Interviews

The Displacements

Miss Fliss 17/11/2008

The Displacements are a sprightly young bunch of upstarts from Leicester, resurrecting the Stiff Records legend (home of Madness, and all things Ska and two-tone, founded in 1976) and giving it new life with their brand of sleek, sometimes ska-esque, guitar pop ruckus. Live, The Displacements have as much sheen as The Killers, with seductive hooks and jaunty rhythm. For a band so young, they are one tight and profession unit. They've been tipped by one Peter Hook, and had glowing praise from ex-Factory Records' Kevin Hewick who said 'one day people will boast of seeing them in this magical early era'.

GIITTV's Miss Fliss had a chat with Nicholas Paul Eversfield whose role in the band is 'bass and occasional vocal cries' who describes himself as 'angry and great looking'.

Why the name Displacements?
Andy (singer) saw it in a science lesson up on the board and liked it, he interpreted it as the new pushing out the old, aha!

How would you describe your sound and your musical aims?
We love The Clash, Tears for Fears, Springsteen, Primal Scream, Ride, Motown and Trojan Compilations, loads of it, We want a big sound, that's going to blow roofs off venues.

How did the Stiff Records signing come about (I didn't know the label was still going until I saw you were signed to them!)? Are you fans of their legacy and does it influence you?

The legacy at Stiff is unbelievable, and the label has only recently been in operation again with some new bands that they loved and thought would be right for the label. Since they have been putting our singles out they give us free cds of bands like Any Trouble and Wreckless Eric who we had never heard of before that they thought we would like and they began to influence us, that's without a mention of Costello, Madness or Desmond Decker!

What was it that drew you to music and to each other?
When me and Andy were in high school, we got fed up of all our mates listening to Craig David and Scooter so we started listening to a little known band called The Clash and since then The Displacements were born.

What's Leicester like in terms of its music scene and local bands supporting each other?
Since Kasabian broke through into the mainstream we have seen a lot of new bands formed trying to put Leicester on the map. There are a lot of good bands but not a specific scene like Manchester or London has.

Do you think the culture of Myspace/free music online is healthy for music or does it have a detrimental effect?
Myspace is really good for letting people listen to new bands music, its great for organising gigs and for getting unknown artists recognition, just like that. It's more illegal download sites that are detrimental to the selling of music and the industry.

How do you see the future, and what are your hopes?
Learn how to play, live the dream, and keep playing and writing music.

When is your album out?
Last track on MBV Loveless, aha. (He means 'soon'!)


The history of Stiff Records on Wikipedia

(Photography by Tina @ Magic Photography)