Interview

What is the band all about?

• Our band is trying to change the perception some people have about youth, and the Church. We’re trying to change both of these and meet somewhere in the middle. We’re not hooligans, thieves or criminals, but we’re also not no-lifers, bible bashers or elderly people!

What Instruments is the band made up of?

• I play the drums, but the others play all sorts of other music. We’ve got guitars, violins, flutes, keyboard and singers. So it’s an array of sounds really, which is great because it means we can play music we enjoy listening to, and the music that’s suited for the Church.

How old were you when you started playing music?

• Music’s always been around me, but I didn’t actually start playing anything till I was about 12, when I picked up the drums. But I know that the other guys in the band all started a lot earlier than me, hopefully anyway! Some of the girls sing too (which, sadly, I don’t do), so obviously they’ve been doing that their whole lives.

How did you create the band?

• I come from a really musical background, my family all play instruments or sing so it’s been drummed into me all my life, pardon the pun. It’s always difficult for me to play at home because of the noise it creates, so it’s keeps my family happy if I’m practicing somewhere else. A lot of my friends played instruments and sing too, so we got together one time and practiced together…and it worked really well. We never really set out to create a band; we just wanted to be able to practice our music.

How often does your band meet up or practice?

• Only once a month to practice, but we’re all best mates so do a lot of stuff together outside the group, and we’re constantly in touch with each other. We play in a Church every Sunday so that’s another time where we’re getting together on a regular basis. But I would say that without the band, we wouldn’t be so close because it forces us to stay in contact and in turn that has made us really close.

What type of music do you play?

• Because we play in a Church, we tend to practice Christian Rock music so we know what we’ll be doing on the Sundays. The Church is very lively and mostly made up of young people so the music is fun to play. Outside the band we all listen to different types of music, there’s love fore Indie, Rock, and Blues and tragically… Hip-Hop. If we have rehearsal time left over we always try stuff we’ve been listening to. One of our favourite bands is Thebandwithnoname, we’re seen then live a couple of times and they’re always enjoying themselves on stage and they’re so passionate, which should be what making music is all about. They really love what they’re doing and, refreshingly, aren’t all about the same stuff every other rapper in the world is ‘singing’ about.

How nervous do you guys get when you’re performing?

• Well we know most of the people we play to, so it’s never a big issue if we mess up because it’s a comfortable environment. But obviously we’d prefer not too! But sometimes we do have to play for really big audiences. There’s a youth summer camp we play at, and when the adults come to collect their kids there must be a few hundred people there which is a bit nerve wracking to say the least. But there’s never any pressure which really helps cool the nerves.

Tell us more about the Children’s Camp…

• Well it’s an organised camp between all the Churches in Norwich, there are about 200 children in the younger group, and another 150 in the older camp. When we were younger we all attended these camps so it’s actually gives us a bit of nostalgia coming back, and I think we all secretly wanted to come back and join in! It is quite exhausting because it’s the first two weeks of the summer holidays, so we come out of school and straight into two weeks of chaos! But we all love helping out for the kids, and it is a lot more relaxed in the second week with the youth.

So do you think you’ll carry on with music into later life?

• Yeah definitely. I really love it, but I’m more interested in the background side of it like music production. I’ve done a lot of the sound checking etc for the band so I have some experience. Hopefully I could do something like that at University… or somewhere cheaper!

Do you think you’ll still be in the band when you’re studying then?

• I would definitely like to think so. Obviously at some point a new generation are gonna take over but until then I hope so. It’s not just a ‘band’ to me, it’s my family, my friends, my church, and not just a hobby but my career so I owe a lot to it. I don’t know if I could leave even if I wanted to!