RGG September 2015 - p.9
with a lot more dirty vocals Then slowly we began
to understand songwriting a lot more and started to
make music that instead of copying what we were
hearing and seeing live more just reflects the things
we’ve always been influenced by It’s a big mix of
everything that comes to us naturally from what we
grew up listening to; we don’t want to push a
particular sound consciously It’s a bit ’s a bit ’s
a bit psychedelic… a lot of the stuff sounds like ’s
pop music a lot of structure from songs I remember
listening to as a kid If you look at the tracklisting of
The Greatest Hits Of
every song is set into my
brain that’s the first music I was into that was really
of the time With our sound it's like the drums are to
the point but beautifully constructed and the bass is
groovy and delicious The guitars are making love
and the whole thing explodes sometimes Actually I
don't know; I have no idea what our sound really is
We kind of like not really knowing or needing to
know ”
The first track that gained Peace a foothold in the
public consciousness ‘Bblood’ was heavily
influenced by Harry discovering dance music; a
culture he hadn’t previously been exposed to
“During
I started staying in Birmingham with a
mate who was a house DJ and there was a night
called FACE he was a resident at It was amazing and
brand new for me at this time; the first time I’d been
to a buzzing happening night in Birmingham that
didn’t involve guitar music All of these friends were
into techno and house which was completely new for
me I really loved the Sunday daytime parties
that Below were putting on and it became something
that was really influential in our sound I wrote ‘Bblood’
after going to WetYourSelf at Fabric for the first time
I was like ‘Imagine if you could do this as a band!’ I
was really into the shakers and bongos I wanted to add
techno elements to the music we were making and
that’s where ‘Bblood’ came from I spent
clubbing and it's two years I will never and don’t want
to get back ”
With their live performances leading to Peace
garnering a burgeoning reputation on their local scene
and having only played a handful of gig outside of the
Midlands the band took their show on the road with a
mammoth ‘Supertour’ that involved spending months
on the road in early
They headlined their own
shows initially and then supported Mystery Jets on a
jaunt around the UK and the Manic Street Preachers
on their European tour “Even starting to play in
London was a highlight at the time” remembers Harry
“When people came to see us at The Old Blue Last
there was a buzz in Birmingham but that’s our home
town and we have friends there but when people
started to get it in London… thinking about it that was
amazing Playing Brixton Academy with the Mystery
Jets… at the time I was so absorbed in what we were
doing but afterwards when I was watching the Mystery
Jets I was like ‘Fuck this is a huge venue!’ Then touring
with the Manics and James brought us beers and Nicky
Wire patted me on the back and said ‘Tonight’s going
to make a man out of you boy’… I was like ‘Shit this is
so weird’ It’s only in hindsight that you realise this
stuff is actual highlights ”
r
gg
since
1995
