Are You a Cool Cat? | No Hot Ashes Interview

With the recent release of their quirky and soulful single 'Cool Cat' I decided to catch up with the lads from young rising Stockport band No Hot Ashes and find out a little more about the boys behind the brilliance.

Izzie Mawhood: Where did the band name come from (it's rather original)?

No Hot Ashes: We chose the name pretty early on before we even started gigging to be honest, we saw it the words “NO HOT ASHES” written on a row of wheelie bins after a rehearsal and decided to go with that.

IM: What's the best gig/ venue you've ever played?

NHA: There’s been loads of special gigs for us so far, in the past 2 years we have been putting on our own nights at what used to be Kraak Gallery (now Aatma) in Manchester and it’s a cool venue which just has that really derelict and raw feel to it. Both have sold out but in particular our “Easy Peeler” Single Launch gig was really was special as it was the first gig we noticed that we had started to gain a good following of fans and the place was crammed full of people wearing our tees and singing the songs back to us. We sold out our full merch table that night which was mad. Closely followed behind that has to be playing the Woodlands Stage at Kendal Calling 2015. The biggest stage/crowd we have played to date.

IM: Who are your greatest inspiration(s) in the music business?

NHA: All 4 of us have differing loves in terms of music but we all come together when it comes to 70s/80s funk and disco music. Guys like Nile Rodgers, George Clinton and James Brown who all shaped funk music, those guys really inspire us to make music that makes you dance and show that passion on stage.

IM: Which artist(s) would you most like to collaborate with?

NHA: It’s got to be at least one of those guys mentioned previously, George Clinton if we had to pick. He did many collabs with The Chilli’s who are a band we all really love and produced their album “Freaky Styley”. To work with him would be amazing.

IM: Some of your singles like 'Goose' and 'Cool Cat' have been a major success so does that mean an album's on the way???

NHA: Both have gone down really well and we are glad people like the music that we are producing. We are realistic about the band though and even though we probably have the songs (some un-recorded) to do an album we don’t think it would be the best move without some major label/management backing. It’s something we definitely want to do in the future but sometimes there are limitations in being unsigned.

IM: What festivals/ gigs can we catch you at this year?

NHA: JULY 16 - SHREWSBURY FIELDS FOREVER

JULY 23 - BLACKTHORN FESTIVAL 2016

JULY 24 - TRAMLINES (CRYSTAL STAGE)

AUG 06 - PARTY IN THE PINES

AUG 13 - DOWN TO THE WOODS

SEPT 03 - BINGLEY MUSIC LIVE

NOV 19 - HOYFEST 2016 (WALES)

So please make sure to check out their new single 'Cool Cat' here and give them a cheeky follow. ~ Izzie Mawhood ~ 20/6/16 ~