aaamusic | On 06, Aug 2014

AAAmusic: Who are you and where are you from?

We’re Volcanoes – a four piece indie/alternative band based in Yorkshire. We formed way back in 2005 and we were pretty sure we’d be signed within a year. Things haven’t exactly ran to plan but we’re still enjoying ourselves. When we formed we all lived in Sheffield, we’ve spread out a bit since but continue to practice mostly in Sheffield and occasionally Leeds. We pretty much gig anywhere that asks.

AAAmusic: What inspired you to get into music?

I’ve been in bands since I was 17 (that was a while ago). In sixth form Boa and I were in a band called Chop Suey House; I could barely play guitar but I loved it and have never really looked back. At University I met my wife Natalie and she got me listening to all the new indie bands of the time. In particular we both really loved The Music and I can remember thinking that’s the sort of band I want to be in. Volcanoes formed around about the time Kings Of Leon released Youth and Young Manhood and The Strokes released Room on Fire. Some of our early tunes have quite obvious references (copyright breaches) to these albums but we soon learned to forge our own sound. I’ve always tried to make Volcanoes vibrant and be full of energy, paradoxically it’s our chilled music that seems to be doing well at the moment. I doubt we’ll stay this mellow for long though, it’s not in our nature.

AAAmusic: What have you done? 

We’ve released about eight EPs over the years and we’ve recorded (but not released) an LP, Radiogeist. Radiogeist needs a bit more work but we’re hoping to get it all done and dusted early next year. In the early days we tried immensely hard to get a record deal but it just never seemed to happen for us. We accumulated a ridiculous amount of positive reviews, we were just never able to make that final leap to glory. So we’ve stopped trying and now we’re writing better music.

We’re particularly proud of ‘When We Melodise’, our previous single. The track ended up getting a spin on BBC Radio 2, which was a big deal for us after 10 years of hard graft.

AAAmusic: What are you like live?

It might not be in the spirit of things but when we play live I want us to be the best band on the bill, simple a that. I want us to sound like we have a bit of attack, we’re not just going through the motions. We don’t get the chance to play many large gigs but we make the best of what we have. It is my humble opinion and I’m undoubtedly bias, but we’re a much better band than our lack of success reflects.

AAAmusic: What makes you different? 

I guess what makes us different is that we don’t really have a sound or, more recently, a plan. We make music for the hell of it and our only ambition is to play at Glastonbury. Our last two singles have been really chilled so we’ve been introduced as ‘folk-indie’ lately, but that’s not really us at all. Folk indie is usually bullcrap. It’s nice to be compared to bands like Fleet Foxes and Midlake, but I wouldn’t want to sound like them as a habit. I think we’re pretty good at re-inventing ourselves, we jump between styles and genres as often as we can, it keeps us fresh. On our website we’ve listed all the bands we’ve been compared to, it makes for a fun read. Some folk think that we sound like the chilies whilst someone else says the coral or sparks. In all honestly it doesn’t really matter, we just want to write great music that will hopefully last longer than we do.

AAAmusic: Physical vs Downloading vs Streaming…How do you listen to music?

I don’t really mind how people listen to our music and I find the whole vinyl thing a bit pretentious. I think the rise of streaming sites is going to make it difficult for new bands to finance themselves but we’re not in it for the money, we’re just glad to be heard at all.

I mostly listen to CDs in my car.

AAAmusic: What have you been listening to?  

I bought the Bombay Bicycle Club album because I liked their last single but I’m not really fussed on it. I listened to Alt-J again the other day – now that’s a good LP.

AAAmusic: What are your aspirations for the future? 

I can write a tune or two and our drummer and bassist are both pretty solid. Kevvy however, really is the mustard. I’d go so far as to say he could be one of the greats. When I think about it, I see no reason why we can’t fulfil our ambition and get to Glasto. We’re probably never going to get a record deal but we write a hot song from time to time.

Questions answered by: Samson of Volcanoes…