“Living the dream” – new band Humbug champion the indie music scene

Rochelle Claxton

New indie rock band Humbug has taken the indie scene by storm after only three months of being a fully-fledged group.

Singer Josh Helmore, lead guitarist Alex High, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Jon McKenry, drummer Sam Igoe and bassist Tom Wills are five lads who have made a smashing effort in launching their new found music career.

With their first headline slot at Brixton Jamm in February, Humbug have landed four gigs in the space of three short months, and have already received interest from underground indie labels.

“2013 is going to be a big year, we’re living the dream,” says Alex.

With their first radio play last December, the Reading-based boys are ready to add to the success of their current self-titled EP with the promise of new songs being revealed during their headline slot at Brixton Jamm on 2 February.

Internet generation

Sam, Josh, Jon and Alex have all been friends since secondary school, but Tom – who has been described by the rest of the band as a “musical genius” – was found via an advertisement on joinmyband.co.uk.

“We were looking for a bassist… Tom just messaged us, asked us if we wanted to jam, and we’ve never looked back since then”, says Sam, who alongside Jon, has written some of the lyrics for the band’s hit songs.

Their musical prowess, however, cannot be attributed to just one person. Unlike most chart toppers of our time, each song has been written through a joint effort from everyone in the band, who use instant messaging to share their ideas:

“Jon will write up some riffs, send them over in iMessenger, Alex will put his solo over the top of it. Then we get to the studio and whack some drums in there. It’s a joint effort really.”

Moving on up

Humbug, as you would expect, have received a lot of support from friends and family, being the first out of their friendship group to start a band. A favourite amongst friends and their fans is “the people’s song”, Goal Getter, which reached over one hundred views in a matter of weeks.

Despite the success of their EP, Humbug intend to keep recording, and we are told to expect an album by the end of the year. For now, head over to humbugband.com for more information about the band, photos and songs. I think we can expect big things from the indie band, who dub 2013 as their “year to shine.”