With fans including radio DJ John Kennedy and numerous publications – Artrocker, DrownedinSound, Subba Culcha – London trio William are making friends in the right places with their perky indie-pop.
Twitchily insistent, the band’s material is instantly catchy, comparable in said respect to offerings from Johnny Foreigner, The Cribs and Dananananaykroyd (while never sounding quite like anything or anyone else). Pavement, too, are a sonic touchtone – so the band will be in good company at the Saturday Social, alongside the similarly influenced 4 Or 5 Magicians.
What? Oh, yes, sorry: William – Gavin Housley, Mark Thomas and Dan Sheridan – play middle of the bill at Clash’s monthly free entry gig at the Notting Hill Arts Club’s RoTa afternoon, held June 27 from 4pm ‘til 8pm. Also on the bill: the excellent 4 Or 5 Magicians and the equally amazing Talons. Hooray! Who needs Glasto, really…? Load of hippie nonsense.
Expect to hear selections this Saturday from both William’s debut album ‘Self In Fiction’ and their most recent release, the mini-album ‘Slightly Delighted’; both are well worth your pennies if any acts of reference noted above tickle your fancy parts. Before the show, though, we’ve some Live Talking to get through…
Are you a band that records to tour, or that tours to record? Or do you not see the two as separate parts of what you do?
We play shows all the time really. Sometimes they’re more grouped together, but usually it’s two or three a month. Our fees then pay for rehearsals and ultimately recording when we’re ready.
Do you feel you translate well as a live act, perhaps better than on record, or have live shows been a bigger learning process than writing/recording?
Sometimes recording can clean a song up a little too much, so playing live enables you to relive it, change it – the words, the tone, the speed, the emotion. That’s something I’m definitely interested in. I see no reason to play the song over and over the same – unless it’s perfect maybe, but to be honest at the moment we only really change the vocals. Regards our performing: the other day a promoter said we had a really big sound for a three-piece, but that has its problems too in that it’s harder for us to embellish when all of the parts we play interlock so much that if one stops it can sound thin. It’s always a bit of a learning process. There are certain things – having a tuner, a spare guitar, drinking enough water – that make it easier, and after a lot of mistakes you figure it’s best to eliminate the risk of too much going wrong – because the key is to perform at your best.
To date, what show stands out in your memory as the best you’ve played?
That’s a tough question. There are probably times we’ve played really well (tight and enthused) to about five people, and then probably times we weren’t tight but our hearts were in it and the crowd were with us, in which case I’d say Foxfest at the Fox in Lewisham. Or when we played Camden Crawl. Our label (Tough Love Records) organise great nights, too. We’re playing their birthday on July 25, as we do every year, and they’re always packed and fun for us.
What’s the best show (by another band) that you’ve been to? Perhaps not ever, but certainly of late…
Icy Demons at the Lexington for Upset the Rhythm, closely followed by Dan Deacon.
And what about the worst show? By yourselves… is there a venue/town you’ll happily never return to?
We played to a couple of bar staff in Nottingham once.
Say you’ve the budget to put on your ultimate four-band bill, featuring yourselves – who plays and in what order? No bringing anyone back from the dead, here, but defunct bands can count.
I’d put us on first to get it out of the way, then The Embarrassment, followed by 5ive Style, with Pavement headlining.
How does the band keep itself entertained on the road? Any bus games you break out for motorway gridlock?
Mostly we make up new names for Mark. At the moment these include T-Maas, Thomowski and ‘T’.
What tips would you give a new band about to embark on their first ‘proper’ tour?
Try and eat at least one good thing each day, get ear-plugs (even if just for sleeping). Spend a little time on your own every now and again so you don’t go insane. Never, ever, ever buy service station food and drink. You’ll come home skint and fatter then you were.
Tell us about your latest release. Will it be available at the show? What’s coming soon on the release front?
Our latest release is called ‘Slightly Delighted’. It’s a six-track EP with a more varied sound than we usually have, with a few quieter songs on there. We have a remix of ‘Aperture’ by our friend Grovesnor coming up which should be good – that’ll probably tie in with a new song of ours just to keep the fans happy for a bit while we get on with the next thing.
Have you listened to the other acts playing on June 27?
I’ve not heard of Talons before but I’ve heard they’re pretty good. 4 or 5 Magicians are good friends of ours and it’s always great playing with a band you know and are familiar with.
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William perform live – for free! – at the Clash Saturday Social @ RoTa, held at the Notting Hill Arts Club, on June 27 fro 4pm-8pm. Also playing are Talons and 4 Or 5 Magicians. Facebook users can find show information HERE.
Find William on MySpace HERE.
