Na ves are a “Tribal pop band” from the New Forest, forming in 2012 while they were s ll at school under the name under Not Advised, the line up of Jack Fairbrother, Andy White, and Greg Day was completed by Jim Thomas and Ash Oliver shortly before the name change and subsequent trip to Los Angeles to begin recording their debut fulllength album, with pla num-selling producer John Feldmann. ‘Indoor War’ was released in 2014 to cri cal acclaim, the album tells the story of a character named Alvima and his tale of loss, love, logic and hope. The group have toured relentlessly since and also performed at the 7107 Fes val in the Philippines, on the main stage alongside Empire of the Sun and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, before releasing a new single ‘Chasing Lions’ in 2016, of which HMV had the following to say: ““This is pure, unadulterated, unconcerned pop-rock. The choruses are the size of small countries; the melodies are smooth as freshly woven silk and the produc on is clean, as you like” We catch up with the band before their appearance at Teddy Rocks Fes val alongside the likes of Modestep, Twin Atlan c, Scou ng for girls and loads more.
I understand you have just come off a tour with Busted, how did you find the experience and how did you find it different from your own headline tours? It was amazing, it’s not o en that tours here are that extensive - we played 24 shows across the UK & Ireland and so got to perform in lots of places which we wouldn’t normally visit. The difference between support and headline shows is that with support shows you’re primarily playing to an audience who isn’t aware of your music. Our approach is to try and give the best snapshot of our band within our allo ed me - we want to try and get across what our band is all about and make sure that the set is as cap va ng as possible for an audience who doesn’t know the words. We love the challenge of trying to turn a new audience into Na ves fans. With headline shows, everyone has bought a cket to see our band so it’s more about delving deeper into what we’re about and communica ng on a slightly more personal level with the audience - we’re not trying to convert a crowd, we’re trying to give them the most detailed Na ves experience we can. I have read about your fan community ‘The Tribe’, it sounds incredible, can you tell us how it came about and a bit more about it? The ini al idea was born on the last tour of our last album cycle. We were in Manchester and I was speaking with a couple of our most dedicated fans. I’d always assumed that as the two were always at shows together they must’ve been friends from school or something, but they told me that they had met at a Na ves show and became best friends. I was really inspired by this and it got me thinking about community and common ground. It inspired the concept behind our new album. The idea is that a community can be build around
the smallest common ground and that individuality thrives as part of a greater group. We want our shows and our band to be a place where people who feel like they have no place in the world can feel at home. Teddy Rocks has a huge line up this year, how does it feel to be suppor ng such a great cause and which acts are you excited to watch play? We love the story behind the fes val, we didn’t hesitate to accept when we were offered the chance to play - it feels good to contribute our small part to such a great cause. I’m looking forward to seeing Modestep - i’ve heard their live show is interes ng but never managed to catch them. Also our tour manager speaks highly of the guys in Signals, and they’re reasonably local to us so would be good to see what they’re all about too.
and do you have a favourite ‘home away from home?’ We’ve been very lucky, it may have something to do with the world music side of our sound - perhaps we appeal to those outside of the UK just as much as people here. We par cularly fell in love with the Philippines and are dying to get back out there. The Tribe has spread so much further than we imaged, so whenever we travel to another country and meet people in the community, we feel at home, regardless of geographic loca on. Once of the first places that happened was the Netherlands so that’s always been special for us.
How do you cope with life on the road during some of the bigger strings of dates? We love performing live and generally enjoy life on the road so for the most part it’s all very posi ve. One thing i’ve been trying to work on though is spending a bit more me outside. Whilst i’m You are based in the New Forest, at home I spend as much me as did you find not being situated in possible outdoors and so going a big city with lots of venues and from that to being inside so much a large music scene was a struggle (some mes all day) can grate when star ng out, and if so how on you a er a while. It makes a did you overcome this? difference if you can drag yourself It certainly has it’s pros and cons: out of bed first thing and go for a I think it made it far more difficult run! to build a local following as we weren’t part of any local scene and What can we expect from your set that founda on can help bands a at Teddy rocks and what is next for lot. On the flip side, we weren’t Na ves? influenced by other local music, we I think there’ll be a ton of energy didn’t get caught up in any trends - it’s a one off in our calendar so and I think a big part of our sound everyone will be really excited to has come through being so isolated give it everything we’ve got! It’s all and giving ourselves the chance about the new album now really. to make un-compromised music. I The first half should come out late think the internet has levelled the May followed by part 2 in Autumn playing field to an extent too, you can reach so many people from all ends of the earth nowadays. Teddy rocks takes place 28thYou guys have done a fair few 30th April at Charisworth Farm, shows outside of the UK, including Blandford Forum. Tickets and info the 7107 Fes val in the Philippines at teddyrocks.co.uk and headline dates in mainland europe, how did these come about