Ones To Watch - Tastes Like Animals.

Tastes Like Animals have quickly become one of my favourite local bands. They came from the ashes of live favourites Elvis For Jay and with the help of producer Andrew Spence of Project 9 they established themselves as one of the most original bands around, and they make a lot of noise for a three piece!

They recently released their debut single Bare Naked Truth, a two and a half minute song that lets the listener know exactly what this band are about: big, blues inspired riffs and a healthy dose of cowbell! You can listen to it below.

I caught up with vocalist and guitarist Phil to talk about TLA, gear and who else the band are into.

Ste – Cheers for this Phil, where does the band name come from?
Phil - It came from a conversation I was having with my girlfriend Kat in ASDA believe it or not. She was buying veggie burgers and I asked if they’d be ok for her and she replied “They’ll be fine, they still taste like animals.” There was a moment as we looked at each other and knew it was an awesome band name!

Ste – How long has TLA been together for?
Phil - TLA has been together roughly 18 months. Me and John (drums) met in our previous band called Elvis For Jay and we met Matty (bass) through my girlfriend’s roller derby team!

Ste – Tell me a little bit about your debut single Bare Naked Truth.
Phil - Bare Naked Truth was the first full song the band played together. It was the first song that we said "That’s how we want to sound!" It was recorded at Project 9 Studios in Winnington by Andrew Spence who also produced it with us. It was recorded over a 6 month period, a few hours here on guitars, a few hours here on bass etc. We think that approach helped shape the song and production in the best it could possibly be. We gave ourselves no time limit.We’re really happy with the outcome and love that now everyone and anyone can hear our hard work on this debut track.

Ste – What do you have coming up this year? Any new releases or upcoming gigs?
Phil - We’re looking to release our second single around mid to late February. We have some top secret plans for that one too!
We’re playing Into The Void III on 22nd March at The Studio in Widnes and the Cabin in Liverpool on the 29th March.

Ste – Give us a brief overview of the equipment you play.
Phil - I play a Tokai Telecaster and a Westfield Telecaster through a VOX AC15. I use stomp boxes. Most of the time I’m using a BOSS DS-1 (Keeley Mod) for the distortion you hear on our songs but I run a MXR Micro Amp for boost and also a BOSS SD-1 (5 star stack mod) for boost/overdrive. I have these and a few others running through a BOSS line selector.
Matty plays a Status (Series 2) 5 string bass through a Yamaha BBT 500 head into a Marshall Cab. He runs a BOSS ME-50 multi effects board with a few extras like BOSS NS-2 and an EHX Bass Balls.
John’s kit is a Tama Swingstar with Paiste Alpha Rock cymbals. He is renowned for breaking sticks and has gone clean through metal, carbon etc. and but for some reason Vic Firths seem to be lasting him the longest! And they’re made of wood!

Ste – What's been your best gig so far?
Phil - So hard to choose! We’d probably have to go with our gig at Friars Court in Warrington. Best crowd, best sound guys, great venue and we played the best we’ve ever played! All round great night.

Ste – What other bands are you excited about at the minute?
Phil - A good hand full actually. Secateurs and Bluebottle Veins are incredible bands! And people we’re proud to call friends. There are also bands we’ve only seen once or twice like I Fight Lions, Jack Knife and The Fallows who are at the top of their game right now. Really exciting times on the local bands scene, lots of talent!

Ste – Anything else you want to mention?
Phil - Just want to mention that we wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for the kind people at Project 9 Studios, they’ve provided us with not only a warm, dry and friendly rehearsal space (free tea and coffee) but have been incredible with us when recording and when we’ve called in to one of the intimate acoustic shows they put on.

I suggest keeping a close eye on this band, go and see them if you get the chance and buy their music and merch! Check out the links below for more info and downloads.

Bandcamp (downloads & merch)
Facebook
Twitter
Project 9 Studio
Email

The key to indie success

Sorry about the pun in the title... I couldn't resist....    

Recently, I was asked to join an indie band.  As music, especially indie, is a passion of mine I jumped at the chance. They needed a keyboardist to add a little extra to the songs whether it be covers or originals. Having little experience with keyboards and being more familiar with the guitar, I was a little weary to say the least, but was assured that the parts would be small and easy to do. I’ve got to admit, I love it. I’ve been fast at learning the parts and have put my own stamp on things.   As I’ve been self-teaching myself the basics and melodies, I’ve delved into indie music history to find songs to cover or learn from. I’ve noticed that a well timed piano solo or powerful organ throughout the song can improve the song. 

Here’s a few gems which I’ve found / rediscovered or are important to me which include piano / organ / synth. Enjoy.

 · You Overdid it Doll – The Courteeners 

The Courteeners broke onto the indie scene with a powerhouse of indie songs with rough sounding guitar riffs and voice to match. In recent, years however, Liam Fray and co have included piano in most of their songs, which has given The Courteeners an overall new cleaner, well polished sound, whilst keeping true to their roots. This song is one of my fave songs from their 2010 Falcon album.

    

 The Only One I know – The Charlatans 

One of my all time fave indie classics featuring a strong Hammond organ sound which accompanies the vocal harmony perfectly. The slightly haunting echo of the vocals, along with the organ create a great vibe to the song that set it aside from others at the time. This was their second single which gave them their first taste at the top ten section of the charts. Here’s a fact I’ve just found out: the song contains lines from The Byrds song “Everybody’s Been Burned”

   

 · Step on – Happy Mondays 

Another all time favourite of mine. Enough said there. The song speaks for itself.  Great piano intro with a great guitar riff all the way through.

   

 · Mountains – Biffy Clyro   

Mountains is Biffys biggest hit to date, featuring some interesting piano playing at the beginning and a solo half way through. I like this song as its continuing proof the piano does go well side by side with heavy rock sounding guitars.  They incorporate pianos into many of their hits and always surprise me with their diversity.

    

 · Saturn 5 – Inspiral Carpets

This lively much loved indie classic  has a prominent fast organ sound all the way through together with really good harmonies which Inspiral Carpets excelled at doing in many of their songs.

   

 · AKA What a Life - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds 

Noel’s most recent solo outing features this dancy number. The upbeat piano along with the drums makes it different from what you’d expect from Noel’s past stuff, which with being a big Oasis fan was a bit apprehensive about, but after listening to it proper, found it to be one of the best on the solo album.

   

 · Dreaming of you – The Coral

This well known hit from The Coral has a bright organ sound all the way through which goes well with the great guitar and vocals. Surprisingly, Skelly who wrote the song hates it, saying that it is the worst of all the songs he wrote admitting to stealing two chords from the Alton Towers ad. Still, its one of my favourites from The Coral.

    

 · Cash Machine – Hard Fi

Hard Fi strike a note with me because they mix synth with rock guitar and vocals very well. At the moment Hard Fi are a big inspiration because of their easy synth sound being easy to replicate in our songs and set me off in the right direction if I wanted to learn more.