What are your Full names and ages ( you dont have to answer if you dont want to for ages) ?
Joe:My name is Joe Symes
Chris:Chris Giblin, and I’m 112 years old!
Colin: My name’s Colin White, and I’m over 21.
Paul: My name is Paul Hetherington.
What is your band’s Genre?
Colin: I personally can’t categorize us. Consistently versatile is the closest I’ve came to.
Joe: I don’t think you can call us one style of music to be honest, We touch on most styles of music.
Chris: We don’t aim to be a specific genre, we play whatever feels right at the time.
Give us a little bio of the band and you guys as individual.
Joe: We have been together now for just over 18 months. I’m proud of what the band has done in that time, and the fact that we are a global band also.
Colin: We’ve done so much in such a short amount of time, it feels like we’ve been together for about 5 years.
Where did you get the band name from?
Colin: The band name was my idea. It comes from a line from a song called Get Up by R.E.M. Simple, memorable, and rolls off the tongue.
Joe: I think the band name is great.
Who does what in the band? (I.e. who does the vocals, who plays what, who writes the songs)
Joe: I play acoustic/electric guitars and harmonica.
Chris: Bass.
Paul: Lead, synth guitar, and web design.
Colin: I play drums, do backing vocals, and make notes.
Joe: I’m the lead singer and songwriter, but there is an overall contribution as a band.
Paul: Lead guitars.
Are You Signed?
Colin: We’ve set up our own label called Truly Independent, as we’re not the type of people who take orders from anyone.
What instruments do you play?
Chris: I play bass, but like all of us we can play a large variety of instruments between us.
Joe: I myself can play a lot of instruments, Drums, bass, piano, etc.
Colin: Well first and foremost I’m a percussionist, but I can play guitar and bass, though not in the band.
Paul: Guitar and bass.
How did the band come about?
Joe: I was doing acoustic gigs myself around Liverpool and the north west, I’ve known Colin for a good few years and he asked me did I want him to play bongo’s in the gigs to which i agreed.
Colin: And he’s been stuck with me ever since.
How did you guys meet?
Chris: At the drive in.
Joe: Through friends and social media.
Colin: I’ve known Joe for years. Chris came through an add I put up, and Paul came through a friend of a friend. We’ve been stuck with each other ever since. Ha!
Who are your influences?
Joe: I have so many influences, The Beatles being my first through to Marvin Gaye, Sex Pistols, Frank Sinatra,Echo & The Bunnymen, Neil Young, So many I’d be here for ages.
Chris: Many many influences. I like things edgy though, people over history who have been prepared to push the boundaries, try new things!
Paul: Buddy Guy, Albert King, many people along those lines.
Colin: Do you have a spare couple of days? Let me think. My personal drumming influences are people like John Densmore, Ringo Starr, Gene Krupa, Art Blakey, all the Motown drummers, Charlie Watts, D.J. Fontana, W.S. Holland, Chick Webb, I could go on forever.
What are your backgrounds whether it’s in music or not?
Joe: I originally was a drummer, that was the first instrument I learned to play, self taught, playing along to songs and learning different styles to which then I progressed to guitar and writing songs.
Colin: I’m the only musician in my family, but have been surrounded by music for practically all of my life thanks to my parents and brother.
Chris: Is there any other background to talk about other than music?
How did music come in to your lives and when did you start doing it?
Colin: I had no aspirations of playing music until I heard The Doors, and watched their Live At The Hollywood Bowl video when I was about 11. As soon as I saw John Densmore play drums I thought, “that’s what I want to do.” It took me another 3 years to persuade my parents that I was serious about playing and they finally bought me a kit. Haven’t looked back since.
Joe: At a very early age, there was so much music being played around my parents house, so much variety, i started when I was 9 years old.
Chris: As a kid listening to records at home and pestering my mum and dad for a guitar, then pretending to play as part of bands in my bedroom, think I played at Knebworth, Wembley and Shay Stadium before I was 12!
When will you be releasing material?
Joe: We have just finished recording new songs at Parr Street Studio’s in Liverpool and we will be going back there to record again soon, We have a few weeks off now to work on new songs for up and coming gigs.
Colin: Yeah, should be about October/November. Looking forward to it.
how do you get inspiration to write songs?
Joe: Just everyday experiences, also a lot of the songs are biography.
Where do you see the band in 2-5 years time?
Chris: Playing to bigger crowds and still making records that people are happy to listen to.
Colin: Playing and succeeding even more.
Joe: Hopefully even bigger and better gigs, more albums released, playing gigs abroad.
Paul: What they said. Ha!
Where would your dream place be to perform?
Colin: Hollywood Bowl, Grand Ole Opry, Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. So many to choose.
Chris: Pyramid stage at Glastonbury as the sun is going down.
Paul: Ronnie Scott’s or the Pyramid Stage.
Joe: Anywhere that holds thousands of people.
If you could do collaboration with anyone who would it be?
Joe: Paul McCartney
Colin: Sadly most of the people I’d like to work with have passed.
Chris: Tough one, I think a live “bass off” with Mani would be interesting.
Paul: B.B. King.
If you wasn’t doing music what would you’s be doing?
Joe: I have no idea ?
Paul: …
Chris: Probably getting drunk watching music.
Colin: Try not to think about such things.
If You got asked by a TV show or film to have your music played on, which show or film would it be?
Colin: Getting a song on a Tarantino film would be cool.
Joe: Any show or film that would project the band’s music to an even bigger audience.
Chris: definitely Hollyoaks!!!!!
Do you have a website, social media pages and music pages for your fans?
Joe: Yes you can download our self titled debut album from our official website at http://www.joesymes.co.uk
Other social media sites that you can find us on are as follows….
http://www.facebook.com/pages/JOE-Symes/206169176086266
http://www.twitter.com/joeysymes/
