they have all the time in the world to make great records if they're given the chance.
Mathew (ESP's drummer) I think they had a falling out with their old record company BMG, and they are about to sign with another. They've sent me a copy of the new album and it's terrifyingly good.
Tom (Summer 2004) We finally split from our label, BMG, in May this year, after months of nastiness. Freed from record company politics, however, we now have 18 new songs in the bag and are in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Sony.
Earlier Tom was quoted as saying: "I have been writing songs that the Record Company want to hear and it's a total head-fuck"
ESP article @ gigwise.com The Electric Soft Parade have exclusively announced they are considering moving record labels to Sony. The news of the talks have not gone down well with BMG (their current home) – the label has forced the band to change the name of their website and have severed links with the band on their own site. Despite all this commotion, the band begin a new tour later this month where they are expected to showcase tracks from their forthcoming, as yet untitled, new album.
ESP mentioned at Eastbourne School Of English website: Graham White’s sons, Alex and Tom, The Electric Soft Parade, are recording their third album for Sony. Look out for it in a record store near you, or download one of the songs from the internet.
(around October 2004) by Jeanie Graham.
Firstly how are you, and how did you find the gig tonight?
How am I? (Ponders) I’m fine, I’m fine…Jesus what a question! It’s kinda all been going well recently ‘cos we’re back on. We’re back working and we’re back on tour and we’ve been rehearsing a lot and getting live bands sorted, which is to us, the best ever line-up. It’s going really well, that side of it. We’ve had a lot of problems with our labels recently, well our label…We were on BMG, and we’re basically kind of in the middle of all that, so it’s nice to take a little time to go out and bang out a week of shows, to keep some kind of momentum going in the public eye, I guess that’s the idea.
Well on a lighter note… Brighton or London? And how camp is Brighton?
Camp? It’s not camp at all…well we’re southern so I guess we can be…err…no, no, no I’m not going to dig myself a hole there, I already did that on stage tonight…no…London or Brighton, London or Brighton…It’s crazy cos I just spent the summer in London, I lived in Kings Cross of all places for three months with my girlfriend. It was really quite harrowing, it was quite a horrible experience, well with the difference in the quality of air, I can’t breathe in London especially Kings Cross, it was utterly manky, to use a nice word. I think Brighton’s not really camp at all, you’ve got to go to gay bars and gay clubs to really get it in your face, but I don’t notice it when I’m walking around town, I think it’s quite a misconception.
Would you rather cry porridge or fart confetti?
Err…would I cry porridge or fart confetti? (shocked to silence).
There’s a silence…
There’s a silence…boom, boom ting! (air drumming) I want to poo confetti…sorry I meant fart confetti.
The ESP returned to Oxford for a special “intimate” gig, and the downstairs of the Zodiac was packed. The band squeezed onto the stage and began with two new songs that had the crowd interested if not animated. Then the gig started properly with an amazingly powerful and energetic Empty At The End exploding from the stage.
For the next hour the band mixed the energy of their old material with the more thoughtful, newer songs from their second LP The American Adventure. This was held together by the on-stage chemistry between brothers Tom and Alex, which kept the audience engaged during the band’s frequent instrument changes. The song of the night has to be the superb anthemic reworking of Silent To The Dark. The Electric Soft Parade managed to provide a gig that was special and promises a good third album.
Every review I came across is a good one. They played some new songs including: Misunderstanding, Captain of a Sinking Ship and Cold World.
(from iowfestival.com) Electric Soft Parade… a polite bunch of lads from Brighton, and they seemed completely overawed in our presence! Happy to be playing – they were gratefully received.
Rex Features has a few small pics.
livecollection.net has a photo of Tom taking vocal duties - Alex is on drums.
Go to Getty Images and search for Electric Soft Parade for a page of IOW pics. Click on the thumbnails to see them larger.
Wire Image have a few small pics (you have to pay to see them larger) but there's one of Tom looking right at the camera. Search for Electric Soft Parade.
(from efestivals.co.uk) I’d heard none of their stuff before and for some reason I was expecting a synth driven band, but lo, a four piece rock band descended. With well crafted rock tunes towards the heavier end of the scale and full of hooks and catchy verse.
The singer tells us he’s not been to the IOW .... pretty irrelevant, but at least they are trying to bridge to the audience.
The Brighton based boys play Misunderstanding their new tune, I know this because he told us, and it’s a pop fuelled number with nice harmonies and the crowd get more into this swinging beat.
The set gets a bit more rock and they continue with their nice tunes. Captain of a Sinking Ship is briefly noted as having a bit of a tune about it as I head for the queues.
They take time to thank British Sea Power for the champagne, and they’re polite with us too. It’s nice and pleasant for a 5pm chill out slot too but I doubt I’ll remember any of it by the time I’m back on the ferry home.
Can't wear to hear all these new songs that have been mentioned...
bbc southampton review Thankfully, they brought some tunes with them as brothers Tom and Alex White played a selection of tracks from their first two albums. Their bassy songs had a touch of Northern swagger to them and their mix of delicate harmonies and heavy guitars began to bring back the interest of the crowd. They also showcased some new material including Cold World, an upbeat, sunny track with some jaunty piano that could take over where ELO's Mr Blue Sky left off.
They also have a few pics in their Saturday photo gallery (none of Tom though)
ESP pics @ efestivals.co.uk including this one of Tom @ the drums :D
(from independent.co.uk) Saturday's was a long programme and it straggled from time to time. Some acts were not up to confronting the enormous crowd that had gathered. Indeed, British Sea Power, which delivered a poor if frantic set, were upstaged when they were followed by a screening of Jimi Hendrix playing "Voodoo Child" at the 1970 festival. The Electric Soft Parade retrieved the situation and brought back the smiles that Steve Harley had evoked earlier with "Come Up And See Me".
(from mirror.co.uk) FESTIVAL GOSSIP: Virgin Radio broadcasted live from the festival throughout the weekend and pulled in many of the stars to their VIP tent for exclusive chats. Ronnie Wood's daughter Leah joined Jet, Snowpatrol, Delays, Electric Soft Parade and British Sea Power in the tent for some gourmet food washed down with pints of Carling and summer cocktails (unfortunately Tom had disappeared when they came to interview them)
(from icWales) Die-hard festival fans were treated to storming sets from the Manics and Electric Soft Parade last night.
I transcribed the short interview on Channel 4's IOW coverage where ESP introduced MSP (my other favourite band) It went like this:
Alex: I do love The Holy Bible, it's just a classic record basically. Simple as that. It's amazing. Tom: And Nicky Wire named himself after Wire, which is a great thing to do. Alex: We started off covering a lot of their songs and we loved Everything Must Go when it came out and all that sort of thing so it's kinda like that era for us.
There's an IOW gallery at virginradio.co.uk (tiny one of Tom)