Mods Of Your Generation Interview – Subculture – Youthful, Passionate, Energetic & Cool MODS OF YOUR GENERATION·THURSDAY, 1 AUGUST 2019
SubCulture are three youthful, passionate, energetic cool teenage lads reigning from Nottingham. They are a mod inspired band which is reflected in their sound and image. Their performance is energy fuelled with a know nonsense approach to putting on an incredible performance. They remind many fans of a revamped, young band we all know and love called The Jam. They stand out amongst other bands on the scene as they favour a sharper look that makes them stand out and in turn defines who they are.They perform a variety of covers however they have released much of their own material which is superbly written and executed. Recently the band released their new single ‘The Kids don’t Dance’ which is brilliant and actually something anyone can dance to. They are taking the East Midlands by storm, I have know doubt these three lads will go onto have a successful career. I wish them all the best in all there future endeavours and i am sure they wont disappoint as they continue to gig and release more music. These lads are definitely ones to keep an eye on so make sure to follow them on their social media platforms and keep up to date with future gigs as they may be performing near you soon. Band MembersOliver Orton-Guitarist/Vocalist
Lewis smith-Bassist
Declan Mills-Drummer
(1) You all went to the same school together, What bought you together as friends? I’ve known Declan since we were in primary school. From about the age of 4. Long before any of us could even play an instrument. With Lewis, I met him in my 3rd year of secondary school. He had guitar lessons with the same teacher I had at the time and his lesson would always be scheduled for after mine, so we would talk for a bit before going back to lesson. One thing led to another and we became friends through those guitar lessons really. (2) Can you tell me something that people may not know about you as a band? One of our first proper gigs was at a micro pub in Nottingham and it consisted of us playing about 15 or so covers songs.
(3) How did you then go onto to form the band? Both Me and Dec took music in school and as a requirement you had to play an instrument. I already had been playing guitar for years, but Declan decided to give the drums a go… And that’s how that started. With lewis, like I mentioned, he used to have guitar lessons so he knew how to play the guitar, which came in handy one lunchtime, as we had decided to mess around in one of the practice rooms since we were bored. The result of that was Me on guitar, Dec on the drums, and lewis on the bass….
(4) Who are your musical inspirations as a band and as a musician? Our musical inspirations and band inspirations are out of the same mould. With bands such as, The Jam, The Who, Small Faces and Secret Affair, to Sex Pistols, The Clash, to Madness etc.
(5) The band is heavily influenced by the mod scene in regards to your sound and fashion. How did each of you get into the scene and who or what influenced you? My parents grew up with the music, and I discovered it when I was around 14, and since then it’s just been like a snowball effect. In regards to Lewis & Dec, I think the whole thing fell naturally after deciding back in the school this is what we will do with the band.
(6) You have released your new EP ‘The Kids don’t dance’ where can fans buy the EP and how would you describe it? The Kids Don’t Dance to me is something you could dance to. Even given the name. It’s not strictly 60’s, Motown or soul, but it’s most definitely got those influences injected into it. The single is available to buy online as a 7″ vinyl record from www.heavysoul45s.co.uk
SubCulture The Kids Don’t Dance (Official Video) (7) Who writes the bands material? All the songs are written by me. It always starts out sat with an acoustic guitar at home.
(8) What would you like to achieve it as a band and how do you wish to Achieve it? If at any point we could make this our sustainable living, it would be great. It’s what we love to do after all. As for how, well we’d like to keep progressing and moving with it. We don’t want to put the brakes on. We’ve got something and we want to run with it.
(9) Since the band formed in 2016, What has people’s reactions been to your sound and energetic performances on stage? We’ve had some smashing reviews and met some great people from gigging. The way they’ve have taken to us really is fantastic. We’ve had people say they want us to do well, and it’s cool to have a backing from what was a few minutes previous, a complete stranger.
(10) If you could be in any band in history which band would it be? Now this could be the million dollar question. Literally. It’s a tough one. Maybe a band that have a Christmas hit so we could live off of the royalties all year round….How about Slade? But in all seriousness, we model ourselves off of the mod scene and I think The Who would be a wise choice. It seems like it would quite good fun. (11) Can we expect more singles to be released in future or an album?Yes! We try to release as much of our own music as we can. In fact, a new single isn’t too far on the horizon…
SubCulture – Young (12) Where can fans purchase your music and keep up to date with latest gigs? All our music is available on the usual digital platforms such as Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Google and the rest, as well as on vinyl from Heavysoul45s.co.uk. All our gigs are posted on our Facebook page, along with regular updates, photos, videos etc. (13) You perform a variety of covers. What is your favourite to perform and why? We don’t really have a favourite cover song to play, however we would say there’s definitely certain songs that go down a storm at gigs. To name just a few would be Sha la la la lee, My Generation, Town Called Malice, Too much too young. (14) What message would you like to give all your fans and supporters? Just to thank them for the continued support they give us and for the faith they have in us. It’s that kind of thing that spurs us on.
(15) Where would you like to be in 5 years from now and what can we we all look forward to? Well wherever we are, we’d like to be able to look back at the past 5 years and say that they meant something. Interview by Johnny Bradley for Mods Of Your GenerationInterview Credit – Mods Of Your Generationphoto & Video credit to SubCulture
