INTRODUCING DERBY BASED 3 PIECE THE FOUR FOURS....
UK rockers The Four Fours characterised by throat-ripping vocals, urgent stubby guitars and outrageous singalong choruses met up with Musicmuso for a quick pint at 'The Standing Order' pub in Derby, we opted for a couple of Gin n' Tonic's, the guys eyeballed the cocktail menu.
Whilst they were deciding between a 'Slippery Nipple' and a 'Screaming Orgasm', we asked them some questions....
Welcome to the Musicmuso Introducing feature, often referred to as ‘The Theatre of Dreams’…..please tell us about your band
We are The Four Fours, there are three of us, we make rock songs for people to sing along to.
Give me 3 words that best describe you as a band?
Catchy, concise, courageous.
What is the best advice you ever received and who was it from?
Measure twice, cut once. It's an old adage that my dad passed on to me. It's a great tip when DIYing. The sentiment is also behind our songwriting process.
Being a Derbyshire based band, do you get many opportunities to play outside of the county?
We've played a lot with our former bands, getting out across the UK and Europe. Currently we're getting stuck into recording our debut album so we have no plans to tour at the moment.
How have social media platforms helped to get you noticed?
It has helped us to spread the word and get heard. People have been very kind, particularly our listeners on SoundCloud and followers on Twitter
Give me a fascinating fact about one of the band members….
Chris is currently doing a MSc.
What was the first song you ever learned to play?
Truthfully, probably something like Kumbaya. Chris and Rich are both trying to knock out Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon at the moment. Rich alleges that he plays it the Lindsey Buckingham way, making his rendition far more credible.
Describe one of your live shows….
Pretty cool stuff.
Any albums in your collection that you possibly regret buying?
We have broad tastes but are a bunch of discerning listeners, so no real regrets, plenty of guilty pleasures though, like ABC - Lexicon Of Love, ABBA - Gold, and Duran Duran - Rio.
Do you think that ‘physical’ music (CD/Vinyl) will exist in 20 years time? Explain…
Vinyl and CDs will be around for a long time to come, even if the availability of music in a physical format depletes or even ends. We listened to The Police's Synchronicity on vinyl the other day; it sounds incredible, so crisp and sonically dynamic. We engineer and produce our own music and are conscious of the loudness war, it's an easy trap to fall into, especially for a rock band. We are keen to be honest with our sound and leave room in the mix, whilst making it sound big. Getting back to the question, as a new band it is far simpler and less of a gamble for us to release music digitally, but we would love to put something out on vinyl or CD at some point.
If you could describe your music in the form of a fictional character, who would it be?
James T Kirk, he's off exploring and getting on with it.
You used to be in a math rock wonder band ‘You Slut!’, why not continue as this band rather than set up The Four Fours?
We were parts of ‘You Slut!’ at different times. Before The Four Fours, Chris and Matt had never played in a band together, despite being best mates for 20 years. So it was less of an ending and more of a beginning.
Who would you like to know has your music on their iPod/MP3 player/cassette walkman?
Any of our peers would be brill, I guess someone amazing like Jimmy Page would be quite staggering.
What classic song would you have liked to have recorded and why?
The Beatles - She Loves You. Two and a bit minutes of pop-rock, plenty of hooks, add in that major sixth at the end, it's magic.
Which 3 albums would you take to a desert island?
Phoenix - It's Never a Been Like That
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Radiohead - In Rainbows
What was the first ever gig you went to?
Blur at the NEC, Super Furry Animals supported them.
There are many good bands and musicians out there, who would you ask the readers of musicmuso to look out for?
There's plenty out there. Our friends Ghost Twins are great as our Menace Beach. We were recently played on Ralph's indie show on KC Radio, sandwiched between Run Tiger Run, who play catchy indie-dance, and Fat Goth, who remind me a little of You Slut! but with vocals. All well worth a listen.
Would you rather fight 1 dinosaur sized chicken or 10 chicken sized dinosaurs?
Chicken sized dinosaurs; we could just build a fence or dig a hole.
You recently got some great coverage of your new track ‘Count to Ten’ from various blogs and web based radio stations, how does it make you feel when you hear your music being aired?
It's brilliant. Music is subjective, so it is relieving and affirming to know that people are enjoying what you are creating.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2014?
It's a busy year for us, our debut single is being released on 14th July (Count To Ten / Messing With History), we're in and out of the studio recording our album. Plus Chris has to finish his MSc.
The cocktails were slipping down a treat, too well in my opinion (we were buying!), before we ordered a third jug of 'Sex on the Beach', we threw in a few quick fire questions....
Coffee or Tea? Tea
Coke or Pepsi? Either
Drum machine or the real deal? Real deal
Mac or PC? Mac
Pussycat Dolls or The Spice Girls? PCDs
Ice Cream or Candy Floss? Ice cream
Fry up or Sunday roast? Fry up
Lemmy (Motorhead) or Ozzy (Black Sabbath)? Ozzy
CD or Vinyl? CD
Car or Motorbike? Car
Acoustic or electric? Electric
Shower or Bath? Shower
BBQ or Sit down dinner? Sit down dinner
Tattoos or Piercings? We don’t have either.
Camping or Glamping? Camping
Robert De Niro or Al Pacino? Robert De Niro
God or Google? God
SOCIAL MEDIA
Musicmuso would like to thank the guys for taking the time out of their busy day to answer our questions, we wish them every success for the future and look forward to posting more newsworthy items from them as they appear.
Interview by Steve Muscutt