Interview: Chris Davies of the Electric Circus Band

1:23pm Friday 8th August 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of The Electric Circus Band, a place submerged in a melting pot of influences and styles, with a touch of magic too. We spoke to Chris Davies as his Blackburn-born band begin to take the Manchester music scene by storm.

TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE BAND
We are a three-piece from Blackburn, formed in July 2006. The band consists of brothers Chris Davies(vocals, guitar, b.1987), Daniel Davies (drums, 1990) and Luke Ainsworth (bass, 1988). Me and Luke have played together in bands for the past six years. However, it wasn’t until we’d gone through a string of drummers that we tried out my brother Dan. It was a really smooth transition when Dan joined. Silly it didn’t happen earlier really. All three of us being so close for so long has helped loads in writing and developing songs. Our music has a distinct and sinister edge, hacking into the sounds of 1960s perfect pop and the raucous punk of the 1970s.

WHERE DID YOU GET YOUR NAME?
Electric Circus was a venue in Manchester where a lot of bands that we first got into — like the Sex Pistols and The Jam — played at in 1977. I saw it in print before we had formed this band and kept the name in my head until the time was right. It fits really well with the vaudeville look we have to our artwork as well. Vaudeville is a type of variety entertainment where you’d get an array of acts each night, which I like to think is similar to our live shows in the sense that each song fits to a different theme.

BAND HIGHLIGHT?
Supporting The Courteeners was a good one. It was a great experience, they were top lads and their success has really inspired us. We’re all really appreciative of the good reviews we’ve been getting of the new recordings as well.

IF WE COULD PERFORM ONE OF OUR SONGS WITH ANY ARTIST IT WOULD BE...
We’d play our track Trenches with Daniel drumming side by side with Matt Helders (Arctic Monkeys), John Barry directing a 24-piece orchestra along with it and Jack White would definitely walk on towards the end and whip out a solo. Tom Waits could do backing vocals if he wanted.

WHAT DO YOU SING IN THE SHOWER?
Chris: Scott Walker — Jackie.

Luke: Will Smith— Miami . . . “Party in the city when the heat is on, all night on the beach till the break of dawn.”

Daniel: The Style Council — You’re The Best Thing.

BLACKBURN’S BEST MUSIC VENUE?
The Hordens is one of the first venues that have started showing a lot of respect for bands by paying the headline; it’s not that money is an incentive, although it’s welcome as it's good not to end up out of pocket for doing a gig, which happens quite a lot.

CAREER AIMS?
Short-term, I have been in London for the past year and now I’m back with a stack of ideas. We want to up the ante. We’re aiming to record, write and perform as much as possible — developing every aspect of the band. Our plan is to record at least two new tracks a month with the aim of getting an eight-track promo. Next summer we want to be playing some part at one of the festivals, on stage. Long-term, I think we’ll have moved on to another sound and be experimenting with more instruments. We’d love to be able to fund making bigger and more epic music. And, of course, playing Glastonbury is something we’re hoping for in the not too distant future.

* The band’s latest EP is available to listen to at www.myspace.com/theelectriccircusband or you can buy the CD at one of their gigs. They are playing this Saturday at Joshua Brooks, Princess Street, Manchester.