Why Yorkshire's Harrisons aren't interested in any music scene

By Chris Mugan

Thursday, 22 February 2007

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Some things are worth waiting a while for. Take, for instance, the debut album from Harrisons. This time last year, the Sheffield quartet were heralded alongside fellow cityfolk Arctic Monkeys and Long Blondes as part of a northern renaissance that NME dubbed "New Yorkshire".

Harrisons had already made an impression with frantic debut single "Wishing Well" and just as frenetic follow up "Blue Note". Then, while their neighbours went on to reach great heights, nothing. These four lads disappeared from view - until now. For while No Fighting In The War Room is not due until April, forthcoming single, disco stomper "Monday's Arms", shows how they have progressed - and the success is down to a deliberate strategy, as singer and guitarist Adam "Jubby" Taylor testifies.

"We could have done this album when those singles came out, but it wouldn't have been as good. Some people get excited when they get their deal, but we sat back and took our time. That thing about missing the boat is rubbish. If something's good, it will do well."

"We didn't want to have to compete with those other bands," lead guitarist Ben Stanton adds. "We just wanted to come out on our own terms rather than be stuck in a so-called scene. And if you look at Definitely Maybe or The Stone Roses' first album, there's no filler on them. You can listen to different tracks at different times of the day."

Jubby and Ben, spokesmen for the band, have convened at a pub round the corner from Sheffield's ill-fated National Centre for Popular Music, now an eye-catching student venue, and near the city's recently renovated train station. Judging by water features and gleaming paving slabs, the place is on the up, as are Harrisons' own prospects.

"A lot of new bands release an album and everyone will have the same favourite songs," Jubby explains. "We wanted people to have completely different favourites, the darker tracks or the acoustic ones."

Like many bands, they have enormous respect for classic sounds and sights. The video for "Blue Note" paid homage to Ken Loach's Kes, shot on the same Barnsley school playing field as the film's infamous football scene, though for Harrisons this is not mere nostalgia.

Born and bred in the city, the foursome have no desire to leave and even continue to live near each other in the same Hillsborough district, home to Sheffield Wednesday. Having said that, they only came to appreciate it after spending three months busking in St Tropez in 2005.

"I didn't know how much I liked Sheffield until we drove back," Jubby admits. "There were four of us in this little van, playing outside the most expensive clubs so we could eat omelettes for us breakfast and dinner. We had a great time in France, but I'm a creature of habit. Sheffield is home."

Until then, Jubby and Ben had a more problematic relationship with the place. The guitarist describes wandering the streets around Hillsborough thus: "It's just full of lagered, football idiots that bully you just because you look different. Carrying a guitar around there is like carrying a dead body."

It was Jubby, though, who got into most trouble. Ben blames the sort of pubs they used to frequent, though the singer admits he did have a mouth on him. It once ended up on the wrong end of a house brick, leaving him with 15 stitches.

"I used to have small man syndrome, but I've had one beating too many now. You know when trouble just seems to find you..."

You can still hear his combative attitude on album opener "Dear Constable".

"Everyone's got a sense of right and wrong, though most people don't write about it," he attests. "A lot of it is Lou Reed's influence. I admire the way he doesn't cut corners. If something's really horrible, he won't beat about the bush."

Then again, hope as a theme runs through much of the album, from the fantasy escapism of "Little Boy Lost" to the more desperate flight of "Crystal Sweet", as the lyricist himself is coming to realise.

"It wasn't conscious, but a lot of it is saying there's light at the end of the tunnel. When we were in France, we read The Damage Done, about this man who tried to bring drugs back from Thailand and ended up in a Bangkok jail for 12 years. It was horrific, but he survived."

Jubby only moralises when he lays in to liars. On "Dear Constable" he suggests people are fooling themselves, while "Man Of The Hour" provides a more direct attack on those in charge.

While Jubby pens his lyrics, Ben comes up with the tunes. The pair met at a local art college, bonding over a shared love of The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, The Smiths and Oasis. They knew each other vaguely through siblings and having served apprenticeships in school bands. Even though their own district might not welcome guitar-slingers, Harrisons get on well with the likes of the Monkeys and Milburn.

"All our friends can play guitar, but we were always open to ideas and not embarrassed to play in front of other people," Ben explains. "Sometimes you feel you are competing with them, but it never felt like that between us. And there was that ambition not to stick to a shitty nine to five job."

So the pair poached bassist Ashley Birch and drummer Mark White from other groups, then nicked their band name from a nearby road (along with the sign itself). Such single-mindedness enabled them to struggle through the first year or so, when they both worked for Ben's dad in the building trade. After a hard day's graft they would lug their gear up and down Sheffield's hills to a rehearsal space. It also gave them the patience to work hard at fully realising their potential on the album.

Another local made good, Richard Hawley, offered his services as producer until the Mercury award nominee's own album Coles Corner took off. Instead, he recommended Hugh Jones, widely respected for surviving in the studio with Echo And The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes. No trouble from these lads, though. They have survived some hard knocks, and now Harrisons are ready to hit back on their own terms.

'Monday's Arms' is out on Melodic on 26 February