//Interview\\ Banquet: 'We really want to make the audience feel part of the show'

Banquet are a band who may be new to the Manchester goth and rock scene, however, their knowledge would give the impression they have been part of it for years, especially with a live set and look that would have them thriving at goth clubs like Deville’s or pips in the 70s and 80s. Behind Banquet though there are 4 members all distinct in their inspirations, knowledge, and style all intertwined to create a band with passion for what they do and that have fun doing it. In this interview, I sat down with them to talk about all things live set, animals, and what made them want to make music amongst many other topics.

Banquet is made up of Quinn (lead singer), Ameliora (bassist), Dylan (guitarist), and Lewis (drummer), whose band name had an odd but interesting method of creation done by lead singer Quinn, which conjured imagery for the band and led to its choosing.

What was the inspiration behind your band name?

Q: ‘We’d been called a different name before, and I wanted to change it. So, I was thinking and looking at singular words starting with B, and Banquet just jumped out. There wasn’t much thought behind it although there is some interesting imagery’

A: We’re inspired by the gothic genre, and you imagine a table and have that sort of image, and the word is somewhat associated with that.

 How would you describe Banquet to a stranger in the street in three words?

 Q: Romantic, Melancholic. Does anyone think of another word to describe us?

D: Cool

A: Cathartic

When it comes to their live set, with these words in mind the band certainly lives up to their descriptions in practice.

 You've been keeping busy with several live gigs around Manchester recently, what would you say is the best part of playing live and why?

Q: Honestly? Seeing the people that come to see our gigs. That’s the main one for me because when the band started, an idea that always happens, we really wanted to make the audience feel part of the show. When you’re standing on the stage and the audience is down on the floor, you can feel separated and we don’t want to have that separation. We want it to be an event for everyone, people can feed off of us.

D: With the live sound, we try to make it sound as expansive as possible and sound huge with all these different effects we're using. There's lots of going on, like Quinn will usually run around and stuff and get the audience involved in some ways. There's a lot of attention paid to that side of coming to see us.

 What can people expect from a Banquet live set?

 Q: Lots of cool guitar sounds, cool looking people, and a great sense of familiarity I say that as we get a lot of the same people coming to gigs which is a cool experience to have, obviously build up that rapport with them, like 'oh I was at your last gig' 'oh that’s amazing'.

When the band aren’t putting on gigs and bringing magic to one of Manchester’s brilliant independent venues and on excellent musical lineups, they’re having fun writing music with Quinn at the forefront, like some of the demos they have been sharing with the world via SoundCloud.

You’re currently in the writing process of some new music and have some demos up online. What is your favourite lyric that you've written so far and what does it mean to you?

 Q: ‘One that always makes me laugh is if I die today, I'll do it my own way. I won't be caught with my trousers down. I don't know why I always sing that, but I always do, and it's become such a part of the song now. I'm stuck with it forever, but I think that’s how a lot of good lyrics come to me. I think if you write it with the intention of it being an amazing lyric, then you can think about it too much, and it can get lost.’

Fun is at the heart of this band, whether it's writing or playing live, but the all-important question is yet to come with Halloween on the horizon, what Halloween creature would they most want to be if they had to choose between a bat or a wolf? It’s a clear winner all around, in what some would say a goth fashion.

L: A Bat.

A: A bat over everything.

Q: it’s got to be a bat

D: Bat I reckon

Goth isn’t all this band are about though even as their central musical focus, like many bands, their influences for starting to make music vary across the genres, disciplines, and decades from The Sex Pistols and Madonna to dance and catharsis, intertwining to make Banquet’s music their own style within a bigger picture of genre.

Who made you want to join a band and start making music?

 D: I think for me, the thing that made me realize that I could play music and be in a band was punk, just because of the simplicity of it. We don't really sound too much like a punk band, but we do, to a certain extent, but that was the point where I was listening to The Clash and The Sex Pistols and thought this is very approachable and I see how you would go about doing this. I'm sure it’s different for everyone else as well.

Q: I didn't really have a specific person who inspired me, I just enjoyed writing songs, and I think that comes part and parcel of what I do. In terms of musical inspiration and people I look to for those kinds of ideas, I’m a big fan of Daniel Ash, very good. Robert Smith, obviously, I seldom find myself inspired by just one person though.

L: I drum primarily because it's cheaper than therapy. It's a fantastic outlet though. It kind of started at 14, and I became very addicted to it. I love the feeling of adrenaline and find it very calming. I also really like connecting with other artists and making music in a group setting. I just think it’s a really good way to connect with another human being, and that’s why I love it.

A: I started doing a lot of dancing, like I was training, and I was inspired by that by the performers who also have music supporting their acts, like Madonna and Michael Jackson. So, I got into a lot of that, and I then started making my own music and ended up playing bass. I'm here now, I don't quite know how this happened but I’m here and I feel I must do it now. It’s a place where I feel I can be myself, where at other times in life I can't.

Times may have changed in terms of how bands and the industry operate since the band had first fallen in love with music, however, Banquet feels that in some cases these changes, although difficult to navigate, have to an extent made things slightly more accessible.

Do you think it’s harder to be in a band now than if you had been in a band 10 years ago?

 L: Marketing is massive now.

D: Maybe, it's hard to say. I mean, there's a lot more of the social media games you have to play nowadays…you've got to do a lot of it yourself like Quinn makes TikToks, and we do our own marketing materials, like posters and flyers and things. You kind of have to do that all yourself. And there's no it's kind of no such thing as managers anymore. There aren’t many people coming and saying they'd like to manage you before you have a record label or any of this stuff, so it’s kind of been forced to be a lot more grassroots. But I don't know, there are pros and cons, but I think it might, it might be a bit harder now.

A: It’s so accessible that everybody's doing so there's so much opportunity for different techniques, you know, ways of doing things, but essentially, it is daunting, because anybody can be in a band and trying to do this.

With the gig drawing closer there’s only time for one final question, and potentially one of the most difficult: if Banquet were to write the soundtrack for a film or TV show given the chance, what would they want to write the music for?

L: Paw Patrol no question jokingly

D: There’s a remake of a film called Nosferatu, a remake of a classic horror film, which I can't imagine what the music will be like for that, and that cult of remakes would be interesting, and I think that would suit us really well.

A: I suppose if they ever did another season of Twin Peaks that would be very cool to do the soundtrack for…or anything, a David Lynch film would be a good one to do. Yeah, or just any kind of dark film, any TV show.

Q: I often just rewatch the same shows, I’m bad at keeping up to date with new films and stuff.

 J: what’s a TV show or film you'd like to have done the soundtrack for then?

Q: We have done Sweeney Todd because most of the songs are not as good as some of the other songs, and we'd also not have to hear Johnny Depp try to sing.

This is a band that will captivate you in every way, from classic influences to ambition and a passionate thirst for the music they make and where they want to be. Now all there is to do is sink your teeth in and witness Banquet for yourself.

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words by:Jess Draper-Mann

photo by Olivia LP Cox

Interview\\ Banquet: the main one for me because when the band started, an idea that always happens, we really want to make the audience feel part of the show

 Banquet can be found on all socials @banquetet.