Fickle Friends

Patterns, Marine Parade, Brighton, Saturday, March 12

THE unwritten rule today for a successful band is to quietly release a track online and then watch the feeding frenzy among the labels begin from a safe distance.

And at first, with the release of the excellent slab of summery pop Swim in 2014, it looked like Brighton’s own Fickle Friends had followed that method to the letter.

But as Natti Shiner, vocalist with the band reveals, it didn’t quite work out that way.

“The labels were asking ‘who is this band?’,” she recalls. “Then they realised we weren’t the polished unit they thought we were going to be and left us alone a bit. It was a blessing in disguise.”

It led to two years of solid hard work touring the country and learning their craft – including a stint at BIMM in Brighton with Shiner completing her dissertation in a dressing room before heading out on stage.

The turning point came last November when the band sold out London’s 550-capacity Dingwalls with no label or manager.

“It was a bit of a moment,” says Shiner. “It was a game-changer – everything went right.”

They are now signed to the major label Polydor and enjoying the change in circumstances.

“It means we can have a bit of help,” says Shiner. “We don’t have to sleep on people’s floors or drive ten hours just to play one show – it’s a 20-hour round trip to Berlin!”

The drives on the motorways of Europe have made the five-piece very close though – especially when it has all gone right.

“We love what we do,” says Shiner. “Every show that is f***ing amazing makes it worth it. We had to drive 11 hours to get to the Czech Republic, but that was the best show we had ever done. The response from the crowd made it worth it. It all pays off at some point so you keep going.”

Shiner met drummer Sam Morris while studying at the Liverpool Institute Of Performing Arts.

“It was my year for figuring out what to do with my life,” says Shiner. “By the end of the year I knew I wanted to be a songwriter. I had lots of friends in Brighton and I knew it was a good creative community so we moved down there.”

The pair played “c*** folk pop songs” at various open mics across the city, before meeting future guitarist Christopher Hall who was doing the same thing.

“We played awful songs for a long time,” says Shiner. “There’s one called Landscapes which I hope you won’t be able to find anywhere.

“We did an EP of indie pop stuff which hopefully you won’t find either.”

By this point the trio had been joined by fellow BIMM students bassist Jack Harry and keyboard player Jack Wilson.

As much as Shiner does those early songs down they must have had something about them – as on hearing a selection celebrity chef Jamie Oliver named them as winners of his 2013 Summer Jam competition and gave them a slot on his Big Feastival alongside Basement Jaxx and KT Tunstall that same year.

Following the release of Swim Fickle Friends became a blogger’s favourite – being tipped by Hypemachine as a band to watch in the latter half of 2014 alongside Gorgon City, Kwabs and Brighton’s own Phoria.

For now Fickle Friends are looking to the future. Earlier this year the band threw everything they owned into a van and went to an isolated farmhouse in Carnbourne to write their debut album.

It is being recorded in April with producer Charlie Hugall, famous for his work with Florence And The Machine and Ed Sheeran.

And once this UK tour is over the band heads to US new music festival South By South West.

“We haven’t had a single day off yet,” says Shiner. “I need to buy pants and go to the bank – all that trivial rubbish but I haven’t had time. It’s full on but this is a dream come true for us. We don’t want to waste this opportunity.”

Support from Clean Cut Kid.

Doors 7pm, tickets £7. Call 01273 606312.