Dog is Dead
It’s hard to imagine a more mild-mannered bunch than the band-members of newish indie outfit Dog Is Dead. While your stereotypical touring band would, you imagine, exist on a diet of vodka and late night kebabs, these boys have been spending an awful lot of time in Pizza Express. It’s not very rock n’ roll, and neither at first glance, are they.
But ask these gentle twenty year olds what they’d like to achieve in their careers, and you start to see the spark behind their recent success. “We’re ridiculously ambitious”, says lead singer Rob. “We’ll push things as far as we’re able to – as long as we’re happy with the records we’re making and are proud of them then we’ll go as far as possible.”
They’ve already been on quite a journey, from local gigs in front of a dedicated fan base in their native Nottingham, to playing a summer of festivals and their first sold-out headline
They’ve also starred in an episode of Skins, “It was surreal. We had to prerecord the song and then mime it to kids acting like they were on MDMA.” They admit that the programme isn’t really their scene, but go on to say that the experience was “really fun”. It’s this positive attitude, coupled with a slight bemusement, that runs through all their tales of their time in the limelight so far.
I ask them what they’re listening to on their travels. Their band of the moment is Big Deal, which is handy since the duo is supporting Dog is Dead at this gig, and Tribes. The Flaming Lips and Band of Horses also get a mention. And their first gigs, in their early teens, were Muse and Kings of Leon respectively.
Their own music though, is not as mainstream as these bands might suggest. Their parents listened to Springsteen and Simon and Garfunkel but their influences go wider than that, from grunge to psychedelic to pop. I find it hard to keep a straight face when they talk about the ‘eclectic sound clash’ that is their music, but on stage later the mix of influences is apparent. They come on stage to Sufjan Stevens’
There’s also masses of energy, great harmonies, some impressive multi-tasking from Trev, and a feel-good factor that help to gloss over the not yet perfect vocals. The audience, not as familiar with the songs as their home crowd, is enthusiastic, and leaves happy even after just seven songs.
The future is looking pretty bright for Dog is Dead. Fresh from their
Louise Neilan spoke to Trev and Rob from Dog is Dead before their headline gig at the
