Can a bunch of sixth form kids start a band and get their gig off the ground? Asmund Lovdal talks to the guys in The Suspicious Pigeons about the release of their first single, finding their musical identity and breaking into the live circuit.
“What genre do we fit into? That is a tough question. Rock-something? We don’t really know to be honest.”
Kern Baker and Alex Waldie can’t agree on style, but name The Jam, Jimmy Hendrix and The Beatles some of their heroes.
More practical problems have been on top of the agenda, like securing suitable locations for band practice, organising transport and landing some live gigs.
Last month the Suspicious Pigeons released their first single, called Money.
To secure some gigs the band has pieced together a set of cover songs, ranging from Arctic Monkeys to Kasabian and Rolling Stones.
Alex said playing covers of popular songs is the best shot they have a new band to get a pub circuit going.
“Of course we want to make a living of our own music, that’s every musician’s ambition. Sadly only a handful will earn that privilege. When we first get chance to play live we slip in a few original songs to test the water, it’s the best we can do at the moment.”
Kern Said:
“Our short term target is to put together and release an EP of original songs. More long term we would like to break into the festival scene and play around the country. And personally I would love to get on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge, that is what I want in life.
“We have to work harder to promote ourselves, jobs are not coming to us from nowhere. “
Speaking about the local music scene in Lincoln, Kern and Alex both agree the city need more venues for new bands to get a chance.
“There is like one pub that has a jam night on, so it is a struggle to find places to perform. Fewer people are going to pubs and in return, fewer pubs book bands. “
All band members are currently doing or have done music as part of their education. They say it has helped
“It gives us opportunities to organise stuff, learn new things and help us write our own music as well.
“One of the teachers spend half an hour a week helping us working on our original songs. It has made a great difference and we feel that our songs are better quality now.”
Like many other new bands the pigeons find it challenging to get everyone together regularly. Made up of full time students who also have part time jobs it is hard to fit it all in. Alex said:
“George (guitar/vocals) makes it especially difficult some times. One time we had a gig we could not get hold of him all day. Five minutes before it started, he just showed up out of nowhere. Last summer he spent over a month in a tent just playing guitar and not communicating with anyone. “