Dire Wolfe

Dire Wolfe are my new addiction; I absolutely love them! Their songs are catchy as fuck; imaginative, creative and well put together.

They're a new addition to the scene (when i typed scene into google for a picture all that came up was pictures of emo kids hahahaha) but already it's clear that these guys are gonna go far! They have a fresh image and music to back it up and with a debut EP soon to be released there is no reason at all why they shouldn't be huge in no time at all!

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So, basic question to start! How would you describe your musical style for people yet to hear the band?

Because of the band members having different and similar tastes in certain musical styles its great because we really try to fit a mix of these genres in the music. I (Dan) tend to listen to quite alternative/experimental/indie music such as youthmovies, foals, jonquil, great eskimo hoax, cazals, born ruffians, Partick wolf etc. Joe tends to listen to some of the same, i think his favourite band at the moment are vampire weekend, but then he also listens to some crazy dub step, reggae shit. Then John and Tarek have a lot heavier influences such as at the drive in, mars volta, biffy clyro and cursive. So all of these really do get thrown into the pot.So simply id say our music has a pop and rock framework that experiments with time signatures, sounds and beats with very catchy hooks and heavy epic bridges.

And how exactly did the band get started? What are the roots of the band?

Well, I (still Dan) was performing an Interpol cover at an acoustic night at the start of university and Tarek approached me with his snazzy business card and wanted to record me. The next sunny day we met up outside the studio and he brought joe with him. After running through the song a few times, we thought it could have more added to it so Tarek and Joe offered to play drums and guitar. The finished product was our track come home, and after great feedback and vibes from it we decided that we would give the band ago. At first we did have a different bassist who also approached me at the acoustic night but he then shortly left after striking a management deal with his other band, and then came John with his shorts and hoody in all his grimsby glory.

Is there any story behind the band name at all?

Band names are always a difficult, and there were some very dodgy suggestions being thrown around. So i thought id ask my sister for some ideas, and she just shrugged her shoulders and said type mythical creatures into google, up came Dire Wolf, a mythical wolf that roams america. Then we just stuck and e on the end and hey presto!

Why should our readers come see you live?

I was reading a clash interview with joe strummer and he said how their live gigs banished the line between performer and watcher. This is what we try to do as well, bring ourselves down to the crowd level and get stuck in to it with them. We also mix up our songs live and dont play them exactly like they are recorded. We'll strip it down to the core and then build it up more and more which makes it pretty special for the crowd.

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Keeping up with the cheesy "Smash Hits" style questions: What CD is currently in your car stereo?

Dan - Best of the smiths
Joe - Orchestra super mazembe
John - Biffy Clyro - Blackened sky
Tarek - He's not here to ask and cant get hold of him so im going to have to make a guess and say either 'Cursive - the ugly organ', 'Mars Volta - De-loused in the Comatorium', or a beach boys compilation.

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Here's a questions I'm asking everybody at the moment; what are your thoughts on the current state of the British music scene?

Its a bit shit isn't it? Because of this financial crisis we're in there isn't much we can do about it, a few years ago I would of been slagging off the major labels for being greedy but at the moment they are struggling to make money as much as the rest of us so I think everyone should get on with it and stop moaning. With regards to illegal downloading thats shit as well. I see all these torrents and downloading programs on the internet, but i really don't understand why the government or anyone just simply takes them away. They call it 'illegal' downloading so why the hell aren't they taking them off there?

And finally, old faithful! Which artists (other than yourselves!) do you see big things for in the future?

Im currently seeing a big wave of oxford bands with very experimental music that could really break the industry with their stuff, and id love to see them do it. Also, being at LIPA (liverpool institute of performing arts) you see alot of quality bands going on such as electric church foundation, dog with human skills, and ziroki. So id love to see them do well cause they all have great music.

Cheers lads! - Your welcome. (I left that in cause it's just so darn polite!)

So check out Dire Wolfe! Gigging up and down the country so you have no excuse!

Listen to them HERE

Summerlin

So summerlin are one of those bands that came from nowhere and just can't be stopped! From the very beggining they've had nothing but success and have amassed a huge group of dedicated fans!

They play that type of catchy as fuck pop punk that's absolutely perfect for this time of year; happy and light sounding perfect for listening to when you're bevvying at a BBQ.

Recently Summerlin went into the studio and recorded their debut EP, "So make your move", which is yet unreleased so you'll have to listen to their MySpace until then!

We recently caught up with Jake from Summerlin...

So, how about you start by describing your sound for anyone who's yet to hear you!

I'd describe us as catchy pop punk. Love songs you can dance too haha. We are just fun bouncy pop punk music.

For a band that is relatively new to the scene (less than a year?) your success just seems to be never ending! To what do you attribute such a success?

They are kind words so thank you. We just work hard and make sure we write really good songs that we love and that we think people will love. We had some amazing help off our drummers dad Ron Broad and we are extremely grateful.

And do you guys have any specific goals for the band in 2009?

Our next goal we have is the release of the e.p 'so make your move' and get that out there. After that i'd say just tour, tour, tour and write new music and continue just having a sweet time. We would love to hit up a sweet tour with bands such as all time low or you me at 6

Why should our readers come to see you live?

Becasue we just love to dance haha We try our hardest to put on a good energetic fun show. People will see us fall over, people will hear our wireless packs turn off, people will hear us try be funny and prance about onstage but its just fun. We love performing live and nothing beats that.

What has been your favourite moment as a part of Summerlin so far?

Possibly recording our first release 'so make your move' we worked so hard to get the songs as they are now and we are soo proud. We went through so much hassle and crap trying to find members in the begining that now it just seems so amazing to have an actual cd. Also a HUGE highlight was been featured on BBC radio 1 on the show 'switch' w/ Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw, it was amazing!

Lately I've decided to slip in a cheesy question as much as possible, something you'd findin smash hits magazine so here is yours...What I think all the girls out there really want to know is are you guys all single?

We do all have girlfriends sorry to dissapoint except Ben he's the single one but i dont think any of them would care about Ben really hahaha

Ladies?

And finally, the question we're asking every band; which bands/artists (apart from yourselves)do you see big things happening for in the future?

Bands such as Me Vs Hero and Tonight is goodbye are all sweet.

Cheers lads!
Check out Summerlin HERE
And buy lots of their lovely merch HERE