IC1s are not a band you come across regularly. With their confidence of being the best band around right now and a backing from the likes of Gary Powell and Alan McGee, it could be right to say that they are ready to lead the way within music. Now, they are on tour with Dexters, the perfect time to discuss the last 12 months which has given the band a boost they deserved. Dan and John take the time out of tour to tell me about their choices for the band.
Connor: Firstly, a lot of people may not understand your choice of name. What is the reason behind the name IC1s?
Daniel: It’s a police term originally but we don’t use it in the same context as them. We use it as a message that we are all one and equal. Everybody is a number one.
Connor: Obviously there is a lot of influence from bands like Oasis within your music but what other direct influences are included?
Daniel: There’s such a wide range of tastes within the band, you may be surprised what gets played on the tour bus but I think it’s fair to say bands like Oasis, Nirvana, The Beatles, The Stones and The Who have helped mould our sound, along with lots of old soul, Motown and Phil Spector thrown in for good measure.
Connor: The last 12 months have possibly been the most exciting of your career so far. What would you say the stand out moment of it has been and has it taught you anything that you will take forward with you?
Daniel: I don’t know if we have actually had time to sit back and reflect on what the stand out moments are. We just want to keep progressing. The stand out moments haven’t happened yet. We are just really enjoying ourselves and it’s all coming very naturally. We feel we are the best band around and for us to prove that, we can’t sit back and take it all in. We have to stand up and keep going and that’s what we will do.
John: We played a show in Middlesbrough in the summer and gained and new army of fans up there including a couple that have told us since that ‘Beautiful Ugly’ saved their marriage! You cant get a bigger compliment than that surely haha. Dan and I also went to L.A in March to write and whilst out there we got to play an acoustic show. It was always a dream to play in America and its got us more and more determined and hungry for bigger and better things for the future.
Connor: You recently released the In The Blink of an Eye EP which includes old hits like Wack Jack. Dan, you have said in an interview before that you know this song is not very good compared to others you have written. So what are you reasons for putting it on a release that is destined to get a lot of attention?
Daniel: Me saying I didn’t think it was one of my best is not a reflection on the song but probably more a reflection on my confidence in my writing. I still don’t think I’ve written my best song and I hope I never do. I want to keep getting better. As a song Wack Jack is a crowd pleaser and as soon as I see their reaction to it live, I realise it’s relevance.
Connor: A few of the old fan favourites are not on your set list while you’re on tour with Dexters, is that because you’re starting a fresh or you’re putting an emphasis on the new music?
Daniel: It’s not starting a fresh as such. Our songs still exist, we just owe it to our fans and ourselves to keep giving something more. I personally feel this set we are playing on tour is our best ever. Yes, there will be some fan favourites missing from the set but it doesn’t matter because the new fans favourites are in there and we won’t disappoint. The reaction so far has been outstanding.
John: Its been really tricky, we tried to combine old favourites with new tracks and get the right balance. We have a lot of faith in our new stuff and know they will also become ‘fan favourites’ too. It’s a really good dilemma to have our fans all have different favourite songs but we cant please them all! We feel like we are playing 5 aside and are dying to play 11 aside! But yeah the new stuff is sounding great and the reactions from the crowd so far has been fantastic.
Connor: Do you approach making music differently after you have been on tour and seen bands perform? If so, how?
Daniel: No not really. We have our way of doing things and it isn’t broken so we have no need to fix it at this stage. What it can bring is new experiences which helps with the writing process. Being out in LA brought some of the best out of us and a couple of the songs written there are now in the set.
John: I don’t think it changes how we write no, perhaps performance wise yes. Engaging a crowd is crucial and every band has their own way of doing it. I think its massively important listening and watching new acts and comparing yourselves to them. Even if the music is different its key to absorb everything about another act to see how you measure up. If you think you are ‘it’ then you won’t improve. Having said that I do honestly think that crowd reaction we get is better than any other band on the circuit.
Connor: Throughout your time of playing gigs at places like This Feeling, you have gained support from the likes of Gary Powell and Alan McGee. How does it feel to have a backing from important figures in music like them?
Daniel: It’s great, obviously, but I think we deserve it. I make no secret of my love of Oasis so Alan is a big part of that. We’ve had many a chat where I am picking his brains about Oasis. In fact he must hate it when I walk in the room. Gary is an absolute gent and we love him in IC1s. We get compared to Libertines which of course is a big compliment so having him around for a while was good for us. Would always wish him well
Connor: You have worked with producer Ian Dowling (Kasabian, Bombay Bicycle Club) – did you find that he helped you to give your music an amplified version of your original sound? Did you discover anything as a band when working with him?
Daniel: We worked with Ian on parts of this E.P and we are all happy with it. I think with us, you have to capture our live sound rather that make it work for live shows. We are a live band first and foremost and that’s what we love doing. I want people to feel like they’re at the gig. Even if they’re really on the train to work.
Connor: Can we expect an album in early 2015? What are the plans for that?
Daniel: I don’t know about early 2015 but we are enjoying the beginning of the recording sessions we’ve been doing with Barny Barnicott in Kent. Barny has worked with Amazing people who we love which is great. We have a whole lot of songs, so whittling it down to just an albums worth will be our toughest job. But expect big things coz it’s going to be a banger of an album
Connor: What future artists can you recommend to us? Perhaps some you have played gigs with or just can’t stop listening to.
Daniel: We have played with some shocking bands in the past but luckily there’s been some class in there. Check out The Monopolys , Dexters, Decoy Jet, Bang Bang Romeo and of course our EP In The Blink Of An Eye was released last week so you should probably get stuck into that.
John: Also listening to Childhood, Public Access TV and a new Aussie band called DMAs who are great.
Connor: Just through the recommendations Ic1s give, it’s easy to see a clear passion for the future music leaders and with the responses they have given, there’s no reason not to believe that this band could be at the forefront of it all in the coming years.
Connor Willis (@connorpwillis)
Connor Willis
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