Remember
a few months ago, when the NME printed that picture of all
the
‘great’ London bands stood in front of Buckingham
Palace? ‘Course you do!
You might not remember the names of the bands there (chances
are – they
don’t exist anymore), but you have to remember Peter
Doherty and
that-bloke-from-Selfish-C*** rolling around in horse manure.
No? Doesn’t
matter, you don’t need to remember the picture…
but back then, everyone
claimed that London had one of the best underground music
scenes our
generation was ever likely to see. Call it a matter of opinion,
but I don’t
believe this to be the case. In fact, travel around 200
miles north to
London, and you’ll find another city whose name begins
with ‘L’.
Leeds.
Right now, Leeds has one of the best music scenes one
is ever likely to
find. It would be easy to talk about the success of The
Music, Embrace, and
the inevitable success of the Kaiser Chiefs – but
like I said, that would be
easy. Instead, underneath these three big names, you’ll
find a whole host of
new bands just waiting to be snatched up by record companies.
Here at the
Joseph’s Well, I’m sat with three members
of one of the most hopeful of the
wave of underground Leeds bands; Jim, Jon, and Jon, of
Duels, who kindly
agreed to talk to me for my first interview.
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Stereohead: How did the whole thing start off? I believe
before Duels, there
was sammyUSA?
Jon (lead vocals): Jim and I have been playing in bands
together since...
well, since I was about 16. We actually used to kick around
some stuff with
Katherine (keyboard player for Duels) as well, 'cos she's
our cousin, so
we've, obviously, known each other for a while. So we've
been in bands
together in various shapes and sizes for quite along time.
I actually met
Jon and Tim (Duels' drummer) at university, and we kind
of started it up
first, and then got Jim and Katherine involved later on.
SH: So who was it that inspired you to form a band?
Jim: sammyUSA was a very different beast, so it was all
about The Flaming
Lips, Pavement and stuff like that. Then we got a bit
introspective, and we
realised it was a bit boring, and we wanted to have some
more fun. So we
started going back to the songs we loved as kids, and
playing those, and
that's how it turned itself into Duels.
SH: So, if you were speaking to someone who'd never heard
you before, how
would you describe your sound?
Jon (lead vocals): Psych-pop!
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The night before this interview took place, I was in
attendance for the Nine
Black Alps playing at the nearby Leeds Faversham. Upon
arrival, it was clear
that this night was going to be more than that, however.
With ¡Forward,
Russia! (another band of rising hopefuls) being the first
band on of the
night, everyone connected with the Leeds underground scene
was here to offer
their support; everyone from (the local hero) Robochrist
to Duels.
-------------------------------------------
SH: After seeing you last night, offering your support
to ¡Forward, Russia!,
do you think it’s important that all the local independent
Leeds bands stick
together and support each other?
Jon (lead vocals): I think so, yeah. It's been interesting
watching it
develop over the past few years, actually. When we started
up, there was
always quite a lot going on, but people didn't really
pay much attention to
each other. It's only semi-recently that everyone's kind
of lumped in
together and started helping each other out. I think it's
definitely an
important thing.
SH: There does seem to be a lot of attention on upcoming
Leeds bands now. As
the Kaiser Chiefs are breaking through, and people are
looking for the next
new wave of bands, how does it feel to be getting the
attention from the
likes of NME and Drowned in Sound. Are you pleased with
the attention, or
does it add to pressure?
Jon (lead vocals): We're definitely pleased. It doesn't
really give any
pressure at all. It's what we want. Our intention really,
when we started
Duels, was to really get back to the local scene, and
get back our
following.
SH: How do you feel, Jon, about being described as a
cross between David
Bowie and Jarvis Cocker?
Jon (lead vocals): It's an interesting combination of
the two, isn't it?
Jon (bass): A bisexual from Sheffield!
Jon (lead vocals): It would mean I was slightly gay,
wouldn't it? It's a
compliment, to be sure.
----------------------------------------------------
One of the more taboo topics around in music today is
the subject of illegal
downloads, and how they’re ‘crippling’
the music industry. Whilst I had the
opportunity, I decided to ask Duels, a promising up and
coming band, their
thoughts on the matter.
----------------------------------------------------
SH: As an up and coming band, how do you feel about music
downloads? On one
hand, it gets you attention in a kind of virtual word-of-mouth
way, and on
the other hand, the record companies are losing money,
so are less inclined
to support the newer bands.
Jon (lead vocals): You can answer this one, Jon, because
you do it.
Jon (bass): I totally support it. It's saved me thousands.
SH: What was the last CD/Record/Album you bought?
Jon (bass): The last one I bought was 10 years ago before
I got my computer.
Actually, the last one I bought was The Shin's album,
which is a good album.
That's the downloading thing though. I had two tracks
downloaded, and I
thought, I'm going to buy this. Plus it had really good
artwork as well...
and that's the thing about downloading. I suppose in a
way, it puts a little
pressure on acts to do a bit more, and put more effort
into the artwork and
things, because you're up against it really.
Jon (lead vocals): It's got to be a positive thing across
the board, really.
Jon (bass): You can't be feeling sorry for record companies
though. They
make millions, and they've all got big cars. It's not
going to hit them that
hard.
Jon (lead vocals): The last record I bought was 'Systems
of Romance' by
Ultravox on cassette. It's fantastic.
Jim: How much did it cost you?
Jon (lead vocals): It cost me one pound.
Jim: And how much is it worth?
Jon (lead vocals): It's worth... I couldn't put a price
on it. It's simply
fantastic.
Jim: Can you put it on the Internet so I can download
it?
----------------------------------------------------
So what does the future have in store for Duels? They
will be acting as a
support band for the upcoming tour from The Kaiser Chiefs
(April 16th –
April 25th), in which they’ll be the first band
on stage. This will serve to
get Duels even more exposure, and interest from even more
record companies…
on top of what they’re already getting.
----------------------------------------------------
SH: I heard you'd been in the studio recently.
Jon (lead vocals): Yeah, we went in and did two tracks
with a guy who'd done
PJ Harvey's stuff, just before Christmas.
SH: Is that going to be something to be released sometime
soon?
Jon (lead vocals): Yeah, that's possibly going to be
the single. We're
thinking about releasing ‘Animal’ around the
rime of the Kaiser Chiefs tour.
SH: Are you looking forward to the Kaiser Chiefs tour?
You'll get the chance
to play some pretty big venues up and down the country.
Jon (lead vocals): Yeah, up to 3000 (people). It should
be amazing. We're
playing the London Astoria as well. It's going to be a
little bit of a step
up from what we've been doing before then. The Woodhouse
Liberal Club (!).
SH: Is there a plan for any more recording?
Jon (lead vocals): There’s no set plan for what
we're going to do yet. I
think we're going to see how it goes. Obviously see what
happens after the
Chiefs tour. I think the general idea is what we'll do
is singles and
touring this year, and maybe album at the beginning of
next year. The albums
all written and ready to go... so whenever we get the
chance to go in and
record, it'll be a little more solid.
Jon (bass): You don't want to be recording over the summer.
We want to be
playing outside. So we'll probably hibernate next winter.
SH: Any plans for any festivals this summer?
Jon (lead vocals): As far as we know, we're playing the
festivals. It's been
put forward to us, and there's some talk about going out
to Russia. What's
that festival called in Russia, do you know?
Jon (bass): Popski (!).
Jon (lead vocals): The Popski festival in Russia.
----------------------------------------------------
Soon after, talk got onto Sheffield, where Jim went to
university, and the
venues around the area.
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Jim: One of my favourite venues is the Leadmill.
Jon (bass): I love the Leadmill!
Jim: Are the Kaiser Chiefs playing the Leadmill when
we're not playing with
them? It's my ambition to play there. Sod playing to Boris
Yeltsin. Is it
Boris Yeltsin? Who's the president of Russia? Anyway,
sod playing to him; I
want to play the Leadmill!
Jon (bass): I think you're being quite rude there. He's
inviting us over
there... so maybe we should play to him and at the Leadmill.
Jon (lead vocals): Call him by the wrong name and then
tell him you'd rather
be in Sheffield.
Jim: It's the cold war between Duels and Russia.
Jon (bass): I think we should call ourselves sammyUSA
for that one gig.
----------------------------------------------------
Political tension towards Russia aside, and back to the
band…
----------------------------------------------------
SH: With 3 members of the band being related, do you
think there's a closer
relationship in the band?
Jon (lead vocals): I think we know what each other are
thinking. We've been
playing together for such a long time, so the kind of
thing runs across the
board with the five of us anyway, but Jim probably knows
a lot more about
where I'm coming from with my songs than the other guys
do immediately.
SH: How do you go about writing the songs?
Jon (lead vocals): I write the songs, and well, it comes
in different forms.
Sometimes I'll bring in something that's almost complete,
and other times
I'll bring in an idea of what I want a song to be. Sometimes,
just bring in
an acoustic demo of some idea. There are plenty of songs
in our set at the
moment that we kind of wrote from just simple ideas. 'Pressure
on You' was
one of them, as was 'Animal'. That just started with a
chorus, and we wrote
all that together.
SH: Is the variation important to you?
Jon (lead vocals): Definitely. It's something that we've
always been into -
keeping a kind of eclectic nature to what you do. I think
a lot of bands
suffer from having such a focus on what they want their
sound to be, that it
kind of gets a bit dull. We've always been fans of a bit
of an eclectic view
of what we should put across. We're big fans of putting
on a show as well. I
think putting on a show entails having your ups and downs
during a set...
not quality wise, obviously. I don’t mean play some
shit songs and some good
songs, just to keep it interesting (!).
SH: Are there any special plans for your support slot
with the Kaiser
Chiefs?
Jon (lead vocals): Special plans? You mean outfits, things
like that?
Codpieces?
SH: Fireworks? Flashing lights?
Jon (lead vocals): I don't think that's really within
our budget as the
first band on. Special plans? No. Just to be better than
everyone else,
really. That's a reasonably special plan.
----------------------------------------------------
As I began with, Leeds has one of the most vibrant music
scenes in the
country today. Duels, ¡Forward, Russia!, iLiKETRAiNS,
The Old House, The Et
Al, The Sunshine Underground, Napoleon III… all
acts waiting to jump forward
and take centre stage. In celebration of this scene, ¡Forward,
Russia!
guitarist Whiskas has spent the last 6 months putting
together a collection
of songs from these Leeds artists. The compilation, ‘Dance
to the Radio’,
will be launched on Friday 11th March at the Woodhouse
Liberal Club. The 5
quid entry fee gets you inside, plus a copy of the compilation.
----------------------------------------------------
Jon (lead singer): It (the compilation) has about 18
tracks on it. Maybe
more. Loads of people are on it. Scaramanga Six, ¡Forward,
Russia!, Sunshine
Underground, This Et Al, Napoleon III, and me and Jon
have done a track for
it as well.
Jon (bass): Whiskas has put a lot of work into this compilation
though. It's
his baby, really. It's free, but you can only get it on
that night.
Jon (lead singer): He's been trying to put it together
for the past 6 months
now. He's probably the most passionate person in Leeds,
music wise.
----------------------------------------------------
So, as my interview draws to a close, I ask the band
for any closing
statements. We’ve already covered the relationship
with the Kaiser Chiefs,
(Jon proudly showed me a picture of Peanut not looking
his best on his
phone), Duels’ upcoming plans, Whisker’s Leeds
band compilation, and Jim’s
attitude towards Boris Yeltsin.
----------------------------------------------------
SH: So are there any closing statements?
Jim: Clothing statement?
SH: Closing or clothing statement. Could be either.
Jon (lead singer): You're (Jim) wearing a clothing statement
right now (!).
Jon (bass): Why don't we attack the Ukrainian prime minister?
Jim: He's got enough on his plate hasn't he? Didn't he
get poisoned?
Jon (bass): Maybe you can tell us more about that, Jim?
Jon (lead singer): "If you don't let Jim play the
Leadmill he’ll poison
you!"
----------------------------------------------------
Their live shows really are something to behold, and
they offer something
truly unique. As the Kaiser Chiefs pave the way for Leeds
bands, Duels are
close behind. Look out for them in the future, as they
hold the promise to
be something quite spectacular.
For more information about Duels, including information
on where you can
catch them onstage next, you can visit their official
website;
www.duelstheband.com
For information about Whiskas and his ‘Dance to
the Radio’ compilation,
featuring Duels (in a way), and a whole host of over Leeds
bands, you can
visit www.dancetotheradio.com
