Pete WiseYork’s music scene wouldn’t have been quite such a joyous thing were it not for The Blueprints’ contribution over the last eight years.
This songwriterly bunch are a mainstay of our most brilliantly venues, as much a part of Stereo as its sticky floorboards, as much a part of City Screen’s Basement Bar as the fear of flooding. They’ve proven themselves consistently capable of uniting listeners of truly disparate tastes in admiration and immense fondness, and this Winter they seek to cement their place in our hearts whilst reaching a host of new listeners through the launch of a brand new five-track EP, The Shipping Forecast.
Pete Wise speaks to The Blueprints’ frontman and borderline local celebrity Stuart Allan about their upcoming release.
Your new EP sounds like it’s going to be a pretty big deal. What can listeners expect?
They can expect the songs we’re most proud of, ever. It’s the music we should always have been making, with loads of guitars and even a bit of cello on the closing track. The whole thing’s unashamedly pop with lots of big hooks and melodies, probably due in no small part to our love of The Beatles!
Sounds sexy, when can we get our hands on it?
The EP will be available from December 28th when we’re playing a launch gig at the Basement. It’ll be available to download from all the usual suspects like Spotify and iTunes, and we’re having a limited run of 250 physical copies made.
You mentioned a launch gig – should be pretty special?
It should be relatively massive! Alongside our set we have ace supports in the form of The Buccaneers, Littlemores and English Monsters. We’ve even booked a compere we think you’ll love; Vargas Vegas.
Relatively massive indeed! Any plans to take the show on the road in the New Year?
I think we definitely need to start playing more shows out of town. Thanks to our years of experience, we know how to get the stuff across live, and we really have fun which seems to rub off on people. Nothing beats making new audiences tap their feet and dance.
One more thing… Why ‘The Shipping Forecast’?
It’s a happy accident really, we just realized whilst we were recording that several of our songs feature maritime references, so it just seemed to make sense!
A few of us at One&Other HQ have heard a couple of the tracks from the EP already. We can confirm that the songs transported us to a state of jangly indie-pop bliss.
The Shipping Forecast EP launch party is happening on December 28th at the City Screen Basement Bar. More on The Blueprints is available on their Facebook page.
