Ladies and gentlemen, meet Marsicans.
If these lairy Leeds lads know anything, it’s how to write a party-starting indie-rock tune; but, in order to find out whether they actually know anything else, we thought it best to corner their singer, James Newbigging, and get him to answer a few questions about their origin, future plans, and last lines of defense.
How would you describe Marsicans for people who don’t know you?
‘Dirty pop, energetic live shows and terrible jokes.
What’s the Marsicans origin story?
‘Oli, Cale and I played together for a while at school doing every Arctic Monkeys cover we could. After a while, we started taking ourselves a bit more seriously and wanted to give the whole band thing a proper go. We picked up Rob in the summer transfer window and Marsicans as we know it was born.
You’re headlining the BBC Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds! Any pre-festival nerves?
‘It’s genuinely a lovely feeling to be asked to headline the BBC Introducing stage. They’ve been very supportive of us this past couple of years, and to be able to headline a stage at our hometown festival is pretty damn special. You can hear it from where we live, so hopefully we’ll compete with the big boys and bring a party. No nerves at the moment, but ask again 5 minutes before we go on stage, there may be a different answer!
What’s been the highlight of your summer so far?
‘We had a pretty crazy week in June where we went out to Hamburg to support Foals. A couple of days later we were back in Leeds playing Elland Road football stadium with Kaiser Chiefs. That was one hell of a whirlwind week and one that I’ll remember for a long time.
You’ve just popped a new single out into the world. How would you describe it to the uninitiated?
‘It has a slightly heavier groove than our previous singles. It’s a dedication to those ‘Little Things’ in life which brighten up your day, complete with reverse guitar and a gnarly riff.
What’s next for you guys?
‘We’ve been in the studio working on our debut album, so we’ll be finishing that off and gearing up for the release. We spent a couple of weeks down at Rockfield studios in Wales and had the best time ever. It was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. To be locked away, in a bubble working on the music for our debut album was a dream come true.
Who should we be listening to right now?
‘Wooze. It’s rare that all four of us are into an artist/band, but Wooze knocked us all for six when we first heard them. The riffs, melodies, songwriting, and basically everything, is sublime.
If you could be in any other band – and play any instrument – which would you choose?
‘Hype man for Chance the Rapper.
You can pick one member of the band to protect you all in a zombie apocalypse. Which would you choose and why?
‘100% Cale. He watches a lot of YouTube late at night, and I reckon he’s seen plenty of videos which would help us out. Making a deadly weapon out of a pipe cleaner and a glove type thing.
What’s the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to Marsicans?
‘We were lucky enough to play a couple of shows in Toronto last year. Our taxi driver played the same song over and over again and he was singing along. After about 15 minutes, we found out it was his own song. I think he thought we were a big deal, you know, with the power to make him a star. It was a great song, and we still remember half of it to this day, but unfortunately, we’ve not heard it since. We did give him our card though. You never know.
Describe each other in three words?
‘Oli – extremely talented, funny.
Cale – unique, wannabe astronaut.
Rob – amazing hair, hilarious.
Me (James)- overly generous, hyperbolic.
