….from the shards of comets

Writer: Sam Metcalf

There are plenty of young bands in Nottingham, but just being young doesn’t mean you’re great. Unless you’re called …from the Shards of Comets! These fresh faced atmospheric pop upstarts are determined to give your heartstrings a good seeing to before they’ve finished with you, and no mistake. So, on the eve of their headline performance at the Nottingham Sandman Meets the Neighbours gig, Sam Metcalf swapped quiet emails with the band.

Can you tell me more about how you got together?
Well John and Steve had been playing in various bands since they were school friends and had begun looking to try something a little more experimental.
After a bit of rummaging, James was assigned to play drums and Tim on bass. The band played together instrumentally for about 7 months until Jay Bailey came in on vocals, but after a few shows, we found that he didn't quite fit with the sound we were trying to create and he was substituted for Hetty. Thus, the whole thing pretty much clicked into place.

What were your main reasons for forming a band and where does that name come from?
I suppose it's wanting to do something with whatever is inside you. Fortunately for us that meant some nice noises.
Our name used to be 'Comets' but we got sick of people thinking we were a Bill Hailey tribute band and putting us on the bill as THE Comets, so following the tried and tested formula of other contemporary prog bands, we figured adding a few more syllables to our name was the way forward. Not that people don't still get it wrong.

Do you think your sound has changed since you formed at all?
Very much so, we like to thing we've expanded our ideas in song writing since we started. Also, the obvious change in sound that having a female singer brought with it. To be honest though, our sound changes from song to song and everything we write is still different, probably as we each have
quite an eclectic range of influences.

'One Hand Clapping' seems to be your signature tune - what's the story behind this song?
I suppose each song has a different meaning to each of us. I mean Tim's always singing along and probably has his own words too so I wouldn't like to say that it means the same to all of us. We all have an input into our writing so everyone has their own interpretations of everything. Just because one person writes the lyrics doesn't mean it says anything more than any other part.

Who are your main influences?
It's hard to say as a collective. We all have very different influences that don't always show in our music but are probably hidden away here and there.
So supposedly the likes of Oceansize, Explosions in the Sky, Fairport Convention, Joanna Newsom, Pink Floyd and Bjork are all in there, somewhere.

Do you think that you're pretty unique in Nottingham, as far as your sound goes?
It's probably hard to draw comparisons between ourselves and other local bands so perhaps you could say we were quite unique. A lot of the reviews we've had lately have expressed difficulty in putting us into a category.
The music scene in Nottingham is definitely a very lively and fast changing one. There are so many super bands around at the moment, which we all draw influence from and admire.

What do you make of the so-called 'New Yorkshire' sound - do you think that Nottingham could spawn the same kind of scene and would you welcome it?
Seeing as none of us tend to read the NME we're probably not clued up enough to comment. I don't think any of us are particularly partial to The Arctic Monkeys though. There's always room for different types of music anywhere and whatever it is there's probably going to be someone who enjoys it. It would be wrong not to welcome anything new and different. If there's something going on that you don't like then you just don't get involved, but it's not right to put it down. Although none of us like the Kaiser Chiefs either.

How difficult do you think it is for younger bands like yourselves to get noticed in the East Midlands? What would improve things for you?
Nottingham is a really good city for young and upcoming bands. There's such a diverse and active scene here, at least, everyone has been very good to us. There's always something going on and there are always people who are interested to hear it. It's a very supportive network for us.

You've recently had the misfortune of having all your gear pinched. How is this going to affect the future of the band?
At first it was all pretty disastrous. After a few tears and some gratefully received cups of tea we found that we were fortunate in having a very special and kind group of friends who are currently lending us bits and bobs so that we can carry on playing our upcoming shows. Losing £2000 worth of kit did come as a bit of a shock but thanks to the likes of Silhouettes of Soldiers, Girl6, Danny Kimmins and James Taylor, we are managing pretty well. Our thanks and love.

You seem to put a lot into your live performances. Is playing live the ultimate experience of being in a band for you all?
Playing live is probably the best part of being a band. Plus it makes all the fallouts and arguments at practice worthwhile. We're lucky that we have such a consistent, supportive following. It's flattering to know that people make a special effort to come and support live music as well as sitting at
home listening to it.

Who do you consider your peers, locally, and which local bands do you enjoy?
Silhouettes of Soldiers and Girl6, are both great bands, dear friends and have our utmost respect. We're all pretty big fans of The Jesus Years and The Little Explorer and we recently had the pleasure of playing a show with The Lucida Console, from Halifax, who are a really super and talented bunch
of people. There are so many local bands that are making tremendous music at the moment, it's hard to recall everyone.

You're trying to get a tour sorted out for later in the year - how tricky is this proving?
It's quite difficult trying to get shows further away from home. We were contacted and offered a date at Club AC30 in London, which was what started the idea of a tour, but we appear to have picked a bad time of year as there are no students about during the summer. We're lucky to have a lot of good
friends and a wide network of contacts so hopefully we'll get there.

What does the immediate future hold for the band?
We've still got a long way to go. Our music has changed a lot and is still in the process of doing so. We're all quite content to carry on doing what we enjoy. We've got plenty of shows coming up, made some amazing friends and had some pretty super experiences.
In terms of the immediate future, a nice cup of tea is probably well in order now.

http://www.cometsmusic.co.uk