Preston of The Ordinary Boys talks to Stereoboard about December Tour (Interview)
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Written by Rob Sleigh
Later this week, singer-songwriter Samuel Preston will be hitting the road with his band The Ordinary Boys for the first time in over three years. Since the group’s spilt in 2008, Preston has rarely strayed too far from the music scene and is now a successful writer for a number of other budding artists. One of his biggest successes to date came recently, when he co-wrote Olly Murs’s Number One hit single ‘Heart Skips A Beat’ earlier this year. Just a few days ahead of The Ordinary Boys’ comeback tour, Preston speaks to Stereoboard about his new career and about the future of the band…
How are you feeling about the shows in the run-up to the tour?
I’m surprisingly terrified this time around. In my struggle to grow-up and lose some of the swagger that I seemed so fond of back in my Ordinary Boys days, I also lost some of the self-assuredness that gave me the confidence to run around so much on stage and not worry about falling apart. I don’t think it is a coincidence that most frontmen in bands happen to also be insufferable dickheads.
How are you feeling about playing those songs again since parting ways with the band a few years ago?
The songs, I still believe, are great. I no longer listen almost exclusively to Morrissey and The Specials, however, and if I was starting a band from scratch, we would definitely be totally different. But this is a massive nostalgia trip for me and those songs are so engrained in my psyche.
For how long had you been thinking about getting the band back together for some more shows and what led to the final decision to do it?
We had joked about it, but only about doing one show - a kind of five-year postponed farewell gig. Although I very consciously made the transition from performing artist to songwriter, I always missed being on stage. After I’d had a few successes as a songwriter, my publishers put the tour into effect as a kind of reward.
Have you had much reaction from fans about the upcoming dates, and how do you think people are feeling about the tour?
I genuinely thought that I had done too many weird things to not have alienated the original Ordinary Boys fans, but evidently not. I have been so touched by the response. And this is with very little promotion. With reunions by proper bands happening all around us, I think it’s fantastic that what is essentially a self-motivated nostalgic indulgence is also making a lot of people totally psyched.
For anyone thinking about going to one of the gigs, what can they expect this time around?
It’s pretty much first album. We play a few from the second record and we are playing some covers. I just want to try to remember those early gigs and, this time, hold on to the memory a little tighter.
Depending on how well these shows go, do you think there’s any chance that we could see more Ordinary Boys live performances in the future?
I think an emeritus situation, a semi-retirement, is my ideal scenario. I am pretty busy with work, as is everyone else, so a complete reformation can’t happen. Truthfully, I am happy as a songwriter and I feel like it somehow makes more sense as my thirties are looming. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t love to release a record and tour again. I guess I just really want to do both.
The announcement of the tour was followed by the release of a new Ordinary Boys song, ‘Run This Town’. What is the track about?
‘Run This Town’ is more of a tongue-in-cheek homage to the early sound of the Ordinary Boys than anything else. And an excuse to use the facilities available to me as a songwriter to produce a song for free. I really love the song though. It is one of my favourite in the set even.
Is it a brand-new track? What made you decide to want to write and release a new song ahead of the tour?
Yeah, it’s brand new. I guess, because we are still in our twenties - I think I may be the only one over 25 - and because we were never a huge band, I don’t want this to feel like a reunion, more just like: “Oh, those guys… yeah, nice”, you know? So I figured it was important to test the water and see how people would feel about a new track. I got a little over-ambitious with the last record. I was listening to a lot of electronic music, yet didn’t really familiarise myself fully with the implementation of it. I still love that record, but it should have been a solo record or a side-project. The Ordinary Boys work best when things are raw.
Are there any plans to release or write any more Ordinary Boys material in the near future, new or otherwise?
Lots of plans. Hopefully some of those plans will make it to fruition. I write a lot of super-poppy pop music and I crave an antidote after an overdose. That’s why we formed To Kill The Swarm The Host Must Die, our thrash band. It’s most of the current members of the Ordinary Boys. It’s basically music exclusively as catharsis. We rule.
There’s a slightly different Ordinary Boys line-up this time around. How have performances and rehearsals been going so far, in terms of the chemistry within the band?
The new ones happen to also be my old friends going years back, so I am very lucky. Had that not been the case then there is no way I would have gone ahead with the tour without the original line-up. And I think even with close friends to stand in, it will be a bummer not having Will [Brown, original guitarist] and James [Gregory, original bassist] with us.
What things have you missed most of all since originally parting ways with the band three years ago?
I miss the littler of the gigs. The really sweaty venues. We did so many in those early days that a lot of the memories just merge into one steamed-up blur. And talking to people after the gig. I think we have some old merch that wasn’t burned in the riots - a lot of the B-Unique records stuff went - so I’m looking forward to hanging out on the merch table. Just little things like that.
What led to the decision to break-up the band originally?
I just think the consensus was that no one wanted to grow up and be a grown-ass man in a band. It would have been different were we bigger or big in America maybe, but Will and James wanted to go to university before they had to go as mature students. I had already been to university before getting signed, and anyway, I was kind of happy to be in a band no matter what.
You’ve recently written some songs for other artists. Most notable of these was Olly Murs’s chart-topping hit ‘Heart Skips a Beat’. What was that experience like and how did it compare to being part of a band?
It’s weird, the standard constraints on being in a band. You release twelve songs a year as standard. As a writer, I write twelve songs a week sometimes. I really love to write songs and produce records and, although I miss performing live a lot, I think my talent lies much more in the writing. ‘Heart Skips A Beat’ sold more copies than every Ordinary Boys record combined. The writing process is really fun and it feels very low pressure because you don’t have to pin it to your band as a defining thing. It’s just a song - might get cut, might not.
Is it something that you plan to continue in the near future? If so, what other artists will you be working with that we should keep an eye out for?
Yeah, totally. That’s what I do now. I’m getting more into production and developing artists, which is where I am happiest. I’m not gonna jinx anything, but I have some really exciting things coming next year.
A few years ago, you released your own solo single ‘Dressed to Kill’. How did you find that experience and do you think you’ll be releasing anymore solo material in the future?
I loved everything about that experience, right up until the album got shelved. I was so happy with it. I’m just glad that the single came out and people seemed to be really into it. I would love to do a solo record and actually get it released. Even super low key. I can produce it all myself now, so it’s just about finding time.
What else have you got planned in the near future?
I literally have no clue. With the band, a lot depends on how this tour goes, if anyone shows up. Maybe put out another mp3 in the new year. Who knows?
The Ordinary Boys tour begins on Thursday 1st December at Leeds Cockpit – See below for all dates and tickets.
Fri December 2nd 2011 - Manchester Club Academy, Manchester
Sat December 3rd 2011 - The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Sun December 4th 2011 - King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Tue December 6th 2011 - The Cluny, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Wed December 7th 2011 - Rock City, Nottingham
Fri December 9th 2011 - O2 Academy2 Birmingham,, Birmingham
Sat December 10th 2011 - Thekla, Bristol
Sun December 11th 2011 - Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Wed December 14th 2011 - O2 Academy Islington, London
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How are you feeling about the shows in the run-up to the tour?
