Biography
Me and the Major started when Adam asked about Jamie’s shoes when they first met a few years ago. Lumped together in the Aberystwyth outback, they found some common ground in the bands and films they liked. That winter, when the snow and exams forced them inside, Adam worked on some songs on his acoustic guitar and an old Casio Keyboard with a drum loop while Jamie learnt the bass. Ben was drafted in after a random meeting in a club basement. They knew then that drummers are like gold dust. Even rarer are drummers with a van. There was no argument; he had to be in the band. It was just an added bonus that he was actually pretty good on the drums.
The next couple of years were spent writing and learning to play songs. The early shows under a different name were described as messy and noisy. But it was fun and it was clear that this was something that all of them enjoyed doing. However, you can’t play in Aberystwyth forever and expect to not go mad. They had to leave. After graduation, Adam and Jamie said goodbye to Aber and followed Ben in relocating to south-Wales.
Once settled in Cardiff, they met Sam through an ad he saw in Spillers. The addition of Sam and his all-round musical knowledge applied what the others already had but added more focus on songcraft. The dynamics shifted during the move from small-town to big city. Everything got bigger, more epic, but also, in a strange way, more intimate. The little details of everything they did became important. The existing songs changed and new songs were written, with each member bringing their unique influences to the fold and producing something that sounds quite different to what’s been played in the scenester filled indie-discos of every Barfly up and down the country. Not twee, lo-fi indie; not raw rock/rave. Not full on death-metal; not retro pop. Not anything but themselves.
Since the new line-up was formed, the boys locked themselves away in the Gwent Valleys working hard on perfecting their sound. Their first gig came in May 2007 and since then they have played in Swansea, Wolverhampton, the Valleys, and in the many venues Cardiff has to offer. They’ve been in the studio recording a few songs too. In the summer of 2007 they recorded Let Me Know and in January 2008 they recorded their first collection of songs, the ‘Don’t Live in the Shadows E.P’. The boys are well pleased with the results and are hoping these songs will be a stepping-stone to making the next stage.
They may not be everyone’s cup of tea in this day of commercial indie dross that litters the airwaves. But they don’t care. They’ve come a long way from the two kids who moved miles away from home for the first time nearly five years ago. They had to grow up quick and this has allowed them to know what they want. There’s an unwillingness to compromise (in true rock and roll style) because as long as they like what they’re doing then it’s everyone else that is wrong. They fight for what is right in their mind’s eyes, we’ve seen the enemies at the gates but we still scream, “To the Major, we salute you!” And that is one thing that will never change.