An Interview with The Alps (1/2) By Steve Rudd

(1/2), (2/2).

London band The Alps have been receiving rave reviews over the past couple of years for their CD releases and live performances. Having recently unleashed their eagerly anticipated debut album, Something I Might Regret, the band is working harder than ever, with a string of dates in Spain and the shooting of their latest music video keeping the four lads tremendously busy.

Featuring Daniel on lead vocals and guitar, Sam on lead guitar and vocals, Dave on bass, and Hezi on drums, The Alps are a refreshingly alternative Indie-Rock band to be reckoned with. What's more, they are self-managed. Based in Greenwich, acclaim has hounded them out ever since they released their first single: the magnificent World At War. The strength of the follow-up single in Last Dance hastened to re-iterate just how talented the lads are at writing catchy tunes.

Here, in an exclusive interview with Steve Rudd, charismatic band frontman - formerly of Bridlington - chats about how pleased the quartet has been by the response to their music, what it was like working with producers of Dave Allen's caliber (a man who's worked with the legendary likes of The Cure), and how their involvement with the slice the pie website has enabled The Alps to scale heights that might otherwise have been out of reach...

Hi Dan, how are you and the rest of The Alps? We're very good thanks. Just returned from a mini Spanish tour which seemed to turn into 5 days of solid partying. Our label managers over there are party animals and did a good job of showing us a great time. We are still recovering now - nearly a week later! But it was great fun and we can't wait to return. You recently unleashed your debut album, Something I Might Regret. Have you been pleased with the response that it's received from the music press and fans at large?

We've had some great reviews and some not so great. We stand by the philosophy that all press is good press. One of the more derogatory reviews accused me of faking a northern accent, claiming I was mimicking the likes of Maximo Park and The Futureheads. That was slightly annoying considering I spent my first 20 years in Bridlington!

Having been brought up in Bridlington, what first prompted you to move to London and to subsequently settle in Greenwich? I moved to Greenwich to do a Music Technology degree course, but this was more of an excuse to move to London where there are obviously more opportunities for someone trying to break into the music industry.

I was in bands in Bridlington before that, but there seemed to be a limit on how far you could take things. Although I still visit Bridlington to see family and friends, London is somewhere I now feel very at home.

As a band, you are currently managing yourselves. What are the main advantages and disadvantages of this? We have been managed by 2 large management companies - Sanctuary and Big Life - but these relationships just didn't work out for one reason or another. Before that, and since, we have managed ourselves. The advantage of this is that we are in complete control of everything we do, which fits into our D.I.Y. ethic of making and releasing music.

You also know a job is going to get done if you're doing it yourself. Obviously, having a manager does free up more of your time to focus on the music side of things, and, if they're decent, their connections can be handy. If a great manager came along and offered his/her services we wouldn't necessarily say no, but at the minute we're perfectly happy managing our own affairs.

You are involved with the www.slicethepie.com website, an involvement that's helped to finance the recording of your album. How did you learn about the site and how exactly can it help bands in a similar position to yours? 'Slicethepie' approached us to be one of their launch bands, mainly due to the fact that they liked our stuff and we had a large online fanbase. The whole 'Slicethepie' thing fitted in nicely with what we were up to. We had already set up our own small label - Elusive Music - to release a very early single, and SLP has provided us with the funds to record and promote the album while we retain all copyright on the songs.

Continued .... Next Page (2/2)

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