Strangers

An unforgettable chorus and an excellent Lara Smiles feature make '80s-inspired Promises the best [STRANGERS] track yet. It's the lead number on the third of a series of EPs from the London three-piece, and has seen the band pick up a host of positive press. The Guardian's Paul Lester declared Promises as "a cold futurist version of Elton John and Kiki Dee's 'Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”, joining plaudits from the BBC and a wealth of online press, including This Is Fake DIY and The 405 - http://www.recordoftheday.com

Hurts should be seriously concerned, because there is a new band in town that looks like they’re directly encroaching territory Theo Hutchcraft and Adam Anderson already laid claim to with their 2010 debut ‘Happiness’, a move that have made them huge across Europe. Enter Strangers, founded by David Maddox-Jones, formerly of the Northampton band the Departure. So what do Strangers sound like? I’d describe it as bombastic yet dark pop mixed with the dance sensibility of Monarchy. On their side are richly programmed synths, a fun dance beat that is sure to get bodies bumping and a sexy lead male vocal from Maddox-Jones. I’m also seeing the words ‘New Romantics’ being thrown around when this band comes up in conversation, but I think I’ll leave it up to my first live encounter with them to decide if this label fits. (And it turns out if you’re in London, you can see them play Electricity Showrooms as part of an Amazing Radio bill on the 24th of November.)

Let’s switch gears now to examine more closely their third EP named, rather unimaginatively, ‘EP3'. (And yes, if you are wondering, there were two EPs prior to this, named ‘EP1' and ‘EP2'. Are they trying to be funny? And I used to call Adele lazy for naming her albums ’19' and ’21' for the age at which she wrote the songs appearing on them…) The lead track, ‘Promises’ (video of clips cut and pasted together below), features Laura Smiles duetting with Maddox-Jones, interestingly in harmony even though the song obviously is about a completely inharmonious relationship. The chorus beckons “why won’t you need me, like I needed you / why won’t you love me, like I want you to / all your words are meaningless” while synths crash darkly, as if in deference to this broken bond.

Second track ‘Because I’m Human’ is probably what Morrissey would have sounded like in the ’80s if he told Johnny Marr to get a Casio and that the Smiths were going to be making dance music. There is imagery of a ‘mask’ that the protagonist hides behind because he “can’t take this” – surely stress is something anyone can relate to, as the pressures of daily life build and snowball into something insurmountable. Maddox-Jones asks “is it because I’m human? / is it because I can do better? / you know I’m not sure I can change” in the chorus, further cementing the band’s song subject matter firmly down on earth. A lot of synth-driven dance music is purposely escapist: this is taking something uncomfortable and putting it in your face, granted with slick synth programming.

After two brilliant songs, EP closer ‘Sweet Nothing’ is a bit of a let down. Down tempo compared to the songs before it, I can hear Paul Lester’s comparison of the group’s sound with Elton John clearly in the front half of this song. Beat-wise and lyrically, it is lacklustre put up against either ‘Promises’ or ‘Because I’m Human’, but what was it that Meatloaf said? Oh yeah: “two out of three ain’t bad.”

7.5/10

Strangers’ ‘EP3' will be released on the 28th of November through Stranger Sounds. - www.theregoesthefear.com

[ Strangers ] keep things nice and simple with their third EP, calling it EP 3. It follows on, would you believe it, from EP 1 and EP 2. If we were the betting sort we’d be tempted to have a flutter on the title of their next release.

The EP features the songs Promises (Featuring Lara Smiles), Sweet Nothing and our personal favourite Human (it is also referred to as Because I’m Human on the blurb on their Soundcloud player) which streams below. The first few seconds of the song attempt to throw you off the scent a little with a keyboard riff that sounds like it’s about to build into some euphoric rave anthem before everything comes together in an electric dream of 80's referencing pop hook melody and an earworm of a chorus.

Away from EP3 The band have also knocked out a moodily skewed electronic version of the ubiquitous Video Games by Lana Del Rey, which you can hear by clicking this link. - Breaking More Waves

[ Strangers ] keep things nice and simple with their third EP, calling it EP 3. It follows on, would you believe it, from EP 1 and EP 2. If we were the betting sort we’d be tempted to have a flutter on the title of their next release.

The EP features the songs Promises (Featuring Lara Smiles), Sweet Nothing and our personal favourite Human (it is also referred to as Because I’m Human on the blurb on their Soundcloud player) which streams below. The first few seconds of the song attempt to throw you off the scent a little with a keyboard riff that sounds like it’s about to build into some euphoric rave anthem before everything comes together in an electric dream of 80's referencing pop hook melody and an earworm of a chorus.

Away from EP3 The band have also knocked out a moodily skewed electronic version of the ubiquitous Video Games by Lana Del Rey, which you can hear by clicking this link. - Breaking More Waves

YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF
Strangers from London.

IN A NUTSHELL, THEY'RE A BIT LIKE
A gothic-tinged synth pop act, with Gary Numan, Soft Cell and '80s vampire movie The Lost Boys all being summoned by their epic choons

FROM WHAT WE CAN TELL
The band have already been spotted by Music Week as ones to watch, but they're not letting us whorey music journos do all the work for them: the band have also set up their own nightclub - which you can visit on 22 September at the Electricity Showrooms. Click HERE for more on that.

IT'S ONLY A FIRST DATE, BUT WE'RE THINKING:
Just the right match of emotion and futuristic grooviness - these chaps deserve your ears. - www.artrocker.tv

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Introducing: Strangers

June 10th, 2011 • Introducing

Brand new London three piece Strangers are still in the embryonic stages of their career, but are already gathering some healthy industry (and online blog) buzz.

Dark, synth driven eighties pop with hints of The Cure, New Order and Depeche Mode is the realm we’re in here. Nothing new, certainly, but it’s all delivered with front man David Jones’ convincing and quintessentially British vocal (which you might remember from his tenure with previous band The Departure), which stands to set them apart from the plethora of other enthusiasts of a similar era.

In line with the age of immediacy in today’s fast-moving, digitally oriented world, they’ve wasted little time in getting something out there. “EP1? was released as a download on 21 March through their own label, and contained three original tracks which suggested Jones hasn’t lost his knack for writing melodramatic pop with big, radio-ready hooks (particularly on the regal sounding “All That I Wanted” and the club land ready “If I Found Love”).

If that wasn’t enough for us to get on with for now, “EP2? is currently in the works and slated for a July release – its lead track the atmospheric, equally big-sounding “It Was A Sin”, currently doing the rounds online right now. There’s also a 7? on the way, via Killing Moon. Busy times indeed.

With the band now fully formed, live shows are all go, and are sure to be announced around London and further afield in the coming weeks and months. The Strangers enterprise is off to a promising and savvy start – we’re excited to see where it goes from here. - www,laissezfaireclub.com

“Interest has been picking up fast, thanks to the immediacy and addictiveness of their dark pop sound and a familiarity with the makings of a great chorus” – CMU Approved

“They have a huge electronic sound and great tunes. Frankly, what more could you ask for?” – Tom Robinson, BBC 6Music Introducing

“Dark pop with evidence of all the right 80’s influences…lovely stuff” – Seven Sevens

“Magnificent electronic pop music that superbly scales into territories occupied on one side by Hurts and on the other side Gary Numan…whatever it is, they do it rather well” – Breaking More Waves

“Darkly poppy with a hint of the Pet Shop Boys, a hint of menace and a hint of nights spent immersed in the electro pop boom of the early 80’s” – The Devil Has The Best Tuna

"Promises is a cold futurist version of Elton John and Kiki Dee's 'Dont Go Breaking My Heart" (Paul Lester, journalist)


"Sounded like a stadium band, even though they were in a converted tram shed in tooting, amazing, really amazing"... (John Kennedy, XFM) - www.bornstrangers.com

Gloomy and bombastic is the quite obviously the new quiet and loud. London trio Strangers are the latest to use this winning formula on their debut physical release, ‘It Was A Sin’.

After releasing EP1 into cyberspace last year, ‘It Was A Sin’ is the standout track from their double-A side single along with ‘If I Found Love’ via London indie Killing Moon Records. The band filmed the accompanying video on their iPhone and the track itself could easily serve as the soundtrack to a seedy 80s electro haunt.

‘It Was A Sin’ sees a hint of the Pet Shop Boys on a particularly dark day gives way to a huge, crisp chorus of Depeche Mode inspired gloom-pop. Frontman David Maddox-Jones, formerly of The Departure, retains his trademark moody vocal giving nods to White Lies and The Killers along the way, ticking all of the boxes very nicely.

With BBC 6music already behind the cause, it is safe to assume that this is the start of something big

Read more: http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/tracks/strangers-it-was-a-sin#ixzz1ZvqcC7Ke
- www.thisisfakediy.co.uk

Gloomy and bombastic is the quite obviously the new quiet and loud. London trio Strangers are the latest to use this winning formula on their debut physical release, ‘It Was A Sin’.

After releasing EP1 into cyberspace last year, ‘It Was A Sin’ is the standout track from their double-A side single along with ‘If I Found Love’ via London indie Killing Moon Records. The band filmed the accompanying video on their iPhone and the track itself could easily serve as the soundtrack to a seedy 80s electro haunt.

‘It Was A Sin’ sees a hint of the Pet Shop Boys on a particularly dark day gives way to a huge, crisp chorus of Depeche Mode inspired gloom-pop. Frontman David Maddox-Jones, formerly of The Departure, retains his trademark moody vocal giving nods to White Lies and The Killers along the way, ticking all of the boxes very nicely.

With BBC 6music already behind the cause, it is safe to assume that this is the start of something big

Read more: http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/tracks/strangers-it-was-a-sin#ixzz1ZvqcC7Ke
- www.thisisfakediy.co.uk

Gloomy and bombastic is the quite obviously the new quiet and loud. London trio Strangers are the latest to use this winning formula on their debut physical release, ‘It Was A Sin’.

After releasing EP1 into cyberspace last year, ‘It Was A Sin’ is the standout track from their double-A side single along with ‘If I Found Love’ via London indie Killing Moon Records. The band filmed the accompanying video on their iPhone and the track itself could easily serve as the soundtrack to a seedy 80s electro haunt.

‘It Was A Sin’ sees a hint of the Pet Shop Boys on a particularly dark day gives way to a huge, crisp chorus of Depeche Mode inspired gloom-pop. Frontman David Maddox-Jones, formerly of The Departure, retains his trademark moody vocal giving nods to White Lies and The Killers along the way, ticking all of the boxes very nicely.

With BBC 6music already behind the cause, it is safe to assume that this is the start of something big

Read more: http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/articles/tracks/strangers-it-was-a-sin#ixzz1ZvqcC7Ke
- www.thisisfakediy.co.uk

This is positively Depeche Mode, a slice of 80s synth pop from newbie trio Strangers. You’ll either love it or hate it, I’m a big fan of lots of dark synth and electro pop so this is neatly ticking my boxes. They recently supported The Duke Spirit and are launching the double-A Side (on vinyl, only) for ‘It Was A Sin/If I Found Love’ on Monday 4th July. - www.whatstheruckus.com

This is positively Depeche Mode, a slice of 80s synth pop from newbie trio Strangers. You’ll either love it or hate it, I’m a big fan of lots of dark synth and electro pop so this is neatly ticking my boxes. They recently supported The Duke Spirit and are launching the double-A Side (on vinyl, only) for ‘It Was A Sin/If I Found Love’ on Monday 4th July. - www.whatstheruckus.com

A new signing to Killing Moon Records, Strangers is the new project from David Maddox-Jones, the frontman of mid ‘00s doom merchants The Departure. A four-piece already being highly praised by bloggers and webzines, the band specialise in dark, edgy pop that has a hint of despair. Elements of 80s electro- pop a la Gary Numan collides with Hurts and The Horrors-style histrionics. Even the title of their new single seems a little nod to the Pet Shop Boys – ‘It Was A Sin’. This is their debut physical release, and preludes their second digital-only EP. With synth-heavy hooks courtesy of producer extraordinaire Glen Nicholls (The Prodigy, Depeche Mode, Everything Everything), their sound brings to mind blurry-eyed nights of debauchery. An element of misery and mystique is retained throughout, with the glitchy drums also raising curiosity.

Having toiled away in The Departure for five years, it is heartening to see Maddox-Jones return with a new sound and enthusiasm for something that sounds quite different to what he was into before. It is vigorous and addictive, danceable when it shouldn’t be. ‘If I Found Love’ again is full of keyboards but also has the appealing rhetorical question of “If I found love, would love be enough, if I found love, would you feel the same?”. Who says New Romanticism is dead? And also, they’re proving sometimes it does pay off to listen to Strangers. You can find more information at: http://www.strangersofficial.com

‘It Was A Sin’/‘If I Found Love’ is released on 4 July via Killing Moon Records
- http://www.thefourohfive.com/

We featured as one of the three bands on their radar last thursday - Record Of The Day

We’ve been ill this week. Yep, all those relaxing weekends, involving late night chicken and/or meat and chips binges; 2 litre flourescent pink cocktail sessions at Reflex in St. Pauls (we were confused, big time); 8 hour stretches on friend’s sofas watching Stephen King’s Book Of Blood at 11am (it’s not only bloody horrible, but pretty shite as well) with other men in their PJ’s….turns out, its not all that great for your general wellbeing. Cue sore throats, blocked noses, and a vocal repertoire consisting of the noises that sound a bit like this guy for an entire week. What goes up must come down, and down, and down, and down so Human Traffic says. But it’s not all doom and gloom. A silver lining landed in our inbox recently in the form of Midlands-ish North Londoners Strangers who have been soundtracking our ailments with this storming, synth-tastic epic number entitled In Chaos. These dudes have simultaneously been pretty active on the remix front, providing a respectable arsenal of works that boasts Foe and KM-approved The Accusers. Check out the spooky video below. - Killing Moon Blog

The band released their debut EP, appropriately titled EP1, on March 21st in the UK. If you are a fan of dark pop music, be sure to check them out. If you head over to their official site, you can download the web edition of “All The I Wanted” for free – even if you live in the US. - Pop In Stereo

Darkly poppy with a hint of the Pet Shop Boys (clearly a key reference point for a number of the new wave of bands), a hint of menace and a hint of nights spent immersed in the electro pop boom of the early 80s.

- The Devil has the best tuna

East Londons hottest new secret have put up a taste of what to expect from their debut. Its Darkly poppy with a hint of the Pet Shop Boys a hint of menace and a hint of nights spent immersed in the electro pop boom of the early 80s. - The Trash Society

One of the journeys that slightly more leftfield pop music has gone on over the last few years is one from high colour and showmanship into slightly darker more introverted spaces – it’s an inevitable backlash against what has gone before. You can trace it through the spine of this blog – the phrase ‘pop-noir’ was first used back in April 2009 and ever since there has been a slow transition to darker places with the XX’s debut album being a keystone in changing the musical landscape. Pop music continues to go out of fashion rather than wear out and whilst no doubt further changes lay ahead, for now dancing in the twilight is a guilt free pleasure.

Strangers label their music dark pop and whatever it is, they do it rather well. We’re not talking about intense shoegazing layered-noise, but magnificent electronic pop music that superbly scales into territories occupied on one side by Hurts on the other side Gary Numan. Not everything has to sound angry for it to come from the night.

Another more direct reference to the sound of Strangers is a band we blogged in the past – NewIslands - who apparently are no more. However Strangers seem to slot into their clothes with a perfect fit. The song we’re streaming below is entitled In Chaos and is a track from their forthcoming EP (keep an eye on their website - linked above - for details). It’s cinematic and emotive – the sound of David Bowie impersonating the vampire lord of synthpop in a billowing robe. What more could you possibly want ? - Breaking More Waves

Electronic trio Strangers have kept a low profile since forming last year. OK, that might not seem like such a difficult task. However, since they have begun nudging tracks out to various journalists and bloggers, interest has been picking up fast, thanks to the immediacy and addictiveness of their dark pop sound and a familiarity with the makings of a great chorus.

A popular choice in the CMU office for the last six weeks or so, they quietly released their debut EP, ‘EP1', this week via iTunes, and are now hard at work on their debut album with producer Glen Nicholls (aka Future Funk Squad). You catch the video for the EP’s lead track, ‘In Chaos’, on their website, after which you can click through to their SoundCloud profile, where you’ll find the EP streaming in full. - CMU

This song is perhaps a bit unusual for our blog, I received the email and listened to the track about 10 days ago, my initial reaction was ‘a bit too pop’. A harsh judgement I know. Nonetheless this song fought back, through all the emails we get crammed with ear-blisteringly bad, tuneless London teenagers and country music that makes me want to eat my own vomit, seriously, even good country causes me to set fire to iPods and turn stereos into junkyard art. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. This tune just keeps coming back to me, so I thought our esteemed readership (Hi Tom & Tim) should have a listen too.

Strangers describe themselves as ‘dark pop’ and hail from North London. I know almost nothing about them and can discover very little on the supposedly ‘information rich’ world wide web. Considering returning to pen, paper and an abacus…

- Sounds Good To Me Too

Because I have a dissertation to do I’m currently very boring and also quite behind on music – this came out a couple of weeks ago but it doesn’t mean I’m any less excited about it. They’re called Strangers, they’re new, they’re from North London and their debut EP is out now. Dark pop with evidence of all the right 80s influences, check out two of the tracks from the EP here:

Strangers – In Chaos (stream only)

Strangers – If I Found Love (stream only)

Two very strong tracks I reckon. The video for ‘In Chaos’ was made using two iPhones and is well worth three minutes and two seconds of your time over here. They’ve also done a fucking great job of remixing FOE’s ‘Charity Cases’ which you can download below:
- Seven Sevens blog

Raife Hacking (drums; left), David Jones (vocals, keyboards; right);

not pictured: Glen Nicholls (producer, programmer, keyboardist, crafter of twisty soundscapes, and international man of mystery).



I’m intrigued by your sound. So, tell me more about the band. Who are you, collectively, and what’s your story?

David: Well the band is a trio, myself and Raife Hacking started working with Glen Nicholls, the producer and also third band member in October last year. We are from the Midlands in the UK originally, but now work from Glen’s studio in North London.

We came together through a love of dark pop music, stuff like Depeche Mode, some Bowie stuff, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails (you’ll hear that coming out more in our new stuff). Glen is a producer/remixer and has worked with bands such as White Lies, Prodigy and Unkle amongst others, and I have been songwriting for a few years, inspired by my love of dark uplifting pop songs. I use the word pop loosely, I guess.

We’re aiming for a big powerful live show which we are debuting in May/June in London UK, and are releasing another couple of EPs over the course of the next few months followed by our debut album later this year.



I have a rough idea of where the West Midlands are but, to be honest, almost everything I know about the bits of England that aren’t London I learned from books like Pies and Prejudice and Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie, movies like Brassed Off and Billy Elliot and the week I spent in the Lake District before I went up to Glasgow for my junior year abroad. I can look at a map and see you aren’t from those part(s) of England, but: what is your England like? What propelled you down to London?

David: Well, my England was centred around Northampton when I was growing up, which is a large town in the middle of England. I was brought up in a Christian community where everyone shared all of their possessions and lived simply without a television or radio. It meant that I was encouraged to be creative from a very early age. So I’ve been writing songs and playing instruments from about the age of 7.

What brought me down to London was music. I always knew I wanted to pursue a musical career, and London seemed a good place to meet people and go to gigs etc. I also like buzzing places and being part of a city that’s always moving and always vibrant is a great place to be for inspiration.



Was your community akin to the Amish? Was London a whole lot of culture shock, or was the separation between the two types of worlds not as stark as the Amish/”English” division tends to be? (The old order Amish here generally refer to the non-Amish as “English.”)

David: The community I was brought up in has similarities, I guess, to the Amish, but only in the way everyone lives together. We all went to normal schools and interact with ‘normal’ society. They just choose to live a simple and humble life as they believe it is how God would want them to live. They call themselves Charismatic Christians. I think my upbringing has influenced me in a very positive way.



Are Raife and Glen from Northampton too? Did you call decamp to London together, or meet there? What is their England like?

Glen: I’m originally from Leicestershire, not too far from Northampton but moved to London in 1997.

David: Raife is from Northampton, and still lives there. He comes to stay with me in London every week so we can work on the band, though. Raife is the youngster of the band and we love him for his energy and enthusiasm, and also his crafty beats. I guess our collective ‘England’ is quite similar, we are all from relatively small places and have a desire to do something bigger than the confines of where we are from. That isn’t to say that we’re not proud of where we’re from, and I still really enjoy being in Northampton, it’s a great place with lots of creative people around.



Why did you name the band Strangers?

We came up with the name Strangers because firstly we thought it fitted perfectly with our sound and secondly everyone is born a stranger into this world and we really find the concept behind that idea. Also we all interact with Strangers everyday, more so than we ever have, and its a really interesting idea and can be used in loads of different ways.



You mentioned NIN as an influence; is that early NIN or later? Also, is that a violin I hear, on one of the tracks?

Yes, that is a violin in one of the tracks. Our producer is very much into ‘filmic’ sounds, by that I mean epic, huge soundscapes, and so he will often spend days coming up with a string part for one of our songs. I think it really works well for our sound. To be honest I’ve only recently got into Nine Inch Nails. I love ‘Hurt’, Closer, tracks like that. Glen is more of a hardcore fan, and he has turned me onto them.



Oh, okay, Closer and so on, that’s early NIN. Those are some of my favorites, too! Would it be appropriate to read “dark pop” as a synonym for “gothic”? Or at least as being related to certain strains of gothic music?

I guess there are gothic elements to our sound, but Dark Pop sits better with us as a way to describe our sound at the moment. Some of influences definitely have gothic roots; The Cure, Depeche Mode.
Where was the video filmed? It looks very dark and pleasantly creepy, wherever it is. Also, how long did take to do it, using just the iPhones as recording devices?

We filmed the video in Holland Park, which is a national park in West London. They are very strict about what is filmed there, so we had to stealth it a bit, and stay ‘under the radar’. It was raining for most of the filming so we were all standing there drenched, trying to get the right shots, it was an interesting day to say the least! We were there for about 3 hours the first time, and then went back for an hour or so a week later to get a few of the shots we missed. It was all shot using two iPhones, yes, and I think we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the footage.



What was your transformative song – the rock and roll lightning strike?

David: A guy who I was in a band with a few years ago played me Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence and it was literally love at first listen. From there I got really into The Cure and bands like that, as well as purchasing the entire Depeche Mode back catalogue.

Glen: Mine would have to be Head Like a Hole, by Nine Inch Nails, literally blew my socks off!! haha!

Raife: Everlong – Foo Fighters. The first time I heard it I wanted to be Taylor Hawkins, just such an entertaining drummer to listen to, and watch, he’s so animated. Also, it’s just a great track, I’ll never grow tired of it.



What was your first show (that you attended, not that you played)?

David: My first show i went to was a local band called Glendon. The guitarist used a food mixer on the fretboard to make some cool sounds, back then that was enough to impress me haha.

Glen: Depeche mode’s ‘Devotion Tour’ in ’93 was the first big concert I went to in London!

Raife: The very first show I went to was to see a Scottish metal band called Mendeed, I was 13 at the time. It was at the forum in Kentish Town, proper battle metal type stuff, there was mohawks and dreadlocks all over the place. Loved it. I really clearly remember just how loud it was, I couldn’t believe PA’s went that loud, pretty sure the ringing in my ears right now is because of that first show I went to.



What was the first record/tape/etc that you bought? What was the last one?

David: I wasn’t allowed to buy tapes when I was a kid, as all other music other than Christian music was considered ‘worldly’ and wrong. I used to go round to my mates house and he would copy me stuff that was in the charts at the time.

Glen: Damn! probably Michael Jackson’s Thriller on vinyl and the last was the Inception movie score by Hans Zimmer.

Raife: Nirvana, Nevermind, the most stereotypical album to be a bought by a teenager. I listened to it over and over, really opened up my musical ears. The last one I bought was Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, full of great hip-hop grooves, some really interesting instrumentation on some tracks, and a cameo perfomance from Chris Rock at the end of the last track, couldn’t ask for more.



And finally, where will you be playing the live shows?

David: Our first show is May 20th at a new venue called Victory. We are playing this show for Club. The. Mammoth and will be the main support for FOE. Also we are playing at Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, North London for Mybandsbetterthanyours Presents on June 7th.



To hear more from the Strangers, visit them at their Website or on Soundcloud!
- Now This Sound Is Brave

Raife Hacking (drums; left), David Jones (vocals, keyboards; right);

not pictured: Glen Nicholls (producer, programmer, keyboardist, crafter of twisty soundscapes, and international man of mystery).



I’m intrigued by your sound. So, tell me more about the band. Who are you, collectively, and what’s your story?

David: Well the band is a trio, myself and Raife Hacking started working with Glen Nicholls, the producer and also third band member in October last year. We are from the Midlands in the UK originally, but now work from Glen’s studio in North London.

We came together through a love of dark pop music, stuff like Depeche Mode, some Bowie stuff, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails (you’ll hear that coming out more in our new stuff). Glen is a producer/remixer and has worked with bands such as White Lies, Prodigy and Unkle amongst others, and I have been songwriting for a few years, inspired by my love of dark uplifting pop songs. I use the word pop loosely, I guess.

We’re aiming for a big powerful live show which we are debuting in May/June in London UK, and are releasing another couple of EPs over the course of the next few months followed by our debut album later this year.



I have a rough idea of where the West Midlands are but, to be honest, almost everything I know about the bits of England that aren’t London I learned from books like Pies and Prejudice and Cider with Roadies by Stuart Maconie, movies like Brassed Off and Billy Elliot and the week I spent in the Lake District before I went up to Glasgow for my junior year abroad. I can look at a map and see you aren’t from those part(s) of England, but: what is your England like? What propelled you down to London?

David: Well, my England was centred around Northampton when I was growing up, which is a large town in the middle of England. I was brought up in a Christian community where everyone shared all of their possessions and lived simply without a television or radio. It meant that I was encouraged to be creative from a very early age. So I’ve been writing songs and playing instruments from about the age of 7.

What brought me down to London was music. I always knew I wanted to pursue a musical career, and London seemed a good place to meet people and go to gigs etc. I also like buzzing places and being part of a city that’s always moving and always vibrant is a great place to be for inspiration.



Was your community akin to the Amish? Was London a whole lot of culture shock, or was the separation between the two types of worlds not as stark as the Amish/”English” division tends to be? (The old order Amish here generally refer to the non-Amish as “English.”)

David: The community I was brought up in has similarities, I guess, to the Amish, but only in the way everyone lives together. We all went to normal schools and interact with ‘normal’ society. They just choose to live a simple and humble life as they believe it is how God would want them to live. They call themselves Charismatic Christians. I think my upbringing has influenced me in a very positive way.



Are Raife and Glen from Northampton too? Did you call decamp to London together, or meet there? What is their England like?

Glen: I’m originally from Leicestershire, not too far from Northampton but moved to London in 1997.

David: Raife is from Northampton, and still lives there. He comes to stay with me in London every week so we can work on the band, though. Raife is the youngster of the band and we love him for his energy and enthusiasm, and also his crafty beats. I guess our collective ‘England’ is quite similar, we are all from relatively small places and have a desire to do something bigger than the confines of where we are from. That isn’t to say that we’re not proud of where we’re from, and I still really enjoy being in Northampton, it’s a great place with lots of creative people around.



Why did you name the band Strangers?

We came up with the name Strangers because firstly we thought it fitted perfectly with our sound and secondly everyone is born a stranger into this world and we really find the concept behind that idea. Also we all interact with Strangers everyday, more so than we ever have, and its a really interesting idea and can be used in loads of different ways.



You mentioned NIN as an influence; is that early NIN or later? Also, is that a violin I hear, on one of the tracks?

Yes, that is a violin in one of the tracks. Our producer is very much into ‘filmic’ sounds, by that I mean epic, huge soundscapes, and so he will often spend days coming up with a string part for one of our songs. I think it really works well for our sound. To be honest I’ve only recently got into Nine Inch Nails. I love ‘Hurt’, Closer, tracks like that. Glen is more of a hardcore fan, and he has turned me onto them.



Oh, okay, Closer and so on, that’s early NIN. Those are some of my favorites, too! Would it be appropriate to read “dark pop” as a synonym for “gothic”? Or at least as being related to certain strains of gothic music?

I guess there are gothic elements to our sound, but Dark Pop sits better with us as a way to describe our sound at the moment. Some of influences definitely have gothic roots; The Cure, Depeche Mode.
Where was the video filmed? It looks very dark and pleasantly creepy, wherever it is. Also, how long did take to do it, using just the iPhones as recording devices?

We filmed the video in Holland Park, which is a national park in West London. They are very strict about what is filmed there, so we had to stealth it a bit, and stay ‘under the radar’. It was raining for most of the filming so we were all standing there drenched, trying to get the right shots, it was an interesting day to say the least! We were there for about 3 hours the first time, and then went back for an hour or so a week later to get a few of the shots we missed. It was all shot using two iPhones, yes, and I think we were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the footage.



What was your transformative song – the rock and roll lightning strike?

David: A guy who I was in a band with a few years ago played me Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence and it was literally love at first listen. From there I got really into The Cure and bands like that, as well as purchasing the entire Depeche Mode back catalogue.

Glen: Mine would have to be Head Like a Hole, by Nine Inch Nails, literally blew my socks off!! haha!

Raife: Everlong – Foo Fighters. The first time I heard it I wanted to be Taylor Hawkins, just such an entertaining drummer to listen to, and watch, he’s so animated. Also, it’s just a great track, I’ll never grow tired of it.



What was your first show (that you attended, not that you played)?

David: My first show i went to was a local band called Glendon. The guitarist used a food mixer on the fretboard to make some cool sounds, back then that was enough to impress me haha.

Glen: Depeche mode’s ‘Devotion Tour’ in ’93 was the first big concert I went to in London!

Raife: The very first show I went to was to see a Scottish metal band called Mendeed, I was 13 at the time. It was at the forum in Kentish Town, proper battle metal type stuff, there was mohawks and dreadlocks all over the place. Loved it. I really clearly remember just how loud it was, I couldn’t believe PA’s went that loud, pretty sure the ringing in my ears right now is because of that first show I went to.



What was the first record/tape/etc that you bought? What was the last one?

David: I wasn’t allowed to buy tapes when I was a kid, as all other music other than Christian music was considered ‘worldly’ and wrong. I used to go round to my mates house and he would copy me stuff that was in the charts at the time.

Glen: Damn! probably Michael Jackson’s Thriller on vinyl and the last was the Inception movie score by Hans Zimmer.

Raife: Nirvana, Nevermind, the most stereotypical album to be a bought by a teenager. I listened to it over and over, really opened up my musical ears. The last one I bought was Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, full of great hip-hop grooves, some really interesting instrumentation on some tracks, and a cameo perfomance from Chris Rock at the end of the last track, couldn’t ask for more.



And finally, where will you be playing the live shows?

David: Our first show is May 20th at a new venue called Victory. We are playing this show for Club. The. Mammoth and will be the main support for FOE. Also we are playing at Bull and Gate in Kentish Town, North London for Mybandsbetterthanyours Presents on June 7th.



To hear more from the Strangers, visit them at their Website or on Soundcloud!
- Now This Sound Is Brave

http://www.nowthissound.com/ntsib/2011/04/20/strangers-dark-pop-and-twisty-soundscapes/

http://sevensevens.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/strangers/

http://soundsgoodtometoo.com/2011/04/15/strangers-in-chaos/

http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/article/approved-strangers/

http://breakingmorewaves.blogspot.com/2011/03/strangers-new-waves.html

http://thetrashsociety.blogspot.com/2011/03/strangers-if-i-found-love.html

http://besttuna.blogspot.com/2011/03/devils-round-up-27th-march-2011.html

http://www.yinmagazine.com/2011/03/strangers-ep1/

http://www.popinstereo.com/archives/14717/

http://killingmoonlimited.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/track-of-the-day-strangers-in-chaos/

http://blog.welikeitindie.com/2011/03/s-t-r-a-n-g-e-r-s/

http://www.offtheradarmusic.com/2011/03/strangers.html

http://talentfilter.blogspot.com/2011/03/strangers.html

http://www.designermagazine.org/BUZZIN27Strangers.htm

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