It would be difficult to find a band at the centre of a bigger storm of expectation than The Music. It would also be difficult to find a band that has been able to live up to those expectations.
Regardless of the manner in which the band has overcome the feverish anticipations of music (no pun intended) fans around the world, drummer Phil Jordan still expresses concern over the reception for the band’s forthcoming sophomore effort, Welcome To The North: “The jinx is there, the jinx is always there… it’s there through albums three and four (even).”
If you read NME, you almost certainly know the story behind the group. Originally from Leeds, England, the group formed in the music classes of Brigshaw High School as a way to stave off boredom and, as the band puts it, “keep off the streets.”
“While I was away every Friday night playing drums, everybody else was on the streets just walking around getting pissed,” says Jordan during a recent interview before a Toronto gig at the Mod Club.
The band had instant chemistry, writing six songs at their first practice despite the fact that Jordan was the only member with more than two months’ experience on his instrument. The band knew that they had clicked, and began the long and arduous task of getting their music to the right ears.
The UK music press began to take notice of the talented young group and a series of feverishly anticipated singles served to reinforce the hype. NME (a hugely influential British music magazine, akin to Rolling Stone) went so far as to suggest that The Music were potentially the most important band since Oasis. Today The Music wishes that the magazine wasn’t so quick to make such a bold comparison.
“That quote has plagued us, it’s been in every interview we’ve ever done… it just amazes me that the NME can still swing that power, when their quotes can follow our career,” says Jordan.
Clearly the drummer has a love/hate relationship with the music press. “The more I read it, the more I read less of it,” he declares. “They seem quite happy to just destroy people’s lives just to sell magazines to kids. Kids read [NME] religiously across the world, and that brings a responsibility that I don’t believe the NME live up to.”
The Music were in town to begin promoting their new record. The album shows maturation of the songwriting and a greater understanding of songcraft by the entire group. The band chose to work with noted producer Brendan O’Brien (STP, Aerosmith, Aimee Mann) for their sophomore effort, and the record showcases a more diverse palette of sounds than their first, somewhat like-minded dance-rock record. When asked which album he prefers, Jordan only smiles and suggests that his choice is obvious.
Hugely popular in the UK, Japan, Australia and Canada, The Music plan to turn their attention to the lucrative U.S. market, one which Jordan feels is best reached through music video, a difficult task for a band trying to hold on to their artistic integrity. After all their success, the band is now hoping to express on video that same feeling of chemistry they enjoyed musically in their first practice.
“All the videos have been shit, and all the ideas that come in for us from all the directors are shit, to be honest,” complains Jordan. “I just want someone who kinda knows, who is on the same wavelength, not just some American guy coming in saying, ‘I want you all on wires flying around.'”
If their past is any indication, The Music will manage to avoid this trap, too, and make inroads into the all-important American market their own way: through hard work, and-what else?-good music.
Pat Bramm and Mike Dawson play bass and drums respectively in local indie band The Daybreak. As it happens, their band opened for The Music’s first local date at Lee’s Palace last year. The Daybreak play Lee’s again this Thursday (Sept. 16) at 10:30 p.m. To get on the guestlist, visit their website at www.thedaybreak.net.
