Issue 14
Liverpool
By Alex ZamoraPhotography By Rebecca Miller
Hot Club de Paris
It was a chance meeting of minds between budding musicians Paul Rafferty and Matthew Smith at a summer job in 2003 that was to prove the genesis for Hot Club De Paris: one of Liverpool’s less traditional and most distinctive guitar bands.
Similar tastes in music, and in particular a passion for the likes of U.S. acts Owls, Minutemen and The Misfits, saw the two guitarists build a friendship that would eventually sucker in Smith’s younger brother and now drummer Alasdair. With the line-up complete and songs on the boil, the band played their first gig at Liverpool’s legendary Heebie Jeebies venue, kicking off a manic period of touring that would eventually land them a deal at respected indie label Moshi Moshi.
“Even rehearsing for the first gig, we already knew we were going to be different to the bands we’d already been to watch,” says Rafferty.
Hot Club’s frantic pace immediately set them apart from the more subdued tempos of their contemporaries, and eventually lead to interest from major labels looking to sign Liverpool’s latest hot guitar band.
Their first album, Drop It ‘Til It Pops, saw their newfound sound translate, retaining much of the pace of their live shows and showing a particular expertise in intricate guitar work and vocal harmonies. With the money from their publishing rights invested into musical equipment and a van, the success of the album lead to exhaustive touring around the U.K., headlining their own shows as well as opening with raucous sets for the likes of Maxïmo Park and Jamie T.
“We try to play a really high energy kind of set,” explains the younger of the Smith brothers, Alasdair. “As long as we have fun, we perform well and then everybody else enjoys it as well. We don’t like boring shows where bands just stand there, and they’re crap, and the audience are crap because there’s nothing to inspire them.”
Matthew concludes: “I’ve never been involved in any other scene in any capacity other than playing the odd show, but the crowds in Liverpool are certainly different. They’re quite quiet compared to audiences in other cities!”
www.myspace.com/hotclubdeparis