Here’s what they had to say…

Yes, the whole garage thing played out a long time ago. A long time ago in “fad years,” anyway. But there’s something about music played with immediacy and attitude that just doesn’t go out of style.

Being British, the Heys sharpen the garage sound to a fine edge and then provide one hell of a shave. These are songs stripped down to their barest elements: power, melody and electricity.

Oh, and they’re good. The Heys know how to kick out the hooks, and more importantly, these songs are decadent examples of exceptional rhythmic grooves. In other words, shaking your ass is required.

Not the next coming of anything in particular, but awfully tight and refined in such a way as to maximize the pleasure. Just in time for summer.

Link to the original review

Here’s what they have to say…

It seems I’ve unintentionally started a movement for The Heys here in Tampa. It began, as most music related things do, with me sending friends links to MySpace pages of bands I like. Usually this results in a response of “Yeah, pretty cool!” or something equivalent. The Heys, however, have led to further follow-up emails along the lines of “I can’t stop listening to these guys!” It seemed only reasonable then that we work with our friends at Planetary Group to get a copy of their debut album Youngbored&broke into the hands of two lucky RockSellout readers!

Even a quick minute with their new album Youngbored&broke will tell you why people are falling in love - The Heys produce Mod-Northern Soul-R&B-Rock with such seeming ease you’d think the guys were born from Paul Weller and Ray Davie’s shared pint at a Gloria Jones show. It’s not timeless in the sense it conjures a specific sound, but it is timeless in the sense it resists a dated sound - this is a fresh take for young Mods looking to let those scratchy old LPs have a breather. And one day Youngbored&broke will sit beside those beloved records, pulled out and played as a testament that good music can harken to a specific sound and a specific time yet still remain fresh for decades afterwards.

With all this in mind, we took the opportunity to ask The Heys a couple questions - some serious, some less so. Find out about the only job worth getting up for, breakfast at Burger King, and what to ask when having a pint with Paul Weller after the jump. And if you’re up for getting a free copy of The Heys Youngbored&broke, then find out what you need to do after the interview!

Part I: We Get Serious:

Keath: How would you describe The Heys to new listeners?

The Heys: Er…That’s hard when you are in it. Try: songs, guitars, voices, beat, honest, direct, uncomplicated, toe-tap, tunes.

Keath: Being in a band: harder than you thought or best job in the world?

The Heys: It’s the only job in the world worth getting up for. Being in a band is the best. It’s the only way of life.

Keath: What was the recording process like? A long slog or quick takes?

The Heys: Definitely quick takes. Doing it over and over again in the studio just sucks the life out of the thing. We rehearsed like fuck and were pretty ruthless with the bits. Then just recorded the vibe.

Keath: Which track off the new album is the most fun to play live?

The Heys: We’ve all got our favourites. And it depends on the night and the mood. Pressure is like riding a motorbike, Scene sums it all up, Elbow Culture is hairs on the back of the neck …

Keath: What is your favorite part of the process - writing, recording, or performing?

The Heys: That’s a hard one too. Without live stuff what’s the point? That’s where you can give it and get it. That’s where you start, its where you buzz. Its immediate. But then without the writing there isn’t any live. And its really mental when you get a new tune. When you have something on your mind you just have to find a way to say it. Or a tune going round and round in your head driving you nuts and you have to try and catch it with your antennae. We used to record in professional studios but it only lead to great expense and disappointment. So we built our own set up in a small cellar with our ‘puter and started having a laugh with it. We wanted to make the best album we could, that sounded like us in surroundings we felt comfortable in. So I guess it depends what your doing at the time ‘cause that’ll be your favourite.

Keath: You’re already doing shows in the UK - will there be a North America tour for the new album too?

The Heys: We really wanna come and play!

Keath: The lyrics are fabulous - snapshots of working class life. Do they spark the music or the other way around?

The Heys: No rules it just depends, sometimes its both. When you get a good tune there doesn’t seem any point wasting the lyrics. But at the same time they have to work and not fuck up the tune. We are not trying to preach or convert. We’re a band. If people wanna think about it then cool, but it still has to be a song. We’re just saying what we see.

Part II: We Get Less Than Serious:

Keath: Would you rather have a pint with Pete Townshend or Paul Weller? Bonus - I’ll buy the round if you tell us the one question you’d most like to ask the one you picked.

The Heys: That’s easy - Paul Weller! Alright Townsend’s in The Who, but he is a bit of a cock. Paul, “That’s a nice shirt, where did you get that from? Its your round”

Keath: Keith Richards - still the coolest man in rock or now just an old geezer wearing scarves with skulls on them?

The Heys: He’s Keith Fookin Richards! He’s in the Rolling Stones! He’s the real deal. The genuine article.

Keath: I never eat at Burger King - do they have a good breakfast? (Note: if you don’t understand this question, listen to the track “Youngbored&broke” at their MySpace page)

The Heys: Too right!

Keath: What’s the one question I should have asked but didn’t?

The Heys: “that’s a nice shirt, where did you get that from? Its my round”

MP3: The Heys - [listen] Pressure

MP3: The Heys - [listen] Fridaynight

Like what you hear? Want a free copy of Youngbored&broke? We’re picking two lucky winners - all you have to do is tell us what question you’d ask The Heys over a pint. Wednesday, we at RockSellout will pick our two favorites from the entries. You don’t have to be super clever or witty, just let us know what you’d like to find out. Good luck!

- Keath (MySpace)

CWG: The BBC and BBC Radio 1 are institutions. How did it feel to be played on Radio 1?

It’s just good to be noticed.

CWG: How does the internet help in getting a band noticed?

You can show what you’re about to millions of people. You get to meet cool people. Everyone can see when you are playing, what you are doing, what you are thinking. We can get round the world in a split second.

If people like you, they can download your music. It means you are free to take control of what you are doing. It means you can do it yourself. It gives mass, direct communication

CWG: What do you recommend for other bands trying to go that route?

Just keep doing it. Spread the love.

CWG: You said that the film Quadraphenia is the film that sums it all up; why is it? Are you a big Who fan?

Well yeah but that ain’t the thing.

Its about the people, their aspirations, their love of the music. Its familiar. You can relate to it

CWG: While you were going through various line-ups, did the goal of making good music seem out of sight?

No. That was the point.

CWG: What is the difference between you and your alter-ego Tweed? Is there a personality change?

Totally different headspace. One records music, ones in a band. Same body.
Tweed is calm, Tom isn’t.

CWG: Can you describe the freedom of recording in your own studio away from the industry?

Basically you are in your own little bubble. Its all about the music. And because everything is familiar and relaxed you can let go.

You almost record by accident. It’s uncomplicated.

CWG: What are your plans in breaking into the American market and achieving further success?
We really want to come and play. We want to let people feel it for real. We want to see America. We also wanna sort out some dates when there’s people who want to see us.

The Beatles said they wouldn’t come to America until they had a number 1 record. We ain’t that strict. But the principle is the same. The music has always led the way.

Link to original interview.

According to Ace…

Indie rock band, The Heys, have released their debut album, youngbored&broke. The UK band has maintained an indie sound by building their own recording studio in a basement. Their studio also keeps the the four guys and their music less corporately connected and away from the dogmatic industry producers.

The Internet has been a fantastic outlet for The Heys, as their music has been featured on independent podcasts and radio stations.

youngbored&broke blends both classic and modern rock. Certain tracks, like “Pressure”, make it hard to believe that The Heys are a band from the 2000s, and not the late 1970s. Although the music itself does have a classic rock feel, the lyrics are very modern, mentioning prominent issues in todays world, like obesity.

For a debut album, from a band who has kept themselves out of the professional recording studio, youngbored&broke is well put together. There is never a point where the sound gets sloppy; every single track stays in uniform and flows very nicely.

Link to the original review.

The Heys have been featured on Indie Launchpad (indielaunchpad.com) with a great review of their new album “youngbored&broke”.

Here’s what they had to say:

In all the years I’ve been heavily into music, there have been a few defining moments, that I can look back on and say, that was a good time in music history. For instance when Guns and Roses released the album Appetite for Destruction, or Nirvana released the album Nevermind. In the 90’s the Brit pop wars saw great albums from Blur, Oasis, Dodgy and the Verve. Whilst there’s been many albums since, there hasn’t been anything that really evoked that same kind of feeling. Until now.

I first came across The Hey’s via MySpace. The usual too and fro occurred and a week or so later, I popped the disk into my CD player and was soon blown away. There’s a rawness that is all too easy to compare to Oasis, and a sense of pop that is easily to lay at Blur’s feet, but there is also something else there, something that quite frankly I wasn’t expecting. To put this into context, I play many, many albums, but it’s not often I feel both exhausted and elated at listening to one in it’s entirety. Straight out of the gate with “Fridaynight”, it’s hard not to want to move, stamp feet, or bash the steering wheel on the car, as if you’re a virtual drummer in the band. For me though, one of the real defining tunes is “Elbowculture”, with that hint of laddish youth, that brings back memories of my own youth, going out on the pull, drinking quantities of alcohol, that now quite frankly would have me talking to the great white telephone for an age, and playing the latest Sega Genesis and SNES games. Yes I know, I have dated myself terribly, but hey, some of that reckless youth, still lurks somewhere deep within.

The relentless pace continues with “Pressure” which rolls over you like a wave of electricity, jolting ever neuron in you brain. After such a strong start, it’s nice that the album balances up and takes a breather with “Brightenupmyday”. To move between two extremes is something of a gamble, that doesn’t always work out, here though there’s a common thread that weaves between all the tracks, fast or slow. At the beginning of title track “youngbored&broke”, it kept threatening to break out into “Since You’ve Been Gone” by Rainbow. OK maybe that’s just my jaded view, but I just love how just a few bars can evoke those kinds of flashbacks.

With 14 tracks, it’s a really difficult album not to go through track by track and disseminate, but there’s really no need. This really is an album that comes along once in a blue moon. I’d love it if this marked the resurgence of British dominance, but this time in the indie scene. I’ve nothing but good words to say about every one of the tracks on this album. I left this album with a sense of sheer excitement and just cannot wait to see where the bands goes next.

On a final note, I would love to go to a gig where the band was playing, as I have no doubt that sheer electricity of the album would be amplified greatly seeing them perform live. The dogs bollocks, make no mistake.

Conclusion : I’ve made no secret in the podcast, that this is one absolutely phenomenal album. If this isn’t a band destined for great things, then there’s no justice in the world. Regardless of who you’re a fan of, if you like good rock and pop, this is a must have in your collection…. yes I’m talking to you. Pick up a copy NOW!