eGigs talks to The Maybes?

eGigs had a quick chat with Lee Smith guitar and vocalist for the Liverpudlian indie rock five piece The Maybes? The band were with him in the car as they travelled to their next gig.

So what are the band up to right now?
We've just got our last single (Summertime) out last Monday on download, vinyl and 7” and the album (Promise) comes out on Monday 15th September. We've been doing loads of festivals, a bit of touring, and we're off down to Shrewsbury now. We're on our way there to do our tour gig with Travis and the Guillemots.

What made you decide to go vinyl?
It was the record label's idea, vinyl seems to be making a bit of a comeback, you know. A lot of people seem to be buying it, a lot of Djs seem to be playing it which is a good thing though. I'm into the physical thing of having a copy, I like collecting records myself, and some of the bands do as well, we're all to vinyl.

I think we were conned I think vinyl sounds better than CD.
Yeah and tapes as well, I think anything analogue sounds better.

How did you get together?
We all sort of new each other before we started, we actually got the band together after we went to music college together. We where there for a couple of years and just got together because we played well together.

Can you tell me a little bit about the other band members?
There's Nick Ellis singer and plays guitar, Nick Otaegui he plays bass guitar and sings as well, Timothy Tierney he plays guitar and sings, myself Lee Smith I play guitar and sing, and Dominic Allen plays the drums. We all played in bands before, playing together was always the best, and when we played together we realised we had something good, like.

So what can we expect from the debut album 'Promise'?
We recorded it in Monnow Valley, South Wales in a studio and a producer called Head. We did it in three stages over three weeks. It's just a good representation of what the band's about I think, and what type of music we're into, what type of stuff we're into too.

So what's the worst 'Promise' you've ever made?
Worst promise? I don't know, you know, you mean one that I haven't kept? I don't know.

Okay how about the best one?
I don't know, (asks rest of band) any one of you's done a good promise that you made or a bad promise that you made?
Nick Ellis: I promised to free the Reading four, (band laugh) I haven't done it yet but I will. All will be revealed.

What sums up this year's 'Summertime' for you then?
What sums up this summer time? Rain, probably a lot or rain, not much sun, fun in the rain.

You've done quite a few festivals this summer, do you have any favourites?
Latitude, was probably my favourite. It was just the atmosphere, and everything there, the line-up was good, everything about it really. Where we played was right by this lake, in the middle of this forest, it was amazing, it was good.

Do you get a chance to look around when you're at a festival?
Sometimes we do, at some of them we were there for the whole festival, so after we played we had a chance to go and have the festival experience. None of us have ever been to a festival before this summer, so it was like we were all festival virgins. Some of them we did, some of them we didn't. At Latitude we did, because we were there for the whole thing, V festival, and Isle Of Wight we were there for the whole thing as well. For the Leeds and Reading we didn't because we were only there for the day that we played, but they were two good festivals as well, Leeds and Reading, we enjoyed them.

So who has influenced your music?
We all influence each other as people, friends, and family, influenced by that, places where we go, people we meet and where we live. Musically, I'd say everything, because there's five of us in the band, we all listen to totally different stuff, but the same stuff as well. Everyone brings something to it, brings their own influence, we listen to everything, anything, a good song is a good song, all different genres, no specific type of music, we listen to anything really.

What's the most memorable gig you've played and why?
I'll put you on to the drummer, this is Dominic.
Dominic: Most memorable gig was probably Inverness where we played this very small pub, and we were missing our bass player. We were getting intimidated by the locals and that, and it just turned out to be a great gig, and we loved it. That's the most memorable, my favourite anyway. That was about two years ago.

What was the first gig you ever went to see?
first band? It was I think Cast in the Royal Court in about 97, we all actually went there to see them, before a lot of us knew each other as well, we all went to see it, we were all at the same gig. It was quite mad really, that we were all there as well. That was like the first proper concert that we all went to see.

Who is the best band you've ever been to see?
That's a hard one that is! Nick's is the Manics, Dominic's is Faithless in the MEN Arena, probably the best one I've seen is The Rolling Stones in Sheffield when I was about 16 that was amazing they were fantastic. Nick Otaegui: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Who would you most like to have on stage with you?
That's a hard question, Timmy Mallet, or someone like that, or Rolf Harris on a stylophone or beat boxin'.

Hey, we just nearly had an accident in the car.
I better let you get on then, thanks for the interview.

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