The Pale White have been one of our favourite bands ever since they burst onto the scene with debut tracks That Dress and Second Place in 2016. Since then, the Newcastle indie-rockers have released various singles, announced support slots for the likes of The Amazons around the UK and played this years BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury.
We caught up with the indie rockers to find out more about their electric emergence and find out more about their headline slot at this years Hit the North Festival.
RIDEMusic: How did The Pale White come about?
TPW: Adam returned to Newcastle after a brief period of living in London, armed with some songs he’d been writing down there. Jack, his younger brother, was an obvious choice to be the drummer of the band and the lineup was completed by Tom, who had been in a few different bands that Adam had played with over the years. We got together and slaved away in a grotty, freezing little practice room writing and recording songs and we haven’t stopped since.
Who are your musical influences?
TPW: As a band we all have individual influences that shape the way we approach our instruments, but as a band and from a songwriting perspective we are inspired by The Pixies, The Black Keys, Nirvana, QOTSA, Beck and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
You guys recently released “Turn It Around”…
TPW: We did! We’re very proud of that track. You can find it on Spotify and ITunes and there’s a video on VEVO starring our friend Oliver Hawick, who is an amazing up and coming actor. Very committed to throwing himself around and actually quite scary to be around when he’s in the moment of a scene…
The band is quickly gaining a reputation as an impressive live act, is that something you’ve been aiming for?
TPW: We see ourselves as a live band. Its our opportunity to let off some steam and make as much noise as we can possibly make between the three of us. We’re always trying to better our live show. We want to tour as much as we can and convert as many people as possible.
How would you describe the music scene in Newcastle?
TPW: On the up. Some really cool bands coming through over the past year. It was pretty quiet for a minute but it feels like people are coming out to gigs and getting behind bands more than they ever have. At the minute we’re into Cheap Lunch, Feva, Callum Pitt, Penguin and TOPH.
Where is your favourite venue to play in Newcastle?
TPW: We always love playing The Cluny, its an amazing sounding venue and we’ve seen some of our favourite bands play there over the years. Our headline show at Think Tank last year was just mental. People swinging from the lights and jumping up on stage, absolutely mental, so that venue always holds a place in our hearts.
RideMusic particularly love “Deceiver”, is there a track you are particularly proud of?
TPW: Thank you! We’ve always loved that track. It’s a naughty groover. People seem to have taken to that song more than we expected actually. We love it obviously, but we get a lot of people asking about that song, which is great! To be fair there’s parts of all our songs that we’re proud of for different reasons. Its too hard to pick.. Its like picking a favourite child…
You guys played Hit the North festival, how was it?
TPW: It was so good. We’d been dying to play the 02 Academy main stage since we all first picked up instruments, so it was definitely one to tick off the bucket list. We were on very early so we were worried people wouldn’t catch us, but there was a huge queue snaking round the O2 and we had people tweeting us saying they couldn’t get in on time. Great atmosphere and a great festival. Very pleased Hit the North is back next year.
Which bands did you catch?
TPW: We all love Tigercub so we made sure we made it over to see them. We managed to catch up with the High Tyde lads, we toured with them in March, and they absolutely packed out Think Tank. We managed to see snippets of Feva and Black Honey too who both smashed it. We basically just pin balled around Newcastle trying to take in as much as we could.
What does the rest of 2017 hold for The Pale White?
We have a pretty busy summer! We play Glastonbury on the BBC Introducing Stage which is probably the most exciting thing thats happened to us as a band so far. Getting up on that stage on the Sunday and playing a festival with so much history will just be an unbelievable feeling. We’ll also be at Kendal Calling, Barn on the Farm, Lindisfarne Festival and various others that we will be announcing pretty soon. We have a few more singles coming out over the next few months and lots of gigs to announce, so keep an eye out.
Words: Matthew Thomas
RIDE MUSIC 