interview with The Muffin Heads
Have any of you played in other bands? Nick and Bex used to be in a band together when they were in high school which lasted a couple of years. Pete did a little session work when he lived in Bristol but we had all been away from music the few years before we started The Muffin Heads.
How is it that you started playing music? We all have quite classical musical upbringings! Bex played violin, Pete played piano and Nick played Saxophone. We all decided at a young age that we preferred the more 'alternative' instruments.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you?
Bex, 28, Bass and Lead vocals
Pete, secret, Guitar and backing vocals
Nick, 28, drums
Have you had other previous members? Yes, we originally had a different drummer. He left shortly after we released our first single 'Queen Bitch'.
Where are you from? Pete is originally from the Channel Island, Guernsey. Bex is from Essex and Nick hails from London.
What year did the band form? We formed in late 2015
What's your style of genre? We are mixture of punk, grunge and hard rock
What inspires you? Watching other bands (big and small) play. Musically and lyrically we take inspiration from everywhere, it's great to be inspired by everyday life.
How often and where do you reherse? We try really hard to reherse once a week at Hunter Recording Studios in Hatfield Heath, UK
How have you developed since you started with the music? We know our style and we try to make things 'Muffin Heads' when we write. At the beginning we we're 100% what we wanted to be as we started playing for fun! As things progressed and Nick joined the band, we really found a sound and style that works with us.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? We all love going to gigs and are all big Tottenham Hotspur fans!
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We'd consider working with a booking agency if it worked for us. We managed to book our own tour round the UK last September without the help of an agency - just a bit of hard work and perseverance!
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We already work with independent label Regent Street Records. They distribute our music for us onto all the online platforms. Vanessa (CEO of RSR) has given us tonnes of invaluable advice over the couple of years we have worked together.
What made you decide to make this music? We go to a lot of gigs, see a lot of support bands and thought 'we could do this!'.
What are your songs about? Standing up for what you believe in, being yourself and fighting against the bullshit your fed through the media.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? Bex mainly writes the lyrics as she sings them. We all work together writing the music.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Completely depends on the song. If there are lyric ideas there is often a melody idea that is coupled with it.
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? We often write snippets at our practice sessions when we have a break between gigs. Lyrics and riffs come out of no where and usually get sung or written down into a phone!
Have you done any covers live? Yes, we regularly perform a cover of 'I Love You All The Time' by Eagles of Death Metal. Proceeds from the download or streaming of that cover help those affected by the terror attacks in Paris a few years ago.
We have also performed Like You Want by The Dwarves, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps by David Bowie and I'll Be Your Sister by Motorhead
What language do you sing in? English
What ages are most of your concert attendants? A big mixture, which is great!
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We try to vary! Like most small bands, we need to write more songs!
Do you have a regular place you play live often? We play a lot in London since our hometown venue The Square was closed. We have played a few times at The New Cross Inn.
What was your first gig like? Scary!
What was your latest gig? We last played in Folkestone at the Harp Unstrung. It was very sweaty but we played with two awesome bands - Russ Crimewave and Surgery Without Research.
Have you had to cancel a gig? To date we have never cancelled a gig.
Where have you played live this year? London, Bishops Stortford, Chatham, Brighton, Ramsgate, Folkestone.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? More midlands and north of the UK and hopefully mainland Europe.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? When we went on our first tour last September. T-shirts, lighters, CD's, stickers and badges
Where can people buy your merchandise? From us at gigs or message us through Facebook!
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? Totally their choice! We all use steaming services but we all buy physical copies too.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? It most likely makes it harder for smaller bands to make a living out of their music. On the flip side it's so much easier for people from afar to find you. For example we get streamed in the USA, we'd never reach that market otherwise.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? Support your fellow musicians. Arrive early and watch the support acts and stay late to watch the headliners. You can learn so much from watching others.
How do you get psyched for a gig? Hang at the venue and watch others play!
Do you have any new material? Working on new songs at the moment but we released a new EP in January this year called 'Don't Give The People What They Want'.
What are your web sites?
https://www.themuffinheads.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/themuffinheads/
https://www.instagram.com/themuffinheads/
Twitter - @muffinheadmusic
How can people reach you? On any of our social media or through our website.
What are your plans for the future? Release more music and go back out on tour!
