Setting The Record Straight

Right because some people seem to have had a sense of humour failure I feel the need to reiterate the right bits of what I said over the last couple of days on twitter.

Firstly let me remind you that twitter is for whats on your mind at any given point and is not a press release, least ways thats how I use it.

Secondly grateful though I genuinely am to both Gordon Smart and the NME for the press, reading the 'Save Music' bit back in print looks horrendous and taken out of context (A Joke on twitter) makes me feel a bit queazy.

So, now I have opened my mouth I guess I had better clarify what I meant.

I genuinely think the British music charts are a disgrace at the minute. I will save having a pop at the dubstep lot as, as much as it isn't my bag I get the creation process behind it, but the wave after fucking wave of insipid TV manufactured pop that has been polluting us all for the better part of a decade needs to be kicked into touch. Its just too fucking easy for everyone, record a pre existing hit with a bunch of no marks and watch it chart.

Look at the charts now and count the British guitar acts, hard isn't it? I concede that this is in part to do with there not being a great deal out there on the surface at the moment and that it is up to the likes of us (The Enemy) to change it by making genuinely good albums.

But it is also down to new music coming through the system which I know is out there, somewhere in this country the new Oasis, Monkeys or Kasabian are rehearsing in a shitehole room and finding them is all of our responsibilities (fans of music, Press, Radio). Zane Lowe started his show on Radio 1 the other week by playing a few seconds of all the heavily tipped artists for next year. After he had finished he said something along the lines of 'Great, but wheres the guitars?' Its a good question isn't it?

Personally, I wish every band the best of luck next year, because there is room for lots of them and it seems like everyone is ready for some great ones again. You get the feeling that radio and the press are getting bored of the same old shit which means there is now a big opportunity. Ultimately, people need to lighten up. It's not that I shouldn't be saying it, it's that we all should, we're all going to have to save music from the X Factor infested drivel.

We as a band are working very hard, to try to make a difference with our next album and from what we have recorded so far its deffo going in the right direction. But as much as I want my music to sell and be well received I respect ALL fans of non manufactured pap music, whether they like The Enemy or not. Because really, at the end of the day, only they have the power to decide what breaks through. Not radio, not the press - and certainly not me.

Judging by the fact that X Factors viewing figures were way down this year and there hasn't really been a 'star' created by that show for years it looks like the people are starting to vote with their feet anyway and not surprising really.

The last time we had shitty government, crap social and economic conditions and the Streets were on fire Punk came along and offered excitement and a vent to a pissed off generation. 2 years later 'opportunity knocks' (the X Factor of the time) ratings fell through the floor and got cancelled (1978). Nothing like a good piece of history repeating itself eh? Lets make it happen…….

In the six years since our first album went to number 1 we have have had some of the most incredible experiences you can imagine, from supporting our idols like Oasis, The Manics and Kasabian to headlining 2 nights at the Coventry Rioch Arena (Our home town) not to mention, from a personal point of view, playing in a band with Mani last year (Stone Roses in 2012!! cmon).

So I hope that next year is a great year for us and that we get to continue doing this, which ultimately is in our hands. I also hope many other guitar bands return with a reinvigorated sense of purpose, and new ones break through. Rubbish as it might sound to you, I do want to save music and I want other bands to too.

So instead of being negative post sound cloud links of your demos on our Facebook http://www.facebook.com/theenemy and we will pick the band we like the most for some supports next year and do our little bit.

Tom Clarke

@tomclarke_enemy
@theenemyband
www.facebook.com/theenemy
www.tomclarkeofficial.blogspot.com