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Everything you wanted to know about the Electric Soft Parade but were afraid to ask....
Electric? I thought they were called...: Well yes, they were called the Soft Parade originally, but a problem arose! It turned out that a Doors tribute band (the name 'Soft Parade' comes from a Doors album after all) in America already had the name, and instead of reasoning with the lads, sent a letter threatening legal action. To avoid any confrontation, they added 'electric', which I'm sure you'll agree sounds better.
What about that 'Feltro Media' stuff?: When Alex and Tom first began playing music, they started forming bands, such as 'Suburbia' where they had a manifesto which was 'Cover oasis songs to start with, then write our own based on them and wear shell suits' !! This band didn't work out, but it was 'The Feltro Media' who went to greater things. With this band the White's recorded three demo's, the third of which was noticed by db records in late 2000. They changed their name to The Soft Parade, and the rest is history!
Members: live: vocals, guitar, drums recording: vocals, guitar, synthezisers, bass, drum machine, piano live: drums, guitar, vocals recording: drums, vocals, guitars, bass, synthezisers, violin, drum machine, piano
Others:
From: Brighton
Favourite Albums: 'Marquee Moon' -Television, 'Radiator' -Super Furry Animals, 'C'mon Kids' -The Boo Radleys, 'Veterans of Disorder' -Royal Trux, 'Thirteen' -Teenage Fanclub, 'This Is Hardcore' -Pulp, 'Transmissions From The Satellite Heart' -The Flaming Lips
Did you say The Boo Radleys?: Yeah, Alex is possibly the world's biggest Radleys fan, but whatever you do don't say "What, them who did 'wake up boo?' " !!
Favourite New Band: Elbow (who they've supported at the Astoria)
Who else have they supported?: The boys have supported several bands; such as Starsailor, The Cosmic Roughriders, Ian Brown, The Music and even The Who at a charity gig in the Albert Hall. They have been supported themselves by great new bands like Kid Galahad (oct/01) and Hoggboy (feb/02).
Do they do festivals? Yep, last year they performed at the Leeds/Reading Carling festivals, and hopefully will be doing so again this summer, probably higher up the list this time though.
Are the boys fans of NME?: Well, that's debatable, as; a. in the review for 'Empty At The End' they were referred to as 'bog standard indie', and b. the boys are pretty paranoid of the Thrills section of NME, which they claim has been poking fun at them. NME did put the ESP in the 'Top Ten Best New British Guitar Bands' and gave their album 9/10, so maybe that made up for it!
Hang on a second, who's is this name I see in the Guinness Book of records?!: That's right, the boys aren't just good, they're record breakingly good! Well, sort of. The record held is for the fastest ever produced music video for 'There's a Silence', created in just 3 hours 46 minutes on 25/10/01 as a joint effort between Microsoft and HMV. They were chosen for this honour by BMG over artists like Feeder and Travis! To top it all off it was then broadcasted over the Internet. see the video
Why have they released 'Silent To The Dark' twice?: The original one they released on a double A-side with 'Something's Got To Give' is the 9 minute long version you will find on the album 'Holes In The Wall'. The version released in March 2002 is actually 'Silent To The Dark II', a new, considerably shorter mix of the track, much more suitable for radio play. Got it?
What was that fish business?: When the ESP played a gig at the London Monarch, they appeared under the pseudonym of 'The Brotherhood of Fish'!! Steve the keyboard player is sometimes seen wearing a 'Brother Fish' T-shirt!
Do they do any special live versions of songs?: Only one that I know of, a show-finale 15 minute long version of 'Silent To The Dark II', with some pretty amazing jamming by everyone in the band - simply has to be heard.
.....and something to do with Kylie?: Well, when I saw them in February they did a particularly snazzy version of Kylie Minogue's Hit single 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' with Tom on vocals.
Quotes: "Music isn't about specific words or specific political messages, it's about pure emotion, pure sound." "We're not the kind of band where one word or one genre describes what we do…We are always open to listening to new things and experimenting with new ideas." "If your not desperately been into the singles then you might actually get into the album. I'm quite into pop songs and can appreciate say a Steps song - I may hate Steps but I can still appreciate the song whereas some people will just have a blind hatred of things! Parts of the album are quite dark and introspective and we've even done a Cher and chucked a vocoder on there." "In an interview you might just say "Haven aren't my cup of tea but they're a lovely bunch of lads" and all of a sudden its "Alex from the ESP hates Haven and wants to kill them" "You start playing music then you play music with other people, then you suddenly realise you've been doing it for six months and you think 'oh, it's a band'," (About the 'There's A Silence' record breaking attempt) “(Alex) It’s just a big marketing campaign (Tom) but it’s good for us as a band. (Alex) The reason we’re doing it is it’s just good for exposure, there’s no fee. I’m just waiting for all you lovely people in Brighton to say, ‘Sell out’ and I’m going to slap you in the face for it.” (When asked if they would play at the Queen's Jubilee) "No. I don't recognise the authority of people who are unelected and born into power. I believe in a democratic form of government; any other means of representation, especially one which is archaic and out of touch, is nonsense."
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Alex White 
Tom White
Matt Twaites bass
Steve keyboards
