Review Fix chats with the ManyGrams’ Niall Selman and Alastair Shaw about their music, influences and plans for the future. The two-piece from Burnley also discusses some of their hopes for their upcoming EP and guilty pleasure music favorites.
Review Fix: How did the band come together?
Niall Selman: Me and Ally had attended the same high school and we’ve been good friends for the majority of those years. We’d dabbled in music long before forming what we are now, having recruited and lost band members along the way, we finally realised that all we needed to create a good tune was the two of us.
Review Fix: What’s the band’s creative process like?
Selman: Because we attend different Universities, it can be a bit of a blag getting together to make tunes. So, the majority of the time Ally will send me a melody, or something he’s crafted on logic, and I’ll put down some words and a tune. The man is well versed in writing a chorus as well so there’s a lot more input from the both of us when it comes to finalising a melody for the catchier parts of the song. The lion’s share of the lyrics are written by me, but are often fine tuned by Stan.
Review Fix: What are your influences?
Selman: Being from a town just under an hour away from Manchester, it’s safe to say our allegiance lies with the north-west sound of music. We’re huge lovers of Oasis (of course), The Smiths, The Verve, The Twang (Brummies) and so on. We’re also keen admirers of Jamie T and it is his style of music we would tend to most associate ourselves with. Also, there are the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which Ally has grown up learning Fruciante’s style of playing. It lends credibility to other types of music, ensuring that we aren’t limited and are a little more cultured in the crafting of songs.
Review Fix: What are your hopes with the upcoming EP?
Selman: With regards to the upcoming EP, I think we just hope it’s well received. It’s been a long time in the making and it’s not been easy to settle on a quartet of songs that we want people to initially judge us by. We are confident in our creation and I’m almost certain that with proper publicity it can do us some justice.
Review Fix: What do you think you guys have to do to be as successful as you want to be?
Selman: Hard work is the obvious answer. However, you could be the hardest workers in the business but if you’re not willing to mix it up, I don’t think you’ll go far. We have to challenge ourselves, we have to sweat and we have to come up with fresh, nice sounding ideas. Our music is an eclectic mix but we need to make sure we’re not ‘Jacks of all trades, and masters of none’. Our strengths lie in our balance, we can include unorthodox methods without straying too far from what we want.
Review Fix: What are your goals over the next five years?
Selman: In five years we expect to be famous. It’ll be given up as a bad job if we’re not at major festivals by then.
Review Fix: How is the band different from other groups?
Alastair Shaw: With there only being me and Niall, the creative process is slightly irregular, the songs end up sounding a mix of electric beats and live guitars, I’ve not heard many bands who sound the same though, so I suppose that’s a good thing.
Review Fix: What was the creative process behind ‘Direction Home’? How was it written?
Shaw: I had a really shit keyboard, like the type you find in high school, I loved one of the sounds on it, so I wrote a little melody and came up with a catchy vocal hook, showed it to Niall, and he came up with some lyrics and it ended up turning into an upbeat indie/electro track. We ended up finishing it within the day!
Review Fix: How would you sell this EP to a record executive? What would the pitch be like?
Selman: Well, with regards to the record label we’re on now, Ally sent them a copy of Direction Home and they were intrigued. It wasn’t a case of really selling ourselves verbally or physically; it was a case of showing them what we have written. I suppose if ever we were to do it again, we would let the music do the talking, you can’t sugar coat it anymore. What they hear, is what you’re selling.
Review Fix: How do you want your music to be perceived?
Shaw: I haven’t given it much thought really, we just write tunes that we would want to listen to, and if other people want to listen to it, then thats just a bonus I suppose.
Review Fix: What are some of your guilty pleasure favorites? Songs that no one would expect that you would enjoy?
Shaw: I’ll be honest I’m a bit of a sucker for “Call me maybe†– just a great pop song! Niall was into his heavy metal when he was younger so I think he still has a soft spot for a bit of Metallica etc.
Review Fix: If you had to pick another profession besides music, what would it be and why?
Shaw: Thats a tough one. My second love is film, so maybe something in that industry… Probably end up writing films with Niall.
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