Are you in a band or a solo artist? Have you ever wanted to get your foot in the door in the music industry and keep it there? Well that's what guitar driven indie band The Cooper Temple Clause have done. The Essentials interviewed The Cooper Temple Clause guitarist Dan Fisher, to find out how they went from working in supermarkets to signing with RCA's record label.
Who are The Cooper Temple Clause?
Ben Gautrey, Tom Bellamy, Dan Fisher, Didz Hammond, Kieran "Keys" Mahon, and Jon Harper.
How did you all meet?
Me, Kieran, Ben and Tom were all at school together and we just sat around jamming from when we were about 16. We met Jon and Didz who were 2 years older than us through friends at school.
Why did you come up with the name The Cooper Temple Clause?
We wanted something long and awkward instead of all the short names like Blur and Pulp, something that would stand out.
How did you get gigs?
We started playing at Alleycats in Reading, which had a band room. We asked if we could play gigs there and then we made a demo. But the only way we could get noticed was to play the London circuits to 5 people every night!
How did you get signed?
We made a god-awful demo as cheaply as we could and then went through our CD collections and looked at all the big labels. Then we sent the CD and some photos of ourselves to the labels, along with a packet of Smarties!
The head of RCA got back to us and said keep gigging, that we had potential, but we weren't ready yet. They also gave us some help and let us use their studios.
By the time they did sign us, 9 months later, we were ready. We had gigged more, we had experience in a studio and we had learned how to balance being in a band. Other labels had begun to notice us too.
What advice would you give to other aspiring bands?
It's all about having the guts really. We were really excited after RCA got back to us, but it was months until they signed us. So we just had to keep going.
You need a good manager so they can do all the groundwork while you focus on making music. It really should be quite a personal relationship. You don't necessarily need to get a Flashy manager from one of these management companies - ours is Pete Smith, a mate from school.
The chances are you will get loads of management cards if you're any good, but be careful it isn't someone who's gonna swindle you!
Have you got any upcoming gigs?
Yes, we're touring with Embrace. Our current single is Let's Kill Music [it reached 41 in the charts] and we are releasing another single and an album in the New Year.
