AN INTERVIEW WITH MIRROR GORILLAS - 21/04/2016

MIRROR GORILLAS - photo credit to Desiree Nicole
From left to right  - Tim, Jamie, Sam ('Butcher') and Harry

MIRROR GORILLAS are a four-piece Manchester-based band. 

Recently having done a show with TRASH and PLAZA this band appear to be one to watch!

Consisting of Harry Willicombe (vocals), Sam Butcher (guitar), Tim Stamper (bass) and Jamie Slater (drums) this band recently released their debut EP 'Alright Alright Alright'.

Juggling being in a band and doing degrees seems like something which would be rather difficult but since going to uni the Mirror Gorillas have not made it seem this way as they have formed the band, released an EP and done many gigs already during their time there.

I got myself an interview with the band following the release of this debut EP!

Firstly, how did you all meet each other?
 

We all lived together in a grotty hall in first year of uni in Manchester.

When was it that you first began to make music and why?
 

We started making music together when we realised there was a little band practice room that we could break into if we hung around outside long enough until someone left, so Butcher taught Jamie drums on the ropey kit they had there.

Did you all play the instruments you do now before the idea of a band came about?
 

Like we mentioned, Butcher gave Jamie some tips on drums. you can catch Tim playing bass on one of his old band's tracks, but he was mostly a guitarist, using that term loosely...

Butcher's been playing guitar ever since he realised he was shit at clarinet and gave up when he was 12.

In your Twitter bio it says 'Manchester via Cardiff' am I correct in thinking that

you are originally from Cardiff but now you are based in Manchester? 
 

Yeah, we (Harry and Butcher) grew up going to the same school in Cardiff and had written a few tunes together, and when we both got into Manchester uni fate brought us into the loving arms of Tim and Jamie.

You’ve now released your EP ‘Alright Alright Alright’ which was out April 15th.

When you released the single ‘Do U Wanna Leave Now?’ which is featured on the

EP, I noticed you got feedback from Daniel Longmore (TRASH & SUNFACE) and

Bradley Lennard (PLAZA). How does it feel to be getting the backing other

excellent up and coming bands / artists – some of which are already signed?
 

Yeah its nice getting good feedback from them. We did a banging show with TRASH and PLAZA and they're all swell guys. Love them. Love them to bits.
 

Sam Butcher and Harry Willicombe - photo credit to Desiree Nicole 

What were the themes behind the songs on your EP? 
 

Harry keeps his cards quite close to his chest when it comes to song themes, although you can get some hints from the titles. It got pointed to us that the tracklist reads like a 15 year old's break up which seems about right.

After the reception you got from the first track you released from the EP, was the EP reception as expected or not? If not, why?
 

The first track went down so well with people, we got dubbed "budget Blur" by Adam Walton on BBC Wales which was huge. So when the EP came out and got an even bigger and better reception it was really a great moment for us.

Who would you say the biggest inspiration of your band are?
 

The biggest inspirations of the band, especially on this ep, are mostly late 80s /90s stuff like Blur, Nirvana, and Pixies, although theres so much that we've drawn from like Tim loves his Cher Lloyd so that's been a really big influence.

Out of all the currently up and coming bands / artists, who do you listen to? 
 

There's a band that live on the same road as us called FLESH who are really sick and people should check them out. TRASH and PLAZA obvz, and some other bands that we've done gigs with that we really rate are Dantevilles, Little Grim, Tsar Bomba, Sad Culture.

Collectively, what do you want to achieve through this band?
 

We all just really want to make music that people might enjoy and play fun live shows and have a swell old time.

What do you think the biggest musical based achievement you've made is?
 

Our biggest achievement is definitely the ep, all the hard work we put into it has paid off I think. Also playing Pangaea Festival in Manchester a couple of times has been a pleasure.

Now we have the EP, what else can be expected from Mirror Gorillas in 2016?
 

We'll be keeping quite quiet for the next couple of months while we're busy at uni, but hopefully we'll be doing a few summer gigs around the country and getting back to recording stuff after that.
 

The band's vocalist, Harry - photo credit to Desiree Nicole.

Alright Alright Alright EP!



Written by Sophie.