The Lottery Winners
Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen
2-4 Hoxton Sq
Greater London
51.527421
-0.081525
Description
The Lottery Winners+ Desert Planes+ Rocheii
Born in Salford and raised on romance, The Lottery Winners can be found at the exact midpoint between the North West’s dual musical Meccas of Manchester and Liverpool. Though Liverpool and Manchester have claimed many a legendary artist as their own, more often than not they hailed from somewhere betwixt the two, somewhere beneath Blake’s ‘dark satanic mills’, somewhere in Lancashire, somewhere called Leigh. The birthplace of Georgie Fame and the Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley, Leigh has done it again, spawning the best live band to emerge from the North-West in a generation: The Lottery Winners.The indie- pop quartet blend momentous melodies with wistful and insightful lyrics,“The songs are the most important thing in the world to me,” remarks Thomas Rylance, frontman and songwriting force of the band, “if they’re ever even a tiny fraction as important to other people, I’ll die a very happy man.” “I grew up listening to a lot of eighties bands,” he adds, “bands like Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Bowie, Blondie, Tears for Fears and New Order, but the ones that were always particularly close to my heart were the Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division, you know, all of the painfully miserable ones, but, if I have to be entirely honest, the reason I wanted to be on stage? That was Freddie Mercury’s fault.”The band have played extensively live, supporting the likes of Madness, The View, Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott, The Futureheads, James Veck-Gilodi, Jamie Cullum, The Charlatans and The Enemy, building up a loyal family of fans in the process. The bands first single ‘Elizabeth’, an ode to misappropriated love with a nod to Her Majesty the Queen, released to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Described by Lauren Laverne as “Adorable”, Hooting and Howling magazine remarked “It’s the sound of Morrissey taking some happy pills and prancing stark naked through a hilly glade, singing of romance”. The video featured Lancashire actor Will Travis indulging in a bit of Agalmatophilia – the attraction to dolls (or in this case mannequins) – a realisation that ‘the greatest love is often to be found right under your nose’.Since the release of their debut single the band have been beavering away in the studio creating new masterpieces to bring to the Indie Pop world. 2015 is the year the band not only bring out two new tracks accompanied with self produced videos but also sees launch of the band’s very first Pledge Campaign in co-existance with their acceptance onto the ‘Emerging Talent’ scheme. New music is lead by the hard hitting single ‘I Know’ out on the 12th October. Thereafter, keep an ear to the ground for the follow up track with excellent self-produced video to boot which will be released before the year is out.The Lottery Winners formed the way many bands do. Thomas and Robert, best friends since Robert was elected to show Thomas around the new school he’d be attending, shared a passion for music, and could both play guitar and sing. But neither knew anyone with a bass, until a few seconds after their ‘Bassist Wanted’ poster was placed on the notice board of Heybrook Music, Leigh’s only guitar shop. The 15 year old Katie Lloyd just happened to be in there at that time on that day. The position was filled. The band was completed when Joe Singleton, drummer, received a phone call from Katie, high-school best friend, insisting that he became a Lottery Winner. After many declinations, he finally agreed. “I remember our very first gig, which was in a pub in Leigh, the Colliers Rest. Literally, hundreds of people turned up. It got to a point where it was uncomfortably full, and people were turned away, and had to watch through the windows. The pub completely ran out of alcohol. We were horrendously under-paid for that one.” recalls Joe. “It’s surreal for us when we leave Leigh, and play in front of audiences in other towns and cities. It’s crazy when they know who we are, and know our songs and sing along with them. I don’t think there’s a better feeling than that.”With such a fertile music scene, the majority of the shows to date have been in Lancashire and its environs, with occasional trips over the Pennines. There’s simply been no need to travel further, but as interest in the band grows and their live reputation spreads, hauls down and up the M6 are becoming inevitable. Radio has been key to their burgeoning fame. Regular plays on XFM, 6Music and BBC Introducing have been invaluable. Says Kate “BBC Introducing has massively helped spread the word. BBC Introducing is a platform new artists could not live without. They give so many bands so many opportunities, and we owe them so much.” And it’s not just their music filling the airwaves, it’s their personalities too. A most refreshing side to The Lottery Winners is their humour, perhaps no surprise as Peter Kay is a neighbour, BBC Radio 6music DJ Chris Hawkins remarked that “they’re like the bastard child of Freddy Mercury and Peter Kay”. Though in no way a ‘comedy’ band, their self deprecating and acerbic wit permeate anything they do. The Lottery Winners are quickly establishing themselves as one of the hottest prospects on the scene, and one of the hardest working, fun-loving bands around. “Being in this band has completely changed my life. I’ve already met a lot of my heroes, and played shows that I’ve never imagined I would. When you’re having a beer with Zane Lowe, you know you’re doing the right thing”, Joe states, “I don’t think any of us could comprehend not being in this band and doing what we do, it’s what we love”.
This listing has no upcoming events
Start:
2015-12-14T20:00:00+00:00
End:
2015-12-14T23:00:00+00:00
Category
Music
Tickets