R13 caught up with indie three piece Thee Neerlymen during a gap in their busy schedule to talk about, amongst other things, Preston, be-bop dancing and what inspires them.
R13: Introduce us to the band, who does what?
TN: Dave D Chambers does the drumming and some harmonious singing, Patrick 'Bomber' Bromley does the bassing and the shouting and Dan Jagger does the geetaring and the main wailing.
R13: A bit of background history. How did you get together?
TN: When Dave and Dan's last band got dumped from their label they were drowning their sorrows with Patrick who encouraged them to form a three piece and start all over again.
R13: How would you describe your sound?
TN: It's Indie music. It's nothing fancy or fashionable just good honest songs and musicians with load guitars.
R13: What bands, artists have influenced you as a band?
TN: We're influenced by loads of people. Essentially we all love the music of bands like Pavement, Violent Femmes and Dinosaur Jr. There was a certain DIY element for music from that era, small labels putting out great records...ah a simpler time!! But we're big fans of older artists like Creedence Clearwater and Johnny Cash. Dave's got a massive thing about Dolly Parton, Paddy is a Jazz nut and Dan has a Rockabilly obsession.
R13: ?Are there any new or local bands that you listen to?
TN: There's a lot of really good bands in Preston at the moment. Over the past year or so it's really grown. Personal favourites of mine would be The Uncomfortables who are a really great young band. Others worthy of a mention would be Condor Moments, Bingo Bay, Marksmen, Los Vencidos, Sound Noir there's loads of really great bands in Preston at the moment you should check them out.
R13: Your songs have a lot of humour, what inspires you to write?
TN: Like I said before we've been in bands, signed to labels put records out and then been dumped on. It's hard to take it all too seriously anymore. This band was about getting back to basics doing only what we wanted to do and having a laugh with each other. There's no pressure to be the next big thing, look cool, have a fashionable hair cut. Writing songs is easy, learning to love is the hard part!!
R13: As well as playing in a band, you also run the Bad Apple Club in Preston, what goes on there?
TN: On the first Friday of every month we have a little party, we do some DJing and have some bands on. We have sweets and a little fanzine each month. We've managed to get some ace bands on over the past few years Misty's Big Adventure, Jim Noir, Cranebuilders have all played. Next week it's Help She Can't Swim.
R13: Did you set up the night as a vehicle for your music, or was it something that evolved separately?
TN: We played a lot of gigs out of town in really cool little club nights like Akoustik Anarkhy in Manchester and the Bandwagon in Liverpool. There was nothing like this in Preston so we started to do it. As a band we've only played it twice I think, once was the very first night and second was when a band pulled out last minute, so it's not really about us.
R13: Do you have a lot of requests from local bands wanting to play at the Club?
TN: Yeah loads, the good ones especially. Some bands are happy to play to their mates week in week out. The bands that are looking to raise their profile a bit want to play with bands from all around the country and they're the bands for us.
R13: How difficult do you think it is for local bands to get a foothold without nights like this?
TN: It was almost impossible. But there are some really good nights to play in Preston now the city is buzzing with new up and coming bands, I've never known it like this before, it's very exciting.
R13: Do you have plans to tour further afield any time soon?
TN: We looked into doing some shows in Holland over the summer but had little response. Maybe next year we'll do something like that. As much as spreading the word about the band is important it's got to be something we want and enjoy doing, we certainly won't be heading down to London to play a Monday night gig to 4 kids with lop sided hair do's and this week NME in back pocket.
R13: If you could tour with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
TN: I'd tour with anyone who had really nice transport and a decent caterer.
R13: What's the usual crowd reaction to one of your live shows?
TN: Bored slow hand claps...no obviously that's not true (for every show). If people have a little soul in them they'll end up bouncing on the spot, we've had all kinds of dance moves at our shows. From proper be-bop dancing and swinging girls around to mentalists kicking their legs about like fools. One gig recently we had most of the crowd hanging from Paddy's shoulders and trying to pick him up. It's hard to maintain your on stage "Cool" when you see a bunch of teenagers trying to pick yer best mate up while he's playing the bass!
R13: Where can people get hold of your music?
TN: Well, we have one of them myspacery things ours is called www.myspace.com/neerlymen and you can usually buy an EP of sorts at our shows.
R13: What's coming up for Thee Neerlymen?
TN: Well we've just finished working with Radio 1 and other Preston promoters to organize a huge fringe event to coincide with the Radio One Big Weekend that's happening in May, so that's gonna be really good. And we've got a new EP thing to plug as well so we're pretty busy at the moment!