People in Planes.

BY KELDA MANLEY.

 

People in Planes’ Pete Roberts is sat in the bands tour van. In an hour he’ll take to the stage at Manchester’s Roadhouse as part of the Welsh fivesomes headline tour.  ‘To be honest it’s not our favourite [venue,]’ admits the guitarist ‘weird sound in there but hopefully we’ll put that to rest tonight and have a good show.’

Since forming in 2000, formally as Tetra Splendour, the band have had their fair share of ups and downs. Originally signed to EMI they were dropped before releasing their first album. Annoyed with the state of the British record industry they jumped at the opportunity of signing to an American Indie  label and have steadily and solely been building a career Stateside ever since.

‘We were with EMI and feeling like we got signed for the right reasons’ recalls Pete ‘then Robbie Williams gets signed for £80 million and everyone gets dropped. That’s heartbreaking, horrible and not the reason why you were into music.’ Despite problems in the homeland it seems the band immediately settled in America, ‘we had an opportunity to go out there and found an amazing label’ he explains ‘every band seems to be here one minute and dropped the next  these days and we’ve got a really cool Indie label who are just interested in the music so it’s been awesome.’

Neither their move across the pond or their success following it has fazed the band, ‘[to] start it was weird, trying to ingratiate yourself into a new society.’ He admits ‘New York is a mental place and LA is such a culture shock having just toured round the same places in Britain. So it was weird and great. Weird and wonderful.’

However, despite their popularity abroad they are determined that this year they will finally crack the United Kingdom.  ‘It’s kind of like [we’re starting] again. It’s been the theme of our career really,’ grins Pete. ‘We were Tetra Splendour, then we got dropped, then we were in America. We’ve always been playing catch up. We’ve just started fresh since [we supported] Biffy Clyro in December.’

It seems that their stint supporting the Scottish band has had an impact on Pete, ‘When you watch Biffy Clyro the crowds singing along and they know the whole record’ he explains. ‘The idea of fans that not only have the single [but that] the whole record will mean something [to them] and that’s important for people getting into us.’

Their debut album in the UK, ‘Beyond The Horizon’ will be out in July this year and the band will also be playing a few more dates to support the release. While the album is packed with fantastic tunes it’s at their live shows that People in Planes truly shine. Their energy, talent and stunning vocals ensure that there are few UK bands who can match the fivesome on the live scene. ‘I think it gives us an identity’ explains Pete ‘because we’re so alternative, a lot of our reviews say it’s just a bit confused, doesn’t know what it’s trying to be and that’s what we’re all about really. A lot of people say it suddenly makes sense when they see us live, it does with most bands I think, especially bands who have a diverse sound.’

Pete is hoping that their unique sound and brilliant live show will propel the band to a level of recognition he really desires.  ‘I’d like to just keep making records’ he admits ‘[and]I’d love to be a main stage festival band that’s the kind of status I’d love to have.’

With any luck and if there is any sense within British music fans then they’ll agree with Pete and they’ll get the attention they most definitely deserve.

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