Dog Is Dead

October 2011

A NOTTINGHAM band could soon be snapping at the heels of music’s biggest stars in the UK charts.

Dog Is Dead today released their first single for Atlantic Records, one of the world’s biggest record labels.

The West Bridgford indie-pop quintet signed to the label, home to Plan B, Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran, earlier this year.

Hands Down was recorded at the famous RAK studios in London and today went on sale in shops across the UK and through all the key download sites.

But singer and songwriter Rob Milton is cautious about being over optimistic.

“We are confident we can get in the chart but we’re talking about the top 150, which would be ridiculous for a band at the stage we are at,” said the 20-year-old.

“We don’t want to push it too hard, we just want to see how people react to it.”

The band have already released three singles on their own Your Childhood record label. Glockenspiel Song, Young and River Jordan have been played on Radio 1, Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music. They’ve also been featured in the NME, appeared at Glastonbury and even had a small role in the Channel 4 teen drama Skins.

“Even though we’ve been doing this for three years, getting signed to Atlantic felt like the start. And this single is really a first step. It’s not going to get to number one but we want to steadily build our fanbase.”

Rob met Joss Van Wilder (keyboards) and Lawrence ‘Trev’ Cole (bass/sax) at West Bridgford School. They formed Dog Is Dead with Paul Roberts (guitar) in 2008. Drummer Daniel Harvey joined this year.

“I wanted to make a song with a Motown feel that had a really positive message,” he says of Hands Down, which will be included on their first album for Atlantic, expected in the Spring.

“We’re still working on the songs for that,” said Rob.

“It’s a bit of a free-for-all at the moment which is quite exciting.”

They recently supported Bombay Bicycle Club on tour.

“That was probably the time of our lives,” he said.

“We were playing to two or three thousand people every night. The crowds reacted to us amazingly well.”

Dog Is Dead will play the main stage at Rock City in December, the biggest gig by a homegrown band in decades.

“It feels like it’s going to be a big show, not just for us but for Nottingham.”

Local music champions Nusic have been running a competition for an unsigned Nottingham band to open the gig.

“This is a life-changing opportunity for any musician serious about pursuing their musical dream,” said Nusic’s Mark Del, who will be choosing a shortlist tonight along with a panel of judges.

Added Rob: “We just want someone who is really entertaining. I wouldn’t necessarily want a Dog Is Dead tribute band.”

Dog Is Dead are leading the charge for the local music scene which has seen the likes of Jake Bugg, Ronika, Liam Bailey and Spotlight Kid gain national attention on the radio and in the press.

Dog Is Dead, who were signing limited edition seven inch vinyl copies of the single at Fopp yesterday, play Rock City on Saturday December 17.

Tickets are £7.50 from the venue, call 0845 413 4444 or go to www.alt-tickets.co.uk.

Hands Down is available at all record shops and to download through iTunes and other websites. The video for the single is available at dogisdead.co.uk.