When Walk on the B-side meet Men's Adventures...

Last Tuesday we have met Men's Adventures at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch for a lively gig! We really travel through Mens Adventure's music style, and as Alfie, the singer of the band said: "the kind of music that we play is quite different from the other bands, (...) we sometimes wonder what the other bands think of us!". And it is true! We were pretty amazed by the singer Alfie, who has a really unique voice! They really share their passion with the audience and that is exactly what you are looking for when you go to a gig!

 At their live at Old Blue Last, from left to the right: Pascal (Bass), Alfie (Vocals), 

Jimmy (Guitar / Vocals), Chris (Guitar)

More about them here in our interview:

Walk on the B-side: Usually you are more than two, why there is only two of you for the interview?

Alfie: There are 5 of us live, but me and Jimmy started the band and writing tunes together probably about a year ago now. We just recruited 3 more to play live with, they are probably getting drunk as we speak (laughs). But yeah Jimmy and I wrote the songs. Jimmy writes all the music and some of the words, but I mainly write the words.

Why did you call the band Men's Adventures?

Alfie: I guess because of the stories we are inspired by, I mean I don't know if you are familiar with Men's Adventure magazines but I have been collecting them for quite a while. It is a lot of short stories.

What is it about?

Alfie: It is about men having adventures (laughs) 

Jimmy: Men's Adventure magazines are a lot of short stories, kind of like men's entertainment magazines from the 50's/60's. They have pictures of pretty girls kind of pin up girls but with these really cool, interesting short stories.

Alfie: An older version of FHM (laughs) We just find it entertaining to write the songs.

How did you meet each other?

Jimmy: We used to play in different bands, we played together sometimes and thats how we met each other. When both our bands split up, we got together and started playing music together.
Alfie: Yeah thats pretty much it in a nutshell. It is all about 3 or 4 years ago so there has been quite a gap between those two and the sounds are very different.

Alfie: Yeah thats pretty much it in a nutshell. It is all about 3 or 4 years ago so there has been quite a gap between those two and the sounds are very different.

Jimmy: But we only started about a year and a half ago.

How would you qualify your style of music?

Alfie:  It is hard for us to say we prefer for everyone else to make up their own minds. We always had this strong country and western influence in it but it is mainly because a lot of the stories we are writing about are of that era you know... 

Jimmy: But I guess it is kind of pop music really in it's simpliest form but we like a lot of different kinds of music, but yeah it's pop music really if you have to define it...

What are your influences?

Jimmy: We listen to lot of world music, but also country music, rock'n'roll records but then a lot of contemporary stuff too... like dance music, hip hop music. But to be honest I think the biggest influence to both of us is each other, we kind of work on everything together. Our biggest influences will be like what Alfie and I discuss about films, books, music and stories, that is probably our biggest influence.

Alfie: The stories are the biggest influence and then the song comes naturally.

Where does the idea of the "Hawaiian style" song Deep freeze virgins come from?

Alfie: Yeah Deep freeze virgins it is a funny one because it is a whole mixture of sounds, a mixture of stories as well, I mean kind of sounds like a country and western song, it's like the first example of a song mixing it up. 
Jimmy:  We have got a song set in the Alpes, then another one about Hawaii set on a beach and then you'll have another set in the desert.

Alfie: We are also working on a song with an Italian but the song is delivered with a Spanish accent. (laughs)
Jimmy: But Again that is part of that Mens Adventure world, non descript places but just imagery really, I think we are a great band to close your eyes and listen to.

How long have you been playing together?

Jimmy: About a year and a half.

Alfie: Yeah like we first started meeting up then we got together like a year and half ago, we did our fist couple of shows together live, so just over year or so I guess.

 Where did you have your first gig?

Alfie:  I run a bar in Mile End called the Victoria and we did it in the basement there. So it is nicely intimate and create as much control as we possibly could. Our first proper show was upstairs in the Haggerston. We tried to keep the shows quite intimate because there was only two of us, we had guest drummers and things like that, it was much more acoustic. We have been 5 from 6 months or so.

Jimmy: All the recordings we do is just me and Alfie then when we play live we have James Christie on drums, Pascal Chea on bass and James Foreman on guitar, we all hang out together and stuff, we are friends now.

What is your best memory as a band?

Jimmy: That is a good question! I think one of my favourite ones ever was when we played birthdays in Dalston that was like one of my favourite things we ever did together, that was like a really good gig, really good fun...

Alfie: That was one of the first examples of a venue being fucking tired and empty then when we came on it became really busy so I guess that kind of like marked a decent point.

Jimmy:We have worked our way slowly. We took our time and feel ready and confident in what we are doing and where we are going...

Alfie: We have never left London yet so you know for us little venues that we previously play with other bands before, it is not that much new so... yeah I think there are plenty more best times to come.

Any plans for the future?

Alfie: Yeah we are hopefully getting someone to put a record out for us. We haven't released anything officially yet.

Jimmy: The ideal would be to just have someone to facilitate us make some proper records, singles...

Alfie: an EP or something... 

Jimmy:  That would be good. That's probably our only real objective at the moment apart fom playing live.

Will You make an Album?

Jimmy: Yeah we will do...

Alfie: make an album... 
Jimmy: We have been doing this for like about 12 months so I think me and Alfie we've got pretty fast minds, we don't really want to be doing what we are doing right now for like a lot longer so we record what we are doing. Put it out and kind of end there and then start the next wave, that would be the idea for this year, the plan.
Alfie: Yeah there is more things in life than cowboys to sing about, we want to start to talk about some other more manly adventures.

Next gig : 19th January at XOYO in Old street stay tuned! 

Follow them on Facebook  and listen to their music on Soundcloud there is a new demo up !

A night with Boxset!

Hey! A week ago we've met a great pop rock band called Boxset! They invite us in their studio, we spend a really good time with them! We had a nice "private gig" and had the chance to listen them rehearsing!

From the left to the right: Monica (Organ, keyboards and vocal), Harple (Drums), Bruce (Singer & bass), Sanjay (Banjo & guitar), Nicola (Keybords & vocal).

Now discover more about this band and their project :

Walk on the B-side : How did you meet each other? :

Bruce: I met Nicola and Monica through a friend of mine, also musician, I met Sanjay on a course we did and Harple because it was destiny! (laughs)

Harple: It was always meant to be!

Bruce: (speaking to Monica and Nicola) We used to play in a folk band together.

Monica: I used to play violin with Nicola, we kind of change the style!

Nicola: We still do!

Monica: Yeah, just not in the band.

Why did you call the band Boxset? :

Bruce: Because we actually grapple for a name for about 3 months. We had a gig and we didn't have a name. A friend of us, can we call him a friend? Okay yes we can, just hope he doesn't see this. (laughs) So a friend of us who's in a band called Gram suggested it and we thought yeah good, we'll go with that!

Sanjay: That's the shitiest story ever! You could have made something up! (laughs)

Bruce: That's what happened!

Sanjay: We found Bruce in a box...

Harple: There were initially a set of him but a lot them got away!

How long have you been playing together? :

Harple: Six months?

Bruce: First gig was May, wasn't it? We've been playing together, us 3 (with Monica and Nicola), for about 2 years in a different band and then we kind of all teamed up, in February?

Harple: Really?

Bruce: We had a different drummer but we just didn't tell him.

Harple: Alright ! (laughs)

How would you qualify your style of music?

Bruce: It's pop music isn't it?

Harple: We hope so!

Sanjay: Is it?

Bruce: It's pop, it is just like pop songs.

Sanjay: No, lo-fi dance.

Monica: Indie pop!

Bruce: What did I say?

Harple: Ok, it's post dub step!

(everyone laughs)

Bruce: We like stuff like LCD soundsystem, DFA, that kind of dancy pop music.

Harple: Yeah, Orange Juice, Miles Davis, Talking heads...

Sanjay: I think we're answering a different question!

Do they influence you when you're composing?

Harple: They mainly influence Bruce, and Bruce tells us what to play so…

Bruce: I'm like Prince, Prince from Preston. (laughs)

Harple: I think we've all got different influences.

Bruce: (to Sanjay) You love a lot of shit, don't you?

Sanjay: Yes, I like absolutely twat music!

Could you tell us more about your next EP ?

Bruce: The first thing we are releasing will be coming up in February or something? February seems realistic. We're releasing a single called Stop what you're doing. The old version is on Soundcloud but we're doing it and we're going to put it at on a 12 inch vinyl, that would be nice!

Harple: Is it gonna be a B-side?

Bruce: There is gonna be a B-side! That will be called Walking stick.

So how many song there will be exactly on the next EP ?

Bruce: Well, we're just going to do a single to start, but we've got an EP sort of taking shape for after it.

Harple: I think we've got a tone of songs...

Bruce: Have we?

Harple: Well there's so many ideas running around but…

Sanjay: …we're not ready yet!

Harple: I don't think we'll never be ready.

Sanjay: I don't think anybody is ever ready! I think it's a sort of lie.

Harple: I'm pushing Bruce to make an album.

Bruce: But I think it's too early for an album. If we did, it would just kind of sink into obscurity. It wouldn't be coherent and wouldn't lead to anything. That's a lot of work to do an album. So we need to maybe build ourselves a platform before we do something that big or ambitious.

Do you have the stage fright before performing?

Monica: No.

Bruce: I do!

Harple: He's afraid of himself.

Bruce: I always get that kind of anxious hate thing. I don't know why because people don't really pay attention when you play in London. But I get nervous.

Harple: You do get nervous.

Bruce: (speaking to Harple) You have to talk me down.

Harple: I have to do this (doing a hug to Bruce while saying it's ok)

So it's your trick to feel better?

(laughs)

Bruce: I don't think it would be fun without having little bit of anxiety.

Harple: Yes it's true, it keeps you on your toast.

Sanjay: If it wasn't a bit scary it will be a bit boring. That's what makes excitement.

When will be your next gig?

Bruce: Hopefully, I plan to organise a couple of thing on the built up to our release but we have not got anything yet. We will probably do something as a warm up, like something bigger with a lot of our other friends bands. And we'll do a launch party for  our record in February hopefully.

Sanjay: Just watch our Facebook.

It was really nice to meet them and be part of their world for one night!

Follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Soundcloud.

Check out one of their song they play during their rehearsing session :

                              

Enjoy!