Dog Days (From Oxford Mail)

Dog Days

6:00pm Thursday 2nd February 2012 in Music News By Tim Hughes

They may not be quite sure how to describe themselves, but Midlands lads Dog is Dead are making a big noise at clubs and festivals around the country. TIM HUGHES finds out more about them.

THEY’VE have had a tremendous 12 months, and are being tipped for even greater things to come.

But Dog is Dead have the refreshing down-to-earth air of a group of Midlands lads who just don’t care. They are, quite simply, having too much of a good time to worry about it all.

“We all grew up together playing shows around our hometown, so it’s good to travel to places we’ve never been before,” says frontman Rob Milton. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Things are certainly going nicely for the five-piece, having toured with Bombay Bicycle Club, playing a string of acclaimed sets at festivals – from Reading and Leeds to Bestival and Latitude, starring on cult TV show Skins; winning airplay on Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music; and releasing an EP of singles – and with work progressing nicely on their debut album.

It seems everyone is going crazy for the self-styled “total Nottingham lads” and their harmonious brand of indie-pop.

“Our influences are so eclectic, but there is definitely a lot going on,” says Rob.

“We really like making ‘big music’ and utilising all the instruments and sounds we can get our hands on.

“We are doing what bands did in the 70s – using fresh harmonies rather than feeling too modern.”

But who and what are Dog is Dead?

Rob flounders for a definition, before, instead, choosing the easy way out, and saying what they aren’t.

“We are hard to pigeonhole,” he says. “I wouldn’t say we are folk or jazz, but it’s nice to nod in that direction.

“Though I wouldn’t want people to think we are what we are not.

“I suppose the main thing is that people don’t think we’re some kind of X Factor group. We’re in a realm of our own. And we still have fun with the music.

“We have built ourselves up slowly and are getting some good press about what we’re doing, but are avoiding those ridiculous front covers of magazines which end up heaping so much pressure on bands.

“I always feel sorry for people who are hyped too much. It’s a lot to live up to and they can end up looking rubbish.

“Regardless of what happens to us, though, we are going to end up doing some very interesting things.”

The lads actually started life as members of two separate bands who got together at the tender age of 15.

“Our first gig was a school talent show,” laughs Rob. “Then we played a friend’s party on a farm. It was really difficult to get gigs in those days, and we ended up having to put shows on in friend’s back gardens and charging people £1 to come.

“They were just tiny gardens but were packed with 200 mates with nothing to do. The neighbours would go crazy!

“Looking back, we could have made so much money from scamming our friends.”

It was only after the lads moved up to college that things started picking up.

“By the age of 16 we were playing pubs. But the gigs were really just college parties. Again, people only came because they didn’t have anything else to do. We ended up being banned from places, not because we were some crazy punk band, but because we had too many mates coming along.

“It was annoying the bar owners.

“We had to keep making up fake names to blag our way back into the places we had already been banned from.

“But we are quite a restless bunch of people, so we’ve always just carried on playing.”

So where did the... let’s face it... stupid name come from?

Rob laughs again. “We have always had the worst private jokes that don’t make much sense. So when we needed a name for our first gig, we chose that because we couldn’t think of anything else.

“I can’t even remember where it came from.

“Unfortunately, though, we got stuck with the silliness.

“It’s neither cool nor uncool,” he goes on. “But I don’t think we’ll get many imitators.

On Sunday, February 19, the band play the Oxford O2 Academy.

It will be a welcome return to the city for Rob and the lads, who have some fond memories of playing Cowley Road as part of the late-lamented Truck spin-off, the OX Festival. We had a great time in Oxford,” he says. “I love it there.

“We knew we’d arrived as a band when we came to Oxford the first time, as we had fans trying to get into the van. Can you imagine? We actually had people trying to come back with us.

“If you can convince people to go to Nottingham with you, you know you’re on to a good thing!”

* Dog is Dead play the Oxford O2 Academy on Sunday, February 19. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets are £6.50 from wegottickets.com