Interview: Boxes Talk About Their Debut EP ‘Why Don’t You Listen’!

Formed together by David Miller (Vocals/ Rhythm Guitar), Josh Emiabata (Vocals/Lead Guitar), Tom Adams (Bass), & James Saunders (Drums). Boxes is a rising Manchester based country-rock band Boxes have released their debut EP ‘Why Don’t You Listen’.

Now, this talented group has taken the time to speak with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution about their latest release.

Hey guys, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. Can you start by telling the readers a little bit about yourself?

David: No no, thank you for allowing us to speak! We’re a band based in the city centre of Manchester called Boxes. I say city centre because that’s where we all live now, but myself (Hi, I’m David) and Tom grew up in the Lake District, Josh is from Cambridge and James grew up in Wigan.

We just play anything which we like really, a lot of people over the year or so we’ve been together have described our sound as Country/ Americana – our first gig labelled us as Nashville-upon-Irwell (after the river that flows through Manchester) so we’ve kind of rolled with that and yeah, people of that genre seem to be digging the tracks – but i would’t say we are fixed to that. Some of our songs sound a little indie, some more pop and rock but i think my vocals maybe give off the country vibe.

My mam was a small town country singer in Scotland, so maybe that was kind of passed on to me – growing up listening to John Denver, Patsy Cline, Billie Jo Spears, Charlie pride and the like stuck with me! – I still know all the words to blanket on the ground that my Mam would be forced to sing at any family get together.

How did the idea to create the band come together?

David: That would be me, I had a band at university which i loved being in, when I moved to Manchester after University I did a lot of open mics and met some amazing people but I’ve never really liked playing on my own. I would always prefer to share the stage with friends and create a bigger overall sound and production so I got the band together and played some songs from my old band and some new, with being in a band in the city centre some people come and go but we’ve got a good solid foundation now which has allowed us to record the EP! – The EP is a backlog of the songs I’ve played over the years allowing us to focus on the newer songs yet to be released!

How would you describe your musical style to someone unfamiliar with your music?

David: It’s raw, high passion and full of genuine lyrics, harmonies and riffs – (we like to make catchy riffs, like on Bad Bones!) We also like to make heads turn when we start – in the good way – we’re normally on a lineup in Manchester with all sorts of genres so our music does turn heads when we follow your standard indie act. We’re a little country and a little rock.

Congratulations on the release of your 5-track EP ‘Why Don’t You Listen’. How did the inspiration for this EP come together?

David: These are just the songs we’ve been playing at our live shows for the past year or so, they needed to come out eventually to clear the way for us to focus on the newer, shinier track! The tracks are about love and difference mainly. You know, the fight for wanting the ideal life and the obstacles that life likes to throws at you to make that dream seem unattainable? I’m sure we’ve all been there.

What are each of your’s favourite track to feature on the EP?

David: Electric Lights

Josh: Let Me In

Tom: Why Don’t You Listen

James: Bad Bones

What does creating this EP mean to all of you?

David: We love playing live and the goal was to release an EP that we can use to try and get bigger and better gigs – if it delivers just one then we’d all be happy. It also opens the doors for us to focus on our newer selection of songs.

If listeners could take away one message from your EP, what would you like it to be?

David: We just hope that they enjoy at least one song really, as you can see we all have our own favourites, we know not all the songs will go down with everyone equally so just the one song will do for us! – Message wise, I’m not sure really these songs all mean something to us, but we don’t want to restrict them with our meanings – hopefully they’ll be able to connect to at least one song though!

When you guy’s are not creating music, what do you enjoy getting up to in your spare time?

David: Me and Josh live together, so we’ll probably be drinking or watching football. James enjoys the odd game (mainly Jackbox) and helps play percussion for a few solo acts in the town (He’s Manchester’s drummer really) and Tom enjoys manly things, like making his own furniture and brewing beer. 9. What was the last TV series you binge-watched & did you enjoy it?

We’re on the third run through of watching Peep Show together as a flat, it never stops being funny.

If you could have on superpower, what would you choose & why?

David: Teleport (I don’t like wasting time).

Josh: Invisibility, so at the moment he can go for more then one walk a day. (Covid-19 Problems).

Tom: To have hammer hands. (For the furniture building).

James: To be able to find gigs where the promoter does not take 90% of the cut even though they don’t promote anything.

What is the best advice someone has given you about pursuing a career in music?

David: Everyones clocks different, don’t judge yourself by looking at how others are doing. Try and enjoy the moment you’re in.

Finally, is there anything you would like to say to the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?

David: Stay fierce, stay fabulous. Revolt.

Check out the full EP on Spotify below.