Gigslutz Interview: Dexters - GigslutzGigslutz

London-based band Dexter’s are in town on the last leg of their debut album tour and subsequently their homecoming gig at The Garage, Islington. Before the boys take to stage and rock the socks off of the venue they kindly take some time out to sit down with Gigslutz to take us through the tour and the album.

Congratulations with the new album guys, you must be happy with the responses! How’s it going down on the tour?

Tom: It’s going really well mate, it’s the first set of gigs where the crowd have been singing along to the words. We like to have a look round and try to catch them out, see who gets the words wrong. Nah, it’s been really good.

Now the album’s been out for 3 weeks, as the tour has gone on have you seen more responses to the songs?

Tom: Yes, it’s been good. The start of the tour began with places where we’ve managed to cement a following through our live sets, before the album came out, so we haven’t seen any dips in the crowd responses because they already knew the songs.

Are you finding the singles that aren’t on the album are receiving the best reception or are the album tracks finding their feet as the tour goes on?

Chris: Cloudfest is getting a good response, which is the opening track on the album and the song we start the set with. We’ve been hearing people singing the riff back at us, which is nice. We’ve never heard that before, it’s usually the lyrics. There’s a new one that isn’t even on the album and people are starting to recognise that.

Tom: Yeah we have some people that come to more than one gig, the Dexter’s army, and they’ve started to recognise the new one as the tours gone on.

There are moments on the album where you can hear influences from other bands such as The Clash, The La’s and Chapel Club. Is that fair to say?

Tom: Funny you should say that as the producer on the album worked with Chapel Club on their EP so there are definitely some similarities between the two. On ‘Can’t Sleep’ you can definitely hear a Chapel Club influence.

Chris: For me it’s bands like The strokes, massively, but also Thin Lizzy’s guitar harmonies. Me and Ben, the other guitarist like to harmonise on the riffs.

Tom: The live show is influenced more by bands such as The Black Lips and Miles Kane. Lively bands that bounce off of each other and get a crowd going.

Are there any influences for you Tom, as a frontman?

Tom: Tom from Kasabian, I think he’s great, he’s a massive influence but I also love Liam Gallagher. I think we’re very different, I need to run around where as he can command attention by just staring, I cant do that by just staring but I can do it in my own way. I just love being a frontman but not too flamboyant, I like being extrovert on stage.

With this being the last gig on the tour and in London it’s obviously a bit of a homecoming gig. Does that add any pressure or make it easier?

Tom: I just want to show the what we can do and what we’ve been getting up to. A lot of our friends and family wouldn’t have seen us for a while because we’ve been playing all over the place, so it’s good to show them how we’ve progressed.

What’s been the highlight of the tour so far? Any crazy nights?

Tom: Stoke man, they’re nuts! They went mental there, all of the shows have been really good. We’ve played all over and places like Glasgow were really really good but Stoke just took the biscuit. People stormed the stage and then just ran off.

Chris: They were rocking back and forth and side to side, there were kids jumping on each other.

Have you seen any patterns or similar demographics in the crowds you’ve bed playing to?

Tom: Not really it’s been really varied. All ages are turning up, some of the shows have been 14+ so it has been really mixed.

Has the translation between the album and the live shows been an easy one?

Chris: There hasn’t been a crazy amount of production, there’s been a couple of songs from the album like ‘Can’t Sleep’ that have been a little more difficult to put across live, I’ve had to buy a few more peddles and bits and bobs. We don’t want to be a band that use a backing track so we want to be live as much as possible.

Tom: If the backing tracks is part of the music and adds something to it, like a string section, then that’s fine but sometimes they’re used as a gap filler but I love the gaps that makes it sound live.

Chris: Our producer knew we were a live band and that’s where we do well so that’s what we wanted to get across on the album. Everything we done in the studio was something we can do live so it hasn’t been a struggle at all.

Did you set out to write an album or did you have a collection of good songs that happened to make a good album?

Tom: The singles came first but they were recorded in the album sessions, we just touched them up before we released them. We sat down with the producer and wanted to work out how we get across our live sets in an album but make sure it wasn’t too messy. We’re really happy with how it turned out.

Chris: Personally I think the album is in 2 shades and the earlier tracks are the original sound we had but then it progresses through.

Tom: The influences at the back end are slightly different, you can hear some Afro Beat but also some Bombay Bicycle Club type guitar lines. Something like Shimmer Gold, with the echos etc, isn’t necessarily like Recover but you can still tell they’ve been done by us and has our sound. It’s all guitar music but different varieties of guitar music, under one guitar-shaped umbrella.

Chris: It’s got movement.

You have b-sides on the singles which isn’t that common anymore, is that an indication that there’s more material in the pipeline? Is there one eye on the next album already?

Tom: There’s one song we’ll play tonight that I think will be on the second album but because we’re on tour it’s hard to work on stuff. I’ve got about 12 songs that I haven’t even played to the rest of the band yet so there’s enough stuff out there for b-sides, a new album and EP’s so who knows. The worlds out lobster.

One last question, you’ve been given support from soccer AM and it is World Cup year so do you think England can win it and what’s your favourite England Football song?

Tom: They can but they probably won’t if I’m being honest and fav World Cup song is 3 Lions by Baddiel, Skinner and The Lightening Seeds.

After the interview, and several sherbets later, we assume our positions amongst the masses to welcome back the boys from their successful tour and show them London does it best. Tom and co. take to the stage through heavy smoke and dull, eerie lights to power their way through the album, finding time to debut new material along the way. Tonight I think Stoke may have just found a rival. The crowd are well up for it and so are the band. Friends and family are in attendance and you can tell the band are up for impressing. After a set just short of an hour, the band and crowd are suitably sweaty as they’ve just embarked on an absolute onslaught of a musical journey together. It is easy to see why it was important to ensure the album would translate well live as this is when they’re at their very best. Not many bands around today can command a room and enforce such presence after having very little time for the punters to embrace the album. With the ability to smash it live and the album to back it up, this band can carve their own future…

Words: Gary Byfield

Pictures: Phil Bourne