Mr Beasley

The Best Things Come To Those Who Wait...

With the imminent release of 'Right As Rain', Mr Beasley have just come bouncing back into the light, but it has been too long since we had a shiny disc (or a, er, shimmering MP3) sporting the bands' twisted take on breakbeat. Similarly, we at Sandman have been waiting quite some time for this interview, so it is with baited breath we finally introduce you to Mr Beasley.

Rumour has it that founder members Bobby Beasley and Sarah Johns met after Bobby stencilled a smiley face all around Hull, catching the eye of budding vocalist Sarah, who realised she had to track down the artist and make music with them. She succeeded in her search and her hunch was proved right as the writing and performing partnership blossomed. Eventually the pair gathered some other musicians; the two become four, then five and developed something of a collective feeling. That was until recently when Bobby and Sarah decided it was time to strip things back with the infinite returning to two.

Bobby is keen to emphasis it wasn't a split, more a case of pragmatism: "We enjoyed working when there was a big group of us, we had a few gigs when we were all together, but the logistics was quite a big thing. It was difficult to get around and, now to jump in a car to just to do the gig."

Sarah is also keen for the duo to move away from the traditional gig format: "With just us two we can just go and pound it, doing as many gigs as we want. Plus we want to be playing more of a club environment, where it is less about looking at bands, it is about getting into it yourselves."

It was around three years ago that the band came bouncing out of Hull's left field with debut single 'Neon', which soon gathered acclaim amongst renowned DJs, culminating in it being voted 'One World' single of the week on Radio 1. So to say the new single 'Right As Rain' has been anticipated is something of an understatement.

Sarah, with something of a comical glint in her eye, attempts to explain their time away "I`ve been in rehab with a… er… caffeine addiction." Bobby is a lot less coy about how they have spent their time: "Writing songs and gigging – quite a lot. That is the problem: we did a lot of gigs. I have a backlog of stuff on the computer, but it is really cool to go out and get the whole idea of it by performing it. It then became really hard to finish songs as we knew what it was like live, but going back was really hard as we always wanted to do something new for the next gig."

So it hasn't been the lack of material, rather the distractions of too much music? Sarah muses: "It's so much easier to start a track than finish it. We were not very disciplined when we got together. We would say 'shall we finish this track?' and then when it got to the hard part we were like 'Ahhh! Have you heard this (other) track?' Now with my sister managing us it has really helped as she keeps asking us when tracks are finished, so we have someone giving us deadlines."

'Right As Rain' has certainly been worth the wait and media attention is building around it, with a single of the week from Nemone's show on BBC6 Music, an a-list on NME radio, and air play on Radio 1 and XFM. The single isn't the only exciting development in the Beasley world as the they have hooked up with Leeds based record and management company 'Bad Sneakers', home to acts like Wild Beasts, The Sugars, and The Rosie Taylor Project, to launch the new label 'Shoes Don't Fit', who release 'Right As Rain' on the 10th November.

Prior to the interview Bobby and Sarah had been playing in support of dan le sac Vs Scroobius Pip and it was the typical Mr Beasley performance, with Bobby sitting behind his lap-top, conducting his beat laden electronic orchestra, whilst Sarah floats on a wave out front, taking the attention and singing with her angelic refrain – as only she can.

It's been a long time coming but with 'Right As Rain' opening the set and the crowd slowly being drawn in, you can see that despite the delays, Mr Beasley have never been as relevant as now and with promises of "tonnes of material" including a potential album we shouldn't have to wait too long ever again.

Interview by Mike Reynolds
Photography by Dr Gonzo

'Right As Rain' is out now on itunes and 7digital.

www.7digital.com/artists/mr-beasley/right-as-rain

www.myspace.com/mrbeasleymusic