The Mithered are a four piece indie act from Nottingham who's influences include The Beatles, Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, The Cribs, Miles Kane, Stones Roses, The Vaccines, Courteeners and The Rolling Stones.

We caught up with lead singer/guitarist Jacob Staton in the North Church Street Police Station custody block after he was picked up for plastering the city in stickers (read on to understand what this was all about...), whilst he was waiting for the rest of the band to club together his bail, we asked him some questions, here's how we got on....

 

You’re called The Mithered, how, why, what, where, when?

It basically translates as Bothered or Fussed (it’s pronounced My-Verd). It must be a real word because it’s in the Urban Dictionary. We all live in Nottingham, all born there except for James who’s from Walsall and moved here for Uni. Me, Aaron and Casey all went to school together at some point and around 2 years ago we started jamming together and earlier this year we kind of thought consciously to push forward with recording and gigs etc.

 

Give us three words that best describe you as a band?

Enchanting – Indie - Surprising

 

You’re based in Nottingham which is also referred to as ‘Shottingham’, why is this?

Due to a “spate” of shootings in St Annes then them rather witty folks at The Sun decided to brand the whole city.

 

Write a poem/quick song containing the words ‘Dr Pepper’, ‘Tesco Clubcard’, ‘Glastonbury’ and ‘Aligators’

Dr Pepper tastes nice with ice,

A tesco club card saves money for me,

Alligators are scared of mice,

Jay-Z at Glastonbury was a travesty…

 

In your opinion, what is the BEST album/record ever released? (regardless of mood)

Jacob – Probably St Jude by the Courteeners, the level of songwriting on each song is so high that I think if I’d have written it I’d have retired.

James – Nevermind by Nirvana. An album a sheer greatness. It's responsible for many other great albums post it's release I'm sure

Casey – London Calling. Everything just comes together so perfectly and its a record that means so much to people to this day.

Aaron – Mumford and sons - sign no more just love the style of music they produce!

 

If you could create your own ‘supergroup’ with any members you choose (dead or alive), who would you choose and why?

Liam Gallagher (Vocals), Alex Turner (Backing Vocals and Rhythm Guitar), Jimi Hendrix (Lead Guitar), Bootsy Collins (Bass), Charlie Watt (Drums) with the songwriting provided by Bilo and Biggles.

 

What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?  

Jacob – Crying Lightning – Arctic Monkeys. “And though I tried so not to suffer the indignity of a reaction, there was no cracks to grasp or gaps to claw”.

James – Time to Pretend MGMT just because when they hit mainstream this was the beginning. A fresh raw different sound being produced I'd love to have started. It's worth hearing their different versions of the song

Casey – Someday by The Strokes. You only need to listen to it to see why.

Aaron – James Brown - Papas got a brand new bag! Just because every time I hear it makes me feel like a pimp.

 

You cite Arctic Monkeys as an influence; I hear that in your music, do you think they’d be as big as they are now without social media?

It’s an interesting question, I’ve seen a few interviews with Alex Turner and he’s been asked the same thing and every time he’s said that they had nothing to do with the social media campaign and it was all their fans, I think you can see that too when you look at any of their social media accounts, they’re very sparse. I think they’d still be around but a smaller band because there would have been none of the hype surrounding I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor when it was on TOTP.

 

How often do you play outside of the Nottingham area?

We haven’t yet, we’ve hopefully got a couple lined up though. It is something we’ve all discussed, getting out there and taking it outside of Nottingham, we’d love to do it. Literally anywhere, there couldn’t be an experience at this stage that wouldn’t help us to be better at this.

 

First gig you ever went to? (be honest, mine was Gary Glitter in 1977 – and my father shoved me up on the stage to be in ‘his gang’, I’m okay now!!)

Jacob – Green Day at the Ice Arena, or Busted at the Ice Arena, I can’t remember which came first, probably Busted.

James – Bloodhound gang at the Carling Academy Birmingham 2005

Casey – Jamiroquai at the arena, my dad got free tickets when i was about 13. i'd not long started playing bass so i spent most of the time watching the bass player and seeing how he played and acted onstage

Aaron - The first gig i went 2 was a james blunt one! Aha his support was wakey wakey who have a song called square peg in a round whole which i still rate as a decent song!

  

Give us your 3 top tips for surviving at a music festival….

1. Take a pillow, having a stiff neck and hangover at 6am isn’t fun.

2. First drink of the day has to be a strong cup of tea.

3. Don’t make your fire under your gazebo.

 

I see you have had a bunch of stickers produced, are you planning a Stone Roses style advertising campaign in Nottingham to gain more exposure?

We weren’t planning it but now you’ve mentioned it… We got them to give out at gigs so people would see it stuck on their friends bike or phone or anything and ask who we were. We also wanted to align ourselves with the bear logo haha. I am going to New York soon though so expect to see a few in the Big Apple on our Instagram page.

 

First guitar riff you heard that sent chills down your spine?

Jacob – The opening riff in Morning Glory with the helicopter blades behind it.

James – Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix. What more is there to say?!

Casey – Probably Layla (Derek and the Dominoes), I didn’t even know what a guitar was at that point but i always thought it sounded so cool.

Aaron – I’ve always kinda got my head in a drum kit but when the boys play Roxanne as a prelude to We Do What We Want it always sounds good.

 

What was the best advice you ever received re being in a band and who was it from?

It was from my brother Eff who’s in a band called The Gorgeous Chans (check them out!) about wearing earplugs at gigs and just advice about when your soundchecking (stuff like standing close to the mic, playing a song that everyone has a lot of parts etc).

 

There are tons of great bands out there at the moment, name one that you would encourage our readers to go check out?

The Gorgeous Chans (sound like Vampire Weekend / Simon & Garfunkel) & Huskies (sound like the Cure / The Smiths)

 

Is there such a thing as a typical live show from ‘The Mithered’? If so, explain the format.

Casey (bass) is our enlisted compere. We don’t really like the silence some bands have when everyone’s tuning up and we like to speak to anyone who’s at the gig and have a little of our awful banter on stage like we do at band practicewWe’ve all been friends for a very long time so there’s a lot of it. We want everyone to feel as comfortable as possible with us and to come forwards and have a dance and sing along.

 

Name three people (alive, dead or fictional) that you would like as dinner party guests?

Jacob – John Lennon, Brian Clough & James Hunt.

James – Kurt Cobain, Sid Vicious and Ozzy Osbourne.

Casey – Bobby George, Mike Reid and Danny Dyer.

Aaron – Mr. Blobby (comedy genius), Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Ringo Star.

 

Any festivals planned this year? If so, where?

We’re all thinking of going to YNot? Reading & Leeds are 1/3 good and 2/3 “good god what’s going on.” Me and my girlfriend are going to see The Libertines at Hyde Park and Arctic Monkeys at Finsbury Park and we worked Rolling Stones at Hyde Park last year selling t-shirts, just unreal, so busy but so good!

 

If you could describe your music in the form of a fictional character, who would it be?

Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy. We’re a bit loud and brash but with a little bit of meaning underneath.

 

How do you guys approach your songwriting?

Normally I have a song written, come to band and just play it. It’s a beautiful thing when after half an hour you have something that was just a song on an acoustic and these boys have just dropped some love dust on it and it’s a proper song.

 

Do you think we can ever live in a world where a chicken can cross the road without having its motives questioned?

Never!

 

What are your plans for the remainder of 2014?

Gigs, gigs, gigs, gigs, more song writing and more gigs, hopefully.

 

 

It wasn't looking good for Jacob, the others had not been able to pull the £25 bail together so it looked like he was to spend a night in 'the pen', just as he was getting comfy in his one man cell, we asked a few quick fire questions....

 

 

Coffee or Tea?  Tea. Strong. No sugar. Ringtons teabag.

 

Coke or Pepsi ?  Coke.

 

Drum machine or the real deal?  Real deal.

 

Mac or PC?  Mac (get one, you won’t regret it) (MM - We have one, it rules...)

 

Filthy Kebab or greasy Burger?  Filthy Kebab

 

Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)?  Ozzy (James is biased)

 

CD or Vinyl?  Vinyl

 

The Rolling Stones or The Beatles?  The Beatles

 

Car or Motorbike?  Bike if it comes with a SOA cut.

 

Camping or ‘Glamping’?  Camping

 

Acoustic or electric?  Electric

 

Michelle Keegan or Kelly Brook?  Michelle Keegan

 

Shower or Bath?  Shower

 

Tattoos or Piercings?  Tattoos

 

Robert de Niro or Al Pacino?  Erm, good god this is a toughy, erm, Pacino purely because of Scarface.

 

God or Google?  Only one is real…

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook

Twitter - @themithered 

Instagram - @themithered

Soundcloud

 

The band is made up of:

Jacob Staton – Lead Vocals and Guitar

James Gollins – Lead guitar and backing vocals

Casey Fitch – Bass

Aaron Wilkinson - Drums

 

Forthcoming Live Dates

Monday 16th June @ The Maze (Notts in a Nutshell) 

 

We'd like to thank Jacob for sparing the time to answer our questions, the last we heard, he was still being held pending further questioning by local law enforcement officers, we even chipped in £5 towards his bail but he was still £18 short. 

We look forward to more news as and when it becomes available and wish the band the very best for the future.

 

Interview by Steve Muscutt