Carnabells are an energetic and exciting band, the first time I heard them I fell in love with their energy for their music. The keyboard mixed with guitar bluesy twists gives the bands an addictive energy, which keeps everyone happily bouncing to their rhythms. Their sound uses their heart and soul in traditional rock n roll music, their music is often described as ‘Coal Mine Rock’. With Carnabells increasing fan base I thought it was about time I caught up with the guys and got to know abit more about them. How did you guys get together and form the band? Brothers Luke and Mitchen started jamming tune together and decided to form a rock n roll group along side Tom Webster whose on drums, Jack Mattison on keys and Louis Appleyard on Bass. We found a big love for the 1950’s music and decided to grow quiffs and wear braces and denim jackets. Where did the name Carnabells come from? The name came from two London street names. The first Portobello came to mind when the magician on bed knobs and broomsticks sings the song Portobello road. That alone was a choice for the bands name but after it was discovered to be a form of mushroom, we combined it with Carnaby Street to form Carnabells.
Who are your musical influences? And do you have any guilty pleasures in? Biggest influences would be the artists from the 1950’s such as Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry and Gene Vincent. Modern day artists include Peter Doherty, Johnny Marr and Yorkshire groups such as The Cribs, Artic Monkeys and The Kaiser Chiefs. When coming to Guilty pleasures Tom has a secret love for Take That and Luke is partial to a bit of Avicii now and again… If you could choose anyone to tour with who would it be? We’d like to jump in a time machine back a few years and do a tour with chuck berry. He seems a right laugh. What do you love about Leeds and the music scene? It’s just buzzing. So many ace venues and bars to hear bands perform, there’s always something decent going off every week. Things like Live at Leeds do wonders for the city too. Tell us something about the band that your fans don’t know. Jack Mattison has over 6,000 twitter followers, and we’re all very jealous of that fact. What can people expect when they come to your live shows? A loud energetic danceable set of tunes. And expect to see some exotic choice of shirts from Jack.