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C4 Teletext Article From August 2002
It's been 18 months since The Void was first inundated with letters about a gang of psychedelic Leeds rockers who, in Robert Harvey, had a singer with the most amazing dancing since James Brown. The rest of Britain has quickly caught up, and now The Music are magazine-cover stars selling out every gig. So why wait until next week to release a single that can get them into the chart? What have they got against The Stone Roses? Adam Nutter tells all...
Re-releasing a new version of debut single Take The Long Road And Walk It - The Music's first chart-eligible single - is an experiment, says Adam Nutter. "We don't care about the chart," the guitarist insists. "It's a test to see how we're doing, what our fans make of it. We'd all be happy to go back to EPs no matter how high it gets." "Some fans prefer the original but only as that's the version they know. The new one's much more powerful."
Although known as one of the most exhilarating live bands around, Adam of The Music admits they've had trouble capturing that energy on record. "In January the record label was going metal," he says. "The reasons they wanted an album finished made sense but we shrugged it off. We had to work at our own pace or not at all. We were starting to panic. We didn't know what we were doing in the studio until we met our producer, Jim Abiss." The biggest flaw in The Music's career came when they had to cancel a whole joint tour with The Coral after singer Robert Harvey contracted laryngitis. "He sees a voice coach now," reveals guitarist Adam. "It's not changing the way he sings. It's all about tricks like improving his posture. We started when we were 16. You think you're immortal at that age but we've had to be realistic that Rob can't sing like he does with no comebacks."
One Of the most distinctive aspects of The Music's shows is Robert Harvey's spectacular dancing, which even his bandmates can't fully explain. "Every time he does the leap where he lands on his ankles, I expect to hear a snap" winces Adam Nutter. "That's all you'd hear if I tried his moves. He finds them easy to do. It's the same when we played football during breaks in recording. Rob's the one with the trickiest skills." A band who already polarise opinions, one recent Void letter which guitarist Adam saw called The Music "a Stone Roses karaoke joke". An indescribably livid Adam responds: "I don't even like The Stone Roses so can anyone tell me how exactly we're meant to sound like them? What, because we're four young men from the north of England with long hair we're ripping them off? What an absolutely pathetic, ignorant view."
Rather than The Stone Roses, guitarist Adam Nutter is happier for The Music to be compared to Led Zeppelin. "You" couldn't have taken any one man out of them," ponders Adam, 19. "There were four great talents who found each other there. It's the same with us. We all write the songs. I've written things I'm saving that aren't right for The Music. I think Chris Martin is a great talent but I worry that all Coldplay's songs are only his views." Despite their name, The Music have never been just about, well, the music. "We want to make our shows a complete sensory experience," says Adam Nutter. "We're looking at burning incense on stage. We still have our philosophies about how to escape for the walls that surround our lives but we're quieter about it. We do it, not talk it, now. "And we're so proud our singles look so distinctive because of our logo. Even if it does confuse colour-blind fans." Take The Long Road And Walk It is out on Monday
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