Up For The Cup: Dexters Talk Football Soundtracks, Festival Season And The Future
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Written by Katie Territt
With the World Cup on our doorstep, you’re about to hear a lot more from Dexters. Having released one of the best British debut albums this year in ‘Shimmer Gold’, the East London indie troupe have dipped their toes in the world of the football song with a cover of the Seekers’ I’ll Never Find Another You.
Snatched up by the Sun newspaper for their tournament campaign, the song will provide another step up for a band who have spent the last few months delivering live shows full of infectious energy and massive tunes. Also, it’s better than Diamond Lights.
“Someone got in touch with our management and said they were getting quite a lot of bands to do this song,” Tom Rowlett, the band’s frontman, said. “About a month went by and we didn’t hear anything. Then they said: ‘You’ve got it.’ So we were made up after that.
“To be honest, we hadn’t heard the song before. We were in the van, going to a gig somewhere and someone downloaded it and we listened to it. We were like: ‘What are they on, are they mad?’ It’s like this little soppy ditty. I listened to the lyrics a bit more and I got what they were after. I knew they wouldn’t want us to mimic that version, so we just put on all the overdrive pedals and made a racket, and they liked it. A lot of people are digging it and asking for it at gigs, so it’s really good.”
The band has recently been clocking up support slots, playing with the Enemy and in Germany with the Rifles, following shows with Miles Kane, the Courteeners and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. The experience has given them a taste of what it’s like playing to a whole different kind of fan.
”It’s been really good,” Rowlett said. “We played Koko [Camden] with the Enemy and it was a great night. I love that venue. They’re a top band, they’re really nice lads. In Germany with the Rifles, it was just great going out and playing different places. It’s very different there, they’re so polite.
“The crowds are just great. In England, when you play a gig, five minutes before the band’s due on, the fans will pile in. But over there, they get there well early and watch the supports. They’re very appreciative. It’s just different, there’s not so much beer being chucked at you. It’s eyes forward, applaud in the right places. It’s nice not having beer thrown at you.
"I love all that, but it’s nice having something different. I can’t wait to go to Japan and see what the fans are like. I hear they give you presents. I need some presents. This Japanese girl came to see us once in Liverpool. She works for Nestle over there and she bought us Dexters Kit Kats with our faces on them. More stuff like that please, I want a whole range.”
July sees Dexters play their biggest show yet, with a support slot for the Kaiser Chiefs at Silverstone to kick off the British Grand Prix. “I’m excited for it,” Rowlett said. “I’m hoping to convert some Kaiser Chiefs fans into Dexters fans. I’m looking forward to chilling with some of our own lot down there. It’s my birthday that day too so I’m really looking forward to celebrating. I want them to let me go in a car though. If I get a few photos of me in a Formula 1 car, that would be awesome.”
After spending much of the year as an opening act, the focus will be on Dexters in November when they hit the road for a headline tour, which will take in venues including Islington Assembly Hall, Sheffield’s Leadmill and King Tut’s in Glasgow.
”The tour’s selling really well, so fast,” Rowlett said. “We’re playing Islington Assembly Hall and it’s like a step up for us in terms of capacity. I love playing in these venues with some history, like King Tut’s has got a lot of history. It’s great we have those places. There’s so many closing down, so it’s great that some of these can hold up, you know? Where are we gonna go if they close these places down? You can’t just start out playing at the O2.”
‘Shimmer Gold’, Dexters’ debut album, dropped back in March and is the perfect advert for British rock ‘n’ roll, arriving loaded with confidence and several notable standouts. Already, though, attention has turned to its follow up.
”We needed to get something out there in quite a short amount of time, but it just made us work even harder,” Rowlett said. “I’m amazingly proud of that album and a lot of the songs on that I think are really good. For me, I think it’s the best album that’s come out this year, although I am biased.
“My favourite song changes all the time. I think even the weaker songs are better than some bands’ good ones. I see it as just a stepping stone, it’s got our name out there and got us playing some big shows. We haven’t stopped writing though, so the next album will be even better.
“I’m looking forward to getting into the studio and start working on them. There’s no regimented way of writing, I’m always just singing ideas into my phone and then I’ll sit down with a guitar and piece it all together. We’ve probably got another album written already, but I’m sure we’ll write some better ones before we record.”
For now, though, the band are concentrating on their upcoming shows, which include a summer of festivals - and probably rain - across Europe. In addition to stops in Austria and Germany, Dexters are booked in at Alleyway, Liverpool Calling, Strawberry Fields, Bingley Music Festival and Brownstock in the next couple of months.
“We’re hitting festival season now and we’ve got shitloads of them to play until August time,” Rowlett said. “I find it fun, trying to win people over. It keeps you on your toes, trying to give good showmanship. And at festivals, you haven’t got as long to play, so it’s just about packing as much in as possible and trying to wow these people. We did one a couple of weekends ago and it was brilliant. It was pissing down all day and we got the sun to come out. It went away again after we played, so it was quite funny. We bring the sun, we bring the fun, we bring it all!.
“October we’re going to do a tour in Europe. We’ve only done Germany so far, so we’re hoping to hit like Italy and Spain. Then the UK tour which brings us into December. We’ll have a little rest and then early next year we’ll get into the studio and start working on album number two. So yeah, if anyone hasn’t heard the album, get on it, give us a try and let us into your hearts.”
Dexters Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed November 05 2014 - LIVERPOOL East Village Arts Club
Thu November 06 2014 - GLASGOW King Tuts Wah Wah Hut
Fri November 07 2014 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE THINK TANK at Digital
Sat November 08 2014 - SHEFFIELD Leadmill
Thu November 13 2014 - MANCHESTER Manchester Roadhouse
Fri November 14 2014 - STOKE Sugarmill
Sat November 15 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Victoria
Thu November 20 2014 - BOURNEMOUTH 60 Millions Postcards
Fri November 21 2014 - SOUTHAMPTON Lennons
Sat November 22 2014 - BRISTOL Lanes
Thu November 27 2014 - LEEDS Cockpit
Fri November 28 2014 - LONDON Islington Assembly Hall
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