Having just hit the London circuit to promote their sound, we caught up with the trio to talk music...

The first question has to be, why the name ‘What Are The Hours’?
Watch the last thirty seconds of This Is Spinal Tap and you will find out!

What have been your initial experiences trying to break into the music industry?
Not much so far! We only formed last September, but the initial reaction to our music has been very positive. We recorded our first demo in April, which has so far secured us a few gigs on the London circuit. At the moment the most important thing for us is to play out as much as possible and to get our music heard.

Looking at the music industry at the moment, what’s your take on the current scene?
We think in the last five years there has been a big comeback for live music, which can only be a good thing for up and coming bands. Ten years ago the scene was mostly dominated by dance music, so it’s refreshing that people are going back out to listen to live music. With the advent of the internet and music downloads, there’s as much opportunity out there as there’s ever going to be, so now is a very good time for new bands to get heard.

What bands are you currently grooving to?
Artists we’re listening to at the moment are Kasabian, Velvet Revolver, The White Stripes, KT Tunstall and, most recently, The Magic Numbers. Other than that, most of the stuff we listen to is from the sixties and seventies. There’s so much music out there that our generation has never heard. It’s exciting for us to discover new music which is in fact quite old!

So how would you describe your sound?
As a band we're really not into the whole genre thing. For example, R&B for us is rhythm and blues, not the pop stuff that is generally touted as R&B today, so being classified as a certain style can be incredibly misrepresentative of a band. We try not to pigeonhole ourselves into any one genre, so our only limitations at the moment are what we can do with guitar, bass and drums. Our approach to music is to create a sound which can always be played live. Bands these days seem to spend months, and thousands of pounds, recording an album that ends up sounding flat. Then The White Stripes come along and record Elephant in just ten days, using purely sixties analogue equipment, and it's the most amazing thing we've heard in the last ten years. So when we're recording we want to capture the immediacy, energy and soul that we create when we play live.

How do you go about writing your songs?
Many of our songs were already written from Rob's early days on the acoustic circuit, though they have certainly developed since we've been together as a band. The new songs we've written have generally come from jamming sessions and ideas brought to practice sessions. We try to write songs about things that are currently relevant to us, or the people around us. We don't want to be political and try and change the world with our music, we just want people to enjoy the music as much as possible.

So what are your immediate plans for the future?
We only recorded our first demo a few of months ago but we feel our music has developed significantly since then, so we plan on going back into the studio very
shortly to capture our current sound. Right now we just need to get out and play as many venues as possible to try and build up a fan base, which currently consists mostly of very dedicated friends! Just having the opportunity to play is enough for us at the moment, so as long as there are gigs, we’ll keep going!

For more information on What Are The Hours, or to book the band, check their website at
www.whatarethehours.com.