Let me introduce you to a great up and coming band from Manchester. ‘No Hot Ashes’ This quality band have been making waves around the Manchester music scene for just over 12 months now and have been getting some rave reviews of some of music’s finest!
Check out my interview below and as usual all the links you need for the band.
Hi guys can you tell the readers your names and what each of you do in the band?
Hi, I’m Isaac and I’m Lead Singer/Guitarist, Hi, I’m Lui and I’m Lead Guitarist/Backing Vocals, Hi I’m Jack and I play the Bass Guitar, Hi, I’m Matt and I’m the Drummer.
How would you best describe No Hot Ashes’ sound to those unfamiliar with your music?
(Jack) Well, this is based on a recent blog review we received last week and we quite liked it. Our music was described as “A fusion of Funk with infectious Indie” which think is a good description of what we’re going for. Overall our music has been described as pretty danceable and funky.
Where did the name No Hot Ashes come from also what names did you think of before settling on No Hot Ashes?
(Isaac) The name actually came from, as you’ve probably noticed, our wheelie bins…not the most interesting founding of a name but we thought it was alright and it’s grown on us.
(Matt) Erm..We have played around with a few names in the past but they came about before we even began to gig properly to be honest.
Who are your biggest influences when it comes to your song writing?
(Lui) That’s always a tricky one, we all have quite varied influences but I think that all comes together really well to create the “No Hot Ashes” sound. I’m a big fan of old Manchester music combined with a love of Shoegaze guitar sounds, I always try to be experimental with my guitar sounds using effect pedals.
(Isaac) In terms of actually writing lyrics, I’ve always found influence in the Mancunian poet, John Copper Clarke. He manages to be satirical and witty and he confronts local matters, which I’ve always admired him for. Frank Black, Alex Turner, Lou Reed, Ray Davies and Morrissey are people I’ve always looked up to in terms of writing. They’re all unique in the way they craft their words and I try my best to do the same.
(Jack) Like Lui said, there’s a load of artists/bands that influence as and we think it works really well when we put together our ideas and sounds.
What’s next as far as recordings and releases go? Especially I’d like to hear more about the kickstarter project that you have started and I hear you are now very close to reaching your goal?
(Matt) Well at the moment we are on a bit of a gig break to knuckle down on writing some new tunes, we have two at the moment which haven’t been recorded called “Goose” and “Talk To Me” both are top tunes and probably the best music we’ve written so far.
(Lui) Yeah, we started the Kick-starter project not long ago now and it’s gone down really well, managed to achieve our target in under a week and donations still seem to be coming in.
(Jack) The idea was to set it up to fund our studio sessions which due to lack of funds we haven’t been able to book, but we’re looking to record at “Blueprint Studios” in Salford. Some top bands have recorded there like Elbow and The Courteeners so we’re pretty excited to have a go there.
What are your plans for the rest of 2014?
(Matt) Well we`ve got quite a few really exciting gigs coming up this year, but two dates that we are really going to looking forward to are:
- Deaf Institute//21st June…which is looking to be a sell out..
- Blackthorn Festival//25th-27th July…Reverend & The Makers Headline.
As well as these we have a few Manchester dates in the pipeline and a couple out of town gigs.
What was the first gig/concert you went to see? And did it have a lasting effect on your music today?
(Lui/Isaac) Well, us two first went to a gig together in 2012 to see Blood Red Shoes play Manchester Academy 2. It wasn’t either of ours first gigs but it definitely had a lasting effect on both of us to this day.
(Lui) My first big concert gig was Arctic Monkeys @ MEN Arena in 2011, it was just on the back of releasing their “Suck It And See” album and it was a top night; they played a lot of early album tunes which was good to see.
(Isaac) I remember the first proper big gig I went to was to see Miles Kane at Manchester Academy. 2012 I think. That was a seriously good gig, and where I came to the realisation that the stage presence of an act can seriously affect the way you think of an artist. Miles owned that stage and that crowd, and having a sea of people screaming his words back at him was a great image. I definitely try and move and dominate the stage as much as I can because of him.
What is the funniest thing to happen to you at one of your gigs?
(Isaac) There’s been a lot of laughs in the 2 years we’ve been gigging, too many stories to tell…probably one of the funniest moments was back in early 2013, we were offered a really late set at 1am in the morning to play this local Christmas party in Stockport. At first we were kind of buzzing to be the last band on and expected a huge crowd as the place was hammered when we first got there, as the night went on we realised it wasn’t going to be what we expected, our drummer Matt saw this coming and decided to hit the drink pretty early on in the night and by the time it was our turn to get on he was struggling to get onto the stage. To a crowd of about 3 people, 2 drunks, 1 drunk who`d fallen asleep, oh and the cleaning lady who had already begun mopping the dance floor. As you can picture it wasn’t our proudest moments on stage, although the cleaner seemed to enjoy herself. 23rd December. What a shit night.
Here are your all important links.
Kickstarter Project:
Soundcloud:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/No.Hot.Ashes.Band?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_NoHotAshes
BULLY'S MUSIC BLOG! 
One thought on “Interview with ‘No Hot Ashes’”