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Tin Pigeons: Interview with an indie band that got together in school
We had a chat with an interesting new indie band that has just released its new EP, Sparks: The Tin Pigeons. Since forming at school in 2011, The Tin Pigeons comprised of Fraser (Guitar, Lead Vocals), George (Banjo, Vocals, Percussion), Doug (Guitar, Vocals), Tom (Bass, Vocals) and Benedict (Percussion) developed a unique and exciting brand of pop music, combining folk lyricism, funky grooves and shimmering vocal harmonies to form an irresistibly fresh sound. Let's begin our interview:
Your new EP Sparks has been released just a few months ago, how did that come about?
Sparks was a really interesting process for us. ‘What Would You Say’ and ‘Sirens’ were written and basically fully developed before we went into the studio, while the title track ‘Sparks’ was born out of a jam we started on the first day in the studio and it came together really quickly from that.
If you had to choose three words to describe The Tin Pigeons or your music in general, which words would you pick?
Bubbly, Kind, Curvy
How does it feel to receive such great support from presenters such as Clara Amfo, Adele Roberts, Scott Mills?
It’s really flattering for us, the BBC have supported us so much over the past few months and that has been a big help. Hearing our tracks on Radio 1 and 2 was incredible and the response from it has been awesome.
Tell us more about your beginnings. How and when did you decide to form a band?
We’ve all known each other since we were kids and we started a band at school about four years ago, just jamming in lunch breaks, now we jam when we want!
Who has influenced your music along the way? Are there any artists that inspire your style?
We were listening to a lot of Bombay Bicycle Club nestled in between Paul Simon while recording Sparks. We’ve definitely drawn influence from those artists percussively and rhythmically, though we’ve never felt drawn to emulate anyone specifically, as individuals we all have a pretty varied music taste and that seems to come together pretty nicely.
What singers would you like to perform with in the future?
There are plenty of artists who we would love to perform with. If Louis Walsh wasn’t available, the first on our list would have to be someone like Nathaniel Rateliff, he’s the man!
How did you feel about performing at such incredible events as the Reading & Leeds Festival for BBC Introducing this summer? Tell us more about it.
It was amazing, we only found out that we were playing a month or so before and to be honest we weren’t expecting it. We had played for BBC Introducing at Y Not Festival a few weeks before which was incredible and they must have enjoyed our live set. Reading and Leeds felt really special, the crowds were up for it which made the experience so memorable.
What’s your musical guilty pleasure?
Right Said Fred - Too sexy
What is the next step in The Tin Pigeons' career?
At the moment we’re busy writing and recording, looking forward to our next release will be in February. We’ve got some pretty exciting things in the pipeline which we can’t wait to share.
You are granted time travel - where would you go and what would you do?
I thought Arts Council time travel grants had been cut?
Have a look at the video for Sparks:
