From Exeter (UK). The Sherpas has been generating a local and national buzz making quite a name for themselves. They are young musicians and stunning live performers, they flip from memorable indie rock to pure passion. Now Soirée sees them racing to ever greater heights. Wave To The Water taken from forthcoming EP Soirée out 27th June. James Fuke – Drummer & Pierre Roxon – Lead singer talk to eyeplug.net
01 How did you get started in music?
Pierre: I started as a guitarist because my Mum and Dad both play, I loved blues and used to write instrumental numbers. I never planned to be a singer or front man, things evolved and now that’s what I do.
James: As a child my Dad and I used to watch live videos of Genesis, after watching Chester Thompson and Phil Collins playing a drum duet I had to pick up the sticks.
02 Where did your direction come from?
Pierre: Well we were all doing lots of things with music before we got together but a sense of direction as a band has taken some time to form. We just started playing what felt comfortable and slowly that morphed and we found more of a personal voice as a group. (Still lots more directions to cover!)
03 Who were your major influences and inspirations and who do you despise?
James: I listen and respect a lot of drummers E.g. Benny Greb, Dennis Chambers, Virgil Donati and Vinnie colauita. I listen and try to keep an open mind to the other band member’s musical interests… We all like Jeff Buckley.
Pierre: Yeah Jeff Buckley is a massive influence as are The Maccabees. I’m inspired by lots of other art forms and have been truly hooked on Matisse’s paintings for longer than I can remember. As a band we all loath what Rihanna stands for… I’m sure she is a nice person but that whole part of the music industry NEEDS to implode.
04 What inspires you to make your current type of songs and sound?
James: The Bands we have been listening to mostly.
Pierre: We would be stupid to say we didn’t owe a lot to our inspirations. I don’t think we really have a type of song. Each has its own personality and structure. We all like to experiment with different reverbs and delays. We recorded a set of wine glasses with water tuned to a chord which we use as a drone. We find things like that really fun to work with.
05 What can someone who has never seen you live before expect from your live shows then & possibly even now?
James: The Bands on stage chemistry is the best its ever been. We still consider each one of our shows as a learning curve… The different venues and audiences we perform to adds up.
Pierre: We have drum duets between James and Chris (bass) which the crowd loves. We have sections of improvisation; I think the audience feed off those moments. It gets us going and does the same for the crowd. I like to get in and jump around with the audience.
06 How do you begin your songs? What types of themes and subjects do you deal with?
Pierre: Anyone of the band will come up with something… and we just spend time on it, normally it sounds completely different to the initial idea by the end. For me as a songwriter, I use a lot of imagery from my childhood, I sometimes write songs as if they were letters to people I know. The subjects are normally personal… surreal or both.
07 How has your music evolved since you first began playing?
Pierre: The main way it’s evolved is that we have all become much more versatile as musicians.
James: Since starting playing I’ve listened to a wider range of styles also from day one I’ve had friends and family who are also musicians who I could talk to and produce music with. Playing with other musicians in general gives you a better understanding of where you sit in the mix which is essential as a drummer.
08 What has been your biggest challenge? Were you been able to overcome this? If so, how?
James: Just organisation in general really.
Pierre: Yeah as a group of people we weren’t the best when we started out, everything was up in the air we wouldn’t know where we needed to be, but we have become a lot better, thankfully we have Jake (guitar) who is the most organised, he is also one cool cucumber.
09 Do you play covers? If you could pick any song, which would you like to cover most and why?
Pierre: My Sharona! Because it’s cracking that or Blue Monday but we don’t really enjoy playing covers as much.
James: We’re always trying to write new material… covers can be fun though.
10 Where did you envisage being in five years time?
James: Hopefully touring and seeing more of the world… even if it’s peering from a van window.
Pierre: Making albums that all sound completely unique and with an amazing live show that we can play to as many people as possible.
11 Who would you most like to record with?
James: Lianne La Havas, Sting… would be nice to party with Stevie Wonder.
Pierre: I would love to do a song with Laura Marling that would be incredible.
12 What should we be expecting from you in the near future?
James: Our first EP is out on June 27th. Our first music video just came out but there will be more very soon.
Pierre: Over the next month we are playing shows in some interesting places to publicise our EP we are playing in a vintage clothes shop and a cave to name a few. In the next year we will be gigging everywhere possible in the UK.
Web Links:
facebook.com/TheSherpas
twitter.com/TheSherpasUK
Tour Dates 2013:
18th June – Hanger 142 Exeter, UK
27th June – Mama Stones Exeter UK – EP Launch
29th June – Rooster Records Exeter, UK
7th July – Rock Otočec Festiva,l Slovenia
12th July – Tiverton Balloon Festiva,l UK
23rd August – Morefest Dorset, UK
Link to buy the current single:
Telescope – itunes.apple.com/telescope-single
