CityLife

Bugs In Ember play mystery card to full

PAN-TASTIC: Tom, Patrick, Alex and Charlie

WINNING much praise for their bucolic, slightly spectral take on West Coast country-inflected folk rock, Manchester band Bugs In Ember, are fast emerging as this citys very own answer to The Shins, or maybe Fleet Foxes.

In their conversation, though, the Chorlton-based band are making an equally decent claim to be Manchester’s seedy answer to erm, Serge Gainsbourg.

Seated in the downstairs bar of the Cornerhouse, venue, the four members of Bugs In Ember choose to describe their music in slightly more racy terms.

“We’re like the musical equivalent of foreplay,” reveals the band’s singer, guitarist and songwriter Alex De Martiis, slipping into full-on amorous mode.

He continues: “Musically, we’re all about the slow, gentle seduction.

"Slowing enticing the listener ... before building to a big climax! Most Manchester bands want to offer too much too soon.

“We’re all about the slow build but with a finale that’s worth waiting for.”

A slightly disturbed CityLife is tempted to probe the analogy a little further but, remembering we’re a family-friendly publication, we refrain at just the right point.

Nevertheless, as the above quote demonstrates, Manchester band Bugs In Ember are clearly emerging from their once impervious shells.

Formed around a year ago, the Chorlton-based quartet have earned something of a reputation as the invisible band of Manchester music.

Their all-too rare gigs have won rave reviews, yet they almost ever announce them, opting instead to play discreet arty happenings at venues like the newly opened Hope Mill in Ancoats.

The band have never done press interviews, with the exception of this one with CityLife.

And only recently have they even bothered to set up a MySpage music page in which they boast only 32 friends... ‘cos having cyberspace friends is pointless’.

Yet, as their risqué bedroom analogy illustrates, Bugs In Ember are clearly all about the slow, gentle tease.

“We’ve got this reputation for being all secretive and mysterious,” sighs the band’s guitarist Tom Carver. “But that’s not really true.

Disposable age

“We just want to be different from every other Manchester band, who seem overly keen to give the big sell.

"We live in such a quick, disposable age when new music is forced down peoples throats, and you’re basically told to like it by the media.

“With this band, we want our listeners to slowly digest and appreciate it in their own time.”

Indeed – Bugs In Ember aren’t actually shy of the public, they’re simply laidback and just a little louche; quietly shuffling towards the limelight, rather than lunging toward it with fame-hungry vigour.

But that’s understandable given the circumstances in which they formed. As they tell it, each member comprising Alex, Tom, bassist Patrick Sheehan and exuberant drummer Charlie Garson didn’t set out to form a band, they more accidentally, fell into playing music together.

All four members work as bartenders in Chorlton’s pubs and bars and became friends over many a late-night drinking session. This after-hours contemplative and slightly inebriated approach became the starting point for songwriter and barfly Alex.

In his mind, Bugs In Ember were to be the Manchester band to soundtrack those hazy, far-strung late nights when your best friend arrives in a tequila glass and the conversational mood is fixed solely upon turbulent past romantic woes.

“The way this band formed was really organic,” explains Alex. “There never was this grand masterplan to form a band and take over the world.

“Our friendships started from drinking and having late-night lock-ins in pubs. Those friendships developed into the band. I guess its the classic formula for songwriting: Lots of booze and deep drunken conversations.”

If Bugs In Ember were any more laidback, they’d surely be comatose.

But this loose-strung, unfettered sonic approach is all the more alluring when you go and see their live shows (good news: they have started to officially announce their gigs).

Willowy

On the surface, they appear to trade in willowy country folk-rock, but their brilliantly bittersweet love songs, such as Your Lips and standout track Wedding Song, are all about the finer sonic details: the elegiac string arrangements, the spectral Mercury Rev-esque guitars and the grand sense of wounded lovelorn sentiment.

You sense that, underneath their quiet folkish exterior, Bugs In Ember might just be an epic rock band bursting to jump out.

“It’s not impossible that we’ll turn into U2 a few years down the line!” laughs Alex. “It’s not very cool, but I am a big Coldplay fan. They’re a band who’ve proven how you can be big and play stadiums but without sacrificing your ability to explore musical sounds.

“At the end of the day, this band writes big pop songs and there’s no reason why one day those pop songs can’t fill stadiums. I have no absolutely desire to become the new Bono though.”

That’s very unlikely indeed, for Bugs In Ember are clearly not about ramming their ambitions down peoples throats. The band are set to be one of the big highlights at next month’s Hungry Pigeon Festival (previously known as MAPS), but you sense they’ll probably not even bother to announce their venue or stage-times, such is their desire to preserve the old-school romance.

So Bugs In Ember may STILL be Manchester’s best invisible band but as they rightfully put it, the most passionate musical love is all about the slow ascent, and not the quick instant fix.

“As a band, we take great inspiration from bands like Elbow,” enthuses Tom. “For me, they’re an amazing example of how bands should do things.

"They’ve never rushed themselves, and they’ve always made music with so much heart and passion. If you really believe in your music that much, you shouldn’t need to rush things.

"Like Elbow, we want to take our time, and hopefully people will love us all the more for it.”

Bugs In Ember play The Greenroom on Saturday, April 4. For more info visit myspace.com/bugsinember.