FLIRT MUSIC
THE ESTABLISHMENT
What is the meaning behind ‘The Establishment’?
The name was thought up by john, he always said if he ever started a band he was going to call it The Establishment
How long did it take to form the band?
The band was formed 5 years ago by John and Steven L, after they met in a Nottingham music shop, Steven knew all the other guys so one by one they were drafted in to complete the line up
Are you all close friends, or do you have arguments?
We argue all the time, it’s pretty much impossible to have 5 different personalities all working so close together on something they are all passionate about without having fall outs, the good thing is we like to get things out in the open and clear the air rather than let things fester, that way you can make up and move on quicker
John, you’re one of the leaders of the band, but you were a midfielder for Nottingham Forest FC, how did you manage to juggle both football and music?
just as the band were getting together my career was winding down and id gone on to play semi pro football, but it was still hard to juggle both because of how much time they both consume, but in the end the lure of the band made me give up playing
Where is the best place you have toured and why?
Probably Ireland, because John played for the Republic of Ireland U21’s our visit generated some great press and radio which meant the trip was bigger than we expected
How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
I think the music has evolved because we work together on our songs as a band so everyone has an input, whereas when we first got together we were individual writers, we really work hard at all trying to have our say on the finished product, plus it makes everyone work harder at what we do
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own band?
Just try and surround yourself with likeminded people who share the same aspirations as you, it’s a hard business and you need thick skin just to get by, just believe in what you do and go for it, every experience in music(even the bad ones) help make you better and more determined at what you want to achieve
Finally, what’s next for The Establishment? What can we expect to see and hear in the future?
Our main priority is to finish our debut album, we have got an EP available on iTunes but we want to release a full album, then after that we will release our second single along with a video who we have already lined up a few well known faces to appear in it. On the gig front we have some festival appearances booked alongside bands such as Ocean Colour Scene, Echo and the Bunnymen, Feeder, Calvin Harris and lots more so just keep a look out for us
http://www.theestablishmentband.com/
Interview by Greg Lee
