Hello, welcome to Easy English.
Today, I want to find out who the people of Brighton think
are the best British band, let's go.
Er… okay, so yeah, tell me; who is your favourite British band?
My favourite British band is ''Pink Floyd'', definitely. I… I suppose er… I'd wanna say… yeah,
Led Zeppelin. Who in your opinion, is the best British band? - Oh. - Well erm…
Wanna say ''The (Rolling) Stones''. - Well yeah, I would really,
because it's my age, ''The (Rolling) Stones'' really.
''The Rolling Stones''? - Yeah. - Yeah. Erm… ''Little Mix'' babies,
come on they… there can’t be anyone else.
''Little Mix''! - ''Little Mix'', okay. - There you go. - Perfect. I think ''Catfish and The
Bottlemen''. - Oh really? - Yeah. - Nice. Who is your favourite British band or artist?
Erm… So I’ve only just checked to make sure they are,
it’s ''The Architects''. - ''The Architects''. - And funnily enough,
I've just been told they’re from Brighton, which I didn't know.
Oh really? - Which is where we are, yeah. - Well there you go,
perfect. ''Led Zeppelin'', would probably be. - Ah, okay.
Thinking of like, an obvious British band that… that I love.
Because I do love a lot of American music, that's…
Okay. - Yeah, probably ''Led Zeppelin''. who is your favourite British artist or band?
Er… so, as a fifty-year-old, I'm into dad-rock probably.
Er… so a band called ''Thunder'', that are an underrated rock band.
They did alright in the nineties,
were probably just about to break big and then grunge came along
and basically ruined their chances.
Because of the sudden, everyone wanted bands like ''Nirvana''
rather than classic rock. Yeah, are you lookin… are you looking for like a…
an academic examination of past and present across genres?
Or do you just want; who's my favourite artist?
Yeah essentially, I don't need to… I don't need to hear like,
''The Beatles'' or ''The Rolling Stones''. - Everyone said that have they?
We all know the truth. Er… my favourite band are ''The Stone Roses''.
Erm… they just… I mean, I guess everyone will have the same experience
with their favourite artist won’t they?
For me, they… they penetrate something so like, deep in me.
Yeah. - It feels… when I'm listening, I feel like,
I've written everything they’re doing. Do you know what I mean? Dave Gilmour is my hero,
he's the guitarist and he does like, a lot of the vocals.
Well, or did a lot of the vocals and especially in the later stuff.
And he is just known as one of the best guitarist in the world,
I think he is the best guitarist in the world. I'm a guitarist well,
so he's my hero and everything he touches is gold
so... - Wow! I suppose I’d wanna say ''Led Zeppelin'', yeah. - Nice.
Erm… and I suppose the reasons for that, is that Jimmy Page;
a great guitarist, I mean, he was a complete druggy, as well,
which is a bit unfortunate.
Because, you had to get him on a good night
or other times you wouldn't get him on a good night, you know?
But er… he introduced a lot of acoustic guitar in…
into ''(Led) Zeppelin'' stuff. - Yeah.
And er… before then, I suppose, I was maybe, when was I in a band?
When I was fourteen; fourteen to twenty and then I thought,
I'm not making any money, I'm gonna have to get a proper job.
But, I hadn't played acoustic before then,
I just played electric guitars, you know.
And er… he introduced er… acoustic guitar to me,
so that's probably why I thought they… they… they were the top band.
Was it like, a… a choice of like, d’you… are you a ''(The) Beatles'' fan
or a st… is that kind of, how it was? - Well, we liked both didn’t we?
But I pref… I preferred ''The (Rolling) Stones'', but I think.
I was a ''(The) Beatles''. - She was more ''(The) Beatles''.
Oh, really? - Yeah. - As I've got older,
I've appreciated ''The Rolling Stones'' music more.
The more sort of, guitar… guitar music? - Yeah. - I see.
And them as characters, I think.
They… their characters and they’re long lasting,
where ''The Beatles'' finished earlier. - Yeah.
Whereas ''The Rolling Stones'' have kept going and they’re still our age.
Yeah, yeah. - And they still keep going and they’ve still got
all that energy, so you've got that interest,
still. Mainly, because their music reminds… reminds you of good times.
Like, seeing them live with my girlfriend Kim over there,
if you wanna get her in. No, just like, I like the kind of, indie music.
They’re really good live and yeah,
a lot of their songs remind me of good times. Why Led Zeppelin?
Erm… consistently just, brilliant song writers and performers.
And I'm a drummer and John Bonham, as if…
yeah, as you probably might be aware, is… is a bit of a…
is a bit of a God in the er… drummer community.
yeah, yeah, he like invented things, in the drumming world, right?
Yeah. - Styles of playing? - For sure. - Great.
For sure, yeah, definitely. - Phew. - Yeah, very good.
So yeah, I would say, probably, that's a big question,
but probably ''Led Zeppelin''.
And do you like it because kind of,
of the drumming influence it had on you?
When you were becoming a drummer?
Yeah, yeah, I erm… one of the first bands
that I ever started playing in as erm… as… when I was a bit younger,
was… was playing a lot of ''Led Zeppelin'' as well.
So, that was like, a huge influence on me at the time,
kind of, when I start getting, as well. And what is it about the band you like so much?
Er… so originally, I didn’t like the singers voice,
but it… I got used to it and it grew on me.
I suppose, as with a lot of things, the age that I got into them erm…
I was getting into music, they've sort of grown with me
and their style of music has stayed fairly standard.
So I suppose, you just sort of, it takes me back to my youth.
Righ… ah, there’s like, a reminiscence. - I think so, yeah. Why… why do they bring this out of you?
What is it about them, which helps you?
It's a sound, it’s a sound they make, which to me, is religious.
It’s like is a… is a… is a religious sound.
Ian Brown would love you saying that.
But just in like, in… in the coolest way possible and again,
that's another word which is like, naff.
But, it’s perfect innit (isn’t it)?
I think Ian Brown would love to hear that his music is like,
almost like, a religious experience.
I like the idea that Ian Brown would like to hear what I'm saying.
You never know! You never know. What is it about that kind of… that… I suppose
it’s like, seventies,
eighties period, that is… somehow produced more British music?
It was real music, wasn’t it? They… they wrote it,
they sang it, they produced it. - Played instruments didn’t they?
They played their own instruments, it was… it’s real,
with… some of the bands today seem artificially put together.
Yeah, true. - One night wonders. You know, with the ''X-Factor''
and all the rest of it, there are stars.
Whereas the other… these groups have grafted;
they've gone all through… Yeah. Sort of,
the ranks and really their name for themselves. If
you had to give someone a guided tour of ''Catfish and the
Bottlemen'',
what song would you… or album would you recommend they listen to first?
Jeez, I’ve gone blank now, I seem like a s**t fan,
‘cos I don’t know the name of the albums.
I know there's a peacock on the album cover. - Okay.
Yeah, erm… the big ones ''Kathleen''. Erm… - (inaudible).
Pardon? - (inaudible). - All right! I’m going blank now,
there’s too much pressure. (inaudible) - Yeah. Oh God.
''Katherine and an album with a peacock on the front of it.
Yeah, yeah. I've got the T-shirt and everything but…
There's a lot of different sounds in ''Pink Floyd''.
I like the more mellow guitar-y stuff.
If you go early, it’s all weird, which is awesome as well.
But, I prefer like, ''Wish you were here'', ''Comfortably numb'',
that kind of stuff. - Yeah. And… - It's just a beautiful sound.
It's just… it’s so clean and perfectly played. I would say listen to the first two albums.
Which I know, isn’t narrowing it down very much,
but the first two albums are just, wall-to-wall, incredible, so do that.
What… - You’ve got… you’ve got the time, do it. Thanks for watching this week's episode.
For me, the best British band has to be ''Oasis''.
I grew up in the 90's and they just dominated my life
and made me want to pick up a guitar.
And also, they combined elements of ''The Beatles''
and ''The Rolling Stones'' and ''Led Zeppelin'',
which is just the best combination you can have in a band.
Er… but let me know who your favourite British band are
in the comments below and we'll see you next week,
bye.