AN INTERVIEW WITH THE COVASETTES

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Talks with The Covasettes at The Wardrobe about their captivating performances and ever-growing music career.

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Whilst on one of their legendary tours across the UK, the Covasettes played a sold-out show at the renowned Leeds venue 'The Wardrobe' which has been host to huge names such as Easy Life, Aitch, Leith Ross and Declan Mckenna to name a few. Performing their new release Duvet Thief with elegiac and entrancing tones that fans have eagerly awaited, it was an event to remember. Their hit tracks Top Drawer and Be Mine never fail to please but it is arguably their insane stage presence that keeps us Leeds crowds in particular, coming back more than 15 times over the years. A night with The Covasettes is guaranteed to be filled with life, fantastic musical ability and an unforgettable atmosphere that is hard to match.

Prior to their performance, I sat down with the band's lead singer Chris Buxton and discussed the group's music career so far, their journey as a group, the live music scene in Leeds and their opinions on music as a form of expression for many across the UK. Here is what I found:

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As with many bands, each member has different music inspirations that work coherently to create a unique, new sound. As Chris Buxton tells us, "I think everyone in the band has different inspirations. Mine, I love Coldplay. They’re like my favourite band of all time. And also I think that the first album that I sort of, made me want to be in a band was Catfish and the Bottleman. That was like my favourite band and that made me want to be in a band myself which is why I’m here really."

To some, Leeds may not be a must-go on the tour stops despite being host to the notorious Leeds Festival each August and home to many exceptional live music venues. However, since the beginning of their careers, The Covasettes have "played here like 15 times" and it has "always been a good gig" because "Leeds has always been really good to [them]" . As Buxton tells us, they have played in many venues across Leeds and, "We played a lot at the Lending Rooms, The Library and that was just always such a good time. There was a mirror across the stage where you could watch yourself in it and that was even better for me, like watch our own gig whilst we played. But yeah, it’s just a good place. I think Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester are the best in my opinion."

When asked about their favourite performance throughout their entire career, The Covasettes details how they played at the Leeds Arena alongside Tony Hadley and Sophie Alex Bextor which was, "really fun because they’re like icons, aren’t they? They’re so good. So that was a really big arena as well and so that was my first sight on where I wanted to be one day." and told us that this was truly the highlight so far "as it gave them a good taste of where I wanted to be in a few years time".

As we spoke about the music scene here and whether artists have the opportunity to express themselves freely in the UK and more specifically the north, as for many, Chris Buxton finds that the music community here is somewhere that gives both The Covasettes and other artists alike, a judgment-free environment where creativity can thrive as he tells us, "I think it’s the best. I don’t think anyone gets judged at the minute, like people are making whatever they make and people are doing whatever they want to do. I don’t feel like anyone’s being held back or judged at all by any one. And I guess like in a creative world, it’s never really been that much of an issue but certainly as a band we feel like we can express ourselves and northern crowds make that a lot easier cause they’re mad. They’re by far my favourite crowds. And even, we were in Glasglow last night and they were good but I still thought in my head, 'Leeds will be good tomorrow though'".

Finally, we found out where the iconic name 'The Covasettes' originated from, "it’s the letters of all our football teams that we support. So I’m a Coventry fan so that’s a CO, Jay is a Valencia football fan, Matt’s an Olden fan and the other Matt’s a Sunderland fan. So when you put them all together its like ‘COVAS’ and then we just put ‘ettes’ at the end".

An overall spectacular evening with wonderful people as well as music, I highly recommend seeing The Covasettes when in town, not only for the quality music, but their ability to connect with the crowd is one I have rarely seen and is unmissable to me.

Take a listen:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dDVWJvBFaoMJrOfI6xnOt?autoplay=true