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Interview: Steve Mitchell
Steve Mitchell is a man of many talents. After graduating from the Arden School of Theatre in 2011, he landed his first acting job as the charming guy on the ukulele in the train station for the match.com advert but he also fronts two bands (Ellerker and cover’s band The Plebs), writes his own acoustic music, does gymnastics, swims and still finds time to practice his inline skating technique. To top all this off, he is also starring in Savvy’s new music video for his forthcoming single While The Water Falls, I met up with him to find out a little more…
Hi Steve, do you own Bernard’s watch?
(Laughs) No, I’m really busy but…
How on earth do you manage to fit everything you do in?
Don’t know, I don’t have a clue - my mum is always saying that!
I hear you do a mean backflip too?
Yeaaah! Self taught which is one of my bad habits. Went to gymnastics in my first year of university because there was nothing like that near where I’m from. So, I started there and I have the right technique for certain moves now and improved so it’s easier but I’m going to feel it when I’m older - I’ll be in a wheel chair by 40!
How did you get in to everything that you do?
I think it was mainly just being in a secluded seaside town. There wasn’t much there. At the bottom of my street there’s a beach so we used to go rock climbing and tunneling through rocks - rat infested rocks - so I learnt to backflip on the beach. I fell of a break-water and I jumped back and landed on my knees. I was like ‘whoa’ and thought, let’s do that again!
Is there anything out of all the things you do that you prefer?
I prefer my music side I think. Fronting bands and my acoustic singer-songwriting. I love doing all that but I do prefer being in a live band.
Yeah, different atmosphere I bet. How did you get involved with match.com for their advert?
We did a showcase for my university in my final year, did one down in London and one in Manchester and I got myself an agent out of that then they put me forward for the advert then the rest was from me. So, they got me the audition but then the rest was down to me.
Have you ever used that tactic in real live to ‘woo’ a girl?
Err…not necessarily at a train station but yeah I have used it plenty of times with my guitar - it’s a good little trick!
Girls definitely tend to fall for a bit of music. My mate had some guys singing the ‘Girl on the platform smile’ song to her the other day, has that ever happened to you? Do you ever get recognised a lot?
I don’t tend to get recognised from it because I don’t usually have my hair as big and curly and also I don’t dress like that so people don’t tend to put two and two together it’s more of ‘Where do I know his face from?’ than anything. But, when they find out or they know I get it everyday. It was my first job straight out of university so I’m quite proud of it but I don’t want to be remembered by that, I want to get something else so it’s about breaking in to things now. It’s so hard to get into TV and film.
How did you get involved with Savvy’s new video for While The Water Falls?
Well, I’d done some promo work with the girl in it Olivia (Sweeney) and she does acting and stuff so we said we’d keep in touch which we did and she put me forward for it and then Savvy liked the look of us and obviously, it will be a great help with some exposure, acting and music-wise for myself.
Can you tell us a little bit about the concept of the video?
Myself and Olivia are a couple and I’m a bit of a d*ck and it’s kind of on the verge of, y’know, we’re not happy but we’re together because we live together and we’ve been in love for years and I guess we just got used to it but we are growing apart. It’s on the verge of breaking up which the song speaks about.
Did you have fun making it?
Yeah, brilliant fun. It was filmed in one of the film editors’ nice new house.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Hopefully find myself a new agent, hopefully get myself down to London a bit more, go on tour with my band this summer.
Is it tricky to balance live gig, especially touring with everything you do?
Touring is particularly when you’re doing acting and stuff because you don’t know when the next audition os going to be or where but I just have to say to my agent I’m unavailable this week or this day which happens for work anyway, I just keep them informed.
Dinner with one famous person, dead or alive?
It used to be Carmen Electra but there’s plenty of new ones. I watched the new American Pie Reunion last night and there’s a young girl in that who’s pretty hot so if I was single…
So, you’re definitely going for a hot girl? I’d definitely want to go for dinner with Stephen Fry…
Someone like that yeah. Yeah my girlfriend likes Stephen Fry. He is awesome, such a clever guy. I don’t honestly know though who I’d pick, I think it would have to be someone who wasn’t doing what I’m doing so we wouldn’t have that to talk about.
One meal for the rest of your life and one drink and that’s all you can eat and drink?
Cajun chicken baguette, probably with chips - I love that make it all the time and drink would probably be Southern Comfort and lemonade because beer gets me a bit clogged up the next days, it’s bad!
Thanks Steve, all the best!
You can check out some of Steve’s projects here:
Ellerker
ellerker.net
facebook.com/bandellerker
twitter.com/#!/bandellerker
The Plebs
facebook.com/pages/The-Plebs/
Solo music
reverbnation.com/stuntmansteve
Pick of the Week: Hounds
Four-piece punk-rock, dance mash up outift Hounds are set to release their brand new EP ‘The Wicked’ on June 4th 2012. Hailing from Essex, UK, Hounds have already gained a huge reputation for their explosive live performances and have recently been added to the Download Festival line-up for this June.
Olly Burden, Chas Langston, Adam Hammond and Chris Wallace deliver distinctive anarchic vocals with intense drumming, big synths and dirty bass lines. Their influence comes from a mix of iconic groups and genres, from The Clash to Nine Inch Nails, Refused to The Prodigy.
“Hounds are fucking great live, that’s why we put them on our festival” - Liam Howlett, The Prodigy.
The band went on to play Sonisphere festival in 2011 before supporting Does It Offend YouYeah? on their UK tour, playing all over the UK to huge crowds, as well asheadlining Manchester’s Studio venue for ‘In The City’ that same year.
The Wicked EP features 4 tracks, Fan The Flames being my personal favourite (and apparently Liam Howlett’s of The Prodigy too!) It’s punk rock with a twist. While it maintains the DIY, raw qualities of punk, the unique dance edge gives it a kick up the arse and makes it something really special.
“This EP is just a taster of what’s to come. It’s a snap shot of where we are at right now and just enough to whet the appetite whilst wecook up the next release.” - Olly, Hounds.
The Wicked EP is released on June 4th2012 from www.houndsmusic.com and all good digital stores.
LIVE:
31st May –LONDON – Sebright Arms (EP Launch Show)
8th June –DONNINGTON PARK – Download Festival
You can listen to the tracks here:
houndsmusic.com
facebook.com/houndsofficial
youtube.com/houndstelevision
soundcloud.com/hounds_uk
twitter.com/hounds_official
Stanley - Animals With Amazing Disguises
In the last couple of years, Scottish bands have slowly crept into my iPod playlists; Admiral Fallow and Frightened Rabbit being the most notable while for We Were Promised Jetpacks and Fatherson, the ‘big time’ appears to be impending. Now with the release of Animals With Amazing Disguises, it looks like Scotland’s musical success isn’t set to end just yet.
If I was to say Animals With Amazing Disguises was the debut album from an exciting 5-piece Scottish indie-pop band called Stanley, I’d forgive you for questioning me. However, while the collective may not have the most striking band name, do not let that fool you. This release comes after the success of singles Monkeys & Friends (Kittiwake Records) and Sandwiches & Tea last year and it is packed with the unexpected.
The first thing that struck me about Stanley was, unlike a large majority of Scottish outfits, singer Stephen Podlesny’s Scottish accent is almost undetectable (assuming he has one) which makes for a refreshing change. The album as a whole invites influences from a vast spectrum of genre. Opening track Join Hands introduces Podlesny’s strong vocals which hold obvious links to crooners of the Sinatra era. Much the same continues in to Leave It Up To You before my personal favourite, Edit The Night which (though it features some slightly odd ‘wild-west’ style whistling) has some superb lyrics, ‘They won’t let you in, you’re just another washed up has been/ and they wont let you die, you have give it another try.’
Monkeys & Friends introduces a slightly different tone to the album. It begins with dream inducing electronic chimes (not sure that’s the correct lingo) before a sudden switch in pace as the first rock influence is debuted. Obstacles continues the theme, increasing in pace and the one of the ‘heaviest’ tracks on the release (imagine Frank Sinatra had joined a rock band). The track showcases the band’s creativity which is continued in to Dance Like Your Daddy in the guitar has the chance to take more of a front seat over the singers powerful voice. Sumthin’s Burnin’ wraps the debut up as it’s heads back to it’s jazz roots.
Animals With Amazing Disguises takes on a a hell of a lot for a debut album. From the famous crooners of the past, to the likes of Muse, it is packed with inspiration from a wide variety of genres; which could have made for a messy release. Quite the opposite is true though as there is a sense of unity throughout the release.
Their creativity has definitely set a standard for other bands from the region and it’s fantastic to hear a band who are taking risks and doing it oh so well - I just kind of wish they’d used a tad more of that flare when brainstorming band names…
STANLEY / Animals with Amazing Disguises
LABEL – Stanley HQ
FORMAT - CD and Digital
RELEASE DATE - 16th April 2012
PROMO - Saint In The City
TRACK LISTING
1) Join Hands
2) Leave It Up To You
3) Edit The Night
4) Monkeys & Friends
5) Made For TV
6) Flowers
7) Obstacles
8) Dance Like Your Daddy
9) 2 Against 3
10) Sandwiches & Tea
11) Hollywood Endings
12) Sumthin’s Burnin’
Stick It To The Man Festival
“We want to give Huddersfield real music on that weekend not some stereotypical pop outfit tunes.”
Following recent events, i.e the council messing up our plans, myself and Dan Pearson were affectively forced to cancel InTheHudd festival which was set to showcase local talent along with established Yorkshire bands such as Club Smith, Hawk Eyes, Skint & Demoralised and Sam Airey. It was planned to be a two day event, across 9-10 June, at three of Huddersfield’s most popular music venues where we had worked to create different vibes (I say ‘we’ it was more Dan, and when I say ‘more’ I mean all, but I had done some pretty sweet posters for the event!). The council then decided to move their Jubilee celebrations to the same weekend and while no acts have been named for the event, the council have previously booked acts such as Eliza Doolittle and McFly - so we could not possibly compete.
Now, Huddersfield band Dirty Green Vinyl have taken it upon themselves to gather local bands and create their own mini festival, fittingly called Stick It To The Man. The two venue, one day mini-fest will take place the same day as the council’s opening Jubilee celebrations on Friday 8 June and will see enthusiastic local bands take the the stages of Zephyr and Little Buddha Bar.
The line up for the free festival includes Mexanines, Paper Plane, French Soul Party, St Somebody, We Four Ghosts, Marsicans, Crafters, Social Therapy, No Second Chances, One Stop Railway and, of course, Dirty Green Vinyl.
Dirty Green Vinyl bassist, Tom Bradshaw has said, “The opportunity In The Hudd festival gave to many local bands was brilliant with some big names set to headline so when we heard about its cancellation we were very frustrated.
We didn’t want to sit back and let what was set to be a great festival be ruined, so we contacted some of the acts that were going to play In The Hudd and some other local acts and we are pretty pleased with the response we got, a bit of a punk revolution!” (Huddersfield Examiner)
Huddersfield has so much potential to be thriving with music yet it seems harder than ever to organise events without taking on the local council. It’s encouraging to see such enthusiastic young bands trying to make an impact on the town’s music scene and sticking to their guns even against higher powers.
This, of course, comes with the news that Mumford and Sons will be gracing Huddersfield this summer which I, for one, hope will culminate in Huddersfield claiming its music scene back once and for all!
Aiden Grimshaw previews first single
Since leaving X Factor as a finalist Aiden Grimshaw has signed a contract with Sony RCA and is working on going stateside. Which is why he has been pretty quite on this side of the world.
His first single ‘Is This Love’ is not what I was expecting at all; quite the opposite in fact because I actually like it. Grimshaw seems to have shaken off that X Factor contestant tarnish and produced a track that isn’t a cover of an already shite song (i.e The Climb by Miley Cyrus) and there’s no hideous Mariah Carey-esque warbling. Instead the track is full of 80s influence but still maintains Aiden’s unique voice. Even though fans were expecting an acoustic based folk track from the singer, from the comments the majority seem satisfied with this first release.
You can listen to Is ‘This Love’ and make your own mind up exclusively on NYLON Magazine here.
