MusicVita Interview with Wheels

Band "Wheels," made up of four young lads from London who make really fresh sounding melody driven guitar pop. There sound is influenced by all your favourites Bowie, The Beatles, the Smith, MGMT and M83. There debut single is 'Feel About Me' which is soon to be released on 'This Feeling Records' come December 6th.

One of our Journalists Michelle Kirwan, went dont to meet the lads.

1) How old are you guys?
George 23, Yacob 22, Felix 22, Stirling 19

2) What part of London are you from?
All over. Me and Stirling are from south, Clapham and Elephant; George is from East London, south Woodford; and Yacob generally lives with whoever will take him, he's danish.

3) How did you meet and how long have you been together?
Me and stirling had been in a band before together which i left. George was in a band that i joined briefly before George left, so me and George decided to start a new project together cuz we were into the same stuff and were out all the time together. We advertised on gumtree for a bass player and Yacob replied, we went out with him once and he went nuts and when we did a little rehearsal with him in my house he could play everything so that was a bonus. And then we saw stirling looking for a band online so we thought why not, since i'd played with him before. Been together now like this about 2 years i think.

4) Where does the bands name come from?
Dunno really. George's idea and everyone seemed to like it, think he picked it up from John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels". All the lyrics in that song were really speaking to us at that time, so we thought why not. Kinda seems to have some other connotations too which i'd love to bore you with but i won't. And, it's short and easy to remember. Coming up with band names is hell, i hate it.

5) For those who are not familiar with your music how would you discribe it?
Rock, Indie. In that order. I think it's quite spacey as well. Not epic but just kind of like smoking cigarettes out of a city window at night, at the risk of sounding like a buffoon. But to be honest we're not one of those bands whose album you could listen too and every track blurs into one. I think we've got different sounding tracks which people will hopefully like for different reasons. I hate this question.

6) What other bands are you liking?
Love all the greats, love nearly all music. Currently though, loving Tamaryn and Silversun Pickups, recently been getting big into M83 and Yo La Tengo. Can't say there's a wealth of new stuff that i thinks amazing though

7) Have you taken any music lessons?
I took them for about 4 years when i was 9 and then i studied guitar at uni for about 2 years but then i dropped out. George never had a lesson don't think. Stirling had a few drum lessons i think. And Jacob learnt classical piano when he was younger.

8) You have up coming dates in the UK what can the audience expect?
Very loud, reverby, striking guitar music.

9) What, if any, negatives have you experienced so far?
Seems like record companies aren't willing to commit too much anymore so it's and it's hard to get your music out there without some backing.

10) What positives have you experienced so far?
Written some music i love and enjoy playing.

11) Who writes and produces your songs?
I write the majority of the material and produce and record the demos in my house. Stuff gets written in all sorts of ways though, always an element of spontaneity to how a track is born. The single that's coming out Feel About Me was produced by Sean Genockey, amazing dude.

12) Where does the inspiration for your songs come from?
Life. Great Writers. Films. Anything that has a profound effect on us.

13) If you own an Ipod who do you have on there?
So much stuff. A lot of 80's cheese actually, Toto, Mr. Mister, Steely Dan, Meat Loaf. A lot of the stuff you'd expect like stone roses, hendrix, The Strokes, Marvin Gaye, so much stuff. Think i'm actually the only one in the band with an ipod though. George is a DJ so he hears pretty much everything new coming out, his taste is probably a little cooler than mine.

14) Which band, if any, do you aspire to be like?
The Beatles! Why not?

15) What advice would you give to other bands trying to get on the circuit?
If you write something that excites you, it will excite somebody else.

16) What can your listeners look forward to for the new year?
More recordings hopefully.

17) When can we look forward to an album?
Spring next year maybe, if we can find some money, or maybe we'll just release an album of demos.

www.myspace.com/wheelsmyspace

- Michelle Kirwan