Iron Door Club single release
By Nigel Powlson
NAMED after the Liverpool venue where the Beatles first performed, Derby's Iron Door Club clearly have a love for 1960s music
But it isn't actually the Fab Four who are the trio's biggest inspiration, despite what the name suggests.
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."
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."
