Music Q&A:
The Slow Show

Manchester five-piece The Slow Show will release their new single Augustine on 29 June. The follow up to recent single Bloodline, which received spins on BBC 6Music and Radio 2, Augustine is taken from the band’s acclaimed debut album White Water, which is out now. They play Leeds Brudenell Games Room, 4 June and Manchester’s Gorilla, 8 June, where The Big Issue in the North Trust will be fundraising. Lead singer Rob Goodwin explains why.

How long have you been together and how does it feel to be gaining recognition?
We’ve been working on our debut album White Water for about two years. We wanted to record something that would stand the test of time, something we’d be proud of. It’s great to get recognition for it, hearing people speak so positively about something we’ve spent so much time and energy on is lovely. We’re very grateful.

Who do you draw influence from and how would you describe your sound? We’re influenced more by instrumentation than other artists. We’re all big fans of film scores and orchestral music, northern brass bands obviously influence our music too.

What can we expect from your live shows?
Hopefully the live shows are uplifting and emotive. We try to deliver the songs with the emotion and feeling that we had when we wrote the songs. This hopefully keeps the performance as honest as possible.

Does the brass section appear in your live shows?
Yes, always. The brass is such a big part of our sound it’s really important the brass section always tour with us. We also try and take strings and a small choir whenever possible.

Tell me about your work with the Big Issue in the North trust.
We are looking forward to supporting them at our UK northern dates where our fans can interact and contribute to help with the continuing problem of homelessness.

Is homelessness an issue close to your hearts?
It’s great to be working with the Big Issue in the North on our UK tour. Hopefully we can support the charity at our gigs and if it helps raise awareness a little we’d be very pleased. Being a Manchester band the Big Issue is something we’ve always been around. I can’t imagine Manchester city centre without the Big Issue vendors, they are fantastic people and we hope we can help by supporting them at our shows.

Antonia Charlesworth