Like many other bands, The Pigeon Detectives were a huge part of the local music scene before getting their big break in the industry. After embarking on worldwide tours, releasing three successful albums and touring with one of Britian’s biggest bands, the boys are nearly into their eighth year and are still going strong.
The bands new tour visited Lincoln on Saturday, November 12th and it was the second time the band have played in the city.
The bands return will be significant to the group as their new tour will give them a chance to play infront of a live crowd again. “When you’ve been away for a while, stepping out again gets your adrenaline going. We pride ourselves on playing live. You know that every single person there is a Pigeon Detectives fan and we thrive off that,” guitarist Ryan Wilson explained.
After a busy few years and a hectic lifestyle, the band felt like they needed some time off. “In 2008 we released “Emergency” and throughout 2008 and the beginning of 2009, we toured the world to promote the album. We decided that for the third record we would have a break so we took a couple of months off to wind down. It seems like we were away for a long time!” said Wilson.
The band formed in 2004 and played a large part in the Leeds music scene before being noticed by DJ’s such as Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley. Before forming the The Pigeon Detectives, the group were close and grew up together in the same area of Leeds.
Having grown up together and spent a lot of time as a group, their music has continued to develop over the past few years and Wilson explains how their music has grown with them every step of the way. “We sort of matured a bit and that came across in our records. The bands friendship has also remained strong and after spending so much time together, the band are more like a family. We’re a bit like brothers, we’ve got quite a good relationship,” Wilson cexplained.
The bands new album “Up Guards And At ‘Em!” was released earlier this year and as part of their comeback tour, the band wanted to create music that was different to their previous work. “In the studio we experimented with loads of different instruments we had never picked up before, we wanted to be a bit different,” Wilson explained.
Festival season is always a key time for bands to get themselves noticed and more importantly, build up their fan base. Wilson spoke about the bands favourite venues and how playing closer to home makes it a little bit more special.
“We played Glastonbury in 2008 and I think there were about 40,000-50,000 people there it was incredible But Leeds festival is always up there because with us being Leeds lads, we get to play somewhere local which is such an achievement. We’ve played every stage at Leeds now. Festival Republic, NME and The Main Arena,” said Wilson.
Fellow Leeds born band The Kaiser Chiefs are partly to blame for the success of The Pigeon Detectives and without their support and mentoring, the band wouldn’t be where they are today.
Wilson spoke about how their mentoring helped raise the bands profile and get them noticed in the music scene. “It really helps a lot, we’ve become good friends with the Kaiser Chiefs and we owe them a lot I guess, they helped us raise our profile and get us seen,”
As 2012 looms the band have a busy year ahead of them “It’s going to be a bit quiet over Christmas but in January we’re looking at getting back into a studio to record the new album. In February we’ll start preparing for our European tour and then the festivals start once again next,” said Wilson.
As the band get out on the road once again, it’s clear that that’s the place they’d rather be. If you missed teh chance to see them at their sell out date at Tokyo Lincoln, there is every chance you’ll see them about in the new year.