ATH | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Oh that is so good. I love that. I love that. The name of.

0:03 Speaker 2: The track is my prettiest mistake. The band is Ath and we've got Adam Hughes from Ath with us. We're gonna speak with him in just a second. Welcome everybody. We are, of course enjoying our number two. We're about a little more than halfway through our number two, Numaradosa Matt Connerton unleashed on this Saturday. If you are listening live November twenty second, twenty twenty five, here from the studios of WMNH. And let's go go ahead and get that mic up and get Adam on the line with us. Adam, can you hear us?

0:30 Speaker 3: Hey?

0:31 Speaker 4: How's it going?

0:31 Speaker 2: Man?

0:32 Speaker 1: Good? Good, Welcome to the show. Now. Is anyone else from the band with you or is it just you?

0:37 Speaker 2: Sadly, that's all right, No, we're happy to have you here. I love that song so much. That is so good. And I did listen to some other stuff too from the band, great great stuff, thanks man.

0:53 Speaker 4: Thanks.

0:53 Speaker 2: By the way, so i'm looking at I was gonna ask you where the name Ath comes from, and I'm looking at your name and have seen your middle name. By the way, you and I have the same middle name, Thomas, And I'm wondering is that yeah, yeah, so we have something in common. I'm wondering, is that where the name comes from? At you are at H in effect?

1:11 Speaker 3: Yeah, something, it's yeah, along those lines. He started off as a solo project.

1:17 Speaker 1: Ah, yes, that seems.

1:20 Speaker 3: When when the lads joined in, that's that's when we decided we're going to put it down to a H instead not just me.

1:27 Speaker 1: Oh, I got you. That seems to be a trend lately. It's funny. Uh. I don't know if you heard.

1:31 Speaker 2: In the previous segment, I talked with Jamie Higgs and other great artists from from the UK, and yeah, he was telling me about how, you know, he started out as a solo artist and now he's you know, he's put a band together. He's still performing as Jamie Higgs, but but he's got a band with him. And that that seems to be the trend, you know. Uh, the sole artists songwriters, they yeah, get a little lonely and works.

1:53 Speaker 3: Yeah. I think I think there's usually one person who starts it off yep.

1:58 Speaker 4: On you bring people around you to help you play live.

2:02 Speaker 3: Usually and then and yeah, I'd turned into such a collaborative process that I thought we should just be a band and we're better as a collective rather than me just on my own.

2:16 Speaker 2: Well that's that tells you too, that you've really got something there, right when you when you have something that sort of happens organically like that, you know, you put this, you put this group of people together to play your songs, and then it ends up being so good you're like, oh, we should just make this a band.

2:29 Speaker 1: I mean that's pretty cool. So was that not your intention originally?

2:36 Speaker 2: Like, like, had that not happened, had that not gone as well as it was, do you think you'd still be a solo artist?

2:45 Speaker 3: I don't Yeah, maybe, I don't know. I wouldn't have given up on music.

2:48 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course, never give up on music.

2:50 Speaker 4: Yeah, you never know where life takes you.

2:52 Speaker 3: But out of hope that was in a band. I always think, I always think the process of music is but as a collective rather than a singular person. Yeah yeah, yeah, so I'd always like to be with other people.

3:09 Speaker 4: Coluse, I'm not that good?

3:14 Speaker 1: What was it? Was it easy? It sounds like for you because some people struggle with this.

3:19 Speaker 2: It sounds like for you, though, it wasn't that difficult to kind of let go a little bit and open yourself up to that, because some people can't do it. Some people say, you know, I've got these songs that I've written, and these are my songs, and if you're coming in, you're going to perform them my way. But these are my songs, and and people are some people are very protective sort of their work that way. But it sounds like for you it wasn't really difficult to open up.

3:41 Speaker 3: No, absolutely, no, I mean that takes for like great pride and all the stuff that we're doing right now, especially that it's all written by me. Yeah, but there's there's an element of I don't care. I don't care, I couldn't come. I'd like I'd like people to hear my ideas and projects. Yeah, that I couldn't care if it's my face on it or if I stood at the back of it.

4:06 Speaker 4: No, that's like making music.

4:08 Speaker 1: Man, that's excellent. Yeah.

4:09 Speaker 2: Yeah, you don't have your own ego getting in the way, which is good because.

4:13 Speaker 4: Some definitely do.

4:15 Speaker 3: I definitely do, probably do let where you go take over a little bit sometimes really Yeah, Yeah, I mean I think everybody in music.

4:25 Speaker 4: You've got to have a bit of an ego. You've got to have a bit of pride about it that you're doing.

4:30 Speaker 1: Yeah so throwing but but but it's not. At the same time, it's not getting in the way.

4:37 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not. It's not getting in the way. I'm just I let it. I let it do his thing.

4:42 Speaker 4: I guess.

4:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely So how long how long has ath officially been a band? It has it been less than a year? It seems like it's kind of new, right.

4:52 Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I guess it would be the first eighty h gig.

4:59 Speaker 4: It's been about eight.

5:00 Speaker 3: From maybe Oh no, sorry June, okay, oh yeah, so really really not that long headline gig when we decided we're going to cement it as eighty Hates the Band rather than Adam Thomas Hues.

5:16 Speaker 4: And the band.

5:17 Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're off. You're off to a very strong start, that's for sure.

5:21 Speaker 4: Thank you, Thank you man.

5:23 Speaker 1: Absolutely.

5:23 Speaker 2: Now, as as these members have come into the band, are they also contributing to the songwriting as you go forward?

5:29 Speaker 1: Or is that is that still more just you? Or how does that work?

5:33 Speaker 3: There's there's no rules, there's there's no rules, man. There's We've got to the backing guitarist Paddy. He He's wrote a song that I think will end up being one of an an eighty hate song. And I've got no wells or anything, you know what I mean. I'm not going to let that bother me because I want to be a song right.

5:56 Speaker 1: Yeah.

5:57 Speaker 4: If it's a good song man, we're going to do it.

5:59 Speaker 1: Yeah.

6:00 Speaker 3: But so far it has just been me who wrote the lyrics and melodies usually. Yeah, but I don't care going forward.

6:10 Speaker 1: I noticed.

6:10 Speaker 4: I guess I'll just bring some ideas.

6:12 Speaker 1: Yeah.

6:13 Speaker 2: No, that's great. I noticed too. Now tell me if I'm if I'm right about this. Uh looking at looking at the backgrounds of the members of the band, are you guys all like, uh, majors in music at university?

6:27 Speaker 4: No?

6:28 Speaker 3: Uh, kind of kind of okay, kind of We've got I think most of the lads are studying or did study at university something to do with music.

6:41 Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, so that's interesting. So you're all, I mean, you all know what you're doing.

6:47 Speaker 1: You know you're not.

6:49 Speaker 2: You're not You're not just dabbling in this like you you know you're at a young age. You're you're all pros, like you've got some some actual education in music, which is great.

7:00 Speaker 4: Yeah, I definitely don't flaunt that about that. I know what I'm doing.

7:05 Speaker 3: I'm a very basic intermediate player myself. But we've definitely got two or three of the lads in the band classically they know what they're on about. Yeah, so that really helps me.

7:19 Speaker 2: No, that's excellent. Yeah. And then so in terms of since you've played your first show as a band, you said that was in June.

7:27 Speaker 3: Right, Yes, as a under the Ah collective. Okay, we did play a few shows before.

7:34 Speaker 2: That, ohta, So now since then, I mean my impression is you've you've got a lot of momentum in a short time.

7:44 Speaker 1: Are you Are you playing out a lot? Are you doing a lot of shows?

7:47 Speaker 4: We have been.

7:48 Speaker 3: Yeah, we've been been shows every week every week, which our size and at the start of a musical project. I guess that is a little bit unheard of that you could be playing every week. But yeah, no, we're trying. We think live music's our favorite the music. Oh yeah, playing in front of people?

8:11 Speaker 1: Did you perform it?

8:12 Speaker 2: Tell me if I'm saying this correctly. Wigan or Wagan Warriors Rugby Wigan.

8:17 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, we played at that stadium once for that wasn't no longer will.

8:24 Speaker 4: It was to open up a big match for them, which was a really big moment for us. Oh wow, one of the best cakes I've ever played, No kidding.

8:32 Speaker 1: How many people were at that? That must have been a big crowd, right for something like that.

8:35 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the it was twenty to twenty two thousand, Oh my god, yeah the tickets sold.

8:44 Speaker 3: I think when we were playing it was more like fifteen or sixteen. Yeah, but definitely it was still and you know what's crazy, man, it's I was far less nervous.

8:57 Speaker 4: For that than plenty of the other gigs that we've done. Fifty people.

9:02 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I think I kind of understand. I mean, obviously, you know, that's a you know, playing in front of thousands and thousands of people at an event like that's a big deal. But I can kind of I can kind of guess. I mean, I'm curious to hear what you say, but I can kind of guess that maybe because when you're in a when you're in a in front of fifty people, that's just such a much more intimate thing.

9:21 Speaker 3: And uh, yeah, I think every art is so no matter how big or small you whoever you talk to will say the same thing. When you play to fifty or one hundred people, it's so much more intimate and you focus in on all the stuff that you doing even more than when you playing in front of thousands of people.

9:43 Speaker 1: Yeah.

9:44 Speaker 2: Uh, you know, and obviously you know there's people, like if you're on stage, you look out into that into a small crowd and you can see people you actually know, and.

9:56 Speaker 4: You see the eyes looking at you. You see the eyes yeah.

9:59 Speaker 3: In and it could just be a bit of a like a blur. It's just like a wall of stuff is in front of you.

10:06 Speaker 1: Yeah.

10:07 Speaker 2: I remember a long time ago reading an interview with Don Henley of the Eagles. He was talking about how when the Eagles first got really big, he would get terrible stage fright. So when because he was afraid of being in front of these big crowds, so he would intentionally, you know, he never really wore glasses, but he wouldn't put his contact lenses and because he was nearsighted, but he wouldn't put his contacts in before they went on stage because he didn't want to be able to see the crowd of people, so he'd be behind the drums and and to him it was like, yeah, he could hear them, but he couldn't actually see them.

10:39 Speaker 4: So awesome. That's that's awesome to be honest.

10:42 Speaker 3: That is something similar when I did most of my eyes are closed for most of the most of the show.

10:50 Speaker 1: Oh, there you go, Yeah, there you go.

10:52 Speaker 4: It just happens.

10:53 Speaker 3: I think it's like a subconscious thing that it did.

10:57 Speaker 1: Yeah, it just closes because that's not.

10:59 Speaker 3: Thinking of about the music, I guess, and thinking about my playing and singing rather than thinking about who's staring at me.

11:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, that makes sense. Also, see something here about the Deaf Institute in Manchester. Obviously that's Manchester, UK where in so no one's so none of our listeners are confused. We're in Manchester and yeah of course. But and did you sell that out the Deaf Institute in Manchester?

11:23 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, the first iconic venue you sold that. That was the first gig we've first headline gig we did is a band and it was the best moment of my life so far. Wow.

11:35 Speaker 1: Oh that's incredible. That's incredible.

11:37 Speaker 2: So what is kind of the forward trajectory for you guys, because this is a subject that comes up all the time on the show, is talking about strategy in terms of releasing music and the cadence with which you release music. And I know you've got some singles, but did I read this correctly too, that you've you've got a lot of things you've recorded that you haven't released yet.

11:59 Speaker 1: Is that?

12:01 Speaker 3: Yeah, Yeah, we've got about we're sitting on. We're sitting on a lot of music right now, to be honest to if you that we're ready to next year, there's going to be a bit of a refresh with at H where we we go for a very not different sound, but we're a sound we're very happy and proud of and we're just waiting for the right moment to kick that off. I think that's going to be January first. I'm very excited for next year's.

12:32 Speaker 2: Do you know in terms of releasing that music as you do that in the starting in January, the refresh as you put it, Uh, do you know is there going.

12:39 Speaker 1: To be an album do you think? Or or is there going to be another series of singles or.

12:44 Speaker 3: There'll be a series of singles? First and we're gonna we're gonna lead up to a big EP that hopefully will be next year. Okay, that is the plant and I'm very very proud of it.

12:57 Speaker 4: I can't say much about the EP.

12:59 Speaker 2: Though, Okay, okay, understood, understood, Well, you gave us some clues.

13:04 Speaker 1: That's good. That's good.

13:05 Speaker 4: Yeah.

13:06 Speaker 1: Yeah.

13:07 Speaker 2: And then so the single, oh me, well, actually, let me ask you this. I'm going to kind of backtrack a little bit, you know, because because we did play the single, which I love, my Prettiest Mistake, You've got other music online that I'm curious if this is actually from. There's another track that I found of yours that I love called left Behind.

13:27 Speaker 1: But is that is that sort of pre band officially behind?

13:33 Speaker 2: Yeah?

13:34 Speaker 4: Okay, Well, to be honest, all of.

13:37 Speaker 3: It was the last two Prettiest Mistake and left Behind were made with the band, okay, but they were made when.

13:44 Speaker 4: It was a solo act.

13:47 Speaker 1: Oh okay.

13:47 Speaker 3: Whereas the stuff that's all been made for next year is all the band stuff.

13:53 Speaker 1: I gotcha.

13:54 Speaker 4: So yeah, but no, a very left behind kids kind of similar to what we're doing next.

14:00 Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely, I'm sorry.

14:01 Speaker 2: Yeah, and and thank you. I the correct title title is left Behind Kid. I think that through the kid the kid is in parentheses and the title, So in my mind, I just ignored the kid part, but left behind good. That's a great song too. I think I'm probably going to play that at the end of our our segment. And also also I might sneak in, Uh you did? I found this on YouTube? You guys did a cover of Arizona by the by Wonder Horse and this is the Barn live session. Now that's not a show that I'm familiar with, but is that a Is that a YouTube show where they have musicians come in or what is the Barn?

14:39 Speaker 4: The Barn is completely us. It's our rehearsal space. Is the Bar?

14:45 Speaker 1: Oh no kidding? Oh okay, yeah, yes.

14:48 Speaker 3: So when we do some recordings in we like to call them the Barn sessions.

14:52 Speaker 4: Oh you just this shed that.

14:54 Speaker 3: We've turned into a studio. We've just named it the Barn. And then you're going to see a lot more of the Bar next year. Definitely.

15:02 Speaker 4: We love the live stuff.

15:04 Speaker 2: That's fantastic. Yeah, because I also love this. I love the I might sneak this in too. I might play both of those at the end of our conversation if I have time, because I also love this. I'm not familiar with the band Wonder Horse.

15:17 Speaker 3: Oh man, you need to do it.

15:20 Speaker 4: Do it?

15:20 Speaker 3: Yeah, fucking when you get home tonight, put your headphones on and listen to their out of them.

15:25 Speaker 1: Where they Where are they from? Are they? Are they from over there? Yeah?

15:29 Speaker 3: They were UK acts, okay, from like London and Cornwall, and I think you'll be into them if you like you a bit more grunge, punky rock. I guess it's been adopted into the indie scene really right now.

15:45 Speaker 4: But at the heart of it, it's it's it's.

15:48 Speaker 3: Punk and grunge, okay, and they are possibly our biggest inspirations.

15:54 Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, I'll check them out because you guys did this cover of Arizona and it's really good, really good, really good. Well, Adam, that time does go quickly, but we will definitely have you back on in the future. I'd love to as Ath is releasing new music, we'd love to have you back on.

16:11 Speaker 1: Love what You're doing to, Love to really great star.

16:17 Speaker 2: Before we let you go, Like I said, we're gonna hit this track left Behind another great song, but before we go, where's the best place for people to go online to keep up with everything that you guys are doing.

16:28 Speaker 3: I'd say everybody go and check out the Instagram. We were very on it with the Instagram. We're posting announcements for shows and music that's coming out.

16:38 Speaker 4: Okay, so it's.

16:39 Speaker 3: Official at H on all social media platforms.

16:44 Speaker 4: Definitely check out the Instagram, guys.

16:46 Speaker 2: Absolutely all right, we'll let you go for now. We're gonna hit this track. But Adam Hughes of at H, thank you so much, my friend. And like I said, we will definitely definitely talk again in the future, but absolutely as well.

16:59 Speaker 3: Oh that would be excellently We'll jump over that side of the pund fantastic.

17:04 Speaker 2: Can't wait, can't wait? All right, Adam, we'll talk to you soon. Take care see him man, bye bye.

17:09 Speaker 1: All right.

17:09 Speaker 2: That is Adam Hughes from the band at H and as promised, let's give this suspend. This is another great song from them. This is called Left Behind Kid,