With an old head on young shoulders, brothers
Alex and Tom of The Electric Soft Parade have had a meteoric
rise from fourth on the bill to headlining venues all over
Europe. As they set off for a whirlwind trip around France
with Grandaddy before returning to the studio in December
we managed to catch up with Alex White before he left.
The Electric Soft Parade has been compared to so many other
bands from Teenage Fanclub, The Flaming Lips and the Doors
but who do they site as influences?
“The Beatles, obviously! Who isn’t? I like Super
Furry Animals and Radiohead. I like bands that keep changing
and updating. Like software. I want us to progress and grow.
Recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Hip-Hop too,
the first track on the album has a rhythm similar to a Dre
production but by the time we put guitar and vocals on it
no-one recognised that”
So when did Alex and Tom start playing and writing music?
“Both Tom and I started learning to play piano when we
were four and learned classically. It’s just what we
do. You’ve got to remember we don’t know any other
way. We’re always finishing each other’s musical
sentences when we play. We’ve always been really close.”
Some say you shouldn’t mix work with friends let alone
family, so thinking about living and breathing in a band with
your brother could pose a complete nightmare to some and while
many brother band combinations have had very public bust-ups,
Alex seems aghast at the likes of The Kinks, AC/DC and Oasis
not being able to get along.
“We recently played with Oasis and they just weren’t
talking to each other at all, I just couldn’t understand
it, anyone who lets relationships get in the way of being
in a band shouldn’t be in that band together”
Fair enough. So how are the boys coping with increasingly
busy schedules and playing to bigger audiences?
“I just take it head on. I still get nervous,
but really you're just doing it and you're lost in the routine
of touring”
It must be great to come home to seaside Brighton after a
busy tour?
“We’ve never lived anywhere else, I love it here,
it’s home. There seems to be a lot of Londoners here
now, but I can’t complain as my parents moved here from
London in the 70’s. I like the way it feels very European,
foreign students”
In recent years Brighton has been more known for dance and
beats from the likes of Fatboy Slim and Adam Freeland, they’re
not Alex’s taste but he is positive about his friendly
neighbours.
“We’re not a part of that, but I’ve been to
Big Beat Boutique and people were nice to us - they’re
our neighbours”
Recently The Electric Soft Parade played a gig for Resolution
Daes, a charity that highlights the problems faced by people
with dyslexia.
“We made friends with organisers and got involved with
the project. This guy Seb who Tom and me know from school
was always getting into trouble, now he’s a great artist
and stuff, turns out he was dyslexic. He might have realised
his potential sooner if he’d been diagnosed when he was
younger”
At twenty two it would be easy for a couple of brothers to
let all this go to their heads, but these two have been making
music for years and you really get a sense that their feet
are still firmly on the ground.
“We only just realised we can have fags on our rider!
My dad deals with all our finances and about six months ago
it occurred to me that we’re independent, we’re
self-sufficient and we’re still only young”
http://www.electricsoftparade.com/ |
