Raising Maisie

This is part one of our May showcase featuring Raising Maisie, Jo Harman, Juno, Chris Priest and Brad Dawson, Seraphim, Tom Staniford, Jetpack Elastic, Kim Slade, Hatful Of Rain, Work In Progress and Jimmy Ballz.

Raising Maisie – Second Nature

A band always aiming to fight the good fight and see off mainstream melancholy in favour of real, melody driven music, Raising Maisie from Brighton recently supported McFly, and have a bright future ahead of them. Spontaneously written in the studio by frontman Max Langley, ‘Second Nature’ is all about unrequited love and the pain of waiting in vain for feelings to change. A far cry from some of their rockier, Elliot Minor-esque material, this is a sweet and serene example of the band’s natural talent. With twanging, dancing guitar and glittering keys, ‘Second Nature’ is an acoustic track with real spark and high energy. A rare find.

From: Brighton

Influenced by: The Beatles, Simon And Garfunkel, The Who, The Kinks, Kaiser Chiefs - SQ

One of the first impressions as Raising Maisie opened was the sweet touch on the keys, in a balladesque song within which was heard the promise of musical weight.
Raising Maisie's lyrics are accessible but the key thing is their natural flamboyance, which permeates the play and presence of this entertaining and approachable young band
nor are they immune from the vagaries of live music: "Can I borrow someone's strap the leathers literally fucking snapped" - said Tom .

The instruments each held their own sound and voice but played together; the vocals matched the strength in the instruments and the timing complimented Raising Maisie's exuberant nature Their set ended with " I need you baby " which was really catchy, and popular all round.- A great set from a lovely bunch of guys with a sound that is its own and also has a place to go.
We're looking forward to getting to know Raising Maisie
- St Pauls lifestyle inc Overground Sound

When McFly played the Southampton Guildhall on 21st March as part of ‘Keep Calm and Play Louder’ tour, the opening slot was given to a slightly less well known band from Brighton called Raising Maisie

The Pop/Rock quartet, achieved this accolade by getting the most votes in a Battle of the Bands competition run my Mcfly, to help promote emerging talent from across the UK.

50 bands made it through to the final selection process and Raising Maisie were duly chosen to feature at the Southampton show.

Tom Chilton, RM bass player spoke of how the night went.
“it was an awesome experience, McFly have been very influential on us and to play on the same stage, to an audience who love our type of music was the highlight of our careers so far. Mcfly were fantastic and really supportive, they all came and said hello and watched our soundcheck, which was a bit nerve wrecking to say the least but also a huge thrill.”

The opportunity has already led to more exciting offers with Raising Maisie taking to the festival circuit this year with appearances at The Guernsey festival, alongside The Kaiser Chiefs, as well as The Liverpool International Pop Overthrow, Meadowlands, The Newt Festival and Cazfest, with more yet to be announced.

Raising Maisie are set to return to the shores of Southampton, with their own gig at The Joiners on April 29th.
“We have begun to build a bit of a fanbase in the town and wanted to get back as soon as we could to play our full set. We have some great local bands joining us on the night including local girl Rozzii Chaos

You can watch Raising Maisie at www.youtube.com/raisingmaisie and of course follow them on all the usual social networking sites.
Their Latest EP Change is available on itunes, Spotify and most digital download stores
- mINTSOUTH

MTM caught up with Raising Maisie straight after their incredible performance at Guildhall in Southampton this week. We had a chat with them and found out how their experience of supporting McFly went down...


MTM: You've just played your support show for McFly at Guildhall in Southampton, how did it go?

Raising Maisie: It went gloriously, we're trying to avoid the word incredible but yeah it was probably the best experience on stage together as a band. The crowd were just so responsive.

MTM: What was it like to finally play the show after all the campaigning to win a support slot?

Raising Maisie: It's strange and feels like it's been going on for a long time, I can't quite believe it's over now. It's going to be hard not talking about it. This is now the benchmark of where we want to aim for and gives us the inspiration to move forward as a band, on to bigger things. We thought things like this were out of reach before and now to experience it just gives us that extra motivation

MTM: Is this the biggest venue you've ever played at?

Raising Maisie: It's the biggest venue we've ever played and as soon as the lights went down, we heard the screams and it was amazing. We could have been rubbish but the crowd were just so willing. I would like to think we weren't but the crowd were just so supportive. It felt like a really scary roller coaster ride, that you didn't want to go on but once you did it was incredible.

MTM: What do you think this opportunity has given you?

Raising Maisie: Well as soon as we came off, someone said check your Twitter and we already had like 10 mentions whilst we were on stage. So hopefully that will carry on and we can continue to get new fans. We've got a gig down here on the 29th April at Joiners, so hopefully people will come see us after seeing tonight’s performance. It will be good to see McFly as well, as they’re always on top of their game and we can learn a lot from them.

MTM: Have you got any favourite McFly songs?

Raising Maisie: Star Girl, Five Colours in Her Hair and I'll Be Okay. So we hope they play them.

MTM: You've got a lot of tour dates booked for this summer, how good is it to be out on the road?

Raising Maisie: We're playing lots of festivals this year, places like Guernsey which has Macy Gray who is an amazing soul artist. We’re also playing The Prince Charles which is still to be fully announced, The Alternative Escape and Meadowlands. It's all on our Facebook page so check it out and come see us. It's also good to be out of Brighton as there is a lot of competition and we’re also building up our fan base as ideally we want to be touring the country.

MTM: Your fans have been tremendous in getting you Facebook likes and into the top 50 of the competition. How much does that mean to you as a band?

Raising Maisie: The people who have helped us are incredible, we couldn't ask for better fans. Thank you so much. We had one very special fan Natalie Pink, who posted the now famous video called 'I'd do anything for Raising Maisie’ to help us win votes. So thank you for everything and we want to add there's not enough Natalie Pinks in the world. We have such a great and loyal fan base, who we would like to thank very much for keeping us going.

Part two of this MTM special interview will be up next week as we talk to Danny Jones from McFly. - MTM Broadcasting

http://www.whatshappeningmag.co.uk/#/page/61 - Whats happening Mag

Attempting to stand apart from all the carbon copy bands on mainstream radio Brighton foursome Raising Maisie recently released their double A sided single Change/Photobook.

Vocally Change is catchy, eloquent, and multi-paced; an exciting track it feels rather bouncy, with the guitars and synth moving and working together in a really refreshing, unusual way.

Photobook is catchy as well. With the band using harmonies that are not only expertly delivered but that also run along perfectly with the music, making it all merge together as one.

Bonus track Love Me Then Hate Me is arguably the superior song. At times it feels a little like something by Elliot Minor, especially because of the vocal similarity one of the members shares with Ed Minton, but it’s better somehow; slightly poppier than anything put out by the rich kids from York Love Me Then Hate Me feels a lot crisper.

Change/Photobook by Raising Maisie is, for those who are unfamiliar with them, an excellent and remarkable introduction to a band that should surely see success. With their current Facebook fan count standing at just under 2000 that number can only be expected to grow - MTM Broadcasting

To conclude Etc Etc gives new hope to our local scene by coming from a particular angle everyone else has ignored. Everyone else is remembering ACDC Sex Pistols Etc, and transforming the rules those giants have set into what has already been done by all the other big names. It seems only Raising Maisie have highlighted the brilliance of They Might be Giants and The Cure and ever so brilliantly brought it to our attention. So if you will join me in congratulating these young boys in beginning what will hopefully be a new and exciting change in our local music scene that will stick around - Sound Parade

Now we know that this was somewhat of an impromptu gig to see the aforementioned band, but we were approached by a very dapper looking gentleman whilst at the venue and asked if we would review the headlining band. The suave gentleman in question of course was himself in the headlining band, known as Raising Maisie. This quartet from Brighton, pride themselves on being unadulterated Pop through and through. Now, returning readers you may well know that we here at hevypetal.com are an eclectic bunch. We do not believe there should ever be prejudice in music nor any form of disregard for anything that is not ‘within our preferred listening’, so we were actually quite excited to see and critique a band that were not our usual ‘cup of tea’. Say what you will but first impressions count, we like to think we are all above the whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ shit but come on, it is proven that we all make up our minds about someone or something within the first thirty seconds. Slightly off focus from the music here......but to go from seeing an abundance of skinny jeans, band tee’s and tattoos on a regular, to four guys in suits, skinny ties and pristine hairstyles, definitely gives an indication of the musical difference that could be expected. It shouldn’t, but it does.

Raising Maisie take to the stage and thank us for sticking around for their set, which was extremely polite of them. So their set begins and we are treated to a piano/keys lead, vintage indie pop style that is easy on the ear. Gentle melodic based guitar lines fused with catchy hooks and vocal patterns that wouldn’t be out of place in the 60’s. It is toe tapping stuff to say the least and the blend of streamlined drumming and basslines compliment the sentiment that this band are striving for. A few songs in and it is a solid arrangement that these lads have going, especially the shared vocal duties between keyboardist Charlie, guitarist Max and bassist Tom. Raising Maisie, may not be making history or breaking boundaries in what they do and it could be deemed as somewhat of a mishmash of influences of bands old and new from similar genres. For example think, The Kinks and The Beatles with a hint ofMcFly. The old school head shakes and general demeanour when performing is very reminiscent of a band far beyond their years. There are moments of excellent guitar riffs at play, others it is the drum work but the point is, there ARE moments that step it up from what could be deemed as monotonous and ‘safe’. From uplifting track Yes, Here It Is to a more solemn and heartfelt number such as Lost And Found, it is clear that these Brighton boys have found a style of music that they love to perform. Each member puts their all into the show and whether you are a fan of this retro sound or not, it works for them.
- Hevy Petal

This sort of thing… no, wait. I hate referring to someone’s heartfelt, handcrafted musical endeavour as some ‘sort of thing’. Change is not a ‘sort of thing’, it’s a thing (or it would be if music could be a thing, or indeed if there were any things at all, but that’s a philosophical digression for another day). What I wanted to say, is that music that superficially sounds like pop, that lacks any particular sense of stylistic excursion or radical agenda, tends to leave me cold. And actually, most of the music that fits that definition is quite adequately served by forms of words as clichéd and generic as its sounds. Most pop music, however, for all that it may be musically sophisticated, lacks the sense of honest joyfulness that Raising Maisie exude. They really are just interested in music and fun, and while that may be construed as a political position in itself, these happy, earnest songs are made with such a strong sense of the particular that it is impossible to write them off as empty or superficial. That sense of particularity is aided and abetted by the unaffected vocal delivery, that eschews the usual strange manoeuvres around accent… The arrangements on Change are more guitar focussed than those on Etc, Etc, their debut album, but they retain the crisp rhythmic feel and the intelligent structures that made that album stand out so noticeably from the majority of pop-rock records. Lovely, engaging melodies, creative arrangements and production, and a totally unmistakeable joy in making this music add up to a pretty engaging combination: these boys can play, they can write, and most of all, they can entertain. Listen to this, and you’ll find yourself wishing you were on whatever Raising Maisie are on. - Oliver Arditi

These Brighton teen popsters are getting even more 'Beatley' with their songwriting. 'Photobook' nods to the psychedelia of 'I Am The Walrus' and 'Strawberry Fields' etc. being a double 'A' side with the more jauntily uptempo 'Changes' ; available now on all usual download site - Guide to Brighton