Profiles

On 6 June 2008, Todd Marriott of I Was A Cub Scout, announced that the band would cease to be once he, and William Bowerman, had honoured their summer gig commitments.

Todd said, "We have had countless problems over the past year or so and with yet more occurring, we feel it best to end on what would seem like a decent note."

They were a massive hope for Nottingham music after their first single - Pink Squares - had been picked up by national radio.

In January 'Pink Squares' was Edith Bowman's single of the week on Radio 1 and IWACS were Fearne and Reggie's hot tip for 2008.

They also performed in Austin, Texas, as part of a BBC 6 Music showcase in March.

We said they were going to be big for quite a while having appeared on BBC Radio Nottingham's The Beat as far back as the November 2006.

Below is an interview conducted with Will on The Beat. The text was written on 13 February 2008.

I Was a Cub Scout interview

Will and Todd's Pink Squares was originally released in November 2007 - but with their new found momentum it's being re-released. Will explains:

"It's our most accessible song... and last time it's release was very limited - a 1000 copies or something like that.

"People were buying copies of it over EBay. We wanted to make another physical release format available."

IWACS in action

Having worked on their music over the intervening period they say they've developed from their original 'emo-tronica' and their debut album - I Want You To Know That There Is Always Hope - highlights this shift.

"This isn't quite as dancey, it's more guitar-based than I Was A Cub Scout's first sound."

The title for their album, to be released on Tuesday 18 March 2008, came to them on a bus.

"We were talking about words that described how we were feeling at the time. We kept on saying 'I hope the record does well', 'I hope we do this', 'I hope we do that'.

"We really like the word 'hope'. I wear a necklace that says hope on it. It is such a positive word... and then there was a lyric in one of the songs on the album... and we just figured it'd fit really nicely."

The birth

It started in June 2005 when Todd left his old band to form a one man dance band but by February 2006 he decided to expand.

Will and Todd met in Grantham at the ages of 14 and 15. They were in rival punk bands. They got together and IWACS was born.

Will was interviewed by Dean Jackson on BBC Radio Nottingham. You can hear more in depth interviews on the Beat from 18.00 - 22.00 every Saturday.