Dots: It's a wonder nobody bagged the Towns moniker previously... Where did the name initially come from?
Jon Paul Beaumont: Yeah when you think about it I guess it seems like quite an obvious band name - we're lucky nobody took it before we could! I'm not too sure where the band name came from, but our singer, Macca, has an Uncle in a band called Eastertown, so maybe there was some unconscious family connection going on when we came up with the name...
Dashes: How do you feel playing shows like Dot to Dot will aid in reaching a greater audience? And how integral to the band's development do you envisage festivals to become?
JP: Firstly we're eternally grateful to be able to play festivals like Dot to Dot: it's such an amazing event and the atmosphere throughout the day has been electric, a real celebration of new and local music. It seems as though people start to take note of the band when they see that we're playing shows like this, and if we weren't on these sorts of bills we perhaps wouldn't have any audience at all. Playing live shows is important, it's a band's bread and butter, so to be incorporated in future festival bills would be amazing. I definitely think that playing festivals is a good chance to win over fans of other bands, while the pipe dream is to be playing up the bill at Glastonbury and Primavera Sound.
Dots: Having put on the inaugural Feed Me with Your Hiss night just last week, who would feature on your dream line up if money and touring schedules were no obstacle?
JP: Dream line up... that's a tough one. I think each band member would have slightly different opinions, although I would have loved to have seen The Smiths and The Stone Roses. I seriously doubt that there would be enough money in the world to get those guys to reunite though... Musically I'd love to put on My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth if for no other reason than to see their pedal boards. But when you're putting on shows you want to have a good time so I reckon bands like The Cribs and Kasabian would be fun to put on too.
Dashes: Having only got together unbelievably recently, do you feel as though Towns are ready to be unleashed on the world, or is there still some maturing to be done?
JP: I wouldn't say we were ready to be unleashed on the world just yet, but when is any band really ready? Our progression so far may seem really quick, but it also feels quite natural. The little things we are doing suit where we are as a band at the moment. We're taking lots of little steps and if we continue taking lots of little steps who knows what the future may bring? We just hope we can earn a platform to release records, play shows and really develop our craft.
Dots: Do you feel there's a significant difference between your live sound and that heard on record at this point in time? And do you view yourselves more as a live force, or is the real magic conjured when holed up in the studio?
JP: I certainly feel there is quite a significant difference between our live sound and our recordings: the recordings were done as a three piece way before our first gig. It was only when our drummer's brother Adam got involved playing bass that we turned into a four piece and started playing shows and developing our sound so it's only natural that our songs and sound have changed over time because of that. I believe Kevin Shields once said in an interview that his live shows were aggressive and loud because it's really hard to replicate some of the softer, more delicate sounds in a live environment. I would have to agree, as at the moment we only play our louder, faster songs. When we're only on for twenty minutes we don't want to kill the mood with a long, drawn-out ballad number. That said, we certainly have more than the six songs we currently play. We just presumed we'd make the greatest impact by playing a loud, fast and ultimately short set.
I feel at the moment our live shows represent us better than our recordings though, most definitely. We really enjoy playing together, whether its for a show or rehearsal and it's important to enjoy rehearsing together because it's such a fundamental thing that all bands have to do. Noel Gallagher once said that if you don't practise five times a week you can forget about it. Given time, experience and a guiding hand I think we have the potential to be good on recordings too! If you look at bands like My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream, it took them a few years before they really mastered the art of recording an album...
Dashes: Most write-ups thus far have compared you with much '90s influence. How concerted an effort did you make to emulate that sort of sound?
JP: The starting point for our band is based on the music we like. I think it's only natural that we're predominantly influenced by the '90s as that's the era we grew up in. But the '90s isn't our only influence: we listen to music from all decades, but growing up in the '90s must have subconsciously affected the way we think about music and the way in which we play guitar. I wouldn't say we deliberately tried to revive the '90s or anything like that but we know what we like about music and we started from there. It'd be silly of us to make music we didn't like, and I think you can hear the music we like through our songs. We're still a very young band though...
Dots: Bristol was recently crowned Britain's 'most musical city'. Do you have master plans to put the West Country back on the guitar music map?
JP: Most certainly, yes. There's loads of unearthed talent in Bristol and I think it won't be long before there is a wave of breaking acts that come from Bristol and the surrounding areas. Why should places like London and Manchester get all the hype and decent bands? It's definitely annoying when you see a band you like touring the UK who aren't doing a Bristol show. It seems to happen quite frequently although I'm not too sure of the reason why this is. But by making music, and by putting on our own night, we want to inspire local people and put Bristol firmly back on the map. It'd be great to see bands like Sonic Youth and The Brain Jonestown Massacre do a Bristol show in the future...
TOWNS - Fields by TOWNSmusic
Expect to see Towns quite probably supporting the likes of Sonic Youth and The Brain Jonestown Massacre if they ever head westwards...
TOWNS - Fields by TOWNSmusic
Expect to see Towns quite probably supporting the likes of Sonic Youth and The Brain Jonestown Massacre if they ever head westwards...
