THEY appeared to have it all – the tunes, the clothes, the looks and most importantly, the rock ‘n’ roll attitude.
Huddersfield band TheMe, burst onto the scene in 2010 telling anyone who would listen that they were the future of indie music.
But despite the confidence, world domination wasn’t to be, and the band called it a day with a support slot for the Fun Lovin’ Criminals as their biggest ever gig.
Now they are back as blues rock group Tokyo Corner and have revealed that their former incarnation was not what it seemed.
The unsigned band say they were moulded into something they didn’t believe in and were told what to write, how to behave in interviews and even advised on what to wear.
Frontman, Luke Micklethwaite said their then manager had called the shots.
He said: “Before we were told what to do and now we’re free to do what we want.
“We were told to be indie rock ‘n’ roll and we were told to keep it all in line with what we were doing, so what we were writing we didn’t necessarily like.”
Guitarist, Kieran Howes, said: “It was all forced, it’s not how we are.
“We were told how to act on stage and what to wear.
“It was drilled into our head that we were an indie rock ‘n’ roll band, which is what we wanted to be, with a 60s style.
“But then the music was sort of a 90s style.
“A lot of our songs got changed and ended up as something totally different.
“One of my mates from Audit Control said ‘you look like you’ve all been put together like a boyband where everyone has their part’.
“Now we do what we want. It’s all exactly how we want it to be whereas before if we wanted to write a song it would get all changed.”
With a new attitude and a re-discovered love for what they are doing, Tokyo Corner have already built up a strong local following.
They have supported King Charles at the venue that gave them their name (Tokyos) and warmed up for Noel Gallagher-backed Proud Mary.
With a hatful of Leeds gigs under their belt they and are now making the thriving Manchester scene their main target and are hoping to get on to the unsigned line-up at Bingley Live.
“This time round, now we can do what we want, it’s a lot better,” said Luke.
“People like the music a lot more. People came to see TheMe and we had some mixed views but with this everything has come back with good feedback.
“We’ve changed our style of music and made it a bit more bluesy – what we actually wanted to do.
“It’s the music that we all like, like the Stones and the Doors.
“We just thought we’d do a modern take on that and it’s worked.
“There’s still indie music in there but we’ve got nice little riffs that make it bluesy.”
The five-piece’s second EP, Don’t Throw Gold In Pirates Houses, is imminent.
Tokyo Corner are supporting All The Young at The Cockpit on Friday, June 1.
