Sunday, July 17, 2011

The Cape Race

The Cape Race is an unsigned punk rock band from Manchester, England, which was influenced by the likes of Say Anything, Motion City Soundtrack, Taking Back Sunday and Manchester Orchestra.

“There are five of us,” Matt Sayward, guitarist of the band, said. “My main man, Scott, plays guitar also, our singer is called David, our drummer’s name is Jonny and Adam plays bass. Four of us used to be in a pop-punk band called The Honeymoon Suite, and that kind of came to a head where we felt we’d taken it as far as we could. The Cape Race was a natural progression of that.”

The band named itself after the area where the Titanic’s distress call was heard.

“Cape Race is actually a place - a little peninsula on the eastern tip of Canada,” Sayward said. “All there really is there is a lighthouse, and it's there that the distress call from the Titanic got picked up. We found out about it from a documentary!”

While touring, they have been able to perform with bands they looked up to and had the opportunity to open for the band Parachute.

“We've had a couple of really great shows that have been a lot of fun,” Sayward said. “We played at a festival a couple of months (ago) with a lot of heroes of ours from growing up in the ’90s, which was really humbling. Also, I've really liked a band called Parachute from the States for a long time and we got to support them when they were over in England which was a lot of fun.”

The band recorded their debut album “Now, Voyager” with producer Peter Miles and released it on the Fourth of July of this year.

“The actual title is from a short poem called ‘The Untold Want’ by Walt Whitman,” Sayward said. “It’s about people who don’t settle for what they are given and take it upon themselves to better their situation and create the life they want for themselves.”

The Cape Race’s musical inspiration comes from personal experiences and life observations, according to Sayward.

Sayward says the goals of the band are to tour, make music and do what they enjoy.

“We really want to be able to hit the European and American festival circuit next year,” Sayward said. “We’d love to be at SXSW in 2012. I just want to be able to carve out a living doing what I love with my best friends.”

Outside of the band, Sayward works at a record label in Manchester.

“I do some work at an independent record label in Manchester called LAB Records with a couple of my friends,” Sayward said. “I also have a creative media agency I set up with my friend Duncan. We’re currently working on some really cool new digital marketing techniques within the music industry.”



http://www.thecaperace.com/



Who are the members of your band and what instruments do they play?

There are five of us in The Cape Race. My name is Matt and I play guitar. My main man Scott plays guitar also, our singer is called David, our drummer's name is Jonny and Adam plays bass.

Where is your band from and how did you get your start?

We're from Manchester in the United Kingdom. Four of us used to be in a pop-punk band called The Honeymoon Suite, and that kind of came to a head where we felt we'd taken it as far as we could. The Cape Race was a natural progression of that.

How did you come up with the name The Cape Race?

Cape Race is actually a place - a little peninsula on the eastern tip of Canada. All there really is there is a lighthouse, and it's there that the distress call from the Titanic got picked up. We found out about it from a documentary!

Who are your influences?

I know that lyrically, David is very inspired by people like Jesse Lacey from Brand New, Max Bemis of Say Anything, Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack and Adam Lazarra from Taking Back Sunday. I'm massively influenced by bands like Rival Schools, Manchester Orchestra, My Vitriol and Harvard, and as a guitar player I really look up to Kenny Bridges from Moneen and Dave Knudson from Minus The Bear.

How did you get your manager?

Our manager came to see us in London in early 2010 when he was running a label called A Wolf At Your Door. He kept a little bit of an eye on us over the year and got hold of our new mini-album after we'd recorded it. At this point he'd moved onto a new job with Universal and was looking to branch into artist management. We came back to London to chat to him about the future and started working together.

Do you have a record label? If so, what is it and how did you get it?

We are currently unsigned at present - still waiting for the right offer!

What is the story behind your debut album, "Now, Voyager"?

The actual title is from a short poem called 'The Untold Want' by Walt Whitman. It's about people who don't settle for what they are given and take it upon themselves to better their situation and create the life they want for themselves - quite a fitting summation of The Cape Race and how it came to be.

How do you come about your recording process?

We worked with a producer called Peter Miles on this release, who has done some of best sounding records to come out of the UK in the last few years. Working with him was comfortably the most enjoyable recording experience I've been a part of. You work with some producers who seem jaded and detached from their job to the point where they're phoning it in. Pete is in love with music and devoted to getting the best from the bands he works with. He also completely understands that different bands like to work in different ways and lets the whole process come about very organically. It doesn't surprise me how in demand he is, I'm proud he decided to work with us and feel privileged to have been able to.

What is your inspiration for your music?

I think we're a bit of a melting pot of the stuff that we all listen to, bands like Brand New, Foo Fighters, Death Cab For Cutie, Kings Of Leon and Manchester Orchestra. Lyrically, most of our songs are based on personal experiences and life observations - notably Bets was written about the passing of our singer's grandmother Betty. There's some good humour within the lyrics at times - never to get a laugh, mind - always in Every now and then

Where have you been able to perform and what's your favorite?

We've had a couple of really great shows that have been a lot of fun - we played at a festival a couple of months with a lot of heroes of ours from growing up in the 90s, like New Order, The Charlatans and more which was really humbling. Also, I've really liked a band called Parachute from the States for a long time and we got to support them when they were over in England which was a lot of fun.

Where would you like to perform?

We really want to be able to hit the European and American festival circuit next year - we'd love to be at SXSW in 2012.

What has been the most interesting experience in your career?

Personally, I think recording our mini-album has been the most interesting thing we've done to date. I'm really into production & recording and working with Pete - who I look up to massively - was very eye-opening.

What do you do on your free time outside of the band?

As well as The Cape Race, I do some work at an independent record label in Manchester called LAB Records with a couple of my friends. I also have a creative media agency I set up with my friend Duncan - we're currently working on some really cool new digital marketing techniques within the music industry.

What are your future goals?

I just want to be able to carve out a living doing what I love with my best friends. If we could all be in a position where our mortgages and the like were covered by our art... that would be the dream

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