Volcanoes

Destined for crater things....

It's early on a Tuesday morning. Bleary eyed, I pick up an email from lead Volcano Samson Bedford.

'Dude – we've been asked by a small label to play for them at the Grapes tomorrow,' it begins. As I read on, it dawns on me that tomorrow is actually now today. 'It would be ace for us if we could do the interview tomorrow evening at about seven-ish,' it continues. I resign myself to missing the Champions League football on television in favour of a trip into town.

Later that evening I arrive at the Grapes, and am pointed in the direction of The Volcanoes' mountainous drummer Chris, who is shooting pool alone. It transpires that the rest of the band are stuck on the parkway, but will be here any minute. We chat away idly, and true to their word, the rest of the band - Samson, guitarist Kevin and bassist Boa – arrive a few minutes later. I discover that Boa is also a teacher by day, and we take a moment to say a few bad words about Ofsted Inspectors. It's only then that a problem arises.

We learn that tonight's headliners, who shall remain anonymous, have pulled their tour and returned home. Needless to say, the record company won't be in attendance either. As last minute additions to the bill, The Volcanoes haven't brought their own drum kit, and so the decision is made to pull the gig. To their credit, the news doesn't seem to disappoint the band, least of all Chris, who seems pleased to be able to make his eight-thirty meeting after all (he's an accountant). After a few hasty goodbyes, he departs, leaving the remaining Volcanoes to field any questions I might have.

Repairing to the cosy tap room, we get the ball rolling. Immediately, it's clear that Samson is the spokesman as well as frontman. Looking every inch the indie poster boy with his angular brown fringe and fashionable get-up, he's confident, keen to talk and instantly likeable. I begin by asking for a brief history of The Volcanoes. His bandmates have no problem in letting Samson kick us off ('Do it all!' jokes Boa).

'I was in a band with Boa when we were in sixth form,' he begins. 'After University I joined an acoustic act, then we got some extra musicians and that became the Volcanoes. As soon as I got together with Kev, I started writing much better music than I ever had. I'd always been quite cheesy before that. It made me start listening to other music, and I got loads of new ideas.'

I ask what he was listening to during the 'cheese' phase.

'I was very uneducated musically,' he answers. 'I didn't really like anything apart from what I did. My girlfriend, who is now my wife, broadened my horizons massively.'

So what influences you now, I probe. For a moment, Samson fishes for an answer.

'Most British bands – Maximo Park, Arctic Monkeys....And American bands like the Strokes, Kings of Leon.' I tell him that I skipped Maximo Park at Leeds a couple of years back, in favour of Pearl Jam on the main stage, and ask him to try and pigeonhole his band's sound.

'We're definitely indie, and it's an amalgamation of everything we like. We don't try and keep to a set thing – it's really important to us to try and sound as diverse as we can.' He cites 'She's On Me' and 'Lucy Lambado' as two tracks that define The Volcanoes; the latter is lifted from their recent 'Fruits of the Fuzz' EP, and owes no small debt to the bands Samson just listed as influences. The former greets visitors to the band's website, and is driven along by some funky drum and bass interplay that underpins Samson's powerful vocal superbly.

We muse on the meaning of the word 'indie', and how it has come to define a sound rather than an approach to making music. I am disappointed that there are no secret black metal fans amongst the band, and say something to that effect. Kev interjects that he grew up on a diet of Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, and in his absence, the mention of Chris's love of Queen raises a few smiles. So is there a degree of the theatrical about the average Volcanoes live performance? Is Samson a cat suit wearing closet Freddie Mercury? Not really, it turns out. We move on to talk about events in the band's history.

'Early on, the people around us were telling us, “This is really good stuff – you've got to put your heads down and go somewhere”. Our second ever gig was with the Arctic Monkeys at an unsigned night, but we didn't have a clue who they were. Looking back, we weren't ready for that type of thing – there were three hundred people there. After that we just gigged loads of new songs.'

I'm interested to know how the band approach songwriting. Samson explains that there's been a shift towards a more 'jamming' led approach in recent times, with him turning up with 'less of a song, more of an idea'. Rehearsals have yielded enough material for several EPs, but there's no plan for an album as yet. Samson avoids 'writing too many songs about girls', preferring 'bands that can sing about anything'. Practises are twice-weekly, with at least one gig thrown in. A new EP is planned for February, on which the band plan to experiment with a brass section.

It sounds like they're busy boys. How do they balance band commitments with their demanding day jobs?

'You don't sleep,' jokes Samson initially, before changing his tone. 'No. With the greatest of ease. Our jobs rarely get in the way of anything. We regularly drive to London after work, gig, and then drive back.' I'm also impressed with the story of their slot at GuilFest – they'd played a gig in Carlisle on a Friday night, Leeds the following Saturday, and headed down to the Surrey-based gathering for an early afternoon slot the day after. Upon arrival, they spent the little time they had giving out flyers, before playing to a sizeable crowd as the day's opening band.

'People say, “How do you do it?”' interjects Boa. 'But they forget that we actually enjoy it. Some people go for a night out – we play music.' He later hails the 'road trip' experiences of gigging in places in the back of beyond, like Cockermouth. 'It's brilliant,' he enthuses. 'If it weren't for the band, why would you ever go to Cockermouth?' As a veteran of several Lake District camping trips, I explain that the Jennings brewery is worth a visit, and that Fletcher Christian of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' fame was schooled there. The band don't seem impressed with my Cumbrian market town trivia.

'Was it Cockermouth with the boobs?' asks Samson, changing the subject. There then ensues an anecdote recalling breakfast in the company of an amply-chested lady. 'That's why we do it!' the band joke, referring back to their hectic work-practise-gig schedule. When pressed for more amusing gig-based stories, I am introduced to the origins of the term 'vooney' by Boa, which is apparently a hybrid word describing an occasion when both vagina and mooney are displayed simultaneously by a female member of the audience. Only one known sighting has ever been confirmed – during a gig in Scotland – and is difficult to tell whether the band would welcome further vooneys to future performances. Suffice to say, the mention of it raises a few laughs.

We discuss the band's long term objectives, and Samson is quick to point out that commercial success is a goal that he believes will be fully realised. I ask if there is a sense of frustration when things don't seem to be going according to plan despite the hard work.

'Sometimes I think that it's all to do with what circles you mix in,' he complains. 'We don't really know any other bands on friend terms and we try not to get involved in cliques. I'm pretty sure that works against us. It used to really bother me that we didn't have a deal. Now I just think, “If it doesn't happen then at least we're really enjoying it”. But if you're not in with the 'it' crowd....that's where all the attention's drawn, no matter how good you are.'

There is something about the way they talk about what they do, their down-to-earth intelligence, that I can identify with. You know what - they're right, I find myself thinking. Why try to force your way into something you don't want to be part of, just for the sake of appearances? I also find it refreshing to talk to musicians who aren't opinionated about what people should and shouldn't be listening to, which is a flaw all too apparent in many music lovers, myself included. I get the impression that if I'd have told them I was Cliff Richard's biggest fan, they would've at least shown an interest and found something kind to say about him. I later worry that their good nature and apparent unwillingness to be drawn into anything controversial could be to their detriment when it comes to the ruthless, fickle music business. I hope not – surely we need to develop this idea of music being purely about what we enjoy listening to?

Our musings are interrupted by an older gentleman who wants to know if we can wrap things up, so he can put the juke box on. After suggesting that he put on some Volcanoes, or maybe some Slayer, we decide to wrap things up with a final thought from Samson.

'Come and see us. I think the songs are really good, and you can see a band that is free from pretentiousness. Some folk might see it as just a bit of fun for us - yes, we're thoroughly enjoying it, but we're deadly serious about making music that we're proud of, and we're quietly confident that we can make this band successful.'

Interview by Jon Cooper
Photography by Brendan Docherty

www.volcanoesband.co.uk