What is your Full names? Alfie Prior
Joe Prior
Jacob Saunders
Joe Stott
Victoria Farrell-Reed
Where did the bands name come from?
At Alfie and Joe’s high school there was a friendship group who all dyed their hair purple and so were nicknamed the purple club, we liked this idea because of their unity with one another despite the fact that it wasn’t the most fashionable look. Once we’d decided on that idea we played word association until we settled on Violet Society.
How old are you?
Alfie: 19
Joe Prior: 18
Jacob: 18
Joe Stott: 18
Victoria: 18
What is your genre of music?
Indie with a violin
Give us a little bio about you as a band and individuals.
Violet Society are a young indie guitar band from Manchester, we’ve have taken a darker route through the genre with the help of a violin and some harsh sounding minor chords. As two close brothers we write music with interesting melodies that accompany catchy vocal hooks and pop influenced harmonies. We are joined by: our incredible violin player, Victoria Farrel-Reed, Jacob Saunders on the driving bass and Joe Stott smashing up the drums.
How long have you been doing music?
Joe and I have been writing together for about three years now. We both began in year 3 when our local music service came into school and played the Star Wars theme tune, from then on we were pretty much hooked on music.
What made you go in to music?
Our parents encouraged us to have guitar lessons from when we were about 7 years old. From there (obviously more recently) we began writing songs together and haven’t been able to put our guitars down since.
Are you a signed?
We are currently unsigned
Will you be releasing an album or EP?
We put out our first song, Nonsense, about a month ago and we had such a great response to it that we decided we’d just carry on just releasing singles. We are about to go back into the studio to add the finishing touches to our follow up ‘Another Tragedy’. Keep your eyes on our social media to find out when it’ll be released.
What instruments do you play?
Alfie: Lead guitar & lead vocals
Joe Prior: Rhythm guitar & lead vocals
Jacob: Bass
Joe Stott: Drums
Victoria: Violin
Who are your influences?
Obviously this is a tricky question because there are so many people who have influenced us in our writing but to narrow it down our top 5 would be:
Frank Turner
Kate Nash
The Smiths
The Libertines
Hozier
Will you be doing any gigs or a Tour?
We try our best to play every gig that comes our way and we love to play to anyone that will listen. We haven’t got a tour organised yet but we’re very excited to be playing our next 2 dates!
If you are, where are will you be heading?
We have a gig at Rebellion in Manchester on Sunday 17th April
And a gig on Saturday 30th April at The Klondyke, Manchester
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
A lot of the time it will be something that really pisses us off. We tend to get a strand of 4 or 5 songs from one event that we have a particular emotional attachment to.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
I don’t see why we can’t have at least 1 album released, be touring the country and playing the major festivals.
When you’re not doing music, what do you do?
Well we used to play a few different sports but that kind of had to take a back seat when we realised how great being in a band and writing songs is. With Uni and College we haven’t got much time for anything other than our music now.
If you could collaborate with one UK Artist who would it be?
Joe and I have a few UK artists we would love to collaborate with: Mike Skinner from The Streets, The 1975 and Hozier.
If you could collaborate with one USA Artist who would it be?
Probably The Killers, when we were 10/11 years old Hot Fuzz was released and we’d listen to the whole album back to back in the car on the way to football.
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in UK?
Headlining Glastonbury has got to be incredible
Where is your dream venue or festival to perform in USA?
We’ve always really liked the look of South By South-West and Austin City Limits.
What was the song you listened to most that influenced you to go more in to the music scene?
At about the time we started writing together I had just discovered The Libertines and Joe had heard Frank Turner for the first time on XFM and we really admire their approach to the music industry. Alfie: What A Waster by The Libertines, Joe P: If Ever I Stray by Frank Turner
What’s the best advice you have ever been given?
Frank Turner told us to play every gig we possibly can and make sure people remember who we are.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry just as an artist?
Don’t sit around and wait for something to happen
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
We don’t really have a quote or saying but I suppose the closest thing is just that music comes first.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
When we’re going to see a band play we usually make sure we bring scruffy shoes (we don’t want to trash our nice ones), clothes we don’t mind getting soaked in beer, Alfie: I have two cheap waterproof jackets I bought for going to gigs in, ID and probably a lighter for the slow, soppy songs.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/violetsociety/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VSocietymusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vsocietymusic/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/violetsociety
