CityLife

Interview: Zap Zap Zap!

Zap Zap Zap!

Here in this corner of CityLife, a new year can only mean one thing: the arrival of fantastic new bands. Flippin’ loads of them. And with new bands, that also means – surely the best bit – loads of bold new proclamations of musical genius for us to be entertained by.

And so to the very first candidates for the 2011 Manc music crown, then – Macclesfield’s teen indie upstarts Zap Zap Zap!. Anything to declare, boys?

“We’ve actually been busy with homework this week,” sighs the group’s mop-topped bass player Henry Cole, over coffee in a Northern Quarter cafe.

“Half of the band are still at school, and the other half at college. It’s not that bad though; juggling band life and school life is quite easy. There’s just one rule that we always stick to – no gigs on a school night. We only gig on weekends.”

As you may have realised, Macclesfield’s Zap Zap Zap! are a band with a very clear sense of their priorities. And make no mistake, when it comes to that much-coveted Manc music 2011 crown, there’s surely nothing that will hinder their quest – not even coursework on school nights.

Scan every music publication or blog this month, and you’ll find feverish claims about how 2011 is the year of the British guitar rock revival. Last year belonged to the kooky pop songstress, so insist the egregious pundits, which must mean 2011 is all about the comeback of blokey guitar bands – as if musical trends should be regularly rotated like Roberto Mancini’s overpaid football squad.

Macclesfield’s Zap Zap Zap!, however, are a group who’ve been plotting their own guitar rock uprising for considerably longer – well, that’s ‘longer’ if you take into account their alarmingly tender years. Formed two years ago and all aged 16 to 17, the indie outfit – comprising bassist Henry, singer Ben Lucas, guitarist George Cole and drummer Matt Wheelton – have been in giddy thrall to British guitar music throughout their collective adolescences.

First it was the Arctic Monkeys at the age of 12; and from there, they worked their way backwards like diligent indie teen scholars; from Oasis to The Smiths to Joy Division, The Jam and The Beatles.

And now, five years since they had their musical epiphany on hearing the Arctic Monkeys for the first time – “their debut album made us think ‘wow – that’s what we’d like to do’” – Zap Zap Zap! hope to provide many more life-defining moments for the next generation of guitar-starved teens.

Ben Lucas, the group’s dapper singer explains: “At the end of the day, this band isn’t a special breed. A group of lads from the north of England isn’t unique and out of the ordinary. But what is unique is a band who does it really well and with real passion.

“There are so many bands out there competing for the same audience, but there aren’t many with the right mix of credibility and real work ethic.

“I think I was 12, when I first saw the Arctic Monkeys on MTV. To see a band like that, a normal bunch of lads from the north making guitar music that was so energetic, intelligent and poetic, really made a lasting impression on me. “That’s the power of a really special guitar band.”

From the off, it’s clear how Zap Zap Zap!’s steely determination sets them vastly apart from their teen Manc contemporaries (Egyptian Hip Hop, in particular).

The four members attribute this outlook to their home town of Macclesfield, where they all grew up literally within streets of one another (George and Henry in the same house, they being brothers).  Growing up
in one of Macclefield’s more rural suburbs allowed the four teens plenty of quiet reflection time.

“There’s a lot of inspiration in Macclesfield,” Ben enthuses. “It’s almost the countryside where we live, and I think that peaceful atmosphere has always inspired me to write music.

“It feels like a long way from the bright lights of the city, so there are no distractions. I can go walking in a big field and just think about music and lyrics.

“I’m a big Dylan Thomas fan, and I like that method of writing – escaping into the country and writing freely and poetically.

“But I’m also a huge Morrissey fan, and I like the way he could romanticise almost anything, no matter how dismal.

“The best songwriters and poets respect all elements of their surroundings and emotions.”

Furthermore, Macclesfield also provided some unlikely gigging outlets for the band.

It was at the nearby Bollington Festival – the local town festival which takes place every four years, and features everything from dog shows to opera – where an embryonic line-up of Zap Zap Zap! first released how good a live band they were becoming.

“That was a really special gig for us,” Ben recalls.

“Bollington Festival is a really big deal where we live, and we got to play inside this huge marquee to hundreds of people.

“It felt like a big moment for us – loads of people from Macclesfield came to see us, all our friends were down at the front. Things were starting to take off, and that was our landmark gig.”

With all due respect to the Bollington, it’s fair to say Zap Zap Zap! have soared to more dizzying heights since those courage-building performances.

With a potent mix of manic live energy, dynamic pop structures and pure melodic joie de vivre, the indie foursome have gently climbed up the Manc music pecking order, from headline shows at Academy 3 to support slots with bands including Run Toto Run.

And as singer Ben hinted at earlier, it’s Zap Zap Zap!’s wholehearted commitment to their chosen genre that lies central to their appeal.

With recent guitar music either being dumbed-down (lad-rock chancers) or intellectualised upwards (indulgent experimental art-rockers), Zap Zap Zap! are more concerned with celebrating guitar pop’s eternal verities – universal songs to make you punch the sky and snog the radio in pure ecstasy. 

“Who knows if this will be the big year for guitar bands?” Ben ponders. “We don’t really follow what musical trends are happening. But there’s definitely a space for a new, exciting guitar band to come along and capture everyone’s imagination all over again. And if it’s gonna happen anywhere, it’s got to be Manchester hasn’t it?”

Zap Zap Zap! play Ducie Bridge (city centre, Corporation St) tonight. For info visit – myspace.com/zapzapzapmusic.