Music

Nottingham band the Amber Herd were in session for The Beat recently, one of the songs they performed was 'Magnolia'. Neil explains what it's about:

"Magnolia is a love song in three parts. It's about the beginning and the sad closure over the period of 20 years. It's a rites of passage ditty."

The bones of the song were written a while ago; the band have since revitalised it and according to Neil on stage it's become 'a 10 minute monster.'

Who are your influences...

I guess we've been influenced by every record we've heard and every band we've seen in the last 20 odd years - some more than others!

We sound a bit like...

We've been likened to, amongst others, The Velvet Underground, Jesus And Mary Chain, The Fall, The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Pink Floyd, New Order, Oasis and Echo and the Bunnymen. Not sure we sound like any of them!

Who would be a dream band member and why?

We'd like Miles Davis to play Wah-Wah trumpet and Janis Joplin to play Theramin during some of our 'spacier' moments!

Does the city offer you enough opportunities?

Yes, if one is prepared to put the work in. We're currently hoping to make the leap to a few support shows at Rock City, Rescue Rooms and Bodega.

What was your best gig and why?

We played a stormer just before Christmas at the much missed Loft. Another, lower key, highlight was our candlelit acoustic show in the cave at Loggerheads at the Wool and Wire night in Jan.

Our most recent gig was great too, a headline at Seven with a nice long full electric set with lots of lights, back projections and special effects. We're looking forward to our next Nottingham show at The Maze on 30 April with Frontiers and Made of Leaves.

What would you give up to get signed?

Possibly cake but the deal would need to be good! Actually, we're running fairly self- sufficiently at the moment and have just released our first single independently on all the main download sites.

At the very least, we're planning to plough the cash from sales of that into the recording of our second single that'll be out at the end of the summer.

How did the band get together?

Via an online studio-based tribute project. We formed the band to play the shows that were set up on the back of it. Our second ever gig was in front of 300 Pink Floyd fanatics at the Komedia in Brighton. We've been going downhill ever since!

Who are the most influential figures in your life?

Our families and in my case, at least, Tom Baker's Doctor Who!

Best band in Notts and why?

The mighty Model Morning. They deserve to make it. I hope their debut album gets them there. We also love Made of Leaves.

What are you listening to at the moment?

M83 - Saturdays = Youth; the new Decemberists, Appleseed Cast and Doves.

What's the perfect night-out in Nottingham?

Beers at Loggerheads, a band at Bodega and if you're buying, a curry at the venue of your choice!

Give us a short description of your best tracks...

Stage Fright - The debut single. Full of noise, hooks, a great vocal delay and an astonishing ending. Foot Tapper - Powerful yet melodic. One for driving at night to. Magnolia - The trippy reflective one with a mighty life- affirming coda.

You can catch bands and artists like The Amber Herd on The Beat. The Beat is BBC Radio Nottingham's official Introducing show. You can listen to The Beat every Saturday night from 6.00pm until 10.00pm (103.8, 95.5fm, 1584am and DAB digital radio). If you miss it you can listen again on the BBC's iplayer.