Somewhere in
between shooting a sterling video, appearing on Soccer AM, releasing exceptional
singles and perfecting their upcoming album, The Milk somehow managed to fit in
some UK tours. Luckily, Louder Now managed to grab a spot at their Leicester show
at Lock 42 to catch a few words from the stars of 2012.
If you haven’t heard of The Milk yet then you have been missing out. As the future of working class hero pop-music they are relentless in their determination. They have been touring the country unremittingly as well as making appearances at Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks with Ed Sheeran to name just two of their many achievements.
Having met whilst they were at school (apart from brothers Mitch, drums/vox/keys, and Luke Ayling, bass guitar) the four Essex lads all have strong connections that go way back.
If you haven’t heard of The Milk yet then you have been missing out. As the future of working class hero pop-music they are relentless in their determination. They have been touring the country unremittingly as well as making appearances at Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks with Ed Sheeran to name just two of their many achievements.
Having met whilst they were at school (apart from brothers Mitch, drums/vox/keys, and Luke Ayling, bass guitar) the four Essex lads all have strong connections that go way back.
“We’re
all from the same town in Essex, Wickford” says bassist Luke, “Nothing much
goes on and there are only two senior schools and we all went to the same one.”
As humdrum as the boys might find their hometown, that doesn’t make them love it any less. Lead Guitarist and Vocalist, Dan Le Gresley says that it’s “just like every county. There are parts which are nice and there are parts which aren’t. But it’s home.”
The Milk are also happy to admit that their Essex roots have influenced their music with Mitch stating that “in the end, it should be about time and place. Our songs sound like four lads growing up in Essex. Our album is called ‘Tales from the Thames Delta’ so it’s all very regional.
“If you pretend to be something you aren’t then you will get found out one day. I think it was the Arctic Monkeys that famously said “you’re not from New York City you’re from Rotherham.”
Luke also said: “You’ve got to write about what you know and you have to write about where you come from, and that is pretty much what we do.”
As humdrum as the boys might find their hometown, that doesn’t make them love it any less. Lead Guitarist and Vocalist, Dan Le Gresley says that it’s “just like every county. There are parts which are nice and there are parts which aren’t. But it’s home.”
The Milk are also happy to admit that their Essex roots have influenced their music with Mitch stating that “in the end, it should be about time and place. Our songs sound like four lads growing up in Essex. Our album is called ‘Tales from the Thames Delta’ so it’s all very regional.
“If you pretend to be something you aren’t then you will get found out one day. I think it was the Arctic Monkeys that famously said “you’re not from New York City you’re from Rotherham.”
Luke also said: “You’ve got to write about what you know and you have to write about where you come from, and that is pretty much what we do.”
Credit
where credits due, but it’s the rest of the country that have made up The Milks
recent astounding tours. The boys acknowledge York, Sheffield and Leeds as great
cities to gig in but they generally think that “a lot of the big towns are
wicked.”
But
what about the city Louder Now had the pleasure to meet The Milk in? “We’ve
actually played Leicester a few times, in The Shed, when we were a punk thing a
few years back” remembered Mitch, “ We had a thing going on with the Punk scene
that we were trying to get involved in at the time and there were a few people
who would come to support us in Leicester back then!”
Hold
up and rewind for a second. A punk thing? It’s hard to imagine that a band who
have honed their skills in a soul/rock ‘n’ roll strand were previously a punk
outfit. How did that happen? “Ah, it’s very easy. We didn’t like Punk” explains
Mitch.
“We suddenly realised that we weren’t listening to Punk records” says Dan.
“We were in a Punk band because it was just easy to play, we didn’t have to have much skill to do it” says Luke.
So after kicking the Punk scene and dedicating themselves to the music they really loved (which, by the way, includes Belinda Carlisle, Bobby Brown and Michael Bolton) The Milk were formed and the world couldn’t be more grateful. With an impressive past, an electrifying present and a spine-tingling future The Milk can expect some great things to come their way.
Mitch said: “we’re constantly getting surprised by these big moments that happen to us so you just sort of move on to the next one. We headlined the Scala in London and thought, how could we top that? Then we played Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks in front of 3,000 people. How could we beat that? Then our manager calls and says well we’ve booked you to headline the Shepherds Bush Empire at the end of November.”
“As a band I think you’re never happy” says Dan “As soon as you’ve done one thing you want another and it’s a constant struggle.”
Luke goes on to say that “in some ways, it can be annoying because you don’t spend very much time basking in something that you have achieved because as soon as you’ve done it you’re just thinking okay, what’s next?
“I think we could aim for three Brit awards, a couple of Grammys, to headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and an Arena Tour.”
After seeing exactly what The Milk has to offer live it’s likely that these achievements will be just the start for a band that are redefining the genres that they love and doing it in sheer style. Keep your eye on them because the future of music undoubtedly belongs to them. http://www.thisisthemilk.com//
http://www.facebook.com/thisisthemilk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQqOpILDcI&ob=av2e
“We suddenly realised that we weren’t listening to Punk records” says Dan.
“We were in a Punk band because it was just easy to play, we didn’t have to have much skill to do it” says Luke.
So after kicking the Punk scene and dedicating themselves to the music they really loved (which, by the way, includes Belinda Carlisle, Bobby Brown and Michael Bolton) The Milk were formed and the world couldn’t be more grateful. With an impressive past, an electrifying present and a spine-tingling future The Milk can expect some great things to come their way.
Mitch said: “we’re constantly getting surprised by these big moments that happen to us so you just sort of move on to the next one. We headlined the Scala in London and thought, how could we top that? Then we played Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks in front of 3,000 people. How could we beat that? Then our manager calls and says well we’ve booked you to headline the Shepherds Bush Empire at the end of November.”
“As a band I think you’re never happy” says Dan “As soon as you’ve done one thing you want another and it’s a constant struggle.”
Luke goes on to say that “in some ways, it can be annoying because you don’t spend very much time basking in something that you have achieved because as soon as you’ve done it you’re just thinking okay, what’s next?
“I think we could aim for three Brit awards, a couple of Grammys, to headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and an Arena Tour.”
After seeing exactly what The Milk has to offer live it’s likely that these achievements will be just the start for a band that are redefining the genres that they love and doing it in sheer style. Keep your eye on them because the future of music undoubtedly belongs to them. http://www.thisisthemilk.com//
http://www.facebook.com/thisisthemilk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLQqOpILDcI&ob=av2e
