Supporting Local Talent: UNDERPLAY at The Railway

Everyone loves a bit of local live music, right? Well this Sunday at The Railway, Winchester, is the place to be if you like supporting bands and venues in YOUR area.

With the sad news that the Joiners is struggling financially, and many other local venues finding times tough, now is the time to make the most of the fantastic venues around Hampshire!

UNDERPLAY are a local band from just up the road in Winchester who do this, that, and the other, with various musical instruments. I caught up with frontman and bassist Dave for a chat and a beverage.

Afternoon. First things first what is the story behind the name ‘Underplay’? Sounds somewhat sinister….

I’d like to say that there was an interesting story behind it, but sadly there isn’t one. We were looking for a name, and we hadn’t got any decent idea so we just had a quick flick through a dictionary and thought it sounded nice. I guess it can be interpreted in a few ways but really there isn’t much to it.

Each to their own! Now we’ve cleared that up I guess the next thing people are dying to know is what sort of band would you compare yourselves to? Are you the new Take That, AC/DC or god forbid One Direction?

We’re influenced by a lot of bands; I would say we’re kind of a mix between The Cure, Arctic Monkeys and The Smiths. But we listen to a variety of stuff – Charlie, our guitarist, listens to a lot of funk and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I listen to loads of Manic Street Preachers, and Jack, our drummer, is mainly into rock bands like the Foo Fighters!

The intimacy of small venues is a great experience for fans and bands alike (Image credit: James Polley)

Good. The Tab hates One Direction with an unbridled fury so that is exactly what we were hoping to hear. What would you say is your best song and do you have any exciting tracks coming out soon we can look forward to?

We have a song called ‘The Stalker Song’, which is going to be on the EP that we’re currently working on and is a lot of fun to play. We had a go at recording a video for it, which was basically me following a girl round Winchester high street late at night – it was meant to be a serious video but I’ve had a look at the demo and it just looks funny! We’re going to take a break from gigging soon to get some new songs done, as I think people who’ve seen us a few times are probably bored of hearing us play the same songs every time!

Ok…moving on…what do you as a band have planned for the future? How long before we see you tearing up the main stage at Glastonbury?

We’d love to continue rocking local venues, and get some more songs recorded. When that’s done we’re going to stick them up for people to download for free. It’ll be our gift to you! And with regards to Glastonbury – ha, we’ll have to wait and see about that; watch this space!

And finally a message for your adoring fans at The Tab and worldwide?

We love you all, thanks for your support!

PS. You can see us next at The Railway in Winchester on the 11th November (Sunday). Doors open at 7pm. Only £3!

Thanks to James Polley Photography for the pictures.