Derby band The Iron Door Club look like they have an exciting future ahead of them. Having played with some well known bands such as Twisted Wheel, Turin Brakes and The Crookes, they are set to release their debut EP - 'The Conductor of the Brass Band'. We caught up with them after what has been an amazing 2010 for them...
After what has been a pretty good twelve months for you, what are your aims for 2011?
We’ve been going for just under two years now and we’ve been really lucky to have hit the ground running, and getting more or less straight on the road around the UK within months with some really good bands. We’ve been on numerous record labels, had a few managers and agents and we’re really grateful for all their work; and its only really now we’ve managed to take a step back and take stock and re-think our aims. We’ve done all the obvious ones bands think of in a really short space of time, so I guess really there’s only two things left for us to do. The first being more touring, which we have planned for next year with some really good bands. The second is to find some celebrity girlfriends! Get some WAGS involved in our van and on our adventures. All the greats have them and hopefully it’ll get us on the front page of OK! Magazine.
Who is the best band you have had the privilege of playing with?
We’ve played with bands all over the UK and supported some really big names. My personal favourite gig was this year, being personally asked to play alongside Turin Brakes - they got in contact after we both played the Y Not Festival and we got talking to them. They asked us if we would support them in Crewe, so we did. It was amazing the crowd were really good, a bit more timid than ones we’ve had in previous gigs supporting Twisted Wheel and The Rascals, but none the less the gig was great. We sat in our huge dressing room all night, drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers… we’re very civilised and cultured you know. Having said that, we’ve played with some lesser known, up and coming bands who we absolutely love! Big or small we always get the banter on.
Who are your musical inspirations and why?
Although we are all only young, ranging from 20 – 23 , we are re all into 50s and 60s music. I personally love the innocence of all the songs, even if some have subliminal crude sub context. I like the fact it’s all derived from early Rhythm & Blues, two musical features any band should have prominent in their sound. It absolutely kills us when we see bands singing about the ‘naughties norm’ (a term we have pioneered), which is singing about pubs, clubs, fights, fags, spilt beer and kebabs. All the best songs are about love and heartbreak, surely! We just try and recreate the innocence of the music both musically and lyrically. And most songs are only 2 or 3 chords - so it’s easy on our minds!
What is you opinion of the Derby music scene?
It’s tough I would say. There’s no real great musical heritage or legacy here, not like, for example, Manchester where they’ve had loads. With there being no nostalgic legacy in Derby, people don’t go out to watch bands to catch ‘The Next Big Thing’, because there has never been one; with the exception of WhiteTown, but they were one hit wonders weren’t they? Derby has some great people and bands. On most nights of the week the city hosts gigs in pubs, clubs and venues showcasing local bands, but the crowd is always scarse. I think bands need to do a bit more to get people into their music; we hammered it with loads of people and when they came to see us, we always came up with the goods. We know that there is a crowd of music lovers in Derby, we sell out 200 plus every time we play in Derby, so it can be done. Nottingham is also great, but the only time we play in Notts is usually on tour with a big name, but the bands in Notts are really good.
Is there a particular event or venue that you guys would love to play?
Glastombuty is definitely one of the gigs on our radar. We’ve done Y Not Festival two years on the bounce, so we can handle festivals. I think Kendal Calling is pencilled in for next year. We are not picky, we’d play anywhere that will have us. It’s a bit far off, but if we could fill Pride Park one day, that would be superb.
When will you be releasing your debut album and what can we expect from it?
We’ve got a fair amount of songs now and we are always writing, trying out new ideas all the time. In 2011 we are releasing an EP, called ‘The Conductor of the Brass Band’ with a selection of songs on it. I think an album is planned for the not too distant future. We are going to keep touring up and down the UK this year, so when we do release it, it will sell well hopefully. The album will most likely appear in 2012 - that’s if the world doesn’t end then! What you can expect from our music is a very 50s/60s sounding melodic pop 3 minute wonder. Apparently, we take people back to a place where lyricism and melody were king. Not our words, but we shall take them thank you very much.
Last of all, me being a Ram do you support Derby?
We are all Super Rams fans. We have been lucky enough to have our songs belted out before the Rams come out at Pride Park. We’ve also been lucky enough to get the support of a few players who have come down to see us play.
Frontman James Capper explains: "One of our favourite bands is the Searchers and we did a bit of research about them and found they used to play at the Iron Door Club in Liverpool and thought it was a really good name for the band.
"We later found out the Beatles played their first ever gig there. As a band, we are all big fans of not just the Beatles but of the 60s music scene in general."
Despite getting together less than a year ago, the Iron Door Club have made rapid progress, culminating in the release of their debut single on February 8.
"One Above Records is an East London-based label and quite well established," says James.
"Even though it seems a bit odd and we have never played down south, they approached us about releasing a single on a local level, just around here, printing 500 CDs.
"So we sent them Amateurs and Cheats and they were that impressed they wanted it released globally."
Which means the track will be available from iTunes, Play.com, Amazon and the like.
"It's great they believe in us and it's a nice record label as they don't pin you down with lengthy contracts," says James.
Joining James in The Iron Door Club are bassist Aaron Leech and drummer Alex Kelly.
"I was introduced to Alex by a mutual friend and Aaron was making little documentaries for his uni course and when he filmed us brought a bass along.
"We are all of similar age and all into the same sort of music, so we quickly became The Iron Door Club."
The music writing process generally begins with a snippet from James.
He says: "I might have an idea for a song or a chorus and I'll take it to the band and we'll jam around it, try and make the tunes as catchy as we can – all bringing our individual elements to it.
"We write songs we believe in not because they fit in a genre. If it sounds good we will play it."
The band began gigging around Derby and this summer played the Y Not Festival alongside Noah and the Whale and Sunshine Underground.
"We went into it all quite blind. But very quickly lots of people started turning up, after hearing good things about us.
"We played the Y Not Festival in the tent in front of 500-600 people. It wasn't just Derby people and we made a point of going to say hello to people after they watched us and got a bit of rapport with them.
"We have every faith in the music we do. But it all seems to have happened quite fast."
The band are about to embark on their first tour with more dates to follow later in the year.
"We are playing places from London right up to Scotland and we will be able to show everybody what our music is all about and hopefully they will start spreading the word about us," says James.
The Iron Door Club will also do an early summer tour to promote their second single and will then play a selection of summer festivals. Some "big name" support slots are also in the pipeline.
"I can't see us being as big as the Beatles, well not just yet," laughs James.
"But it would be good to follow the example of Kasabian, another East Midlands band who have established themselves in the UK, got a couple of albums under their belts and are now taking it further afield."
