This Modern Youth

Tom, Matt and Alex all attended the same school in Southam, Warwickshire. Jim is from Coventry and we first encountered him when our two bands played together.

Matt and Alex originally played in a band together called Old Ricoh. After a devastating car accident where Andy, our drummer, died we decided to start fresh with a new band, This Modern Youth. Tom had been in brought in to replace Twiggy (Andy) in Old Ricoh but things were never the same. We had evolved from the old band and already had the foundations of a new sound.

It was 2009 and we were far more focused this time. We were writing music that we loved and was true to ourselves. When we finally got hold of Jim, our sound was complete. We had catchy beats, big guitars, and Jim's vocals acting as a great foil to Matt's.

Our influences vary greatly as individuals but we meet in common grounds. Matt takes inspiration from The Beatles, Oasis and The Jam whereas Alex is influenced by Manic Street Preachers, The Stokes and Kings of Leon. Jim is a big fan of Stereophonics, Green Day and Red Hot Chili Peppers with Tom taking influence from drummers such as Jack Bevan of Foals and Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys. We all grew up on Britpop and you can hear this in our sound.

Our eclectic mix of influences combines to make our music our own, you'll hear them in there but we are far from an imitation. We have honed our sound in our own shed come studio, Naan Bread Studios. We practised and laid demo after demo to get the sound we wanted. We gigged our set until we were happy with it. We have been recording more demos with Matt Terry, who has worked with The Enemy, of which you can hear on our web pages.

We are a hard working band with youth on our side. We wouldn't feel comfortable with our name if we didn't think our songs reflected what we are about and what people can relate to. But we also have the desire, attitude and tenacity to make you want to listen; we will stand up and be counted if you will.

This one's for Twiggy.