Time and time again, folks have talked up the deep pool of musical talent threatening to flood Wigan’s venues. Whilst names like Moco, The VCs and The Suzukis regularly crop up in conversations about ‘The Scene’, a new batch of young hopefuls have recently started to make a name for themselves on the local circuit and beyond. One such band are The Layne, who with their brisk, ‘Byrds-influenced guitar-pop are rapidly ensuring their place amongst Wigan’s chosen few.

‘LINC chief Kennedy Stewart caught up with frontman Chris Butler, bassist Andrew Smith, and Guitarist Craig Sergeant [Drummer Andrew Dicton conspicuous by his absence] to talk about what sets The Layne streets apart from their peers.

You’ve been together just over a year. What did you set out to achieve? Do you still have the same ambitions?

Chris: Our ambitions haven’t changed since we started. We’re just going for it. It’s what we all want. We want to take it all the way that’s how it was from the beginning.

Are you happy with the progress you’ve made so far?

Craig: We’re happy with how things have gone so far but you’ve always got to be looking to take things one stage further.

A lot of bands talk about ‘making it’. Is this important to you? If so, what does ‘making it’ mean to you?

Andrew: Getting a record out
Chris: Doing it for a living
Craig: Doing what you love every day.

You recently did an acoustic session for WISH FM. DO you feel comfortable playing acoustic? Which do you prefer – electric or acoustic?

Craig: We do three part harmonies and we sit about quite a lot just playing with one guitar, so our sound is quite adaptable to acoustic. We do it a lot in rehearsals anyway so it was quite easy to cram into that tiny studio and to play acoustic.

I write on either acoustic or electric, it depends what’s in my head really. If I write something acoustically, I’ll try to adapt it so it works electrically with the full band onstage. It doesn’t matter which I write on but it always seems to turn out electric when the whole band plays together. I’ve written most of our songs, some of them I’ve take to the band and they’ve all added their bits to it.

You’ve got gigs coming up in Manchester and Liverpool. Do you prefer doing gigs in and around Wigan or do you like getting out of the town?

Chris: We like both really. We just want to get out there and play. Everyone in Wigan has heard our music now, but that’s why it’s enjoyable to play here because a lot of people are into it. It’s a lot harder playing out of town cos you’ve got to earn it.

‘Don’t Stand Me Down’ contains the lyrics “Been hanging on now, I’m leaving this old down now.” And “This place betrayed me.” Is this a reference to Wigan?

Craig: I wrote that when I was moving back to Wigan from Leeds. We don’t feel claustrophobic in Wigan

Andrew: We do a bit on the sly

Craig: I would rather be here than most other places. It’s more enjoyable playing out of town because it’s a challenge for us and it’s refreshing playing places like Manchester and Liverpool. It’s something new. We’re not bored of Wigan but we know it inside out so the aim for us now is to get out more. Apart from on performance when we had our worst gig ever, the reaction to us around Wigan has been pretty good.

You recently played a gig in Manchester with four other Wigan bands. What’s your opinion on the current Wigan music scene?

Chris: A lot of good bands have come out Wigan in the last two years or so. A lot of credit for that has to go to Dylan and Sean from Lupine Promotions. They’ve got Wigan music off its backside really by putting a lot of nights on and stuff. A lot of bands have come out of that.

All the leading Wigan bands are good in their own ways. I really like what Filthy Romance are doing at the moment and Dirty Circus, although they’re not necessarily what I’d be in to, they really have some good songs and they’ll go far.

Andrew: They give it everything they’ve got at every gig and that’s impressive.

Do you see yourselves as part of a ‘scene’?

Craig: I just think there’s a lot of good bands coming out at the moment from Wigan. Some might not be to everyone’s taste but a lot of people are interested in bands just now and a lot people like a lot of them. I wouldn’t say it’s a scene, there’s always been bands going on, they just happen to be good at the minute.

Andrew: It’s not like a specific sound – everyone’s got there own sound. All The Libertines and The Strokes style bands are out now, it’s not like that where everyone sounds similar.

Craig: There’s a rivalry between all the local bands but it’s a healthy one, we’re all mates.

Chris: When you see one of those bands doing a good gig it makes you want to do better yourself. We help each other out in terms of getting gigs and things like that, but you’ve got to think of yourself as the best of the bunch, otherwise you just couldn’t do it.

What do you think about the current state of music in Britain?

Chris: Rubbish.

Craig: I remember when it was worse though. When we were getting into it, it was all Britpop and live music was pretty good then, but then it all went rubbish. Now though there is a lot bands coming out. You might not be into a lot of the music but live music and guitar bands are getting a lot more popular and fashionable. If people are getting into live music then that’s cool as long as the bands are pretty good.

Chris: People are starting to dress a lot better.

You have been compared to ‘60s artists such as The Byrds. How do you feel about these comparisons?

Craig: It’s flattering being compared to bands like The Byrds. I can understand where the comparison comes from in that we have that jangly guitar sound.

Andrew: It’s a sound that we went for really.

Craig: It wasn’t really a conscious decision, it’s just what I write and the sound that I get. It’s not restricted to The Byrds influence; there’s loads of styles in our music. The rhythm section is Motown and soul particularly. We’re trying to get something a bit different but I can understand the comparison.

Chris: Nearly every new song we come out with is evolving us as a band. It’s sticking to the same roots but it does change – its not like we write a song and it sounds like the last one.

How would you describe your music? What makes The Layne different from other bands?

Craig: I don’t think we sound like anyone else that’s around at the moment. We come in from a different angle. A lot of bands today are heavily influenced by the 80s, we’re going back a bit further to the ‘60s and ‘70s but we’re managing to sound modern with it.

Is all music revisited?

Andrew: It’s pretty hard to do something totally original unless you’re using technology and that. If you’re just doing four instruments, like we’re doing it’s pretty hard doing something totally original.

What do you want to say to people with your music and lyrics?

Craig: All our songs are about universal things that anyone can relate to but more often than not they’re drawn from my own experiences. I try to write things that have double meanings, then the listener can take their own meaning from it. I’m now getting help with lyrics from the rest of the band so that’s cool. I just happen to write most of the words. They’re all right. I find it pretty difficult but I just do it.

What’s more important in modern music – style or substance? What’s more important to you?

Craig: Substance is always the most important thing in music. Our music couldn’t be seen as cool or stylish, but it is cool.

Do you have strong views on politics and world issues; do you address them in your music?

Craig: Not really, we don’t want to be no Coldplay”

What about the latest demo CD you did?

Craig: I think it’s all right. It just sounds a bit amateur. It could have had a bit more life in it.

Andrew: We could have done with a bit more time to experiment with it.

Craig: We’ll benefit from the experience. We’ll know more for the next time we come to record.

How many hours a week do you practice? Do you have a good work ethic as a band?

Craig: We’re in here four to five times a week now. We’ve had a phase of writing loads of new songs because it was getting stale so we’ve had a bit of time off from playing gigs.

Andrew: We’ve got a bit more conscious about making sure we’ve always got new stuff coming through. Playing the same stuff over and over again brings the atmosphere at practice down and you get in a rut.

Craig: I’m always trying to come up with ideas or write, we’re always trying to move things forward. As soon as we get these songs finished we’re gonna try and get out a lot more and gig more often.

What’s the most enjoyable thing about being in The Layne?

Chris: All of it.

Craig: Doing good music, playing gigs, writing new songs and being in a band.

Chris: Making music that means something to us rather than finding other bands who we like.

Andrew: You get something out of it when you come out with a song that you’re into yourself because you make it from everything your into, but you put it into your own sound.

Are you close as a band?

Chris: We hang around all the time. The band mentality is important. We all hang about with each other away from the band.

And are you confident the bond isn’t going to break?

Craig: You can only hope!

Recommended Link: www.thelayne.co.uk – The Layne official website.

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