Up&Atom caught up with Feed The Kid's frontman, Curtis Taylor for issue 7 of Up&Atom magazine. Here's a quick excerpt from that interview...

Up&Atom - Who are Feed The Kid? What’s the story behind the name?

Curtis Taylor - We are a five piece rock and roll band from Manchester. The full band line-up have been together for a year, but before we set that up, myself and Ciaran were writing a year before that. We are:

Curtis Taylor - Lead Vocals
Ciaran Egan - Lead Guitar
Dane Stubbs - Bass and vocals
Jake Murphy - Guitar
Adam Smith - Drums

The name came about as Adam became a dad very quickly (if you know what I mean..! We are young lads..!) Anyway, Ciaran and I were doing open mics, and we wanted to take it to the next step. Smithy needed a bit of help at the time, so we decided to go with the name, ‘Feed The Kid’, until we became more sturdy, then we’d probably change it. The idea was to get money from gigs which would go directly to Smithy. This didn’t happen - Anyone starting a band to get money, stop now! Needless to say, we never changed the name, as it seemed to gather pace and momentum very quickly.

U&A - You’re the frontman for the band. Every singer should think he’s the best, so who, throughout the whole of rock and roll history, do you think is second best? 

CT - I think you have to believe you are one of the best, and that you have your own style, because you have to stay true to who you are. You don’t want anyone knocking your confidence, changing how you sing or how you move. Look, I’m a singer from Manchester, and we have moved on from Oasis, but no one did it better than them. Rightly or wrongly, they didn’t take shit from anyone. I wouldn’t say I have that attitude, but all the band have that self-belief and the belief that music is all we will be.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say Liam gets in my top five singers. I don’t think he would put himself in the top five singers… Actually, he probably would! I believe a frontman must have a strong voice, but really has to be more than just a singer. I’d struggle to pick a favourite, but people who have influenced me are - Paul Rodgers, Marc Bolan, Roger Daltrey, James Morrison, Robert Plant, Rod Stewart and Freddie Mercury.

I didn’t realise I could sing until quite late in life. Someone said I could, so I gave it a go, and so far, it’s going alright! I don’t know if it’s an innate thing, but I have always had a yearning to create. I didn’t realise what until I was there on stage and I thought, this is me! This is what I’m supposed to be doing! I guess only time will tell if I am right or if we will fall flat on our faces at the first hurdle! But if you don’t believe it yourself, no one else will believe it either.

U&A - How hard do you think it is to make it in the music industry today? 

CT - It’s difficult. Everyone is at it. This is still very new to us, and I guess other people would be able to tell you more, but I can already see it all boils down to attitude. Sometimes, you don’t have to be great for your music to get played. I have seen some bands that have a false belief, others have the base to be great but they have forgotten how to change, how to take criticism and have a bad attitude (they think they’ve made it before they have even strummed a chord), and others should have picked up the guitar and put it back down again.

U&A - You have forged a career that blends music and fashion, which happen to be the two driving forced behind Atom Retro as well. Can you tell us about your sideline career in fashion?

CT - It’s weird, isn’t it? Fashion and music have always worked together. Different genres create different fashions. Even though each one of us believe we are an individual, we often conform to a group when it comes to music. Mods, Rockers, Punks, Hippies. Clothes are a creative response to the environment we are in at the time. We will look back and think what was that century about?! What the f**k is that guy wearing?! I have always worked within the clothing industry and trends come and go. I think trying to put any label on yourself is difficult, because if you are self-aware that you are going for a certain look, it all becomes a bit uncool. I try to be myself, but its an amalgamation of things I have listened to, seen and loved, that have inspired me to be who I am. However, I wouldn’t want to look at a photo of me aged twelve, with curtains, looking like Gary Neville! I don’t know what inspired that look, but I guess I was watching a lot of football, so I guess I subconsciously became a Neville.

U&A - In exactly 98 words, describe your sound! Repetition is frowned upon… 

CT - We have been described as; retro, blues, country, but I guess it’s just rock and roll. I think each band member listens to something different and this filters through. I think for now it’s hard to pinpoint what we are, I hope we are something new! All we can give you are the comparisons we usually get - T-Rex, The Doors, The Verve, early Pearl Jam, Free, Creedence, but my favourite is Oasis, if Noel Gallagher was the front man. I don't think anyone will count every word in this statement, but I guess we shall see.

Thanks to Curtis for this interview! 

Follow Feed The Kid:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FeedTheKidMusic/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/feedthekidmusic
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/feedthekidmusic


Would you like your band featured here? Email details to lindsey@atomretro.com and you could be the next Something For The Weekend! (All types of music, bands and artists welcome! All genres, signed, unsigned, young and old!)

The Keepers describe themselves as Indie Mod N Roll, with Psychedelic Britpop. They were founded in 2015, by singer/songwriter and guitarist Jordan Jones, and accompanied by Tonner Pettitt on bass guitar, Liam Taylor also on guitar and Taylor Hart on drums. The Keepers are a fusion of 60's Pop Melodies and Psychedelia, 70's Punk energy, 80's Madchester madness, 90's Britpop and 00's Indie Rock. They list their main influences as The Beatles, David Bowie, The Kinks, The Jam and Supergrass.

The Keepers in action! (Photo by Dammo Photography)

The Keepers released their debut EP, No Exit in October 2015 on CD and iTunes, and have since been gigging and touring across the UK, bringing their share of retro goodness to audiences everywhere. 

They have played sold out shows at venues such as The Picturedrome and The Craufurd Arms, supporting the likes of Noasis, The Total Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets' frontman Tom Hingley and The Kar-pets, The Jam DRC and VANT.

The band have recently been sponsored and endorsed by Hofner and plan to head back into the studio to record new material in the near future. Show original message Make sure you catch a show soon! (Deets below!)

Would you like your band featured here? Email details to lindsey@atomretro.com and you could be the next Something For The Weekend! (All types of music, bands and artists welcome! All genres, signed, unsigned, young and old!)


Upcoming Gigs for The Keepers:

15th July - The Picturedrome supporting The Jam DRC (Northampton)
16th July - Enderby Music Festival (Leicester)
22nd July - Tramlines Festival (Sheffield)
30th July - The 12 Bar (Colne)
6th August - The Islington (London)
13th August - The Apple and Parrot – Torquay

Find the Keepers online:


Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thekeepersuk/

It’s 20 years since the advent of Britpop. The all too familiar sound of the legendary Supersonic guitar riff blazing out of the stereo - released on this day in 1994. Atom Retro reflect on this era of music and it’s profound affect on society, fashion and style.

Forget the Blair-ite Cool Brittania crap that followed shortly after and all too often gets banged in with the Britpop boom, this was about music and the dawning of a new era in style not politics. The lynchpin of the movement being Oasis and the sheer Indie swagger of the lads from Manchester. Mod parkas, desert boots and the iconic Union Jack guitar. The rivalry with fellow Britpop legends Blur who I fondly think of in Retro track tops, Mod Harringtons and cool Indie trainers made the Britpop bang even louder and with everyone’s favourite Common People, Pulp revitalising the trend for skinny Mod blazers, tweeds and fab Seventies shirts, this was bound to be an unforgettable era in British music history.

It was a time where gigs, beer and amazing records flowed freely. A feel good factor gripped the nation. Let’s join together and remember this great time.

Who was your favourite Britpop era band/artist? What was your favourite gig?

Share your stories with us!

In the mean time here’s a jukebox of some of our favourite Britpop tracks from 1994.

1. Supersonic - Oasis 
Released: 11th April 1994

Released on the 11th April, 1994 this was Oasis' debut single. Peaking at the time at only 31 in the UK singles charts, the sales for Supersonic have since topped 215,000 making it Oasis' 13th biggest ever selling single, outselling number 1's The Hindu Times, Lyla and The Importance of Being Idle.
  
Sing-a-long bit: "I need to be myself, I can be no one else..." (Although, basically the whole song should be sung along to at high volume).