Interview with The Auteur

Manchester based LAB Records seem to have a knack of finding the best young UK talent right now, just check out MiMi Soya, Not Advised, Lost On Landing etc.

And here is another, Brighton based 4 piece The Auteur, just have a listen to last years ‘Nightcap’ EP for some prime examples of the bands own brand of pop/rock, it’s catchy as hell and a great example that the UK bands can write pop/punk classics just as good as our friends across the pond.

We were lucky enough to catch up the band, Kev, Joolz, Kerry and Alex and have them answer loads of questions for us, enjoy.

How did you get started? 

Kev: As musicians we have played together in various projects growing up. We used to play heavier screamo music in our last band, then a couple of years ago we decided to form a new band and introduce the influences from our youth such as pop punk and brit pop.  

What have you got going on at the moment? 

Kev: At the moment we have our heads down working hard trying to write our debut album. We gigged hell of a lot last year and were lucky enough to play some awesome festivals, such as Download and T in the Park. For the sake of the album writing we have eased of gigged too much over the past few months, but we can’t wait to hit the road hard again soon. 

Favourite music and why?  

Joolz: Anything with a good melody or groove. I can’t choose between the likes of Weezer & Rage Against The Machine. Different moods, different music.

Favourite book and why?

Joolz: I don’t read much, but I recently finished Arsene Wenger’s Biography by Xavier Riviore. I’m an Arsenal fan so it was insightful from start to finish and funny to read that before Arsene Wenger took over at Highbury, all the players used to eat the greasiest burgers & chips and drink coke between training sessions ever day.

Favourite film and why? 
 
Joolz: Either Shawshank Redemption or Aliens. For anyone who has seen both those films will understand why.

Best experience in the business?   

Kerry: Probably when we played T in The Park. The day we played, we got treated really well. We got fed a proper meal, got showers, got haircuts and free booze. Met some big wigs in the business and just had so much fun (the playing part was amazing too of course!). Just the whole experience was unreal and it’s definitely some we could all get used to.

Why should Soundscape readers care?
 
Kerry: About us? Because we’re fun! Sure, we’re not the most original band around, but we all write and play the kind of music we love and we’d all like to think we bring our own thing to it. We’re playing American style music with a British twist. It’s pretty cool.

Tell our readers an interesting fact about the band? 

Kerry: 3 of us all have the same middle name, David.

Best thing about playing in Wales? 

Kev: Wales has always been so kind to us. Turnouts have always been quite good, however I do remember once we played a show in the middle of nowhere and we had to trek through hours of snow skidding around in our little transit van to get there. That night we had planned to sleep in our van but the snow got worse. The kind venue owner allowed us to sleep in the venue bar and they even made us tea and toast in the morning time! 

Who are your role models/idols? 

Kerry: We’ve all grown up listening to so much different music that it’s quite hard to name them for us all. Me personally, my ultimate idols are Blink-182, just purely down to how much they accomplished for the style of music they play.

Hardest thing about the current business? 

Kev: I think the hardest thing about the business right now for a small band, especially is finding a way to be totally original in regards to promoting yourself and standing out amongst the rest. The internet has made it so easy for any band these days whether they are serious or not to get themselves heard and reach out to people on MySpace, YouTube and Facebook etc. However I feel a positive outcome from this effect is that for band to stand out they can no longer rely too much on gimmicks, and it raises the bar for better songwriting and live performances in order to be remembered.