Energetic fun the Blueprint for hits

Dec 3 2008 by Staff Reporter, Birkenhead News

NEW Brighton Bowling alley, a seemingly perfect place to start with the band I am about to interview.

Wirral’s own Alexis Blue describe their music as “bouncy, indie pop” and they play their brand of shouty, witty, lyrical music with a childish, joyful exuberance that is rarely seen in an industry content with teary-eyed, radio-friendly ballads and po-faced, indie hipsters.

The band formed in 2005 and instantly connected with a young audience who identified with their raucous, cheerful, early live shows.

This landed them some prestigious support slots with big name artists such as The Kooks.

The band then entered Channel 4’s Road to V festival competition, which saw them play to a huge TV audience.

They reached the final 10 out of more than 2,000 artists and bands and last month saw the release of their first full length album, Hypothetical Situations.

I caught up with the band’s Andeh and Mark just before their Christmas show at Barfly in Liverpool.

In three words, how would you describe the band’s sound? Bouncy-Indie-Pop.

What are the band’s main influences?

Predominantly modern music like The Libertines, The Coral, Supergrass - but obviously you can’t escape the shadow of The Beatles if you are interested in melody as we are.

What can people expect from an Alexis Blue gig?

All the hits but played faster! A lot of energy and people shakin’ their booties!

How does being in the studio differ from playing live and which do you prefer?

We prefer playing live. With most of the songs we recorded for the album, we wanted to recreate how the song sounded live.

What is most important, music or lyrics?

It’s equal, really. But melody is the most important element of the song as that’s what people identify with, a tune they can hum to.

What are the majority of your songs written about?

Everyday life, and things that we know, but we try to mix it up with a bit of political humour. We like the idea of bouncy music offset with darker lyrics.

Do you think where you are from has effected your music?

I think our lyrics definitely have a sense of Merseyside humour to them, that dry, sarcastic wit that is only found round here.

What can we expect from Alexis Blue in 2009?

We have started booking gigs already and are going to be writing and practising new songs for our fans.

We are looking really forward to playing places we haven’t played yet and taking our music further.

l Alexis Blue will be showcasing songs from their Hypothetical Situations album live at Liverpool Barfly on December 19, from 7.30pm. It is available to download in full for free by visiting www.alexisblue.co.uk