Shark are victorious. The band looks forward to a session at a recording studio, courtesy of the JD Set Unsigned. The four chaps end the evening by playing a few songs from their previous set, and the crowd respond with enthusiastic dancing.
Your friends at Jack Daniels remind you to drink responsibly.Pictures:
The Red Shark @ MyspaceThe Crookes @ MyspaceListen to the bands on myspace here:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=65412359Epic Fail @ MyspaceThe Crookes @ MyspaceThe Great Deception @ MyspaceAlexandra Rucki and
Pippa Moore
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