Southend's finest at The Alleycat, 02.05.14

Having recently released their fantastic debut album – ‘Lossleader’ -, Eight Rounds Rapid have returned to The Alleycat for a night of live music from Southend’s finest. Prior to their utterly impelling and impressive live set, I have a chat with the band to find out a bit of the story behind this unconventionally charismatic quartet.

We arrive at the vivacious and vibrant Denmark Street venue and, with the music already buzzing, the iconic basement is heaving with fans of all ages. Dave, Lee, Simon and Jules have all travelled up from Southend just in time for the gig tonight and as we sit down – Peronis in hand – they tell me how the band was formed: “Dave and I went to school together and had been in a band, and were looking for a guitarist” drummer, Lee Watkins, explains. Fitting that description, and being the brother of a friend of Lee’s, Simon was added to the band. Bassist, Jules – having a mutual friend of Dave’s – joined a couple of years ago; thus creating the band as we know it today.

Enthusiastically congratulating them on their debut album, I am greeted with extreme modesty and gratitude from the band and we start to talk about the process of putting an album together: “We’d actually had all the songs written for a long time”, singer David Alexander tells me. “It was just a question of getting signed…” Lee continues. They were considering simply releasing the collection of songs themselves but, thanks to Cadiz Music, didn’t have to. And what an extraordinary debut the album is: with not only the musical talent of the band shining through in the songs, but the artistic talent of David Alexander being showcased on the record sleeve. A graphic designer by day, Dave does all the band’s artwork himself and explains the enduring image of a pie-chart on the album’s front cover as perhaps being representative of the minority/non-conformist nature of the album’s creators and listeners.

Moving outside to the glamorous Soho side-street, Dave confirms that “writing songs is an extremely collaborative process”; although he writes all the lyrics, the others create the music – they come together and create each song as a team. And, if one person is even a little unhappy with anything, it will get scrapped or done again: “So many songs that we’ve written are now in the scrap pile!” Si tells me. Though, in answer to my question of why one of my favourite tracks – ‘I Want A Drink’ – doesn’t feature on Lossleader, I’m informed that it’s actually a cover: “It’s originally by the late, great Mick Farren”, Si explains “He sadly passed away last year; he was a fantastic song writer and journalist, and a great friend of my dad’s (Wilko Johnson), so I wanted to pay tribute to him by covering the song.” (Wilko Johnson also played guitar in the fantastic, original track). And they certainly do Farren justice in their rendition, with ‘I Want A Drink’ always being a highlight of Eight Rounds Rapid’s live sets.

‘I Want A Drink’, however, is the exception with Eight Rounds Rapid having written each and every extraordinary song on the album. With this in mind, I ask what or who inspires them: without naming one person who he particularly aspires to be like, Si Johnson tells me that was brought up listening to a lot of blues whilst also going through the normal teenage Punk ‘phase’ and was always a huge fan East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedys…“Other guitarists I admire? I think Josh Homme is fantastic. I really admire his charisma. But I obviously don’t sound anything like him, and don’t try to emulate him in any way.” Likewise, Lee can’t name one band or person who has influenced his drumming style – “Just all good music!” – though, whilst being a part of the rave scene of the ‘90s, Lee has recently become a big fan of The Fall, apparently thanks to Dave continuously playing them on the way to gigs.

Back inside the Alleycat, Dave and I get onto the subject of the music industry today: “So much music now is just trying to replicate something else… It’s just nostalgia with a younger face”. Dave talks passionately about his dislike for the way that so many bands today appear to just be re-doing what has already been done: “If you like a band/singer, listen to their music, don’t just try and be them”. We agree that people should make music because they want to create something of their own, not simply recreate what’s already been done. And this is exactly what excites me so much about Eight Rounds Rapid: their ability to create something unique. Their ability to deliver refreshingly riotous songs with that subtle rebellious edge.

And it is this passion that seems to be reflected in Dave’s wonderful lyrical storytelling and distinctive, engrossing stage presence: “I just tend to get angry before I go on stage” Dave tells me, when asked of his incredible charisma during live shows, whilst his band mates refer to him on stage as ‘Other Dave’ (“He once actually scared away a member of the crowd by staring at them until they looked away!”), in contrast to his usual friendly and polite persona. It’s not just singer Dave, however, who’s phenomenal to watch: Eight Rounds Rapid as an entity exude charisma and a vigorous energy live: “I don’t know what it is” Si begins, “We basically don’t practice enough as we all have full time jobs. A lot of it is improvisation, and it’s lucky that we’re all such good friends as we just seem to gel together on stage”. The band also reiterate that each live show is a two way process: it is never just about the band, or the venue, but about the crowd – the people who are there to enjoy the show.

Whatever it may be that makes Eight Rounds Rapid what they are, it certainly seems to work: they go on to deliver the most tremendous live set of theirs I’ve seen to date. With their utterly engrossing stage presence, along with a fantastic crowd (singing along to every song!) and buzzing atmosphere, it really is an overwhelmingly incredible show (especially with the new addition of Dave playing harmonica). So, however unpracticed they may be, this improvisation and gel-ing together seems to work wonders for my favourite band of 2014. And fellow Southenders, Wobbly Lamps, were pretty spectacular too!

So, if you too would like to witness the band that will ‘reignite your faith in music in an instant’ (as I said in my review of Lossleader), they’re playing a number of festivals this summer, as well as a very special London date at The Sebright Arms on 4th July, supporting The Dogbones. Stay tuned for details!

(All photo credit to: Paul Hughes)

Mari Lane

@marimindles