What will happen as the Likely Lads find fame?

They’ve already played support to Pete Doherty and Shed Seven, but the Likely Lads tell Sarah Freeman they’re ready to take the main stage.

The Likely Lads are under no illusion about the difficulties of breaking into the music industry.

Since forming 18 months ago, they’ve already performed on the same stage as Pete Doherty and Shed Seven, but in between the York band have also seen their hopes dashed.

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“Fairly early on we were invited down to London by a music lawyer who had seen our stuff on the internet,” says lead guitarist Ben Porter. “It sounded quite promising, but basically they told us to come back to see them when we were famous so they could take a slice of our cash.”

The rest of Likely Lads are Ash Harding, singer, bassist Ross McLeod and drummer Jordan Maher. All are still in their teens, but they quickly recognised that the music industry has changed dramatically in the last decade.

While the big labels still hold the big marketing budgets, which can pretty much guarantee coverage in the music press and radio airplay, they are increasingly unwilling to take risks.

Mainstream labels want bands who will shift singles and bring the prospect of sell-out stadium tours. If they were to even get their foot in the door, Likely Lads knew there was much groundwork to be done.

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Embracing the idea that these days reputations are built, and occasionally ruined, on the internet, for the last year and a half Likely Lads have hammered sites like Facebook and YouTube.

At the last count 7,000 fans had signed up to the group’s Facebook page and as they approach half a million hits of their video on YouTube, the foursome may not have had a chart hit, but the word is already out about the quartet.

“We are still playing 200-capacity venues at the moment, but it does feel like the hard work is really starting to pay off,” says Ben. “The internet has been great for us. Six months ago we were getting around three emails a week for people saying they loved our music, but they lived in Ecuador or some other far flung place and wanted to know where they could download our songs

“That’s now risen to about 10 a week and it was one of the reasons why we decided to release 15 of our tracks as a free download. That and the fact that people were already posting some of our tracks on YouTube, so we thought we might at least gain back a bit of control.”

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The Melrose Yard Demos, named after the band’s York recording studios, were released in February and together with the free CDs the band have handed out at gigs, their growing fanbase secured them a spot on BBC Introducing and they recently met with Red Bull Records, home of Scottish band Twin Atlantic.

“There’s no point writing great songs if no one’s listening to them and while I know some people will probably think we’re mad giving away CDs for free, we see it as a means to an end.”

Inspired by everyone from Oasis to The Smiths and Paul Weller, Likely Lads are pitching themselves as the rightful successor to Arctic Monkeys. Like the Sheffield band, Likely Lads specialise in the same kind of kitchen sink lyrics which made I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor such a hit.

For a while after the release of Arctic Monkeys’ debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not every new band from the North was saddled with inevitable comparisons to Alex Turner.

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Most didn’t even enjoy 15 minutes of fame, but while Likely Lads admit they are still cutting their teeth, the early signs look good.

Last December they supported Shed Seven at Leeds O2 Academy as well as at the indie band’s two homecoming gigs at York’s Barbican.

“That was just great, being on stage in front of that many people was just really special,” says Ben, who adds they’ve also had the dubious pleasure of playing ahead of Pete Doherty. “He’s a giant, I swear he was about 9ft tall,” says Ben. “He’s also a bit off his head, but he’s a really nice man. He gave us a cigarette, we gave him a demo tape. He said he’d listen to it, but we’ve no idea if he ever did. For all we know he could have fallen asleep on top of it.”

Likely Lads, Observations is available for download now. The band play Picnic on the Pitch in Malton on June 9, www.pitchero.com

Online bloggers raising profile of ‘the next big thing’

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When Shed Seven booked fellow York band, Likely Lads as support act for their reunion gigs last Christmas, they were in no doubt they had booked the right group.

“They’re the next big thing,” began the short statement. “Trust us, they’re ace.”

While the support of the likes of Shed Seven frontman Rick Witter has been welcome, it’s the online bloggers who have really raised Likely Lads’ profile. While securing the cover of NME is still most musicians’ dream, the internet is playing an increasingly important part in spreading the word about emerging bands.

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