Features
Little Man Tate
There's got to be something in South Yorkshire's water. Whether they liked it or not, 2006 belonged to the Mercury Music Prize winning Arctic Monkeys and Sheffield found itself well and truly under the spotlight once again.
Add to that numerous column inches for the likes of The Long Blondes, Richard Hawley and Milburn, and it's easy to see why the Steel City has been branded the hottest city in the country for producing top-class music.
Looking to the future, it doesn't appear that things are going to be slowing down any time soon. With quirky, off-kilter lyrics and song topics including a bisexual menage-a-trois, a skinhead cross-dressing football fan and cybersex, Little Man Tate are shaping up to follow them and become the new year's first, and quite possibly most unconventional, Sheffield success story.
Signing with V2 early last year, the majority of 2006 was spent building up their now rabid fanbase ("it wasn't down to us, some guy who came to one of our early gigs set up our Myspace"), playing a string of sold-out club gigs and over subscribed festival tents, as well as writing the songs that comprise their debut album, released at the end of January. Having stormed the Top 40 with previous releases 'What? What You Got', 'House Party At Boothy's' and 'Man I Hate Your Band', a high chart position for the long player seems inevitable.
Inspired to pick up instruments by watching Pulp's rise to success in the 90s, LMT (as they're known to their fans) cite influences ranging from Cocker's troupe and Half Man Half Biscuit to The Clash and Blur, as well as Madchester legends like the Inspiral Carpets, the Charlatans and the Stone Roses. Imagine Damon and Graham bumping into Paul Weller and Suggs at a strip joint, getting hammered then going to an indie disco and you really can't go far wrong.
?My claim to fame,? says bass player Ben with a proud grin, ?is that my first ever purchase was 'There's No Other Way' on seven inch vinyl.? With similar pride, but to much derision from his bandmates, Dan announces that ?Genesis and Phil Collins had a huge influence? on him as a young drummer.
Little Man Tate formed after Maz picked up his dad's twelve string guitar one Christmas and started jamming with Jon, a childhood friend. Several years and failed bands later, the pair met Dan and Ben through Sunday league football acquaintances, and the rest, as they say, is history. It's not been all plain sailing for them, though: on just the second date of their first ever tour in 2005, the band's van was stolen from outside York's Fibbers venue. They lost all their equipment and the recordings of an unreleased demo.
?It was an absolute nightmare,? recalls Jon, ?but ironically enough we started to get much better after that. We stuck together, because at the end of the day we're mates. If anything, it made us even more determined.? Combine that hunger with a repertoire of perverted pop songs (?all based on true stories,? claims the frontman) and Little Man Tate are shaping up to be quite a proposition. They're almost certainly infectious, but believe me it's something you'll want to catch.
Little Man Tate are: Jon Windle (guitar/vocals), Edward 'Maz' Marriot (guitar), Ben Surtees (bass) and Dan Fields (drums).
www.myspace.com/littlemantatemusic
www.littlemantate.co.uk
Little Man Tate release debut album 'About What You Know' on Monday 29th January 2007
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