With their UK tour starting in April, No Hot Ashes have got to be planning for. I got to catch up with the Stockport quartet ahead of these shows to see how the lads are getting on!
First of all you guys have been going for quite some time now after forming in back in 2012. After being in a band for that long I guess it can become quite tiresome. But you guys still sound so fresh and motivated to play shows. Do you guys still feel that you have the hunger for it? And what things have you learnt after being together for so long?
We’ve been a group for a long time now, although up until 2014 we weren’t really taking things seriously so we kind of disregard those years before. When you are doing something you love you don’t really get tired of it to be honest. The thing we hate most is probably rehearsals (unless we are writing new material). We still very much have the hunger for making this band work and we still feel like it’s the tip of the iceberg at the moment, we haven’t even got started yet.
You played a lot of shows last year, and looking through the photos it looks like they were all mental! Are there any shows that stick out to you as special, and why?
We did! The hometown shows in Manchester are deffo up there as some of our proudest moments. YNOT Festival is also up there. We headlined the Jack Rocks/This Feeling Tent on the Thursday night and packed out the tent. It was an incredible feeling. Then everyone got flooded out. Great festival though, we love it every year.
You guys released ‘Skint Kids Disco’ back in January. Loved the track so much it made our WFM 2018 Playlist! Also I think the video is great. Are you happy with the release? It seems like a slightly different direction for you guys, yet it still has that chaos I associate with your music.
Thank you! We did, and it has been very well received. Perhaps sonically it feels like the direction has changed, mainly we think this because we had much more time in the studio with Gavin & Joe (Magic Garden Studio) this time to record the EP and this gave us a lot more room for experimentation with new instruments and sounds. Writing wise we haven’t really changed the way we do things at all. Our main aim is to write music to make people dance and so far the songs from the EP have made people do just that. With each release we like to keep things fresh and we have always tried to not write the same songs as we have done before.
Your music has a very unique edge to it, for instance I could pick your songs out of a line up, they’re very distinctive. What sort of influences went into your sound, are there any albums that particularly inspired you over these past few years?
There’s an eclectic range of influence throughout the band. Sounds cliché but it’s just the truth. We have never tried to sound like anyone else but if we had to explain the style it’s kind of a melting pot of Indie, Disco, Funk, Hip-hop Rock. Sugar coated into pop songs. We find ourselves constantly going back to very old albums for influence as opposed to new albums. There is so much music that we just haven’t listened to yet. Albums in more recent years that have influenced us include the likes of Loyle Carner, Wu-Tang Clan, King Krule and Tom Misch.
You also have your debut EP coming out this year, which I cannot wait for. How long have you guys spent creating the EP?, and will all the songs share a similar vibe to the title track?
We are incredibly excited by the whole EP release campaign. It had been a long time since we had released any new music so it was amazing to see the fans reaction once we began releasing new music last December. We began writing the songs from the EP probably around Jan/Feb 2017 and finished them up around September 2017. Each songs on the EP is unique, they all have their own identity. We wanted to write a proper mix of songs and not have any duplicates.
With it being your debut EP it’s a really important release. Are you happy with the overall result of the EP, and what was the recording process like?
Deffo, everything has gone down well so far and there is still more new music to come with the full release on 30th March 2018. As mentioned, the recording process spanned over the whole of 2017 and we got to spend a lot more time in the studio crafting the songs and really concentrating on the small details. We had a lot of fun and were all incredibly pleased with the results.
So the UK tour is coming up in April and it starts in London at Nambucca on 14th April! It’s such a great venue for bands, have you played there before and if so do you enjoy playing there and why?
It does and we are really excited to be getting busy on the live show side of things, March & April are going to be really busy months for us. We played the Nambucca last December and loved it. Great stage and venue we had a really lively gig.
You also have four other dates spreading across Liverpool, Birmingham, Nottingham and Leicester. Where are you looking forward to playing the most and why?
We are excited for them all! We get a huge buzz from playing new cities and meeting new people so being able to spread our wings further round the UK is an exciting prospect.
Also you guys will be playing Kendal Calling and Liverpool Sound City this year, which is a big deal as The Libertines, Peace and Catfish and the Bottlemen will be there. Are you looking forward to playing those? And who are you looking forward to see the most?
We cannot wait to play both, the last time we played Kendal Calling was in 2015. It was our first major UK festival and we had a really fun weekend. Liverpool Sound City we have never played before but they always smash the line-up. We are big fans of Peace so will be good to see them as they have been fairly quiet the past year or so.
Finally with us being 2 months into the year now, what would make this a successful year for you guys? What things do you want to accomplish before the year is out?
The start of 2018 has been a weird one. Although we have been pretty quiet on the live shows it has been mad busy behind the scenes with releases and organising/selling out our biggest show to date at Manchester Academy 2 (950 Capacity). Hopefully before the end of 2018 we’ll of released even more music and also played a number of major UK festivals. We recently signed up to work with International Booking Agents “13 Artists” so we are very privileged to be working with and we hope it will be a very exciting relationship.
Thanks for taking the time out to answer guys, all the best!
Make sure you get tickets if they’re coming a town near you, it will be an eventful night of live music!
MARCH
09- Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff, Wales – Tickets
31-Manchester Academy 2 – Manchester –** SOLD OUT**
APRIL
06 – The Limelight 2 – Belfast, Ireland Tickets
14 – Nambucca – London – Tickets
19 – The Chameleon – Nottingham –Tickets
20 – The Castle and Falcon – Birmingham – Tickets
21 – The Cookie – Leicester – Tickets
27 – The Zanzibar – Liverpool – Tickets
24 – Lending Room – Leeds – Tickets
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