Masters of the Radio is a four-piece electro-synth rock/pop band hailing from the North West UK, namely Widnes,
I recently reached out to them to find out more about the band, it's members, what makes them tick and their future plans.
I recently reached out to them to find out more about the band, it's members, what makes them tick and their future plans.
Big thanks to Masters of the Radio for letting me put some questions to you. Introduce the band and what role you play.
Hi, we are Masters of the Radio, a super powered music foursome from Widnes, Cheshire. The band consists of lead vocalist, creative director and leader of the group Paul Ventux, second in command is Mr Darklight, who is the keys/synth player within in the group. On bass guitar is Taylor Manwo, who has spent several years on the international music scene over the past few years and finally after a long search Murphy the Destroyer was recruited to take over Drum duty after a decade of drumming for some of the biggest rock acts around.
What artist, bands and genres have been big influences for each of you?
We honestly like a whole lot of genres as a group together, its hard to pick one particular genre. ABBA and Queen are probably the biggest influences just purely because their back catalogue is amazing and they inspire us so much because of their creativity when writing and performing, but our influences can stretch from disco to heavy metal in all honesty.
Electro-pop and synth rock are rarely seen in the local area, so it is good that you are introducing that sound to the North West. What made you choose that type of music and what about it do you enjoy best?
I think its definitely there already in some capacity, I think its the case that the audience isn't aware that its there and partly because certain parts of the music industry dismisses it because they don't see musicians that use keyboards over guitars as real musicians, which is pathetic, but some people will always be stuck with old views on what is right in music.
How did you all meet and how did Masters of the Radio form?
Well, Masters of the Radio was formed by myself (Paul) in 2008 as a college band with a friend. Since then, and after leaving college, there has been several line-up changes within the group and it hasn't always been a steady ship. More recently, I recruited the new members to make it now a solid four-piece. We are all committed to this project and want to succeed. Mr Darklight has been a friend of mine for many years and is a very talented writer and musician, Taylor and Murphy were two people we knew through friends of friends, but they were also hard to get hold of at first due to other commitments. Once they heard some early demos though and what our ideas were for the group moving forward they jumped on board straight away.
For those reading this that haven't heard Masters of the Radio, how would you describe your sound?
We hate to pigeon whole sounds, its obvious we don't use guitar that often and use synths instead, so we do advertise as a electronic group, but at the end of the day we write pop music. But as a group we never dismiss doing a totally new sound on whatever is next, you always have to strive to doing something different and a bit edgy.
Time for a tricky one. What three words would you choose to describe Masters of the Radio?
Mad-hatters, Musicians, Imaginative
Who writes the songs you perform, what is the song writing process and what influences the lyrics?
We all write together now, I (Paul) have always been the lead writer and producer but now Mr Darklight co-producers on the records and Taylor and Murphy are always adding things to mix too. For every project we start were trying to make a certain sound and also trying to create a certain emotion with that sound.
Which one of your songs is a crowd pleaser, the one to most likely to get the crowd jumping?
I used to be a song called 'The Last Feeling' but we are now moving on with new songs, but I imagine from the feedback so far it would be our new song 'Radio Forever' its just got a high energy lovable feel to it.
At the moment our main focus is spending time in the studio and recording our new EP, but once that has been completed we will be looking into some tour dates.
Do you have any advice for any local bands starting out on the music scene?
Forget what other people tell you and just do what you want and be creative with what you do. You're an artist creating your masterpiece and an artist can only paint for themselves.
Do Masters of the Radio have big plans for the future?
Of course we have already set out our goals and how we will get there, we don't like thinking small time... all will be revealed in good time.
The group are now planning a mid 2015 release for there new self produced EP, which will feature new song 'Radio Forever' which has already been featured on BBC Introducing and is gathering a following of its own. The EPs sound can only be described as a trip through a soundtrack of an imaginative genius.
REVIEW - Radio Forever
Ready for trip to nostalgia land? Those who can remember the late 70s / 80's will be familiar with the synth-pop sound created by the likes of Human League, Gary Newman and Kraftwerk and the atmospheric, futuristic feel the synth-laden songs brought to the masses. The same applies for Masters of the Radio's popular song Radio Forever.
From the start the drum tempo sets the songs as being a moderately paced song, but by no means a fast song. The calm serenity of the synth when it comes into the song defines the song as a bouncy yet calm pop number. The tone of said synth is greatly contrasted by the low toned vocals from Paul, very much like the style of Phillip Oakey of Human League, singing catchy uncomplicated lyrics throughout.
Overall, Radio Forever is a song, which is easy to listen to, well produced and a great song, but by no means is the best Masters of the Radio has to offer. I can see however in the song potential and talent; talent to bring a retro nostalgia feel to their music, which is hard to come by and which others struggle to replicate. I'm eager to hear future releases from Masters of the Radio, as I feel they are only just beginning to scratch the surface of their creativity and potential.
From the start the drum tempo sets the songs as being a moderately paced song, but by no means a fast song. The calm serenity of the synth when it comes into the song defines the song as a bouncy yet calm pop number. The tone of said synth is greatly contrasted by the low toned vocals from Paul, very much like the style of Phillip Oakey of Human League, singing catchy uncomplicated lyrics throughout.
Overall, Radio Forever is a song, which is easy to listen to, well produced and a great song, but by no means is the best Masters of the Radio has to offer. I can see however in the song potential and talent; talent to bring a retro nostalgia feel to their music, which is hard to come by and which others struggle to replicate. I'm eager to hear future releases from Masters of the Radio, as I feel they are only just beginning to scratch the surface of their creativity and potential.
Not had your Masters of the Radio Fix? Check out the links below for more!
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