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Entertainment featuresYou are in: Cumbria > Entertainment > Entertainment features > The Subways - uncovered ![]() The Subways - uncoveredUber-cool rock-chick Jo, gets to grip with The Subways and finds out about One Big Weekend, short skirts & why people only stay in Wellyn Garden City for three years! Hello, how would you describe The Subways sound? Billy - I suppose we're a bit more varied than most bands at the moment. It's really hard to define our sound. If I had to sum us up I'd say a cross between Kylie Minogue and Nirvana. You've been tipped by UberDJ Zane Lowe to be the definitive new band of the year. How does that feel?Billy - Obviously we really appreciate someone like Zane Lowe supporting us. But we don't want to be the band of 2005, we want to be the band of the next decade. I can't pretend it's not good to hear nice things like that though. Your sound's a little bit Sonic Youth, a little bit T-Rex. What are your influences?Billy - I started playing guitar because of Supersonic by Oasis...oh and Nirvana I loved them too. But it was the Prodigy that made me want to play in a band. My sister played them in the car and they always made me want to dance. That's what inspired me. I wanted to make people dance...not just cos it’s heavy, but the shape of the melody, the rhythm. I'm really into epic rock like Smashing Pumpkins. Oh, and Kylie Minogue. It's not very cool to admit to, but she's great. Her voice, and the melodies. I really like her - she's fantastic. ![]() Billy - (Nervous laughter) - ah that was a slip of the tongue! But I am the most anti- rock and roll person you'll come across. I used to listen to the NOW albums. It was the 96' one with Blur's Girls and Boys on, and the track after it was Shampoo and I kind of started digging them after a while. I try to appreciate as much music as possible, Cathy Dennis for instance she writes some great stuff. Billy - I'm usually in a bubble when I'm on tour, so all the strange things we consider pretty normal. Because me and Josh are brothers, there's this intensity you wouldn't usually get on tour. Arguments happen because we care so much about the music, and we'll argue for what we think is right, but we're so close we're willing to get on after the fights. You're working with Ian Broudie on your debut album, do you feel pressure for the album to live up to the likes of the Zutons?Billy - Not at all - it's a Subways record and we recorded it in Liverpool purely cos we wanted to get away from the rat-race of London where everyone's making their album. We were talking to the NME a lot and there was a lot of hype. We thought the best thing was to go away and make the most interesting record we could, and not feel we had to live up to the press. The worst thing anyone who appreciates music can do is limit themselves. We didn't want to do that. Ian was amazing though. He's very pro-artist. You're from Wellyn Garden City - it's not generally perceived as the height of cool is it? Tell me two fabulous things about your home town?Um... (Charlotte finally gets in on the interview). It's very green. Lots of nice bits that haven't been built on yet. Second fabulous thing? Me and Josh have lived in about five houses there. Anyone who lives in Wellyn Garden City can't stay in their house for more than three years. Not through obligation, just because they can't stand it. It's true. You're appearing at Radio 1's One Big Weekend - with a feast of the hottest bands. But far more exciting than that - you're playing at Carlisle's very own Brickyard. Had you ever heard of Carlisle before?Billy - Yeah we had actually. Me and Josh were always into football and watched the scores religiously. The guy would always say 'Carlisle 1, Stockport or whoever 3' so we know Carlisle through the footy results! Charlotte - It's just amazing to think we'll be playing with her. ![]() Billy - Ha ha, no no nooo. It all came about when I was producing a band in Wellyn Garden City. They were sending their CD to Michael Eavis so we thought we would too. He liked us, asked us to play in front of him, and next thing we were on the Other Stage. To be honest it felt just like another gig to us. We had thirty odd dates in London, so we just thought we'd take the weekend off work to play it and then come back and play the Hope and Anchor. The way we see it, everyone gets their shot. If Alan McGhee hadn't been at King Tut's one night, Oasis wouldn't have been signed to Creation. Everyone gets their break and that was ours. Billy - It would be nice coming from Vogue but NME should be concentrating on the music. Charlotte - Before any albums come out, magazines tend to focus on the image, purely because they don't know what the music's going to be like. It's always nice to hear and it can only give support. You can be a really good looking band, but if the music's no good, you're over. The music's the most important thing. My short skirts are just comfortable. I look up to Shirley Manson from Garbage. She looks amazing, has a great presence on stage and the music is incredible - she's such an icon. What's next for The Subways?Charlotte - We're just finishing the album this week, then a load of festivals, and then the album launch in July. In two years time, we'll hopefully be writing and recording our third album and still enjoying the band. We've already got a few songs down for our second album. last updated: 20/05/2008 at 13:34 You are in: Cumbria > Entertainment > Entertainment features > The Subways - uncovered |
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