DISCOGRAPHY
SINGLES
Isabelle/Feel the Same

REVIEWS
Live - London Forum

LINKS
Official Site

From the moment we sit down in the bar next door you can tell they all have one thing in common – a real passion for not only the music that they make, but the music that they love. Friends since 13, Jason (vocals, synth and guitar) and Jamie (lead guitar) formed a band with Tim (bass) and Ollie (drums) at whilst at Kent University 2 years ago.

"Music’s always been really serious to me, it’s always been an important thing” remarks Jason when I asked what prompted them to start a band. “When people hit their teens things come into their lives which seem quite important but they quickly fizzle out because other things take control. For me music came in and completely usurped and from that point on there was no point in messing around with other stuff.”

Over the past 2 years Battle have been rehearsing and playing gigs to increasing numbers of people, and they recently performed as a support act for Bloc Party at London’s Forum.

Ollie was the first to comment; “It was very scary”. Jamie went on - “It was weird – it was such a big venue that the only people I think we could really see were each other. We weren’t massively nervous but there were loads of technical problems. It was like a bad joke!”

So what sorts of technical problems were there, I asked. “Well my amp blew up just as we went on for a start. Jason introduced us and I just heard it die”. As if that

wasn’t enough Ollie adds “And my snare drum”… “Adding insult to injury really!” laughs Jason. “And my tuner went as well so I couldn’t tune my guitar. It was giving me all the wrong readings so I think I was out of tune by the second song and for pretty much the rest of the set…” Then Tim says “I felt like I was playing an anaconda, I could get a note out of it – I just couldn’t hear. And the monitors on my side of the stage weren’t working. I think

someone had decided to just really piss me off.”

So was that one of their worst gigs then?!

“No!” Battle say at the same time. “That was quite a good one actually...” Jamie remarks.

Influenced by the ‘English staples’ such as The Smiths, Radiohead, The Pixies, Talking Heads, Bowie and The Beatles, it’s no secret how passionate Battle are about music. “The Beatles – first and foremost it’s the Beatles. All our conversations start and end with them – we’ll go round the houses talking about every other band and usually come back to the Beatles” says Jason. Jamie adds “The thing with the Beatles is it makes you realise that it has all been done before by the Beatles. Everybody always laughs at how many effects pedals I have but for me that’s because I really love the different sounds. For a guitar player it’s guitars and guitar sounds that are important”.

Then Battle are called off to do their sound check and prepare for the night ahead. Later that evening I return to The Garage as people trickle into the venue. By 8 o’clock – when Battle are scheduled to take to the stage – about 20 people have made their way from the bar to watch them. Photographers are already lined up along the front of the stage as Jason opens with the time honoured line – ‘Hello, we’re Battle’. Not the most original of openings, but it results in some cheers from the cluster of teens.

There’s a quiet confidence in the air as Battle burst into tonight’s set, beginning with ‘One More Night’. Thankfully no amps blow this evening, and by the sounds of it there are no other technical hitches either. I take a look at the effects pedals that Jamie had previously mentioned – it’s quite remarkable the number he has… he wasn’t wrong when he said he likes variety!

They storm through the set, which includes a new song (endearingly entitled 'New Song' at present until it finds a more permanent name), 'Isabelle' (the debut single out on April 25th), 'Tendency', 'Takaya', 'Feel the Same' (the b-side for Isabelle), 'Sit With Me' and 'Children'.

It would seem that Battle already have themselves a following in London – there are some people singing along by the end of 'Tendency', the track currently available for download on their website (www.thisisbattle.com), and they have people dancing throughout their set. By the time they played ‘Feel the Same’ people were really getting into the music.

Having opened the set to around 20 people, they close it to more than 5 times that amount which is fairly impressive to say the very least. Battle are certainly a band with promise, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them headlining larger venues than this by the time the year is out.

Battle are undoubtedly aspiring for big things, and as a young band they have the world at their feet. “It’s a dangerous thing to say, wanting to be the band of 2006 – it means that you aren’t going to be the band of 2007 or 2008” says Jason. “Bands that are the ‘now’ bands have the unenviable task of having to beat that. What I think we’re trying to do is be the best band we can and whenever we put something new out we’re going to make sure it’s the absolute best thing that we can at that moment – not hold back on anything and make sure it’s music that we enjoy making.”

Interview & pictures by Jessie Brickley