The Bishops
>> Art School>> 8th April 2006
London’s The Bishops most be one of the hardest working bands around, having gigged here, there and everywhere over the last few years, and tonight they play Glasgow’s school of Art as part of the Club NME tour.
As the band kick off their 40 minute set, it’s as if the 60’s are back! As these time-travelling, toe-tapping heroes play their bootleg ties off to a quiet but lively Art School. Twin brothers Mike and Pete Bishop, along with Scottish drummer Chris McConville make up the band, who race through the set with some classic tracks, and all of a sudden I have a sudden urge to go out and buy a beehive wig.
Songs like Menace About Town and debut single the Only Place I Can Look is Down begin to the crowd’s heads nodding and the energy from the band as they bounce around on stage puts a smile on everyone’s face. There are some nice individual touches too, with some smart guitar solos and wicked bass lines, and the only thing tighter than the superb vocal harmonies, are the twins’ straight-from-the-sixties trousers.
Not the busiest nights at Club NME, but the small crowd has warmed to these fun lads from down south. Look out for the single on May the 8th.
>> The Lick had a wee chat with the boys with the suits:
Lick: Hello! Welcome to Glasgow. Although this isn’t your first time I believe?
Mike Bishop: Yeah we played once before which was in Rockers club beside the station which was pretty cool.
Lick: How was the smell of piss on your way in?
Pete Bishop: Haha! It wasn’t too bad. Pretty similar to the one in London actually.
Chris McConville: There’s a pretty cool club up in Motherwell that way played once before.
PB: Yeah that was a really good gig. It’s always nice to get up to Scotland and other parts of the country. People are very friendly up here and there are always good gigs.
Lick: Thank You! An album deal on Monday I understand?
MB: Yeah a good way to start the week!
Lick: Can you give me any details?
MB: It’s with 1,2,3,4 records, who are a London based independent and we’re going to doing and album and a single with them. We’ve already recorded the single (The Only Place I Can Look Is Down) with producer Liam which will be out on the 8th of May and he’s going to do the album as well. The sessions were really really fun and we’re really pleased that we can come together with Liam to do more material because we feel he’s the right producer for what we do.
Lick: Looking forward to it! For anyone who doesn’t know the Bishops, how long have you been together and how does the song writing work and how did you meet your mad Scottish drummer? (Their words, not mine)
MB: Well we’ve been together about two and a half years and we formed in London and basically me and Pete were staying in a youth hostel because we were studying and stuff and Chris was working in a pub nearby and we used to meet a lot and got chatting about music and basically just decided to form the band. We used to rehearse in the basement of the YMCA and just went from there really. In terms of the song writing me and Pete will come up with a song together or a riff and then take it to the rehearsal with Chris and it kinda of develops from there.
PB: There are times when we can just be jamming and we’ll come up with something. We find that’s a really effective way because it happens quite quickly and there’s definitely quite a good partnership between us.
Lick: And are there any particular bands/artists that influence the song writing?
MB: Yeah there’s always people we’ve admired and have definitely influenced us like Arthur Lee and Love, a lot of stuff from the late sixties. The Jam, the La’s and people like that.
Lick: And what about yourself Chris?
CM: Me? Well when I was first learning drums it was people like Stuart Copland and Jon Bonham. It’s nice to hear wee bits and pieces coming through in my playing because I was never taught, I just used to play along with records.
Lick: And is there a date for the album?
MB: No not yet. The single will be out on May the 8th, on Cd and Vinyl and we’ll be working on the album throughout the year so it will probably be the start of 2007.
PB: There will probably be another single in the summer and a few more tours. We’re playing a few shows in Germany and Austria at the end of May, and some tour supports and a few festivals.
Lick: And to finish up. What’s your favourite thing about Glasgow?
CM: For me it’s always thriving. Good music, good bands and the places like the Art School are great venues and clubs to go to. Plus there’s loads of women. Scottish women wearing next to nothing even if it’s freezing outside!
Quick Fire Questions for Pete:
Black or White? Black
Kylie or Danni? Kylie
Up or Down? Up
Scotland or England? England
Glasgow or Edinburgh? Glasgow
Acoustic or Electric? Electric
Ghostbusters 1 or Ghostbusters 2? Eh, 2.
Bush or Blair? Haha! Eh, Blair I suppose.
On Top or on Bottom? On Top
Mars or Snickers? Snickers
Indian food or Chinese food? Indian
Drunk or Sober? Drunk
A Ben Affleck film or killing yourself? Killing Myself!
Phoenix Nights of the Office? The Office – Definitely!
>> Joe Sach
www.thebishopsband.com
www.myspace.com/thebishopsuk
