by Amos Wynn

NO Hot Ashes released their last EP, Skint Kids Disco, back in March and now they have a big summer of festivals lined up.

The Stockport band - Isaac Taylor (vocals and guitar), Luigi Di Vuono (guitar), Jack Walsh (bass) and Matthew Buckley (drums) - is enjoying positive feedback, with most support coming from those closest to them.

“We don’t really see much of our families but we always try to make sure they get first listen to our new stuff. All our mates are big supporters and have always helped us from behind the scenes,” says Luigi.

The band are currently enjoying a mix of headline shows and festival appearances, including Leeds Festival. Luigi admits they're still getting used to seeing crowds singing their songs back to them. "It's crazy," he says, adding that this is the time of year the band love most. "The sun is out and you’re outside. We’re lucky to have the whole experience of travelling and meeting people.”

Luigi believes some bands don’t gig enough to ‘push themselves’ and feels the old-fashioned way of constantly playing is the best way for them. “I think acts who come through reality TV shows like X-Factor can be s**t live if they haven’t gigged an awful lot and built up the craft of playing live and have got big in a deceiving way," he says. "We're comfortable because the stage is our second home.

“We try and go back to a place quite soon after playing there to keep things fresh, if you don’t play there twice in the same year, there's no point.”

Coming from the North and Stockport in particular, has had an effect on the band. “I guess as typically with Northerners we are realistic and pessimistic at the same time. Southerners are probably a bit happier than us. Stockport is quite a miserable place, I don’t think any of us particularly want to stay here and we enjoy travelling away on tour,” says Luigi, adding: “It's not the worst place, and it has moulded the way we are as people with our surroundings and people we know.”

Luigi praises fellow Stockport band Blossoms for putting their hometown on the map. “In recent years they've had major success. They've done really well for us, a lot of their fans now know Stockport and will find us.

"Acts used to say they were from Manchester, now because of Blossoms it (Stockport) seems like a cool place. Sheffield had Arctic Monkeys, Manchester has had loads of big bands. Stockport has gone from a small town to somewhere people know.”

While indie music is the core influence, the band are into genres such as disco, funk and soul. “In some bands they're similar people who dress the same and have the same haircuts, but although we come from the same area we've grown up a bit differently,” says Luigi.

The four-piece formed at school. “We didn’t have a singer for years, we jammed or got other people to sing for us, then we met Isaac and Jack and started to gig properly.”

And where did the name come from? Erm, they saw it on a wheelie bin. “Not much thought went into, we regret not coming up with another one, I don’t think any of us likes it," says Luigi.

The band have plenty planned for the future. “Hopefully we'll have more music and more shows," says Luigi. We're currently in work and at uni, so we'd like to be doing it fulltime.”

With big plans falling into place, this young four-piece could soon be on their way to achieving their goals. Amos Wynn