Waterfall quartet set their sights on making a splash
Since forming just more than 12 months ago, the quartet have released four singles and are now looking forward to a summer of festivals, writes Amos Wynn.
Singer Joel Smith, bassist Ben Henderson, guitarist Jack Taylor and drummer James Fawcett met while living in halls of residence in their first year at Manchester University.
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Hide AdJames says it was “totally by chance that we were put together”.
“It was fate,” jokes Joel.
So far they have released singles Waterfall, See the Day, Fever and most recently Barcelona Girl.
Jack says: “All have a different sound but still sounds like us at the same time.”
He says most of the songs come from “just messing about on a guitar and then getting an inspiration”.
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Hide Ad“We never go for a certain sound and we just trust each other to do our own part,” he says.
Waterfall was played on a segment of This Morning a few months ago,
“It was cool to be mentioned and it was a very surreal day,” says Ben.
The same song has been endorsed by social media giant UniLad, which shared it with its millions of Facebook followers, while the first three singles have all been aired to 70,000-plus football supporters at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium as part of the matchday playlist.
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Hide AdIn April they performed a headline show at the Manchester Deaf Institute, marking their first anniversary as a band.
“It was weird having your own massive show,” says Joel.
“To come on so much in a year was pretty good,” says Jack.
They have a number of festival dates over the summer – including Y Not Festival in Derbyshire and a show at Sheffield’s The Great Gatsby on Division Street on Sunday, July 23, as part of the venue’s line-up over Tramlines weekend.
Joel says: “It’s important to just grow the fan base and get people to actually come to the shows.”
“With a few more gigs like this we may be able get something bigger,” adds James.
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Hide AdAnd Manchester has a history of producing top bands, with Blossoms the latest in a long line of Mancunian bands to make it big.
Joel says: “It is going to be hard work as they have been working for six or seven years, so to get to where we want might take a few years. It could take six months, it could take six years, we’ll just stick to what we are doing and stick to a plan.”
As for the near future – they have “exciting plans with more singles coming and we are looking forward to doing the festivals”,
Corella, The Great Gatsby, Sunday, July 23, 3pm