published: 6 /
9 /
2010
Anthemic-sounding young Leicester-based band the Screening talk to Anthony Strutt about their forthcoming debut album a concert they had organised in tribute to an eight year old fan who had died from cancer
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The Screening are a young indie band from Leicester with a rapid fire and sunny, but anthemic sound. The group, which includes Tom Meighan from local act Kasabian amongst their fans, consists of Tom Nurse on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Tom Lewitt on lead guitar and backing vocals, James Dunn on bass and Owen Ross on drums.
The Screening’s debut single, ‘Take It or Leave It’, attracted the attention of Radio One’s Steve Lamacq and their second single, ‘Ten Green Bottles’, met with much acclaim. They have also released a self-titled EP on Los Angeles-based label Intravenous Records.
The group’s latest single, ‘Diem’, came out earlier this year on Telescope Records and will be followed by another single, ‘You Look Much Better in the Dark’, on the same label in October. They have recently finished recording their debut album.
Pennyblackmusic spoke to Tom Nurse, Tom Lewitt and James Dunn on the day they played GlastonBlaby, a charity concert which featuring themselves and other local bands they had organised in memory of Harley Staples, an eight year old fan, who died from cancer last November.
PB: You have been going now for about five years now, haven’t you?
TN: Yeah, pretty much. It was to start with quite casual, but it developed more over the years. We have been going for about five years now though.
PB: Were you in bands before this?
TN: Yeah, we used to knock around. It was nothing serious and more for fun really.
JD: It has only really been kicking off in the last three years.
PB: Why the name?
TN: It comes from a book I was reading at the time, a good book.
PB: Are you all based locally in Leicester?
TN: Yes, we all come from West Leicester, the Braunstone Gate and Narborough Road area.
PB: How did you all meet?
TN: We met at primary school and all lived within a hundred yards of each other
JD: We went to different secondary schools though. Two of us went to one and then two to another.
TN: We played soccer and just grew up together.
PB: So how did the band come to be?
TN: We, the other Tom and I, use to play together and we learnt our instruments together.
PB: Was that at school?
TN: Yeah, we were about sixteen at time.
PB: Leicester is a musical town. It is very young and punk-based, but it is off the gig map sadly.
TN: Yeah, you can get a good fan base here with a fifteen to seventeen year old crowd.
PB: You used to played lots of gigs and matinee shows at the Shed (Leicester night club-Ed), didn’t you?
JD: They were free ones.
TN: But we got a lot out of them. That was a year ago and we now sell out gigs here on the strength of those.
TL: They were free. They cost us, but but you have to give a bit to get something back.
PB: Today’s show is a benefit for Harley Staples. How did that come about?
TN: He used to come to the matinee shows with his parents when he was about five or six. He was a massive fan of the band. We are friends with his parents now. We used to play for him when he went to hospital. We played at his funeral. He was a great lad. Hs parents are amazing.
PB: You have recorded your debut album in LA., haven’t you?
TN: It was mixed in LA. but it was recorded in Leicester.
JD: What a mix. Leicester and LA.
PB: Is this now a full time job?
TN: Yeah.
PB: Have you got a publishing deal?
TN: Yeah, we are signed to Telescope Records.
JD: They are a small indie. We are their first signing. They are backing us. The aim is to expand and get us signed to a major for the album.
PB: What are you future plans?
TN: We are aiming to release our second single of the year in October and will be touring the UK, Ireland and Europe at the same time.
PB: Thank you.
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