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I used to think I was Slim Shady, sniggers Michael Shearer, but every rap I tried to write always ended up being a pop song. Realising where his true talent lay, Michael kicked MC-ing to the London curbs, dusted off the old rock n roll and soul albums that he had been weaned on, rallied three childhood friends and formed Barefoot Confessor. Now at the helm of one of the UKs most exciting new bands, its laughable to think that Shearer ever tried to squash his 1950s quiff into a baseball cap or hide his creamy, Springsteen-croons behind spoken words.
The bands roots can be traced back to a Year 7 English lesson in which Michael leaned over to school mates James Towers and Chris Rees and whispered an invitation to join his band. The pair jumped at the excuse to make some extra curricular clatter, despite the fact that, as Chris admits, none of us could play instruments, let alone owned any, so wed nick them out of the music classrooms do we could practice."
Less than a year ago, these three pals enlisted another long time friend Erol Yurdagul to play bass and Barefoot Confessor was born. These days, the band are playing venues a touch more glamorous than their high schools practice rooms, such as Scala, Islington Academy and NME club nights. Ever humble, however, Michael is quick to enforce that in-between the snazzy joints we also play skanky ones. One was so depressing that Erol had to turn the smoke machine on just to lighten things up. Well happily play toilets like that again though because were not afraid of working our way up the ladder. Along the way of these extensive touring schedules the band have whipped industry tongues into quite a frenzy. One listen to He Doesnt Love You and its not hard to see why: brimming with youthful energy, sun-smackled hooks, sixties oos and heart-melting vocals, its a Twentieth Century Beatles hit. Michael sites the Fab Four as being a major inspiration to his songwriting, remembering: as a kid I would listen in secret to my Dad's blue and red Beatles albums on his record player.
Whilst it was The Beatles, he claims, who made Michael want to write music, it was Oasis who inspired the eleven-year-old Michael to form a band in that English classroom. I wanted to have all the frivolities that they seemed to be having, he explains. Quoting a lyric of the current pop-punk outfit The King Blues, he grins, I wanted to save the world and get the girl. Similarities between B.C and the punk-politicians can in fact be drawn in B.Cs Camden Road, a thought-provoking ode to the happy slappy chappies, coke-addicts and militant fists which litter his hometown. Such sharpness of the tongue demonstrates a further string to the Barefoot Confessor bow. My writing is observational, Michael explains. Ill draw my inspiration from anything from a TV programme to a drop of dew on a lily pad in the spring. I just open up my peepers, have a looksy and write down what I see. Its from this mentality that the band draws its name, Barefoot Confessor. Its about not being pretentious or contrived. Its about being honest and naked but just on your feet, coz otherwise youll get arrested! Michael jokes.
Its this colourful layering of humour, unforgettable melodies and heart-halting poetry which makes the band so unique. As Michael says, I dont want to be Slim Shady, I dont want to be anyone else now. We are Barefoot Confessor.
