in conversation with Eddie's Samband

After pleasantly surprising the band by reviewing their single last month, i decided to get in touch with Eddie's Samband to try and find out a little more about the fledgling act...

I'm sure it's the one question the whole musical world has been asking, but who are Eddie's Samband?

Sam1: We are Eddie, Sam and Sam or Sam and Eddie and Sam or Sam, Sam and Eddie, or just Eddie's Samband.  Three people from North London who enjoy spending far too infrequent amounts of time together making music, generally fuelled by cheap booze and bad jokes.

Sam2: Eddie’s Samband is a feeling, a movement, a way of life.

Eddie: Eddie's Samband is a chemical reaction of off brand Baileys and Tesco brand buck's fizz… fuck’s bizz.

Sam2: If you’ve ever had a feeling and not known what it was, how to deal with it or even if it’s in a ‘talent’ time signature, you are Eddie’s Samband.

Eddie: Sam and I were already mates before we started the “project” and he suggested we record some songs with his friend who is also called Sam. We stumbled into a rehearsal studio I was working in at the time and recorded a song about getting drunk. The rest is history

Do you think Stacey could be persuaded to listen to techno? What is she into?

Sam2: In a word, NAH. She loves a bit of Craig David played on her phone while she’s walking round the estate or reppin’ the back of the bus.

Sam1: I think that she doesn't even know what she likes, she generally has a hankering for top charts bangers and bargain bin Shiraz but that's only because her friends do, in private she probably prefers silent crying and the sound of her own heartbeat.

Eddie: I think I remember meeting Stacey in the smoking area of a run-down pub in Islington… The kind of pub that hadn’t changed the furniture or carpet since the smoking ban. We were talking about festivals and gigs we've been to. Well I was anyway... She was chucking her guts up because she took advantage of the cheap house wine.

Before she left, I slipped her a copy of Moby’s 2009 album “Wait For Me” and told her it would be a good listen for a hangover.

I’ve not had contact with her since.

I see you've been shouting out KT Tunstall and Adele on twitter, are these the strong female artists that you wish to emulate?

Sam1: Can one shout on a medium that doesn't have a volume control? I mean, you can be kind of aggressively visual using CAPS LOCK but it's not got the same power as a good ol' shout, does it?

Sam2: You could say we wish to emulate them. Or you could say we’re just horrific pests on social media.  I definitely want to be one of them when I’m a grown up.  Either or.  I’m not picky.

Eddie: Sam’s a very big fan of KT. I can’t say I’m a huge fan but I can appreciate a good singer/songwriter when I hear one. I wouldn’t say what we’re doing is emulating anyone, it’s just;

“Hey, we all play instruments. Let’s get together and make some noise.”

Sam1: I'm pretty sure we just want to go for a drink with them...

 Sam2: I think a night out with Eddie’s Samband, Adele and KT would be banging. Perhaps when they’re drawing up the table plans for next year’s BRIT Awards they could take this in to account?

Sam1: They would certainly be on the list of people we are influenced by - well the Sams are, I think Eddie's kind of KT-curious verging on A-DeleSexual...

Eddie: I’ve been A-DeleSexual for years pal.  I guess I’m more influenced by other artists we mutually like… Bowie, The Cure, Radiohead, Fleetwood Mac, The Raconteurs to name a few...

Delving deeper and listening to your debut #feelingsEP reveals that the band can show a slightly more serious and sensitive side... What is it that makes the band tick and what can we expect of any future releases?

Sam2: Feelings. If we ever experience any feelings, they’re in a song

Sam1: What makes us tick? Gin mostly.

Eddie: I think with #feelingsEP we were trying our hand at writing songs with meaningful lyrics and interesting chord progressions while still sounding okay while under the influence. It just seemed a bit boring to be so serious and feelsy all the time so we just decide to have fun and do whatever... even if it didn’t meet traditional songwriter standards

Sam2: Sometimes I just want to get drunk, and that’s a feeling. And that’s ok. Any future releases are guaranteed to have a wide array of mixed messages, mixed emotions and stains of gin and misery.

You've presented yourselves as 'Three drunks and a laptop'.... Any plans to take that set-up into the real world and perform live?

Sam2: We will only play anywhere that has free WiFi and free booze. If you know anywhere that meets that criteria, we’ll consult the Filofax and see if we can be bothered to rock up.

Sam1: That sounds like it would involve a lot of work.

Eddie: I think we’ve all played together at the same time a grand total of once and that’s when we had our first jam.

Sam1: You know, Sam and I tried a rehearsal for a live show we'd been offered (Eddie was busy with his real band or a funeral or something) and we couldn't even remember the chords to the songs. Needless to say we didn't do it.

Eddie: It does sound like a good idea but it would require a lot of planning, rehearsal and booze so I’m not sure we’re gonna be playing shows any time soon... I wouldn’t rule it out though!

Sam1: We'd definitely still be three drunks and a laptop on stage.  The intermittent pauses while waiting for the ageing macbook to reboot from yet another crash would be fun though, wouldn't they?

And lastly, who were your first cartoon crushes and do you think these have informed your later life choices?

Eddie: That’s a very interesting question

Sam1: This question is quite random, I kind of like it, what was the reasoning behind it?

Eddie: I think mine was probably Buttercup from the Powerpuff girls. I’m not sure why, it’s probably the tomboy-ish attitude and taste in music haha!

Sam1: Daria is deliciously morose and may be my spirit animal. But I wouldn't say I ever had romantic feelings for a drawing. I've had other feelings about drawings, but never lustful ones, I mean, never say never, but I haven't so far in my life...

Eddie: I can’t say a childhood crush on an anime inspired little girl with superpowers has affected my life choices.. I think meeting a woman with those characteristics is a bit far-fetched.

Sam2: I would probably say Simba. I just couldn’t wait to be queen at the time. I don’t think this has influenced any of my later life choices really other than the occasional Lion King sing-along in the office at work. Lions don’t form a part of my sexuality.

#feelingsEP and Stacey's Crying are both out now via bandcamp

are Radiohead tickets worth £65?

it is kind of a big deal that Radiohead have announced a bunch of arena tour dates.

it is a big deal when Radiohead announce anything whatsoever.

whether it is the aforementioned tour, a from the basement video-cast or cryptic clues pointing to a new album.

Radiohead occupy a unique space within the musical hemisphere, having gained enough popularity and respect so as to be as experimental as they desire and tackle the industry on their own terms, and still be praised every step of the way. They are the musical equivalent of an eccentric recluse and we still love them for it, which means that any public appearance is something to get excited about.

The Bends, OK Computer and Kid A form my own holy trinity of Radiohead releases that changed the way that i viewed music, discovering that there was more than just commercial radio and pop hooks in this world, the progression of Kid A in particular shaped my perception of music, leading me to develop eclectic new tastes and also proved inspirational when i eventually came to create music myself.


Although i believed most of the upcoming tours set-list would be drawing heavily upon King Of Limbs and In Rainbows, i gave myself enough time to consider how this band have impacted upon me so greatly in my life, and having been blown away by live videos of the band performing, i knew that i had to be there, i had to join the legion of clamouring fans that would be clogging the ticketing site come 9am on friday.







that was until i read of the pricing structure.

standing tickets would be £65.

with fees, the cost of a single ticket exceeds £70.

and full of disappointment, i decided that i was not going to be paying that.

there are a small number of acts that i would expect to charge phenomenal prices for tickets, and as such, on principle, i would not pay to see, included in these are Madonna and Paul McCartney, and before his death, Michael Jackson, as much as i may have wanted to see all of these acts live, i just can't reach that far into my pockets.

more recently i was shocked to see that tickets for Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch The Throne jaunt at the O2 would be as much as £65 before fees for a standing ticket, but having witnessed the first leg of Kanye's Glow In The Dark tour some years back, presumed that the outlandish cost would be in order to cover the massive overheads involved with such an equally outlandish stage show.  regardless, i declined the chance to purchase tickets.

and now it seems Radiohead have hauled themselves into this pocket universe of exorbitant entrance fee commanders alongside Madge and Macca and the double-teaming rap power vehicle.

when In Rainbows was released on a 'pay-what-you-feel' manner to download, Radiohead were seen as forward thinking and innovative in their business model, whilst others moaned that only a band that had reached an enviable level success could even contemplate such a practise without hemorrhaging money, and in the years since we have seen Radiohead play an intimate free gig in Brick Lane, Thom Yorke personally hand out promotional newspapers on the streets of London and collaborate on DJ sets in support of the Occupy London movement and overseas alongside Flying Lotus, and Radiohead (either whole or in parts) have played surprise sets to well-informed crowds at Glastonbury.

yet now it seems that anyone wishing to see the band live in an arena environment on a proper tour are the people that are quite literally the ones that will be paying the price for Radiohead's recent flare for an unorthodox departure from the music business' grinding gears of commerce.