Bombay Bicycle Club teen band play Liverpool’s O2 Academy on Decenber 10

Dec 10 2009 by Laurie Stocks-Moore, Chester Chronicle

Teens Bombay Bicycle Club lived the rock ‘n’ roll dream when they were propelled to stardom after sitting their GCSEs.

Three years later, they have finished school and are mounting a bid to become full-time rock stars.

In 2006, the boys from Crouch End found national acclaim winning the opportunity to play the opening performance of V Festival after triumphing in Channel 4’s Road to V competition.

A string of festival dates including Reading and Leeds followed, but the band could not put in any serious studio time because they returned to school to complete their A-levels.

Guitarist Jamie MacColl explains he and bandmates’ lead singer Jack Steadman, bass player Ed Nash and drummer Suren de Saram were happy to wait.

“We were still at school when we did Road to V,” he says. “It was good at the time and got us a lot of fans early on. At the same time it was a little bit damaging to do.

“We still had two years at school.

“There was a lot of interest around just after our GCSEs but we couldn’t record an album.

“We faded away a bit. It gave us a chance to develop.

“If we’d released an album then it would have been terrible.”

After some time in the wilderness, the foursome got a fresh boost when Edith Bowman made their single Always Like This her record of the week on Radio 1 in April.

They released debut album I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose in July following the release of two EPs and their debut single Evening/Morning.

Their popularity in these parts was clear when they filled The Masque at last month’s Liverpool Music Week.

Jamie added: “I was really surprised how many people came to see us at Liverpool Music Week. I really enjoyed it.

“The guy who worked there said it was one of the bigger crowds they’d had.”

With acts like JLS, Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle dominating the charts, Bombay Bicycle Club are well aware of the challenge they face.

Jamie laments: “There’s not a massive amount of interest in indie bands at the moment.

“All the money goes behind people on the X Factor. There aren’t nearly as many people going out to see gigs any more. It’s definitely a struggle.

“Music goes through cycles. I think people have lost interest a bit.”

The band took their name from a local curry house in North London but their musical influences range from low-fi indie to folk.

“Bands that directly influenced us are American indie bands from the 1990s, like Pavement, Sonic Youth and Smashing Pumpkins,” Jamie adds.

“Those bands are really influential.

“We listen to a lot of folk music as well, like Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell.”

Liverpool is their first British date after a European tour that has taken in Paris, Milan, Zurich, Amsterdam and Berlin before flying to Tokyo for a gig.

It seems their record company have a plan to make them big in Japan, but their interest is in a long-term future in making music.

“We are in it for the long haul.We are the kind of band that’s hopefully going to get better as the albums go on. We are only 19 now, we’ve still got a lot to learn.”

They will embark on the Shockwaves NME AWARDS Tour in February with the Macabees, the Big Pink and the Drums and go into the studio to record new material in April.

Bombay Bicycle Club play the O2 Academy, Liverpool, tonight. Doors open 7pm. Tickets £9.50 plus booking fee.