Ctrl Meets Pocket Lips

A passionate, talented and a talkative bunch straight out of Cambridge, Pocket Lips [1] is made up of four members - David, Loftie, Michael and Pete. They are causing waves wherever they go with a sound that has no boundaries.  

Pocket Lips excel in merging the best of a mix of genres, combing them to create a sound that has an electrifying live presence and leaves audiences euphoric. Here, Ctrl.Alt.Shift's Fadah Jassem hears what they had to say about their unique sound, young people, and poverty...

Ok guys first things first, I have to ask where did the name Pocket Lips come from?

Loftie: What do you think it means?

Errrmmm it sounds like those sweets shaped like lips.

(Nods and mirth of agreement from the band)  

Pete: My stage names ‘Pete Pocket’ and his names ‘Mike Lips’. (Points at Michael) ‘cos he’s always kissing, and I cant help but put things in my pocket.

Michael: Yeah we had those nicknames before we met, and when we were trying to think of a band name it just clicked.

Loftie: People are always getting confused by what it means, but it really is just a name - but I think we should give out those sweets at our gigs!

"Our audience is anyone that enjoys music and anyone that likes to be entertained. It’s like you have some people who go out and enjoy one drink for the entire night, if we were like a night out with drinks it’ll be like a shot of everything behind the bar. It’s defiantly not for you purists"

So, tell me about your sound.

Michael: Well, the closest thing we’ve heard is someone describing us as a mix between Beastie Boys and The Prodigy. We do quite heavy dance stuff with old school hip hop mixed on top.

So how did you all come together?

Pete: Well me and Mike had a writing thing going on for the ‘Dub Pistols’ and we got on tour with them... and we knew about Loftie because he had a hip hop night (Rawganics)… so when we were on tour we decided that we needed a full band, and by the time we came off tour with the ‘Dub Pistols’, we had an EP to put out.

Where would you say your influences or sound came from?

Michael: Mine comes from old school hip hop cos I grew up sort of break dancing, and doing all the electro beat boy thing; plus I know most of the guys came along the same line. And then I quite like the new sound of all the dance stuff and the dub step textures and heavy beats, like The Prodigy and Chase&Status - things like that.

David: Yeah every now and again we get a few guitars in and can sound quite rocky, we like to mix it up.

Loftie: Some of our tunes are literally an accumulation of UK sounds from over the last 30 years.

Michael: We don’t try and have boundaries on what genre we are, if it sounds good on the track we go for it.

Pete: Our audience is anyone that enjoys music and anyone that likes to be entertained. It’s like you have some people who go out and enjoy one drink for the entire night, if we were like a night out with drinks it’ll be like a shot of everything behind the bar. It’s defiantly not for you purists.

What do you think are the major issues facing young people today?

Loftie: It’s the same thing that’s always affected young people; youth feeling intimidated by what’s bigger and older than them. It’s more of a responsibility for the older to deal with that and to make young people less intimidated of the world and feel responsible. And there are more pressures on young people to achieve today, but still there are a lot of things that’s easier for them as well. So young people need to be more resourceful and engaged in what they have.

How about global issues, how are the next generation engaging in such issues?

Pete: Well it’s not real (enough) to them. I can flick through the TV and find a find dozens of action movies for example that are more engaging than what’s going on the news somewhere a million miles away. Sometimes it’s quite hard to perceive why there’s mass genocide happening in one place of the world, when you don’t have the historical leading to that, which the news just dosen't always tell you.

So, do you think that there should be more education on such subjects for the youth?

Loftie: No one covers any realness in school, like what an overdraft actually is or how to deal with money or real life issues. Its about how to pass exams, not about how to deal with life or matters elsewhere either.

Pete: Young people have enough to think about already by the time they leave school and they can reach a psychological black spot. So the last thing on some people's minds is what’s going on, on the news, but how to pay all those bills piling up, or why you’re in that situation in the first place. So realistically the last thing you're going to think about is why or how so many people are poor, ill or in war.

"Sometimes it’s quite hard to perceive why there’s mass genocide happening in one place of the world, when you don’t have the historical leading to that, which the news just doesn't always tell you"

If any of you had the power to change one thing about how the world is run, what would it be?

Michael: I would pick that money wouldn’t exist. I’d choose to change that about the world.

Loftie: I would say the same thing, poverty wouldn’t exist a lot of major social problems wouldn’t exist and the world could be a bit more even and fair.

Pete: What I’d like to do is get all the world leaders and put them in a field into teams, tell them to fight it out one on one and resolve their issues right their and then.

David: I’d like to start from scratch. Because at the moment chances are - if you're born poor you're more than likely to stay poor and struggle, whereas if you're born rich you get a great education and great opportunities which enable you to stay rich. I’d just clear all that have and have everyone start at the same level.

Pocket Lips have just released their first single Easy Tiger and are aiming for Top 40 status - help them get it there! [2]

They've got gigs coming up across the country in the coming months. For dates and check out www.myspace.com/pocketlips [3]. 

Words: Fadah Jassem

Photos: Courtesy of Pocket Lips