Introducing Interview: Whitecliff

Last year, LIPA graduates Whitecliff became the first band to sign to The Libertines’ Gary Powell’s label, 25 Hour Convenience Store. Since then, they’ve released a single, received airplay from the likes of XFM and 6Music, and supported The Libertines at Alexandra Palace. Pretty good going for such a new band.

Now, Whitecliff are about to release their debut EP whilst working on a full album, and have some exciting live dates planned. We caught up with the band to find out more…

Hi! First of all how are you and what have you been up to this week?
Hi Gigslutz, we’re great, thanks!  This weekend we are playing down in London at the Barfly (12 Sept). We’ve got a few new tracks that we want to play at the gig so we’ve been working on those to get them ready, but to be quite honest the group stages for the football have been on this week so we have been catching as much of that as we can…

‘Young Lovers’ is your latest single, what can you tell us about it?
When we were working on new songs and developing our sound, ‘Young Lovers’ was the first song that we were all completely happy with – it only felt right for it to be the lead off track and title of our debut EP.  I guess it’s a kind of twisted love song.  The EP comes out in October, so we can’t wait.

It’s set to feature on the new EP (out October 9) – how are you feeling as the release approaches?
This is the best part of it!  We’ve spent ages writing, recording and getting things ready for the release like photos and shooting the video for it, but until now we haven’t been able to share it with anyone.  It’s amazing that we’re now able to play live and get it out there for people to hear. We just want to share it with everyone and to hear what they have to say about it.

What does the EP entail?
The EP has three tracks on it (‘Young Lovers’, ‘The Talk’ & ‘Say What You Want’) – they all offer a different interpretation on the Young Lovers theme. It has a bit of innocence about it, but at the same time we really wanted it to capture the band’s energy and personalities.

You’re signed to Gary Powell’s (The Libertines) label, 25 Hour Convenience Store. What’s your time with the label been like so far?
Great and definitely a highlight for us was being able to support The Libertines at Alexandra Palace last October, with them being one of the biggest guitar bands of all time!

Not only are you signed with Gary, you were actually the first band to be signed to the label, you must be special! 
Yeah, we were the first band which is a nice feeling, but we’ve since been joined by some amazing bands that all sound great so the vibe around the label is really cool.

 You’ve also been gathering praise from the likes of The Guardian, XFM, Radio 1 and 6 Music to name a few – that must feel fairly satisfying?
Yes, it’s amazing that people are picking up on it!  All the feedback does make you feel really proud and we’re loving the fact that people are getting it and want to listen to our music.

You’re playing London’s Camden Barfly on September 12, what can people expect from your live shows?
An energetic experience!  We give everything every show and just want to make sure our audience have a great time.  We’re building up a loyal fan base that come to our shows, so it’s hard not to feel motivated when you see them all there.

What other current bands are catching your eye at the minute?
Coming from Liverpool, we look up to people like Clean Cut Kid and Circa Waves. They’re really going places.

Now that tricky question: what would your desert island disc be?
We’ve always argued about this question but at the moment we’re all agreed that we would take a Michael Jackson album, but we couldn’t agree which one… So, have gone for the Number Ones album instead!

Finally, following the EP, what’s next for Whitecliff?
We’ll be going back in the studio with Ken Nelson to finish recording our debut album which sounds crazy to say!  We’ll also be doing lots more gigs in the UK as well as touring in Germany next year, as the EP is also being released on 30 October there too.  It’s a really exciting time for the band and we can’t thank everyone enough who is on the journey with us.

Thanks for talking to us Gigslutz X

Thank YOU for answering our questions, Whitecliff! 

Whitecliff’s debut EP, Young Lovers, is out 2 October on 25 Hour Convenience Store/Believe Digital. And make sure you catch the band live at The Barfly this Saturday, 12 September.

 

James Cummins

James Cummins

James Cummins

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