"We are gearing up to play our first professional show. I'm excited. Never nervous."
Good morning. I'm sitting here this morning, and I thought it would be a good idea to type this out, before I came to around about two realisations over the blogging of this on our all new website. Number one is this: I do not have a great deal I want to say, so it is unlikely that there will be very much in the way of length to this post. I apologise. The second is this: We don't have any fans. Well many fans. The only people following what we do at this moment in time are the guys we played shows to at Oxford Uni. Oh and hopefully the cool guy that I have become acquainted with in the last few days, Rory Delaney of Top Lads. He seems a nice bloke, and his band are great. However, a lack of fans probably means a lack of readers for this. I'm not going to be put off though; I'll still take the time through my tired eyes to type up a little blog post. It will be articulate and marvellous, and even if a great deal of people don't see it, I can hope that some day people who love our band can look through the archive and enjoy seeing the early thoughts of Andros Angelakos. So, if you're reading this in 2015 and we got huge, welcome, and enjoy. You know more about how things go than I currently do, and I find that kind of cool. If you're reading this is September 2012; well done, you are about as hipster as I am, and I hope you continue to follow our band for years to come. That would be humbling.
When I was growing up, I would always read these sort of blogs from some of my favourite artists, and imagine the many weird and wonderful places that they were blogging from. I always envisaged a tour bus sitting next to the Seine in Paris, or under the shadow of the Hollywood Hills. How ironic that I am sitting writing my own first blog for our official website in the lounge of my four-bedroom town house in a quiet village just outside of Oxford in the UK. I have lived here for most of my adult life, in a house bought for my university friends and myself by my father. They have all long since gone though, and now I relax, Misery Loves Company playing softly in the background as I type away at this post, a cup of Earl Grey in one hand and the other petting my loyal dog Leo as he sits beside me on my sofa. It's quite ironic. I am tired though, and I imagine that is a side effect of touring and living on a bus. The rest is far from the stars I saw in my eyes, though. I also have on an awful jumper. I took a photo (see the top of this post) so you could see both it and my tired eyes. Enjoy.
I guess I sort of addressed the first issue I have to talk about in the first paragraph of this blog; no one really knows who I am except for a select few; not at the moment anyway. So, I think we should begin our little venture into blog world with together by introducing ourselves. Shall we? Like one of those awkward first day of university things. Well, my name is Andros Angelakos, I am 24-years old, and I am the lead singer, guitarist and occasional percussionist with art-rock band Andros and the Mouse. Prior to doing this, I was a student, and I have a bachelor's and master's degree from Oxford University, one of the most prestigious institutions in the whole world. I was born in London to a family of Greek descent, and I grew up in the Kensington area of London. All of the members of this band are from Kensington and Chelsea. You may think that makes us a bit spoiled. And you'd be right. We are essentially. My father owns an airline, and the other guys are all from money in some way or another, and we really milked it growing up.
I decided to be in a band when I was still at school (we were all schooled at Eton, look it up.) and I got together with a few of the guys from my social group and my cousin, Stelios. Eight years later, and here we are. We spent much of university gigging on Campus, but we never took what we were doing seriously until after we all graduated. Education was important. Now though, here we are. We are about to embark on a career that will bring you excitement, energy, class and zeal. We are really excited about what we do as a group, and we all believe in it immensely. We have recorded some demos, and played some really crazy live gigs. Now all that remains is for us to move to the next stage and go into the realm of professionalism.
Why am I writing this blog? Well, I am getting to the point now. I had to really just explain a bit about why I was even bothering to write first. We have two exciting pieces of news regarding our career that I want to share with anyone who happens to read this. First of all, we are days away from literally becoming the most indie band in music. Really literally. it's gonna be big. Those guys reading this in 2015 will be able to tell if this came off or not. If not, then you'll have no clue what I mean. But I hope you do. The other news is that tonight will see us play our first live show in an attempt to break out as opposed to just being a group of students, which I'm looking forward to. I'm excited. Never nervous. I've taken it on myself to dedicate three hours of this afternoon to fixing my hair and choosing the outfit I will wear on stage. That probably sounds pretentious; it is. However, those headed to the warehouse tonight can be assured that the show we present will be great. You are promised energy, good vibes and something you can dance to. So get there if you can. If nothing else, you get to say you saw a new band, even if we turn out to be shit. Which we won't.
I guess I should finish this by talking about the music scene. If you've read anything from my Twitter these past couple of weeks, you will probably expect me to say that I hate all music and that I am here to save the day and present something worthy. Let me surprise you. That is not the case at all. I love music. All music. Well, not all music, but you get what I mean don't you? It won't come as a major shock to anyone who was paying attention to learn that my favourite band is Misery Loves Company. What those guys have done in such a short amount of time has been nothing short of truly exceptional. They are fantastic, and if I could work with anyone at the moment, it would be those guys or Top Lads. Speaking of Top Lads, I love those guys. Their album is really great, and I love the fact that they have just gone out and said "here we are, here's our album, we don't care what you say. that's a great way to see the world, especially as an artist, and I really respect them for that.
Other artists that I enjoy include the likes of Ryan Ross Hernandez. That guy is a legend in acoustic music, and I could listen to him all day and all night. I also quite like that Katie Coyle girl, even if she is a little depressing from time to time. There are a few others as well. Hayden Merjos; the man who said "fuck you world" and got away with it. I enjoy his music, and his last album had a good atmosphere. But I love his attitude. He just doesn't take shit, and I love the way he just does what he likes. It's a trait I see in myself, so obviously I will admire it in others. Jacob Estrada is another one who I like for the way he has gotten to where he is. Not everyone can get a label off the bat, and how that guy went about it with just his guitar and a YouTube account was marvellous. I wanted to shake his hand when I heard that he had been signed at last.
And finally, can I say it? Yes, I will. I like Weekend. It may be pop music, and some people may think I'm dropping all my hipster routes to admit it, but I like what they do. Their stuff is punchy and catchy, and clearly successful. They also have five very different personalities in there, and there was probably a real danger that they'd clash and try to kill each other at some point, but they made it work to achieve a dream. That should be inspirational to everyone. And it is to me.
Anyway, I better go and get ready for my show. I have three hours five minutes to do so. Who knows what I'll choose to wear...
-Andros- 