Gigslutz Interview. Kate Tittley speaks to MIDDLEMAN

Leed’s Middleman are on the verge of dropping their second album Counterstep in amongst constant gigging and a sea of lovely compliments.  A kind of sexy Blur style sound has been the phrase of note kicking about, and with spots at South By South West and Maida Vale under their belts they’re keeping pretty top musical company.  But comparisons aside, who are these Middleman?  What do they think they they sound like?  What do they do in Peaugot 206’s?  And how have they already created their own dance craze – Cryancing?  Well, let’s ask ‘em…

New album, first album…butterflies in your tummy excited or dry-heavingly nervous?

Definitely “butterflies in your tummy excited” about the new album! The main difference with “Counterstep” compared to our debut, “Spinning Plates”, is that we’ve not gigged any of the tracks until now. So until recently touring the album, we’ve had no idea what the listeners’ reaction will be. That’s pretty exciting especially when we suddenly drop a new track into our regular set and see first hand what the audience make of it and we’ve had such positive feedback from everyone as we’ve been adding the songs, Which always helps with the panic!

Andy: I think there are two sides to it. Writing it, when we’re trying to make ourselves happy, and then playing it to everyone and hoping they like it too. The first part was done in June. We’d made the album we wanted to make, and there’d been those creative rushes, where you want to shout “AAaaaaahhhhhh” and just laugh and bounce around, at some point with every song. Some from the first riff, some listening back. Deny It All was when we heard the strings back. Keep Breathing was the drop in the first verse, and so on. The second part’s butterflies in the tummy cause you can’t control it, so it’s helped massively having such amazing feedback from crowds and those who’ve heard the whole album. It’s a nice feeling to have made something other people enjoy too.

There’s the Kerrang quote knocking about that describes your album as like a sexy Parklife.  In your own words, how do you feel it sounds?

We feel its a big step up from the first album simply because the first album, like most, Is a collection of songs you wrote from day one of being a band. So after playing loads of gigs and building a fan base you are kind of obliged to put the more popular songs of your back catalogue on the album, Which is fine, But over time you grow and refine what you’re trying to do and on this album we feel we’ve fallen on the sound we wanted from the start. The songs have all the sounds and styles we’ve always liked to throw into our music but with so much more coherence.

You’re Leeds boys, and I’d suggest that Yorkshire has produced some of the most potent indie in Britain in recent years.  What do you think it is about the place that produces such great bands?

Definitely a love for good pies and decent ale. On top of which there’s an amazingly supportive local music scene. You can go to venues like Brudenell Social Club and see a bunch of local and non local touring bands any night of the week. With so much music going on in the city it’s not surprising that great bands come out of Leeds all the time. One of our latest favourites being “Hookworms”.  We’ve always been impressed by how eclectic the city is too, There really is stuff going on to support every genre you can imagine. I think this really helps to broaden peoples’ perspective.

Top band Hookworms! Tell me more about these guerilla gigs coz they sound exciting…are these still happening?

The whole guerilla gig thing started when we had a bunch of songs ready to gig but, without a booking agent, found it nearly impossible to get gigs. Eventually we decided we’d see what would happen if we pulled up at a venue with all our equipment and a small PA then told the bar staff we were the band and proceeded to set up and play a full 45minute gig.  This did work a treat in terms of getting gigs because it meant that promoters would see us and decide to book us. Of course we didn’t get paid but it was a way in. The only time this backfired was when we tried it at a venue with no live music license. Half way through our set the manager of the venue walked in to see us playing and was not a happy bunny! We still finished the set though!

Andy: Those kinds of guerilla gigs are done for us now, but we’re definitely up for doing some small, surprise gigs. House parties, street parties, rave in a box, we’ve a few tricks up our sleeves we’ve not used yet. At Y Not Festival we played an impromptu acoustic gig inside a turtle full of hay bales.

So, from playing small gigs with stage invasions to SXSW and Reading and Leeds; how have you adapted the live show to these bigger venues?  And do you still encourage getting up-close with the audience?

Yeah definitely, those smaller gigs can be some of the best, Its just so much more personal to see the crowd right in front of you, We like to get the crowd as involved as possible so it becomes as much of a shared experience as it can. If they’re all going nuts, we are too!

We made a pact a long time ago that we would throw our all into every gig, big or small and even though we have thought about extending songs or coming up with different ways to start/end the set to have more impact, the mindset of us all after making that pact is ultimately what’s allowed us to be able to fill [in every sense] the bigger stages we’ve been lucky enough to play over the years.

Andy: The adrenaline of stage invasions, crowd surfing, mosh pits, and climbing speaker stacks and rigging is pretty addictive so if we don’t get joined on stage I often join them in the crowd. Some of the bigger gigs it’s a big jump to make it from stage to crowd, over 2 metres, but the adrenaline helps. I reckon if Greg Rutherford had a festival crowd rather than a sandpit to aim at he’d make 10 metres easy.

Live sessions at Maida Vale is a pretty big deal, and having Radio 1 behind you is always good for following.  How did you feel playing that gig and what kind of audience are you aiming for?

Andy: Felt pretty weird really. It started off pretty magically as we set off at 5am and the sun came up as we were listening to Sparklehorse “It’s A Wonderful Life”. It’s good fun seeing all the other bands’ graffiti on the wall. Some cool names up there. I don’t know if we’ve ever thought about what audience we’re aiming for. At live gigs, especially hour-long sets it’s advisable to have some level of cardiovascular fitness. Having said that, we’ve had a 60 year old crowd surfer and another who was 4 weeks pregnant and didn’t know yet at the time. She got in touch after to tell us after the baby was born. Don’t know if that’s some kind of record but it’s ace.

In terms of musical tastes the most common thing we ever have said to us is “it’s not my kind of music but I love it” or something similar. Part of the benefit of not fitting too obviously into one musical box I guess.

 On a lighter note…ideal day in the life of Middleman is?

There’d definitely be a festival gig in there, and probably a lot of meat, maybe barbecue of some kind. Drinking and dancing.

Guilty pleasure songs that completely take away the cool?

Krish: I have to say that a guilty pleasure of mine, and I’m not afraid to admit this, is Duran Duran “Save a Prayer”. I like to envisage myself as a kind of Ryan Gosling type character in “Drive” whilst cruising round the Leeds one way system in my Peugeot 306 blasting out “Save a Prayer” in my head.

Slurpy: I think for me its “One Voice” by John Farnham, It had an effect on me when I first heard as a kid in the 80’s which I just can’t shift!

Andy: TLC, anything from Crazy Sexy Cool. I never listen to it but I loved it as an 11/12 year old boy. Massive crush on them and could probably sing every word today. Also a big fan of Inner Circle’s “Sweat”. Big tune that.

Lee: Bruno Mars “Locked Out Of Heaven”.

Some top tunes there lads! Please talk me through (or do) some Cryancing…:)

Cryancing is not only a form of expression; it’s a way of life. There’s something comforting about being a fully-grown man, wrapping yourself in around 4 cardigans (no trousers) and crying your eyes out whilst slow dancing to an emotional tune (e.g. “True” by Spandau Ballet.) in your living room with the only light coming from the CD player display.

Cheers Middleman!

Middleman’s new album Counterstep is out 16th October

 

Kate Tittley

Kate Tittley

When not making cocktails for Manchester's finest, Le Titts is most likely to be found the other side of the bar in a cloud of smoke and wine musing loudly over her fantasy band line up, love of the album format and why nothing is better than The Stone Roses. And then spilling the wine...Loving the ride with GigSlutz.
Kate Tittley

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