Not exactly Simon and Garfunkel, the punk duo tell Tim Hughes how two nice young men from Kent found themselves battering our eardrums on the prestigious NME Tour

For a fresh-faced twosome Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent sure make one hell of a racket.

Trading under the name Slaves, their punchy pile-driving punk-rock is short, snappy and witty, with few of their songs lasting longer than three minutes. But for all their grungy energy and scuzzy appeal, Slaves are an intelligent and very dapper duo with less interest in fame than just making an almighty noise.

“We are just a couple of mates from Kent – the Garden of England,” says Isaac, by way of explanation.

“We hid away in a room to make some music, and this is what came out.”

Isaac drums, while standing – and singing... well, shouting, while Laurie accompanies on guitar. Listening to their pulse-racing rock you’d think there were more of them. “We never set out to be a two-piece,” says Isaac. “We were looking for a drummer but we didn’t have that many mates, so Laurie said, ‘why not play them while I play guitar?’ “It is stripped back,” he adds. “It has developed but is still stripped back.”

He’s not kidding. One of their songs – the riotous Girl Fight – is so tight it clocks in at under 15 seconds. “Playing a song that fast while standing up, playing the drums and shouting… I couldn’t have done it for more than that!” he laughs.

“It was a true story too. We were walking along one night and saw a big girl fight. I was wearing a white shirt and white shoes so didn’t want to get too close!”

Their music fits the very definition of punk rock. “We both come at it from different angles but were both drawn to that heavy rock sound,” he says.

“I had a rich musical upbringing. My dad is a big vinyl collector and as a baby I slept to the sound of very loud punk rock. Laurie’s parents weren’t that into it but he found it for himself.”

They honed their sound in small venues around their native Tunbridge Wells – playing what is uncharitably known as the ‘toilet circuit’ of down at heel bars and clubs.

“A lot of bands think they are too good for it, but not us,” says Isaac. “No one can say we haven’t worked for it, though; we did it relentlessly and, looking back, it was a really happy time.”

Isaac is speaking from his flat in London’s Whitechapel – the East End district formerly the haunt of Jack the Ripper and now the domain of hipsters.

“I’ve done a bit of time in the Big Smoke,” he says. “But now I’m moving back to Kent. I’m going to be away so much in the coming months there’s not much point paying ridiculous London rents.”

That starts now with the NME Tour, alongside Palma Violets, the Fat White Family and Wythches.

“It’s a bit of an honour to be playing with these amazing bands,” he says. “And it’s ridiculous to see the bands that have supported in the past.

Oxford Mail:

“I don’t know too much about Palma Violets apart from their big tune Best Of Friends, which is wicked,” he comments. “The Fat White Family are obviously incredible though, and we are stoked to be able to hang out with them.”

He admits that having four great bands on the road together has a high potential for mischief. “It could be carnage,” he laughs. “They obviously want us to have fights and get smashed. We are really not that wild though, to be honest.

“Most of the time we are pretty chilled. We love playing live so we don’t want to ruin it by getting slaughtered.

“Having said that, I’m not going to say anything too early; I’ll probably end up eating my words!”

Oxford Mail:

Headliners: Palma Violets

Tour opens doors for future stars of rock

COLDPLAY, Azealia Banks, Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand... what have these bands all got in common? 
Very little, other than the fact they all made it huge after starting off as support bands for the NME Tour. 
It is 15 years since someone at the long-running music mag came up with the idea of rounding up four up-and-coming bands and sending them out on tour together. Since then many have gone on to great things – none more so than the support acts. This year that honour falls to Slaves, Wythches and Fat White Family, who are supporting Palma Violets on the 11-date tour, which arrives at the O2 Academy Oxford tomorrow.
Brit four-piece Palma Violets, left, previously featured on the sold-out bill in 2013. They return with new material plus old favourites such as killer tune Best Of Friends. Fat White Family picked up the Philip Hall Radar Award at last year’s NME Awards for debut album Champagne Holocaust. Three-piece surf-psych band Wytches step in to fill in for The Amazing Snakeheads.

CHECK IT OUT
The NME Tour hits the O2 Academy Oxford tomorrow.
Tickets are £17.55 plus fee including a 50p donation to the Teenage Cancer Trust

Go to ticketweb.co.uk