‘There’s no label, no management…nobody making choices for us.’
The Famous Class talk Twitter, Touring, Reading, Blink 182 and what the future holds.
As the weather drops around London; Ben (Guitar), Joe (Drums) and Stoo (Guitar/Vocals) settle themselves down in to the cold, hard metal chairs at Victoria train station’s Wetherspoons to talk about life in a fast growing DIY band. Once the beers and lagers had been bought and introductions had been made it was time to crack on and find out what makes this band tick. Justin (Bass/Vocals) was stuck at work so couldn’t turn up but still spoke to me after a show they did at the o2 in Islington.
Being an unsigned band – to keep control of what they do – fans are really important and that’s something that doesn’t skip these guys minds. “Fans aren’t fans they’re friends” explains Joe and what with the internet and sites like ‘Twitter’ it is getting easier to stay in contact with the people who support you. Ben chips in saying “As long as we can keep up with people we will” they all control different parts of the band process like internet sites and merchandise like the t-shirts, “Talking to them [followers] helps us research what’s good or not.” It makes in much easier to love a band if you know that they are going to listen to your advice. “The comments we get [on twitter] from friends saying that they like us gives us a rush and that feeling is amazing.” Even the t-shirts are designed by the band themselves so you can wear a piece that they have thought hard and long over, making you feel closer to the guys. Everything they do shows the passion they have for the band and the people that keep them going.
Proving this passion the first way they got people to hear their music was to give out free demo’s outside other bands gigs, and now they have released their single ‘Emily’ for free on the bands website. Even the EP is at a low price it’s “a nice introduction and lets people know what we are about” says Joe. Besides letting people hear them risk free they are one of the bands trying to crack down on illegal downloading. Everything this band does seems to be done with the fans in mind; after all they are fans of their own music.
Regarding the sound of the EP it sounds very American pop-punk “we try and keep the accents off to make it sound British” says Stoo “making the music people want to hear and we want to play.” All coming from slightly different music backgrounds like nu-metal, rock ‘n’ roll and electric it is clear that they all have one band in common that they are influenced by and like so many other bands it’s Blink 182. The interview side tracks when Blink get mentioned and the guys start talking about Reading and seeing them live. Pulling it back to the topic at hand; each and every member of The Famous Class found that being in a band was the only natural road for their lives to go down, they can’t think of anything better that they would like to be doing. Unlike other bands however they all have separate jobs so that they can pay to get to gigs and give us the entertainment you would expect from a band that’s in it because they love what they do and not for the money. Every aspect of group has pure enthusiasm written all over it.
Being influenced by such bands like Blink and New Found Glory; although from listening to their five track EP you wouldn’t notice, the band strays away from the typical Emo music of the today and they have fun with the records. “The music is fun and not too serious” explains Ben “there’s a likeability factor there that people pick up on from not being a complete rip off” with Stoo adding that they “like to take piss out of self.” Making the music that they would want to listen to plays a big part in the overall sound. If they don’t want to hear it then why should we? This shows through on the stage when you can see that they enjoy every second of what they do.
The music live is a totally different story. As soon as that first chord is struck you are taken into the world that they have created for you. The songs will have you jumping within seconds and no matter how hard you try to keep a straight face you won’t be able to stop yourself from singing back the words to them. Even though they are a new band they still manage to cram so many songs into a half hour set. Covering other bands songs like ‘Never gonna give you up’ by Rick Astley, the band make them their own. Playing small venues is great for a band like this as it means that they are one with the audience and the energy they put in you find yourself putting in.
For a band called ‘The Famous Class’ fame is still a shock, people asking them for autographs and “opening up magazines and seeing myself” is still a way off experience even though it is happening now and happening fast. The advice they would give others in bands is “spend shit loads of time with them” and that’s true of these guys. You can certainly see the brotherly love on and off the stage even though they came together as pairs.
Whilst trying to remember whose round it was at the bar, the band explains how they come to be in the first place. Ben and Joe started out in a band together that they describe as “atmospheric rock and totally serious” They made the decision to start a band that had the “fun, upbeat pop-punk sound” Stoo joined them when “searching Gumtree and realised I lived down the same street as Ben”. They auditioned for a while to find a Bass player and that final important member but the auditions didn’t go as well as they wanted, the final piece to the puzzle wasn’t found until Stoo bought his mate Justin along. He was a natural choice as like the others he has a music background; he and Stoo where also in a band together before joining The Famous Class.
“Impressed with Justin as he had innovative, creativity and was really laid back like the rest of us and had really good ideas” says Ben; the rest as the old saying goes is history. Everything was on the up when Justin joined them “They didn’t realise I could sing until I did at a practise” so it was set, The Famous Class are ready to take over the world and make us enjoy life again.
The future sets to be bigger and better “musically we are right on track” Ben explains, “moving into bigger areas.” There’s going to be a lot of hard work for the band “work fucking hard, hard works pays off.” Ben tells me. The main objective seems to be to get more shows played so that more people can see them live. Not a single negative comment has been made and with a tour set for August and a single due out in the late summer this is one class you will not want to miss.
