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What
better way to top off their breathtaking tour in support of Rock legends
Magnum than to head straight back out to perform at more festivals than
most rock fans manage to attend in a lifetime.
Turning heads and ears across the UK with their fresh delivery of
classic rock UXL are tipped by many to be the next big thing.
With the release of their new album 'Can I Dream Again' due next month
we catch up with this extraordinary four piece to find out more ...
MM - Hey guys, firstly thanks for taking the time to complete this
interview.
UXL - No problem at all – thanks for
your support.
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MM -
The
first question would normally be how did you all get together
but seeing three of you are brothers and one long term friend
this perhaps seems a little pointless.
UXL -
Well we’ve quite literally played together from when we were
very young. We all used to play along to different songs – the
usual rock classics, Smoke On The Water, All Along The
Watchtower, Stairway To Heaven etc.
We
progressed from air guitars and hair brush mics and began to
learn different instruments and then after doing lots of covers
we started to write our own stuff and was joined by Dan who
tried to impose some order on the chaos!
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MM
- As three brothers does the sibling rivalry show its head very often
within the band environment?
UXL - We argue
all the time over big things like music decisions and unimportant things
like whose turn it is to make the tea! but we think of it more as
friendly banter. The good thing about being brothers is that we all know
each other so well that we can be free to say whatever we want. OK –
not always a great thing, but freedom to express yourself is important
in a creative environment. Actually we get on better now than we ever
have – being in a band means that you have to pull together in order
to get anything constructive done. Feel sorry for Dan though with three
Tierneys to put up with. He would say we pick on him but we don’t of
course!
MM - I recently caught the band for the first time in support of Magnum,
how did you get hooked up with these rock giants?
UXL - We recorded
our album at M2 at Mad Hat Studios near Wolverhampton. Producer and
engineer there, Mark Stuart also works with Magnum on a lot of their
projects. We met the Magnum guys a few times there and we heard they
liked our stuff. Next thing we knew Mark gave us a call and asked if we
wanted to support them on the UK leg of their tour. We couldn’t
believe it – such an opportunity to play with such a great band. Their
set is brilliant and they’re all incredible musicians and great guys
too. We think the Princess Alice album is probably one of the best
they’ve ever done.
MM - Talking of rock giants I see none other than Tony Mills adds
backing vocals to a number of tracks on the new album, how did you come
to hook up with Tony in the first place?
UXL - In much the
same way as Magnum really - while we were recording the album. Mark from
Mad Hat suggested that some areas could really benefit from some strong
backing vocals and he knew a guy called Tony Mills. Really enjoyed
working with him – vocally he’s got one hell of a range.
MM - The band has that rare thing of individuality, when it comes to the
bands sound was this your intention when you first put the band
together?
UXL - We were far
too young and stupid to have any serious intentions about anything when
we first started the band! We’ve had many varied influences which
really helps because you’ve got a lot of stuff to inspire you. Because
of our parents’ CD collections, we’re all classically influenced and
from very young we all listened to the rock classics like Zeppelin,
Hendrix, Floyd, Free etc. The Beatles and John Lennon in particular were
the main song writing influences as well as Bob Dylan.
As we grew older we all listened to many different types of music and
artists: Nirvana, The Clash, U2, Muse, Tupac, dance music, funk, bit of
classical – all sorts really. There’s nothing really truly original
any more – there will never be another Beatles, Zeppelin, Floyd etc.
they’re all quite unique, but probably our different influences help
to make quite an unusual mixture and because we’ve been exposed to a
lot of different music we like trying different things. We just hope
people like our music and get something from it.
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MM
- How would you describe your sound to anyone not familiar with
the band?
UXL -
Melodic rock. Other people have probably put it more
descriptively: ‘Epic U2-style rock.’ ‘Swaggering,
anthemic rock with soaring vocals.’ ‘Brooding alt rock.’
‘Hard-hitting and heart-warming.’ ‘Fine driving
rock-pop.’
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MM
- The band have quite a few festival dates lined up this year, so the
summer schedule is very busy then. How about after the summer
shows, do you have any touring plans lined up?
UXL - After
completing our first major tour with Magnum, we’d all love to get out
there and do another one. There’s nothing like the buzz of playing at
great places with a loud responsive audience – there’s no feeling
like it. There are a few possibilities of other support slots coming up
which we’re keeping our fingers crossed on. We’ve also just been
invited to play at Canadian Music Week – Canada’s biggest
music event in Toronto next March. We’re organizing some more dates in
North America while we’re there.
MM - Musically who or what has been the individual band members
influences over the years? What or who inspires you?
UXL - Generally:
family, friends, great music, anyone who does something against massive
odds, sunny days, ducks, football, pizza, the odd beer or two!
Individually:
John – John Lennon, Roger Waters, Bono and Shearer
PJ – Jimmy Page, Jimmi Hendrix
Dan – Jaco Pastorius and Jack Bruce
Paul – John Bonham, Larry Mullen jnr
MM - What are you favourite tracks from the new CD? If you had
only one chance to turn people on to UXL, which song would you have them
listen to, to get a feel for what you guys are all about?
UXL - Probably
Can I Dream Again? would be the track to show our overall sound and
intentions - although we do think the album has a bit of something for
everyone. For people into rock epics at over 7 minutes New Dawn Waiting
is worth a listen – we had real fun with this one and used all sorts
of sound effects including throwing cutlery in the kitchen sink!
Beautiful Today is quite an upbeat rock/pop track, couple of ballads
with Stay Awhile and Change and Drowning Man for something a bit more
dark and brooding.
MM - Have you started writing material for the next CD or are you just
concentrating on promoting ‘Can I Dream Again’?
UXL - We have.
It’s a bit stop and start at the moment because of the tour and the
festivals coming up but we’ve got a couple of songs almost completed
and a few more at the rough stage.
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MM
- Where do you hope to see UXL in five years time?
UXL -
Knebworth, Wembley Stadium, Headlining Festivals, World tours,
Shea Stadium, Rolling Stone mag front cover, massively
successful albums! ... we could go on, but you get the idea ...
probably what most bands hope for.
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MM
- What do you want people will take away from your music?
UXL - We hope
that it will mean something to them. Some music is throw away stuff –
you might quite like it, and it might be quite good, but you probably
won’t remember it after awhile or bother to listen to it. That’s why
we like a lot of the classics – they’ve lasted the test of time
because they connect with people and there are just some songs that will
always be listened to.
MM - Where do you think UXL fits into today's overall music scene?
UXL - We tend to
appeal to quite a wide range of people. We’re young so we hope our
music has a contemporary edge to it, but at the same time our influences
tend to mean that we appeal to an older audience as well. In some ways
we’re quite different from the indie music around at the moment but
there’s room for all types of music.
MM - How hard is it for up and coming bands like yourselves to survive
in today's music scene?
UXL - Well you
have to be realistic and the music scene is going through lots of
changes at the moment. There are many good things like social network
sites like myspace which make promotion easier for artists so you can
achieve some degree of success. Probably to make it really big though,
bands still have to rely on the power and influence of a major label.
MM - Finally do you have any words for all your fans out there?
UXL - Yes. We’d
like to thank the many people over the years who have put up with us,
sent us great comments and messages, travelled miles to see us play, and
generally showed great enthusiasm for us and our music. Cheers.
And thank you Mayfair Mall Zine for
your support.
John,
PJ, Paul Tierney and Dan Clark
UXL
MM - Wow
what can I say? These four young men have certainly taken the
musical bull by the horns and are now ready and willing to take on the
world. If you haven't already caught them in action be sure to
check them out. Their new album 'Can I Dream Again' is due for
release on Mab Records from 16/7/07, but you can catch a sneak preview
on the songs by checking out the bands websites at ... www.uxlofficial.com
and www.myspace.com/uxlofficial
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