Red Shoe Diaries Interview

Red Shoe Diaries performing live.  Photo by Meli.

You're named after a late night soft-porn telly show, right?
Tom: I prefer the term 'erotic drama series', but yes. We're hoping it's not going to be too much of a distraction. I've just always really liked bands who reference pop-culture. Its also just a pleasant sounding phrase. Besides, it's erotica at its most 'post-feminist'; generally depicting its heroines as active, independent women who satisfy idiosyncratic desires often without recourse to the constraints of monogomy.

Introduce the band to us…
Ash: Red Shoe Diaries in its current incarnation have been going since early last year. We've been making music in different forms since 2002, but Tom and I have known each other since we were infants. We met Mike while at college, he is officially Nottingham's hardest working drummer, and probably the most talented musician Nottingham has ever produced. I used to work with Nathan, and when he left his last band we snapped him up straight away! Leanne was the final piece of the puzzle, she has a beautiful voice, and it just seemed to really suit our sound. The first practise as a five-piece was really special, I think we knew it had all come together at last.

What kind of people do you think will be into your music?
Tom: Our songs are generally pretty poppy, so we're probably not going to endear ourselves to the purists out there. But anyone who likes a chorus, the odd angular guitar solo and thinks lyrics are important, we hope would enjoy our songs.

What have you been up to recently?
Tom: Not long ago we recorded an EP which will be out there soon, and we're all really happy with it. It's a lovely collection of songs, and we're releasing it ourselves, so the best way to get your hands on one is to come see us play.

Describe your style...
Tom: I think reference points are useful with a question like this. We'd probably be broadly categorised as alternative 'indie-pop'. But we greatly admire introspective and intelligent songwriters such as Jens Lekman, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Stars, and Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. We aspire to say something in our songs, but sometimes just making people dance is enough.

Tell us about one of your songs and what inspired you to write it…
Tom: I think inspiration should be taken from anything, no matter how seemingly mundane it may appear. I think as a songwriter if you can avoid cliches at all costs and just say something that's never been said in a song before, it will grab peoples' attention. We have a new song tentatively entitled Encyclopaedic Pain which is a fictional imagining of that stage when a couple feel they should move-in together. It's quite a pessimistic, romanceless song, in which two lots of unhappiness just become one big lump of ugly, bitter reality.

What's the best gig you've ever done?
Ash: My personal favourite was playing with the incredible Fists at the Sumac Centre, the atmosphere was fantastic and everyone had a really good night. The Sumac is a great venue, everyone there is really open and friendly. Also our debut show at The Alley Cafe was pretty special... I guess you had to be there...
Tom: Playing with the Wave Pictures in Derby in December was a real highlight for me, as I'd pretty much been listening to nothing else for the months preceding the gig offer, so to play with them so early in our 'career' was a real pleasure.

What was the worst?
Tom: When we played at Chameleon. We were on a bill with some very noisy bands, who were all great, but it wasn't the sort of bill we should have been on really, it was entirely the wrong crowd. It wasn't nasty or anything, it was just a hard set to get through. Plus we were all too drunk, and we realised late-on that we'd forgotten our tambourine on a hi-hat stand, which was a real headache!

 

Red Shoe Diaries by candlelight

What was the last CD you bought?
Tom: Love is Overtaking Me by Arthur Russell. It's a retrospective of this truly great and underrated songwriter's work, and I can't stop listening to it. He sadly died of AIDS in 1992, and I urge everyone to listen to this album.
Ash: Personally, it was Close To The Edge by Yes. Let's leave that one there.

The last gig you went to?
Ash: Probably the Hellset Orchestra at the Rescue Rooms. We've been so busy it's been hard to go and see other bands play, but that night was really good. Swimming supported and they tore the roof off, those guys along with Fists and Hellset, are pushing things forward where Nottingham is concerned for me.
Tom: Fists at the Arts Organisation. They are Nottingham's best band at the moment, but then again so are Swimming.

Pick a superpower...
Ash: The power to be oblivious to idiots. That would be great, so you didn't even see them let alone hear them. As far as you were concerned, they didn't exist. That would make the world a much nicer place, no?
Tom: The USA

What's your ideal night out in Nottingham?
Tom: The best nights out we've had in a long time are Jumpers For Goalposts at the Alley Cafe, or indeed anything featuring Hello Thor and the Yeah I'll Play It Later DJ's, those guys always throw the best parties.

What's coming up next?
Tom: Getting the EP out there, really. We've had label interest but we want to do what's right for the band. We're going to be playing a lot in support of the EP, as you know we're playing a night for Leftlion at Brownes on February 20th, with Ulysses Storm, we're playing Rescue Rooms on Feb 5th, The Maze with the Wave Pictures April 6th... lots of gigs.

Anything else to tell LeftLion readers?
Go and see Fists. Tell them we sent you.

Red Shoe Diaries on MySpace
 

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