A Cut Above: The Longcut

Armed with brilliant, twitching songs and a seemingly boundless sonic energy, since The Longcut burst into the nation’s psyche last autumn with the blinding ‘Transition EP’ they haven’t been too short of plaudits from all tiers within the music sphere. Indeed, it’s easy to see why The Manchester-based trio have roused so much commotion - as not much escapes their musical cannon, with elements of punk, post-rock, electronica and even dance all fused together to create their startling sound. Coupled with the unlikely gimmick of having a drumming frontman who spasmodically alternates between his kit and standing stage front, then you’re really on to a winner.

Gigwise caught up with frontman come drummer Stuart Ogilvie to talk about annoying false allusions to his home city, certain blazer-wearing, Britpop reviving bands and that instrument juggling…

Perhaps one of the most refreshing things about The Longcut is that they kick-started their own career themselves by throwing their own concerts and parties in and around Manchester. The ‘DIY’ approach is something Stuart is clearly proud of: “It was all about doing things for ourselves and not being taken for a ride… We’ve worked hard to get to our position and the way we’ve done it we can appreciate how we got here, we don’t take anything for granted.”

Although Manchester is the city that has helped launch The Longcut, and to a certain degree mould them, the band are keen to remind people they don’t originally hail from there - with Jon coming from Cumbria, Lee from Leeds and Stuart from Scotland via Huddersfield. Therefore, it’s a bit baffling for Ogilvie when people label them as a ‘Manchester band’: “It’s a bit of a contradiction. It’s where the band met and formed and where we performed all of our early gigs and it’s the place that’s embraced us the most. What annoys us more though is when people say ‘you’re not a Manchester band’, that we don’t belong to be talked about alongside bands like The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses.”

Ogilvie admits to an extent that living in a city for any period of time a band can subconsciously be influenced by fellow city dwellers, yet he sees it as lazy journalism just to draw parallels between The Longcut and other acts in Manchester: “It’s hard not to draw from them. People compare us to them because we’re based in Manchester, people only pick up on those on those influences, but there are other bands in there… there’s a lot of American bands like Sonic Youth, Fugazi, Godspeed (You Black Emperor) and also Mogwai…. We also do incorporate dance beats and electronic stuff in the music, although we don’t really listen to that that much.”

Quite an eclectic band, Ogilvie quashes the idea that The Longcut are consciously striving to be eclectic, “We just do what comes naturally, we try and have a natural sound.” He is also realistic, saying that although the band approach music differently, they’re not really cracking into any new boundaries, “Most we do has been done before, I mean we’re not at the very avant-garde end. But I’d say we’re different to how other people would go about doing things.”

A big worry for the band in their early days was that people may not fully grasp their music, “I wasn’t sure everyone would get it at the start, I thought that people might have a problem with us, but luckily people are getting the music.” Having won over crowds in Manchester, the band soon attracted the interests of Twisted Nerve and Deltasonic. For the band, choosing the label was an easy decision “(With Twisted Nerve) there was quite a lot of pressure that we didn’t need, we just didn’t feel comfortable, while Deltasonic were more what we’re about, they left us until we were ready and they’re just dead relaxed.” Ogilvie is equally enthusiastic about his label mates: “They’re all really genuine, they do the music they want to and Deltasonic allows that… I’d say we’re similar to them in attitude, not the music.”