On March 11, 2012 we had a chance to make a quick interview with TROPHYS, a young electro/synth/pop/guitar band from Maidstone in Kent, UK.
Hey, cool to have you here. How are you? How have you been doing?
Hey, its great to be here! I’m fantastic thanks! I’ve been doing well, just concentrating on working towards our next EP and relaxing at the same time [laughs] mad!
Ok, I must admit that you’re really outside our tag cloud [laughs]. How would you describe your music?
Yeah I guess that we are [laughs], I guess we’re an electronic/synth/alternative/heavy synth band really. You kind of have to listen to our music to know what I’m on about [laughs].
You are hailing from Maidstone, Kent, England. How’s music scene there? How well is electronic music received by people in your part of the country?
Yeah we are from Maidstone in Kent! Its an alright place, not much goes on here. The scene is ok, it could do with some new fresh bands to brighten it up a bit, some fresh new ideas. Its hard to say, we’ve played to warm responses from people like, people dig our music but I suppose its more underground than it should be, there aren’t any other bands I can think of that are doing stuff like we’re doing, Sterling Hayden do some cool electronic music too.
What have you found works great for you as far as promotion goes? How did you manage to hit the BBC waves?
Word of mouth is really good and has so far helped us out loads, people keep playing our tracks and talking about us and we don’t even realise aha it’s like happening around us which is good. Self promotion to the max has done well as well, we are constantly promoting the band as much as we can! Want as many people as we can to know about us!
I couldn’t believe when I read that you haven’t played a show and still managed to build a hype around you. For how long did it last like that?
Well our first show was supporting CASIOKIDS in Canterbury in January, and we uploaded our first track to Soundcloud in November so a good couple of months of hype building. I don’t really know who it all started getting hype [laughs].
What was you first show? How was it? How did live audiences respond to TROPHYS?
Our first show was supporting CASIOKIDS, since then we’ve played 4 shows all to a great response from crowds. People really do like our music.
You’ve booked some UK shows from March till May. Any plans to hit the mainland?
Yeah, well we’re slowly branching out from the London/Kent area and trying to hit more places around England and hopefully, Europe at some point this year! We’ll be releasing a EP around June time so maybe we’ll play overseas then.
Do you modify your songs while playing live?
Yeah we do, we have a track called ‘Electro Track’ which we’ve changed and made it more in your face. The track recording doesn’t do the live version justice but we mainly try and keep the songs as close to the original as we can live.
Who in music today do you most admire and why?
It’s hard to say, there is a lot of good bands coming through at the moment like TSARS, SLAVES, CHUTES, STERLING HAYDEN, etc. But main artists that I admire are bands like THE HORRORS, FRIENDLY FIRES, TORO Y MOI, WASHED OUT, OF there is some really great music at the moment you just have to find it.
What effect has the evolution of electronic musical technology had on your approach to music?
It’s had a massive impact on me, I got into synths and sampling about 2 years ago and since then it’s been non stop researching the best new gear to help achieve the music I want to make. As a band its helped us out massively by making us more creative and to work on songs more.
How’s school? [laughs]
I don’t go to school anymore, I left like 2 years ago but I am sure Mitch and Ben are having a blast being stuck in school all day [laughs]!
Have you seen The Iron Lady movie yet? Are you interested in politics in your country? Do you know how did Margaret Thatcher change Britain? Do you know people affected by those policies?
I haven’t seen that movie actually, is it any good? I don’t really keep up with the current state of politics but I am sure that the government are doing a poor job of looking after the country [laughs]. Thatcher, all I know was that she was a Tory in the 80’s! I need to brush up on my political history don’t I? [laughs].
Thank so much for your time. We wish all the best for the rest of the year. Would you like to add anything?
Thank you for having me! It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, likewise to you and thanks for supporting TROPHYS! Erhm check out our tracks at soundcloud.com/trophys and keep your eyes peeled for future tours and a summer EP release! Thanks a lot.
