Themselves

We recently ran our Piewatch Pirate Competition in which we promised the winners that we would feature their Slicethepie artist of choice.  True to form, we talked to Mark from the band ’Themselves’ – as nominated by Slicethepie member ‘Infamous Kayber’.  And we must say…what a great choice!! So click on the player (below) and read on…..

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Piewatch – Hi, thanks for talking to us! Let’s start with an introduction of yourselves, or more appropriately, ‘Themselves’?

Mark – Hello, pleasure talking to you. An introduction of ourselves Themselves you say? Well, we’re a 4 piece from close to the land of Coal in Middle England. We play music to keep us sane.

Piewatch – How did you come up with the band name and is there any meaning behind it?

Mark – It was a bit of a play on the whole “The” ……. Band names, as the previous band name was The Works and there were a lot of new bands coming through using the “The” e.g., The View, The Klaxons, The Fratellies etc…I think we would have liked to have been called “The The” just to take the piss a bit, but obviously we couldn’t, We settled with Themselves because we just thought it was very honest and open. We are who we are.

I think the name of a band is not that relevant, yet totally relevant, both at the same time.

This is probably why I have to take the tablets.

Piewatch – How would you best describe your music? Are there recurring themes?

Mark – I’d say we’re a rock band, it’s too easy to get caught up in the genre game, but at the end of the day, we rock. Recurring Themes? Oh yes.

The relationships between people, crowds, silence, walks in the cold, near water in the sun, music, in all it’s guises, entertainment. People who make me smile, people who make me think, people who stand still for a second and let you lean on them. Breaking on through to the other side. Taking it on the chin. Holding my hands up. Telling it straight. Watching the sun come up after you’ve watched the night go down. Exploring. Random weekends away. Writing Songs. Observing. Getting a massage. Getting told it’ll all be alright in the end. Getting the message. Not being ignored. Starting Again. Finding your feet after a while. Experiencing an Epiphany. Olives. Good food in general. Feeling Healthy. Self Destructing. Other people’s eyes. Showing the way. Watching the expressions. Sharing the fun. Savoury Food. Being moreish. Writing Lyrics. Watching films. Watching terrible films that are so terrible that they’re good. Laughing at my own misfortune. Talking up a storm. Dreaming. Day Dreaming. Attempting to make day dreams a reality. Theme Parks. Thrill Rides. Nacho’s. Tents in the rain. Putting the world to rights. Making no sense. Overstepping the mark. Drawing new lines. Making new plans. Thinking it’s all over. Missing the point. Facing your fears. Facing the Facts. Staring them down. Hiding from them hoping they’ll go away and it’ll all be alright in the end. Fighting for what you believe in.

Yeah we have always had the philosophy of “If you write it you sing it” lyric wise so I suppose you could say it was a theme we always use still today!

Piewatch – The band has been on Slicethepie for a while now and has developed a good following. How did you come across Slicethepie, how have you found the experience and would you recommend it to other bands?

Mark - Hmmmm, yeah, it has been a while, I can’t remember really how it came about. I think I was sent an E-mail aaaaages ago telling me of a new site coming soon. I forget I’ve been trolling about for aaages.

The experience of Slicethepie is exactly that, an experience. From an artists point of view, you upload your songs, get some good constructive reviews, and either use that or dismiss it. Possibly get through to a Showcase, get yourself £15’000 and go to town recording promoting and producing an album. Awesome concept.

Mind you, saying that, when you actually take part, you get some, shall we say, interesting “Reviews” to use the term lightly.

Personally, we like to read through them and marvel at the diversity. And you’ve got to love it when someone says. “Yeah, this is amazing; I’d buy this on ITunes, Brilliant Vocals, Amazing Drumming, fantastic guitar work. 4/10.”

4/10? And that lets it down. The whole idea of voting what you “Think” other people might vote to keep your average up and earn more money, I assume. I don’t think it’s the most effective way of finding out what the general public thinks. It’s more like finding out what the general public thinks the general public thinks, which is something else entirely different. I’m not complaining though, just observing.

On the other side of the coin, there’s some honesty and good advice floating around. And, by honesty, I don’t mean scouts saying we’re amazing and they want our children. Just an honest opinion. We understand you can’t please all the people all the time, you can’t please some people any of the time, but that’s a good thing, you wouldn’t really want to. Diversity is what makes the world go round.

Overall, I’d recommend STP to any band really. It’ll either harden your resolve, make you stop making terrible music, inspire you to continue making awesome music, or give you the chance of a lifetime. There are no really bad points. After all, if you can’t handle the mental reviews, you probably really shouldn’t be putting your music out for public “Review” in the first place.

I’d like to get through to a showcase though if I’m honest. We have a couple of Albums worth of material, and I for one would like to hear it. So if you’re reading this, and you hear us, and you think…. oh my god, this is great, I’d buy this, whoa…. don’t rate it 4/10 there’s a love.

Piewatch – What is the band’s biggest achievement to date?

Mark – The amount of people that are coming to see us when we play, it’s nice to get through those gig’s were you are playing to the back wall of the venue. Also, supporting Slice the Pie winners Shortwave Fade at their Album launch in Notting hill.

Piewatch – Any embarrassing moments on stage?

Mark – All I’m saying on this is late stage times + cheap bar = monumental fucking disaster.

In fact no, that’s not all I’m saying, I’m telling it. Have you rolled a cigarette? Do you have a drink? Are you sitting comfortably? Well then, I guess it goes a little something like this.

You know what it’s like, you book a gig at a venue and you say, what time do you want us there? And they say, well, sound check is from 6:30-7:30, so 6:30 would be ideal.

You think, holy shit, I get back from work at about that time, that’s hardly enough time for a shit/shower and shave combination. But still. You’re gig hungry, you want to get out there and let the world know that you exist, so you agree, thinking, well, I’ll grab something after sound check, it’ll be ok.

So you finish work, and you rush around like a mental trying to get everything sorted. Not wanting to forget anything so you don’t fuck everything up, it’s a good gig, at a half decent venue, you want to be able to re-book if all goes well.

You get there, it’s 6:20, you’re hungry but you can grab something after sound check, you’ll be fine.

It’s 7pm, you’ve not sound checked, nobody has sound checked, there’s 3 bands standing round looking at each other like Mancunians in Liverpool. No one’s really communicating.

Eventually, someone turns up who sounds like they know what’s going on a bit, so sound checks begin, headliner first as you’d expect, which incidentally, wasn’t us.

You’re still hungry, but you think, it’ll be alright, I’ll eat after we’ve sound checked.

Anyway, the headliners are so far up their own arse they could lick their own prostate so sound check lasts for an ungodly amount of time….. Which is sometimes acceptable, like, when they rock, but when they’re baaaaaaaaad, no amount of sound check is going to help you sound any good.

So you go to the bar, there it is, all shiny in the back of the room; with condensation running down the lines, and you think… well, I’ll have a pint while I’m waiting. So you do. And then you have another because that one went down oh so well. Then, well, you’d better have another because you’ve still not sound checked, you’ve no idea of the time, and it’s getting less relevant anyway.

So up turns the promoter. So, being a bit smushy thanks to no food and a few pints. You think…. “RIGHT, YOU, WHAT TIME ARE WE ON?” and he retorts with…

“About 12:15 mate” and wanders off.

12:15… am… lovely… and we were here at 6:30 because?? Ok we’re on at 12:15; sound checks continue on until people start arriving, so, as you may have guessed, there’s no sound check for us.

So we choose a table and grab some more ale, we’re half cut now (Well, I am) so you get a taste for it and……

12:15 arrives and it’s time to go on, I’m excited, I’m eager, I’m raring to go, I’m also pissfaced.

Cue gig hell.

I can barely walk for a start, this should really start alarm bells ringing in my head, but, as far as I’m concerned, I’m a fucking rock star baby, so I make my way over the stage to my guitar, which I think I should tune up before we own the evening.

Obviously, I can’t tune it, I can’t even stand, so I think it’ll be far better if I put that down and just sing…

Apparently not, I pull the microphone from the stand and swagger about on stage but I can’t hear myself, so I’m shouting to the soundman “TURN ME UP FOR CHRIST SAKE, YOU’RE THE WORST SOUNDMANEVER”

At which point he gestures towards the mic stand where I’ve left the cable.

No problem, I’ll plug it in. Mic Plugged in, ready to go and what comes out of my mouth?

“I don’t care if they think we’re shit, we’ll never see any of them again anyway, they should all fuck off home, go on, fuck off home”

At which point half the room clears. It was a particularly busy night as well, so we were still left with a few die hards. My work here was clearly not done.

Our other guitarist at the time decides then that enough is enough, and he should do something, so he tells me I should probably go and sit down, they’ll do the rest without me.

Well, you’d think I’d take that advice right?

Wrong.

I do take half of the advice though, and sit down in front of the stage.

Where I heckle my own band, on stage, trying to cope without me.

“You should be in a band! GERROFF!! You need another guitarist!! That’s a rubbish song!! You’re Crap!!”

The gig finished, we didn’t loose all the audience, and surprisingly, I was told by more than one person that evening, that that was THE most rock and roll gig they’d seen for aaages.

We left the venue later on with me ejecting the contents of my empty stomach every 10 paces, finally barfing on the window of our camper van only to hear a shout of “ooooooh carrots”

The venue closed it’s doors for good a few weeks later.

I like to think I have no part in that.

Piewatch – Which track has received the best reviews/ratings in the Slicethepie scout room? Why do you think this is?

Mark – Miles High’s the track that seems to ride high in the scout rooms. It’s a Ballard style track with a big ending and warm harmonies. And, going on the way Slice works, it’s the sort of song that other people might think other people might like. Ha, but really, It’s a song that you can connect to, we’ve all been there.

Piewatch – Your Slicethepie bio highlights that the four of you play under different guises. What’s the reason behind this? Any guises you would care to share?

Mark – We’ve played under different guises yes, we still do embark upon the odd side project here and there, and I think that’s healthy, keeps the creative juices flowing and helps to keep things fresh. I’m keeping our guises under our hats though at this moment in time.

Piewatch – If you could collaborate with any artist, who would you choose?

Mark – Jamie Lenman – Reuben

Mary Lou Lord – Herself

Kill Choas, Death of London, Dobermann and Maybe She Will – four bands from Leicester who rock my world.

Jimmy Page, the Led Zep legend or Rory Gallagher the now deceased legend of Irish Rock

Piewatch – We thought we would ask your opinion on the currently debated issue here at Piewatch. What is the ultimate 90’s footwear; Reebok Pumps or Puma discs?

Mark – Well, Steve reckons Pumps, based on the fact he just went on a nostalgia hit. Me, I’d say British Knights, which I know wasn’t even in the question, but shame on you for not including such iconic footwear. In fact, this question ends here. I’m appalled. I shall be writing to…. um…. someone, I’m not sure who, probably my gran. She’ll settle the issue. You up on your handbag swedging skillzzzz?

Piewatch – Any future plans or interesting developments on the horizon?

Mark – New material is being written and recorded as we speak; we have a couple a management companies interested in our sound and many gigs awaiting conformation dates from promoters. So all in all it should be an interesting year for the band ahead. We’re looking to get some videos and promotional bits and bobs on the go too, so if anyone fancies helping with that, please, feel free to get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Piewatch – Good luck in 2010! Would you like to give a message/shout out to the fans?

Mark – I think some really good advice in this life is.

“Check yer sen before you bob yer sen.” and “Always Look at the Pretty Sparkly”

Good advice and words to live by there.

And thanks to everyone and anyone who has supported us. It’s nice to know that we’re not just doing this for our own satisfaction and enjoyment; it’s always good to hear that someone else is rocking out and having their hairs stand up on the back of their necks.

Keep supporting us through 2010; we need all the help we can get.

Thanks for listening, we’re Themselves.

Be sure to check out Themselves on;