INTRODUCING
THE PALE WHITE
Geordies are fanatics about football, music and just about everything going. On a freezing cold afternoon in the toon, the three Pale White boys from Newcastle upon Tyne were kind enough to spend some time chatting about their rise as an emerging band. Still buzzing from their single ‘Loveless’ being aired on Radio 1 last night, the energetic boys described the moment they heard their song being played, “We were all crowded round the radio listening in. It’s such a good feeling to have your songs blasted out on such a prestigious platform like the BBC, and also being championed by people like Huw Stephens” beamed frontman, Adam. He continued to praise the platform and how supportive they’ve been of the band since the very beginning. Last year, they were selected to play the BBC Introducing stages at both Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds which is incredible for an emerging band. Especially for three likely lads from the same town as music legends AC/DC, Dire Straits and Maximo Park to name a few. Adam continues to describe what a surreal time it’s been and how grateful they are about how much love the BBC have shown them.
The band are dressed in their staple all-black-ensembles, a consistent look for the band since the beginning, the topic of live performances and Glastonbury keeps the energy in the room flowing. They continue to enthusiastically detail their first performance at the iconic summer festival, “It’s always been a massive ambition to play at Glastonbury, so it was a pretty emotional day all around”. Clearly over the moon about reaching their personal targets so far, they laughed reminiscing about how hard it was to pace themselves through the beer-indulged weekend so they could soberly make it to their slot for the BBC Introducing stage. Adam continued to recall anecdotes such as having a dance next to Tilda Swinton and a rumoured Brad Pitt-hidden-under-a-hat, “It’s the sort of festival where you can totally imagine bumping into Lenny Henry having a pint with Keith Richards” he grinned. He continued to chat about the madness surrounding the entire experience and how they always strive to put on the most entertaining and energetic performances. “We want people to come away from our shows and feel excited and full of adrenaline” well, they certainly do that. Tom picks up about how important it is for him for people to connect with their songs and how humbling it is to have people get in touch with them about how much they’re enjoying the music. Adding on to Tom’s point, Jack discusses how important it is for the band to enjoy themselves, “Playing a great show is the best feeling in the world. We put so much time into the band because we’re passionate about it and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else. We’re 100% all in”.
Adam continues to think back about their favourite gigs so far, one in particular being a church in Leeds, “Belting out your tunes with a huge stained-glass window behind you, hoping it won’t shatter from your next guitar solo… I joke! Really lovely gaff”. “I really liked La Mecanique Ondulatoire in Paris. Our first show outside of the UK... It was an underground bunker type venue with a winding staircase leading down to the venue (nightmare loading our gear out!). It was a really sweaty and lively show and it was just incredible to see people reacting the way they did when we had never even been outside the UK. Very small stage to move around, so there were a few collisions here and there!” Laughed Tom.
The boys have also been expanding their band with music videos where they discussed what inspired their most recent video, “We wanted it to have a sleazy, night time feel to the way it looked. Initially we were influenced by the German film ‘Victoria’” where Adam continued to explain about a woman being caught up amongst a heist. The concept was a collaboration between the band and one of their writer friends, Liam Smith. Smith was also the inspiration behind the band’s name, it stemmed from his near-death experience which he described as seeing, “the big pale white light” and it felt like it fit perfectly to them.
Turning back to the subject of their fandom, Adam is enthusiastic about Spotify as well, claiming, “Spotify have been very good to us and put us in some brilliant playlists, so we have to really say thank you to those guys for being into what we do and showcasing us to new people”. He’s ecstatic that people from all over the world are hearing their music and investing in them. Referring to their songs, the guys open up about how a lot of their music so far is autobiographical. “We try to just be true to ourselves as a band and put music out that we are proud of, rather than chase whatever is ‘hot’ at any given time” states Adam, he also blames the rise of social media as making it hard to be heard amongst the noise as an emerging band, “It wouldn’t feel right to follow a trend or change ourselves to fit into a certain box” states Adam. The band are all keen on bettering themselves with their writing and their live shows so they can reach more people in their own individual way.
On the subject of style, Tom chips in with their reasons for the band’s consistently black ensembles. He explains how it reflects their music and gives them a more professional look and he wants to show the choice was calculated. Tom also explains the importance of a band’s presentation and style, he claims, “being all in black imposes a very recognisable identity and we were keen to have a cohesive feel, a specific colour palette, to everything we do as a band”. They’re all very keen to bring their individual personalities to everything they do, whether that’s through their music or their visuals. Their individual style and sound has been influenced by some real classics where they describe Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ as a big moment for them all, “It’s the perfect combination of sweet timeless melodies and amazing energetic instrumentation” shares Adam. Other influences of the band stem from Motown, Bowie and classic rock, these sounds are said to have contributed huge elements to the sound of The Pale White, which you can definitely pick up on.
They’ll be releasing another single, “very soon” and apparently, it’s a very different feeling to the other stuff they’ve put out so far. “It’s a chunky dirty slice of noise and we’re very excited for people to hear this other side to us” states Adam enthusiastically. But they keep their cards close when addressed about their second EP which will be released later on in the year. The sky is the limit for The Pale White, we finished the interview with a quick chat about their aspiration to one day play Wembley. “Strap yourself in and see where we end up” laughs Adam. I personally can’t wait to see where The Pale White boys will be in a couple of years - the future’s looking bright.
