Peace is a rock band from Birmingham, UK. The group consists of brothers
Harrison (vocals, guitar) and Sam Koisser (bass), Douglas Castle(guitar)
and Dominic Boyce (drums).
The band started getting attention in early 2012
from publications such as The Guardian and NME. Peace has been compared
to The Maccabees,Wu Lyf and Vampire Weekend. They released their debut
EP "EP Delicious" through Columbia Records early September
2012.
What else can we tell you about Peace? The Guardian
tells us they have already supported the Vaccines, Manic Street Preachers,
Tame Impala and Magic Kids. At one of their first London gigs, at the
Old Blue Last, they painted a 10ft Peace symbol all over the venue,
clearly unconcerned that someone on the minimum wage had to scrub it
off the next morning. Still, what do they care they're rock'rollers
who like to grind, roll and smoke and, allegedly, fuck you in the heart
with their music. We know this because they have a manifesto that reads:
"MUSIC TO GRIND, ROLL & SMOKE/ MUSIC TO FUCK YOU IN THE HEART."
We also have it on pretty good authority (ie one of the band told us)
that at least one member of Peace is distantly related to Michael J
Fox, that Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood swapped a pair of his cargo trousers
for one of their demos, and that they recently got into a fight with
Finley Quaye when he became jealous at an aftershow party the band were
getting more female attention than him. The fracas culminated with Quaye
throwing a drink over guitarist Doug Castle.
When they played Cambridge Portland Arms, Ash went
a long to give them a gentle grilling.
Lucy: Your band have been quite quiet for the last few months. Are you looking
forward to playing gigs again?
Katie Jane Garside: I think I give very obtuse ans
What influenced you musically?
Everything really, there's quite a strong link from the 60s to the 90s
in there, that's what our parents were listening to. The stuff you hear
when you're a kid, gets absorbed. Or stuff that girls are into. That's
why I first got into Nirvana, because a girl had a Nirvana t-shirt on.
What's the worst gig you've played?
There's been shows where the venues been moved or the promoters fucked
it, but they're usually not the worst shows. It's always shit when equipment
breaks. We had a show in Nottingham where all our equipment broke but
that was a really good show. We've never been bottled so we'll take
that as a good thing.
Strange backstage moments?
We usually find a game that usually involves a small piece of fruit
or a piece of ham or something. In Manchester we played bagel curling.
There's always a backstage sport, like yesterday we were throwing a
lime through the hole in the bass drum.
What was it like touring and playing shows with Mystery Jets, MSP and
The Vaccines?
Vaccines was very early on for us and them, that was cool because it
was really early. The Mystery Jets tour was really fun because we learnt
a lot from an experienced band that have been doing it for years. The
Manics was good because they were our first big shows, really professional
with a band who have been doing it since we've been born, they're masters
of their game, legends of the game you could say.
Opinions on X-Factor?
It's dominating the charts, but I don't get why people get so worked
up about it. No one watches it to find talent, it's just cheap entertainment.
We don't have a problem with it.
Any bands you would love to tour with?
Mystery Jets again. Foo Fighters probably, that would be pretty cool.
I'd like to tour maybe America with a big American band. I'd love to
tour with MGMT. The Rolling Stones now, it would be really funny because
they're so old. I bet they're still crazy.
Dream gig?
NME tent at Reading Festival would be awesome; I always thought that
would be incredible to play. I think that's the most realistic dream
gig. Hopefully we could do that in the next few years. Headlining Brixton
Academy would be pretty sweet. A wedding! Would be cool, we could play
our tour managers wedding, wearing wedding dresses and looking better
than his wife.
Any artists you would love to meet, alive or dead?
John Bonham. Mozart would be pretty interesting. Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell,
James Brown. I'd like to meet matey from Keane, I used to say this quite
a lot, if I could be in any band ever, I would be the drummer from Keane.
Seriously, just for a day. The drummer from Keane is one of the best
positions to be in. Because "somewhere only we know ba boom ba
boom ba boom" just fucking hammering it. Mid-day at Glastonbury
or whatever! Don't mock it would be a really good place to be.
Any advice to young musicians?
Keep on playing. All we've ever done since we started is just played,
we've still got a lot to do, we're not in a position to be all like
follow your heart. I think we still need some advice from people.
Thanks to the band for their time and Ashley M at
Chuff Media for sorting things out.