I received an email from a PR Manager telling me that he had a band on his books that were well worth checking out, I took a listen to 'New November' and was instantly wanting more, I needed to chat to these guys to find out what they were all about and anything else that cropped up in conversation, read on to find out a bunch of fascinating facts about the band, how the name originated and some juicy gossip on Duncan's love life....

 

 

So, we know you’re called Pure Youth and you’re a 4 piece from London, what else can you tell us about the band?

We are an ‘Electronically-Tinged Indie Rock Powerhouse’ (to quote a number of sources) and we're pretty happy with that! We've only been playing together for just over a year but don't plan on stopping any time soon.

 

 

Can you tell us a ‘fascinating fact’ about one of the band members?

Duncan can burp the alphabet. Just don't ask him to do it after a few beers...

 

 

They say it’s all in a name, how did ‘Pure Youth’ get chosen?

Well…Ollie and Dave were on (separate) toilets whilst on the phone…as you do, and Ollie was like “Youth!” and Dave was like “Pure!” – and of course ‘Youth Pure’ makes no sense, so we became “Pure Youth”.

 

 

You’re from London which is quite a tough place to be in a band what with there being so much competition around, what do you do to stand out from the rest?

We all specialise in different things; that has definitely helped! Dave is our song writing visionary. Duncan is a brilliant social guy, he has a way with words and lyrics. Elliott is the techie and engineer, great if (and when) things go wrong. Ollie is our producer! All in all, we just have a great time helping each other out because we just want to make music we love.

    

 

Many bands are nothing these days without the powers of social media, if you rewound back to the early 90’s, how do you think you’d have gone about marketing yourselves in order to build a fanbase?

We'd like to think that we’d have travelled around in a mini van blaring out our music from amps and whatnot to innocent onlookers, then throw tapes at them, if we had tapes...

We record, produce, mix and master in-house, we’re lucky to be able to do that and there we’re probably plenty of brilliant bands in the 90s that didn't get heard because they couldn't do what we can now!

 

 

What would you say has been your biggest musical ‘claim to fame’ to date?

That's pretty tough, haha – our latest single ‘I’m Not Yours’ was put in Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist and reached +120k listeners worldwide! That's probably it so far… 

 

Adam Fitch directed the video for ‘New November’, where did you meet him?

We met Adam through our manager Alain, who arranged the whole thing. We first met him in Northampton on the day of filming, nice guy and great to work with he made it look easy!

Where was the video filmed / Did you have to obtain any permission prior to filming it?

The “New November” video was filmed in Northampton on a freezing cold day so it really set the mood for the video. No permission was needed but at the end of the video in the car park a man did come and tell us off for filming there luckily we had just finished the last shot so all was well.

 

You’re based in London and have toured alongside the likes of Lisbon, Youth Club and No Devotion, what touring plans do you have for 2016?

Well we’ve got a show lined up on Thursday 28th January at The Finsbury, so that's next. Then we’ve been considering a sneaky South England tour but nothing's penned in just yet. We’d all also like to play Manchester and a bunch of other cities, so any fans give us a shout!

 

 

Any confirmed festival dates yet?

Unfortunately not, but by early January we’ll hopefully have one lined up OR have picked up a support slot – Reading Festival (if you read this please contact our manager ASAP).

 

 

Have you managed to get overseas to play any gigs yet, if so, where did you play and how were you received?

We were nominated to play Eurosonic Noorderslag in the Netherlands but it sadly fell through. It's definitely on the to-do list and if we can get the funding and people want us there we'd love to!

 

 

BBC6 Music’s very own Tom Robinson had some kind words about your music, have you done any radio sessions yet? If not, which stations would you love to do?

Dave and Ollie did an interview a few months back with Haggerston Radio and we have some live sessions in the pipeline so watch this space. But we'd love to do a BBC Introducing session in the future.

 

 

If you could choose the 3 headliners for Glastonbury 2016, who would they be and why?

We've all got very different tastes, Duncan's a big fan of the whole trip-hop stuff, so possibly Massive Attack or someone like that. We're all big rock fans and managed to see Queens of the Stone Age before and wouldn't mind seeing them again for sure - I hear the Stone Roses have some dates around then too...

 

 

What are your views on Kanye West being the ‘Biggest rock star in the universe….ever’?

Rock star? Nope, don't think so… god-like entity? Definitely. (Haha just kidding)

 

 

What has been the oddest thing that ever happened to you whilst on stage?

The weirdest thing to happen on stage...It's a tricky one. Nothings really happened that's weird (so far) but when we played in Leicester we went for a pre-gig curry which made the whole thing very unsettling if you know what I mean. 

 

 

Your mantra is to ‘collaborate, create and share’, I refer back to my question above about social media, without its existence, would your mantra be different?

We really don't think so - but obviously it would've been done in a different way. I mean, we are all in Pure Youth to challenge ourselves and make bigger and better songs every time, and I think there are ways of promoting music like touring that will always be around. We'll be playing gigs 'til the grave...

 

 

Staying with social media, which platforms would you say have assisted you the most in getting your music out there to people?

It'd have to be Facebook, we share something, our friends and family share it, their friends share it, etc. we’re so grateful to the support we’ve had so far! Music sites like Bandcamp and Soundcloud have really helped bring the music to the people and helped us give away our music!

 

 

Christmas has just been and gone for another year, did the big man bring you anything nice?

Dave got all the essentials like bath stuff and minions underwear haha, but he mainly just got some fresh new garments for the next Pure Youth gig. Duncan got a watch and a selfie stick - necessities! Elliott got a swanky new iPhone to do all his Tweeting on, and Ollie got toiletries, some more instruments to add to his composing bank, lots of clothes and a fresh new mind to start the New Year with (awwww…)

 

 

What new years resolutions are you setting yourselves for 2016 and how long do you think they’ll last?

Dave's is to cut down on the old cigarettes and just to keep working hard with the band and the boys! Duncan says he hasn't set any because he doesn’t think he’ll stick to them - he's a rebel…(typical). Elliott is attempting to get out more (he can be a bit of a loner) and he’s doing quite well so far! Ollie’s not planned anything because he knows he won’t stick to it…but we all think he should get cracking on with his university work!

 

 

Please tell us your BEST cure for a hangover?

Bacon and pink lemonade Lucozade. Or more beer.

 

 

Please tell us your favourite joke?

Duncan's love life.

 

 

We love new bands here at musicmuso, can you please tell us 3 bands that we should be keeping an eye on?

Spring King, Violetic, Konsole – just wait, you'll see.

 

 

We'd like to thank the band for taking time out in-between opening their Minion smellies, socks and other undergarments that only Santa can bring, we wish them every success in 2016 and look forward to catching them play live one day in the deepest darkest depths of the South West of England (big hint guys...)

In the meantime, why not check out their social media sites and tour dates (all listed below for your comfort but mostly for your safety!) - Their Soundcloud page has a FREE download on it, yes folks, FREE, something for nothing, go indulge yourselves and spread the word!

 

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