Monthly newspaper and online publication targeting 18 to 35 year olds. The ultimate guide to the hottest parties, going out and having fun. Music, fashion, film, travel, festivals, technology, comedy, and parties! London, Barcelona, Miami and Ibiza.
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Tell me about the formation of the band? John: We started just over two years ago now. Sam was at university and I was in a band in Liverpool. I decided to leave the band as everyone was going to uni and we all wanted different things. I moved to London and began to advertise for a guitarist and found Sam online. Sam auditioned for us in the Roundhouse and it was an incredible sound. Our former guitarist knew James from college and then Todd joined later. Sam: I was 17 when we started this, which is crazy. Luckily I got sent the wrong ID so it said I was 18. Do you do your music full time? Pretty much, we gig most weeks and Todd's on his break from uni which is great. Tell me about the incredible opportunity to play at the Isle of White Festival? John: It was Todd's birthday and we had an incredible slot, so it was like a two in one. The weather was beautiful too which added to what we would say was one of the best weekends, which we will never forget. James: After our show we just went wild with the boozing, at one point 4 out of the 7 people sat together were puking, like a chain reaction. Todd got a birthday gift to give us all one dare each for the evening of his birthday, which turned pretty nasty, I must admit. I have to mention our friend Matthew Holt, who was amazing with the photography and filming. You do a lot of local (London) gigs but possibly even more shows up north? John: We do so many up north, in fact most of them are up north. The gigs are regularly in Sheffield and Leeds. We reckon that our biggest fan base is Sheffield or London, probably Sheffield. We haven't done many yet in Manchester other than When in Manchester, which we took part in this year. What do you prefer gigs or festivals? If you could do only festivals or only gigs just around the UK, which would pick? Sam: We would say shows, although we love festivals after the shows. If we only have two months of solid festivals in the summer we would pick shows. What has supporting other bands done for you and your fan base? John: We supported Starsailor for venues that have an 800 cap. It was incredible! We've supported a few bands larger than us, which were great, but we now want to branch out and attain a different calibre of gig and take the next step. Todd: The gigs do help our fan base and we are extremely grateful. I think it was one of the Sisteray gigs that we were taken aback by the range of fans that were singing our songs. We almost didn't realise people knew us yet. John: In fact there's a fan called Faith who we must mention as she occasionally travels further to our shows than we do which is insanely great! I have heard about how you love to unwind after gigs with some wild antics and pranks, I'd love to hear about some of these from the horse's mouth. James: We don't tend to stitch each other up that much, more so others. We love ourselves a good fire extinguisher though. John: We had a gig in a place called Selby. After the show we got absolutely smashed. A guy was around the same pubs that we were in and kept following us. Later in the evening we had a fire extinguisher fight and soaked the room. Next thing we are all in our boxers and there is a knock on the door. We all dispersed into hiding places and had chosen who was opening the door with a game of Rock'Paper'Scissors. The general manager had initially thought we had wet ourselves as the room was drenched however we seemed to get away with it. In the morning however when we woke there was the bloke from the pub who worked in the hotel who had let him self into our room and had gone to sleep. James: I think these events have happened after we've been drinking. One other event was after a gig we found some chef clogs and told Todd to wear them. We then hid his shoes so he had to go out on a full on night out in these ginormous shoes. Later that evening we met a chef who wanted to purchase them, as they were apparently extremely expensive. Todd spent the rest of the night in his socks. What would you like to get out of your music? Sam: Just to enjoy it really. We don't think there is one thing. John: We just want to continue to grow. We've been so grateful to the labels that came down in the beginning of the process but we weren't ready then. However we are gaining speed now and we are feeling a pull now towards signing. Do you have a specific routine for upcoming songs? James: We are going to pause to release until we have the whole package sorted like management and pr etc. But the tracks are ready and will be done with promos. Who would you love to perform alongside or collaborate with? All: Calvin Harris would be great or Chase and Status perhaps. Or Bruno Mars 2016 / ISSUE 91 INDIE 47 After seeing Judas, aka John Clancy, Todd Blackmore, Sam Horvath and Jame Phillips, electric performance at The Monarch it's clear that these boys are on route to bigger things. We caught up with them in the studio to hear how they made it to this point. " We love ourselves a good fire extinguisher " follow @WeAreJUDAS Alice Gee | Guestlist INTERVIEW: JUDAS