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NME Article From October 2001
Want a band that are dead cocky, totally rock and wanna change the world? Meet The Music - The most thrilling of Britain's bright young things.
Three pm in a north London photo studio, and in a haze of dope smoke and chip fumes, four teenagers in worn T-shirts and flares are blasting the state of British music. From Kippax, Leeds, they are called The Music (Robert Harvey, 18 - voice/guitar, Adam Nutter, 18 - guitar, Phil Jordan, 19 - drums, and Stuart Coleman, 18 - bass), and they're here to change things.
"Something's got to happen," demands Adam, idly fiddling with his wooly hat. "There's no scene, no vibe, no nothing..." "People are trying to do something rather than just doing it," agrees Robert through a mouthful of chips. "We're not trying, we're doing," says Adam. "For us," declares Robert dramatically, "music is an escape."
The Music are, without question, the most exciting British guitar band to emerge in the last 12 months. Fresh out of school, they play a strident, freewheeling psychedelia totally at odds with the prevailing trend for introspective acoustic rock, and their gigs are joyfully intense celebrations of youthful energy. To date, they've released one limited-edition indie single ('Take The Long Road And Walk It') which sold out in a week. Ongoing support from Radio 1's Evening Session and a heavy touring schedule has meant taht the buzz around them has continued to grow. All of which makes the imminent arrival of their new EP on Hut the source of great anticipation. It's an excellent record, dominated by its towering opening track. Called 'You Might As Well Try To Fuck Me', it features the title repeated mantra-like over and over again.
The Music, you see, have attitude. Sprawled out on the studio floor, they're restless and mouthy. They claim they "dont listen to modern music", preferring instead Lec Zeppelin and psychedelic cult hero Shuggie Otis. They hate festivals (Robert: "you go these days and there's only about one band you want to see. I went to Leeds and just sat in a tent all day getting hammered.") and cant bear to talk about other bands (Adam: "whats the point?"). They insist youth culture ia a joke. As a band, it's fair to say they only deal in epic sentiments, whether they've thought them through or not. "It all just brings me down sometimes," admits Robert. "people my age have nothing to do," "All creativity has been stifled," says Adam. "Art doesn't exist any more," sighs Robert. "My mates are 20 years old and are bored with their lives." "They have to get a job that they don't fucking like because their education was crap." rants Adam. "Its terrible."
The four claim they were forced into starting a band because in Leeds there's nothing to do and nowhere to go - or nowhere the devoutly anti-fashion band feel welcome. "The clubs are all shit and they've knocked down all the venues," shrugs Phil, scraping his hair from his eyes. "Go to a club and look at somebody wrong and you just get beaten up," agrees Stuart. "I'd rather listen to some good music at home and then just run into a wall," laughs Robert. "We get so much shit, though," says Adam, suddenly serious. "Cars beep at us, little kids take the piss out of us, grown men come up to me in the pub and say, 'get your hair cut, you scruffy little bastard.'" "A lot of it is mouth..." counters Robert. "...but if you turn around and say something you get a smack in the mouth, don't you?" snaps Adam.
The Music think that "art is freedom". Robert will later declare: "I like coming home from the rehearsal totally wrecked and drawing how I feel there and then. I go home and write pages and pages of bullshit." Their mission, they say, is to inspire people. They want the world to stop listening to bands like Starsailor and get a life. Adam: "Its not that we hate them... we just don't like that sort of music. I dont really want to get into it. We're here to talk about us, not them." Robert: "We dont dislike them personally, and if people like it fair enough. I just dont think there are enough bands around nowadays trying to create something new. I think its time for people to party again." Adam: "Everything's too nice. People are just standing around watching it. When we play, he (points to Robert) dances his bollocks off. People go mad. They dance and have a good time. Thats what its all about." Robert: "Maybe people do have a good time just sitting in a theatre watching these bands but thats not for us.
There's an awful lot of miserable people out there..." Adam: "...and thats what we're feeding off."
It's this energy that people are feeling. By the time you read this, The Music will have supported New Order, The Charlatans and Oasis. They aren't nervous about the prospect, they they deserve it.
(Robert: "What was it that Noel said about us the other day? That we should be honoured to be on the same stage as them? I think it should be the other way around. He should be honoured to have us.")
Such self-confidence separates them from their peers. And their music is shot through with a similar verve and vision. They're the ones to make it happen. "We definitley inspire people," nods Adam.
"people come up to us and say we do all the time. People like The Coral (who The Music have played with, and will do so again later this month) are already starting to rise up and come through now." "This thing NME's doing with all these new bands, thats a start, isn't it?" agrees Robert. "Whe're 18," concludes Adam, drawing on his spliff, "and we dont know what the fuck we're doing, but at least we're doing it. Hopefully, people will see us and form even better bands than us and things will keep spiralling."
The others nod in agreement. That's how its going to be. The future's bright. The future's all about The Music.
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