Interveiw With James From The Cliftons
Growing up every child has a dream. For some it’s wanting to be an astronaut, or a football player, or attend a certain collage. For 16 year old James Will that was always to be a musician. Never once had thoughts of scoring the game winning goal, or being the first man to walk on Mars conflict with his vision of playing his music.
With that dream in mind he set out to form The Cliftons with his three friends. Named after Clifton Road where him and the bands bassist Keir Smith grew up and currently reside the bad quickly reached others outside the sleepy little street. With the help of a funding website they created their first EP, and landed a gig. "It was mega because the EP was funded purely by our friends and fans through a fundraising website, then to see the people who had made the work on the EP possible at the launch was just something else, the gig was massive and it was just amazing to play a venue we've grown up wanting to play” Wills said.
All of this would not be possible with out people like Alex Turner and Van McCann that the band drew massive inspiration from. Steaming from a purchase of the album Sam’s Town by the Killers, the influence of other indie rockers had quite the impact on the blossoming band. From how they wrote their songs, to some borrowed stage moves from McCann the band fine-tuned the British indie scene and combined it with the riotous poetic charm of underground rock.
Most of their songs inspirations, including fan favorites like “Methamphetamine" are direct results of the boys and whatever’s going on in their minds. "I write songs all the time, if something comes into my head I'll just grab some paper and scribble it down. I send all the ideas to the boys then they decide which one sounds the best. We then take the song, and work on it until it's perfect in our eyes, so it goes from my bedroom, to the practise room, to the stage!” James reveals of the song writing process.
These ideas then translate into the songs that appear on EP’s, and then get heard by 100’s. The emotional investment in the music translates beautifully on stage. It gives the band a down to Earth ambience, and makes it easy for the fans to share an incredible bond with the band themselves. Though many bands have others write their music, Wills says it best when he asks. "I just think it takes away the meaning of them, cause what's the point in singing a song that's not really yours?”
This philosophy has resulted in all different types of songs. One that sticks out is “Hope” which is a song that Wills had been messing around with for a while until recorded with Steven Milne from The Little Kicks. Though not performed live, they like to have it around as it means a great deal to them. On the other hand, there’s songs like “33” which is one of their favorites, and is on every setlist. The song, not meant to be serious, is more for laughs and to get the crowd going.
By incorporating parts of their own personal lives as well as the daydreams we all get caught up in, their music is truly unique. Mixing indie concepts and rock roots, the band’s sound becomes the soundtrack to late nights and long drives. Between the ridiculously catchy ear-worms created by the dynamic base lines, or the charmingly rough guitar riffs, their sound is truly something the music world has been lacking. The combination of innocent lyrics and bangin’ tunes makes the sound unforgettable. Percussion-soaked and raw it’s truly amazing.
Since the start, that was always what it was about for the four boys.It was never about the popularity, or the money, or anything superficial. It was for the love of music and the wish to pursue their dreams. It was about providing music for people to live to, walk home in the rain to, ride the train late at night to, have their first kiss to, cry to after a fight. It was never about anything materialistic or motivated by anything egotistical. "It's really important to us that people enjoy our music and get something out of it, so if they can relate to a song of ours then that's just amazing for us.” James said.
