New music to listen to this week: Prose

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Manchester band Prose (Press image)

Manchester band Prose signed to Naughty Boy's lable Naughty Boy Records via Virgin EMI, and have been receiving positive reactions from audiences and critics thanks to great live shows and an interesting range of influences.

Frontman Mike Murray experienced homelessness when he was just 17, and has been committed to helping other people in similar situations: this has clearly shaped his character, and there's a gritty kind of determination that really comes across in the music.

For the band's new single "Home of The Brave" they collaborated with Big Issue North to make a special four-part video in four different cities, each of which tells a different story of homelessness.

The videos were made by director João Retorta and we're premiering one here on The Independent today. Watch and let us know what you think:

Q&A with Prose

What have you been listening to recently?

There are loads to mention! Some of the newer artists we are really enjoying right now include Half Moon Run, Alabama Shakes, Alex Vargass, Sam Henshaw, Rationale, Catfish & The Bottlemen, to name a few. But we are also always led back to the classics like Oasis, Queen, Chilli Peppers, Nirvana... we could probably go on for ages, but these are a few names worth mentioning.

Can you tell us a bit about the work you’ve been doing with Big Issue North?

We’ve been involved with a few campaigns with the Big Issue now. It's been great to be a part of as the cause is something that means so much to us. We have helped out in the ‘Big Issue Big Sell’, which is basically helping out the vendors who sell the magazines on the street. It was a real eye opener for us as it was so difficult, so we have a partial understanding of how hard it must be for those guys out there every day.

We have got involved with making a few mini documentaries in four different cities up north based on different stories of different vendors, giving them a chance to tell their stories. The one in Manchester was focused on me and my story. It's been great to get involved with them and help raise awareness.

Manchester as an environment seems to form very strong characters – how do you feel the city has shaped you as a person and how much of it provides inspiration for your music?

We feel Manchester has had a massive influence on our writing and point of view, but hopefully they are thoughts and influences that can be shared worldwide. Stretford particularly has had a big influence on us as it’s where we grew up and a lot of our songs are based there. Also we can see Old Trafford football ground which is a beautiful site! Haha

Knowing people like Morissey grew up in Stretford gave us pride and hope that we could do it too, as well as other Mancs like the Gallaghers! Bands like Oasis, Stone Roses & The Smiths, plus Man Utd, do paint the city in a joyous & creative light that we hope to flourish in and not be weighed down by.

What are your plans for summer 2016?

Our plans for this summer are very exciting. We're gonna be releasing a song each month until the summer to help build for our first album in late summer/early autumn. We've got the rest of our UK tour, hitting Cardiff, Birmingham and Derby and many others.

Also we're playing The Great Escape festival in Brighton and the fantastic Barn on the Farm Festival! Barn on the Farm festival have been great to us and we've played their smaller stages for the last 2 years, but this year we're on the main stage - so thank you Barn on the Farm!

What was the first gig you ever played, and what’s been the best so far?

The first proper gig we ever played (aside from open mic nights) was at the Night and Day cafe in Manchester - that was the first one where we actually had our name on the flyer. The best gig we ever played though is a difficult one! I would say though it has to be our most recent headline show in Manchester at Sound Control.

The turn out was incredible and the energy in the room was like nothing before, it was just a pleasure to see how many people actually turned up to come and see us play, you know? It’s always a pleasure to perform in front of a crowd willing to listen, but when you see so many people turn up and you know they have come for you it's real reassurance that you're doing something right. Also to see how much the home crowd has grown is great too! And still growing.. we hope!