HIGHER SURROUNDINGS: We talk to Rich from The Broxton Hundred!

 

PART 1 - THE 'INTERVIEW'

 

1 - Have you been involved with any bands prior to The Broxton Hundred?

"Yeah, we've all played in various bands. Myself and Gaz are both originally from Chester and were in a band together before this one. Rich O has been in a couple of bands round London, so we've all done stuff before this band."

2 - How did The Broxton Hundred begin?

"As I mentioned before, me and Gaz were originally in a band from Chester that came down to London. When that band split up myself and Gaz wanted to carry on and recruited Rich O to play the drums."

3 - Where did the name The Broxton Hundred come from?

"That actually comes from Chester again. It's an old way of splitting up counties into these things called 'Hundreds'. And Chester would have fell into that Hundred."

 

4 - How would you describe the sound of The Broxton Hundred?

 

"I guess all three of us bring a certain style to the sound. There's elements of psychedelia in the guitar lines. The rhythm section is quite dancy/funky and the melody lines are quite poppy. We want to bring that all together in good quality pop songs."  

5 - Your debut EP 'Higher Surroundings' is pressed in a vinyl sleeve and the CD has a vinyl effect about it. Do you consider yourself to be a retro band and are you inspired more by the vinyl age than the digital age of today?

 "I wouldn't class ourselves as a retro band necessarily. I personally still love to listen to music on vinyl, but I think vinyl sales are quite high now so that makes it modern as well. We made the CD like that because we thought it looked pretty cool. I think both formats have their place, and good music is good music whatever era it comes from."

 

6 - The EP itself is based around four incredibly catchy pop songs with hints of psychedelia. How did these four songs come about and what inspired the EP?

"I had three of the songs written on an acoustic at a time just before the band started. So Gaz had some of his guitar lines done, then when Rich joined we worked on them as a band. The other tune 'She Brings the Light' just came out of a jam in our rehearsal studio."

 

7 - The EP as a whole is a fine snapshot as you as a band, however, the title track 'Higher Surroundings' is definitely a highlight for me personally. What is the song itself about?
 

"Thanks! Its a sort of bit of a riposte to a falling out I had with someone. I'll leave it up to the listener to go over the lyrics though."

8 - You supported Folks last year. Folks themselves have already been on a bill with the likes of Noel Gallagher and Miles Kane. How did it feel being asked to support an already well-established act?

 

"It was great to be asked to support Folks especially after the band hadn't been together long. It was a good night and feels like we're on the right track getting asked to do gigs like that."

9 - Who would be your dream collaboration?

"Not really sure about a dream collaboration, as long as the music sounds good at the end of it. I think most of these collaborations are a bit of a disaster now, I associate them with people like Katy Perry getting Snoop Dogg on one of her tunes that sounds like he just rapped into his iPhone and sent it over."

10 - Any new songs in the pipeline?

"Yeah we're always working on new stuff and there's plenty of new songs on the horizon."

11 - When can fans expect the next EP or single?

 

"We're going to release a single in October, which will probably be digitally first and then have a physical release party sometime in November."

12 - Any live dates coming up?

"Were playing the purple turtle in Camden on 5th October. And 229 in Great Portland Street on 18th October"

PART 2 - THE 'QUICKFIRE ROUND'

 

1 - Favourite band?

"The La's."

 

2 - Favourite new band?

"The Broxton Hundred."

 

3 - Favourite song?

"Very difficult to answer but if I had to plump for a tune - Timeless Melody by The La's."

 

4 - Favourite album?

"A Storm In Heaven - Verve."

 

5 - Vinyl, CD or download?

"Vinyl."

6 - Style icon?

"Don't really have one."

7 - Favourite clothing brand?

"Adidas for trainers, not bothered about other brands as long as it looks good."

8 - Favourite film?

"Might Ducks 2."

9 - Favourite TV show?

"American Dad."

10 - Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?

"Don't know enough actors to make a choice for that."

 

11 - Favourite food?

"Roast dinner."

12 - Favourite sport?

"Football."

 

13 - Football team?

"Chester FC."

 

Hope you enjoyed this feature on The Broxton Hundred! Check out our previous feature on Memory Clinic!

 

You can listen to The Broxton Hundred here - https://soundcloud.com/thebroxtonhundred

 

You can also like our Facebook page to keep up to date with all future interviews at the following link - https://www.facebook.com/aldorabrittonrecords

 

AB Records