Who are they? Meet The Souvenirs. Four lads from Derbyshire, with a confident swagger and a set of power pop vignettes about daily living. All are short slices of pure pop social observation. Check them out live - they shake the floorboards and will get your soul shoes moving. Who's in the band Dale Dawson (Vocals)
Bobby Cowling (Guitar)
Chris Thomas (Bass)
Padraig Crowley (Drums) What do they sound like Think The Smiths meet The Kinks with a touch of Wedding Present along the way. Which tunes should we look out for? All the songs boast upfront lead and backing vocals, catchy hooks and some impressive guitar work. “Come And Save Me” is an excellent introduction to the tunes, with the opening line “Please don't tell me I'm a failure”, while “You Came Home Late” is an adrenilin fuelled everyday tale of the effect of late night partying. “Why Did You Do It Jane” slows down the pace a little with effective melodic guitar chords and vocals. And there‘s “Dan's On Drugs”, an impassioned tale of a son's habit. All in all, its impressive stuff. Where can you hear them? On their my space www.myspace.com/thesouvenirsmusic .

Where can you see them? Various locations around Derbyshire. Most notably Susumi in Derby. New gigs are being added all the time. Rob Massey met up with them and asked them some questions. When did the band form?
The band formed at the start of 2005. Bobby (guitarist) had been jamming with Chris (bassist) for months and had talked about forming a group, but it wasn't until they came across Dale that it actually started to happen. The band actually came together after Bobby posted a tape with a few of his compositions through Dale's door. Soon afterwards we started to advertise for a drummer.

Where do you come from?
Three of us are Derby lads. Chris (bassist) and Bobby (guitarist) hail from Alvaston, while Dale (singer) is from Chaddeston. Our new found drummer, Padraig is originally from Cork in Ireland, though he's been living in Derby for about six years now.

Did you know each other before the band?
Chris and Bobby are old school friends, who actually had their first band together when they were 13. Bobby met Dale through a mutual friend, thought he looked cool and asked him if he could sing.

Where does the name come from?
Bobby misread a poster on the wall at their rehearsal studio while everyone was talking about a band name. He said, ‘What about The Souvenirs?' and everyone went ‘Yeah!' Then he said, ‘What about The Seaside Souvenirs?' and everyone went ‘No!'

What's the scene like locally for a band like you?
It's great at the moment. A few years ago The Vic Inn had the monopoly on live gigs in Derby and, although it's a good venue, because it's out the city centre you're only ever playing to people you invite. The fact that several city centre pubs now put on bands, places like Susumi, The Bless and The Five Lamps, means you're reaching a far broader audience and playing to people who aren't familiar with you. Also it can become very stale playing the same venue again and again.
In terms of other bands we all feel Derby has got a lot to offer. We recently heard that The Orphans have split up, which is a shame because they were always worth watching, but there are still great bands like Plans and Apologies and Addictive Philosophy.

Which artists have been important influences on you?
As a group we all have very unique tastes. For instance Dale like's some heavier stuff like The Germs and Black Flag, Chris is into Hendrix and Joy Division, Bobby is quite into folk and early 60s music. However, the biggest shared influences are: The Libertines, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Clash, Blur, Pulp, etc.

Which tunes should we be especially listening for and why?
We have a new song called ‘What A Funny Way To Live Your Life' which is about a rather delusional, unnamed guy who was quite notorious on the Derby music scene. He had huge self-belief but no actual talent and he would do anything to get himself seen. It's a really great, upbeat song, but with quite a mocking, cynical lyric. There's probably a very subtle undertone of tragedy in their too.

Who writes your tunes?
Mainly it's Bobby who writes the lyrics and music.

Which of your gigs have been particularly special?
We played a gig at The Bless in around September and everything just went right. Every note was perfect, we were all buzzing and we made quite an impact. Sadly, it was also the venue for our worst gig, which happened two months later. Our drummer at the time just fell to pieces and quickly became our ex-drummer.

What about books and films – are there any that you would mention as an influence?
There's probably an element of Quadraphenia in there, simply in how we dress and our outlook on life. Bobby's fascination with kitchen-sink literature of the late 50s, early 60s has probably helped inform a lot of his social-commentary style lyrics. The novel and the preceding film ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' is an example, other novels/films would be ‘Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner' ‘The Servant' and ‘This Sporting Life.' A modern film we all love, and quote constantly, is ‘Dead Man's Shoes' starring Burton-on-Trent actor, Paddy Considine.

Tell us about your future plans?
Well we've just recruited a new drummer called Padraig, and we're embarking on a period of intense gigging in and around Derby. We're hoping to build up a big Midlands following, expand this further a field and just see how far we can go….Under the paving stones the beach!

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