Chris: I’m originally from Leeds, and so initially I wanted to get as far as possible from Leeds and home, but found myself drawn back to it. At the time I was in a different band and didn’t feel like throwing it away. It’s funny how things work out, as that band fell apart within the year, and I formed Ellen and the escapades with Ellen.
Ellen: I was born here, that I didn’t have much choice in, but I did choose to stay here. I left when I went to uni in Huddersfield, but only because they didn’t do the course here that I was after. I didn’t last long though, it wasn’t the place for me. I was in a band here, and I just preferred it, there was a lot more going on for me and I was happier here.
Chris: The euphoric feeling of handing in a big assignment. It used to be such a communion event. You’d have to queue for ages to hand in your assignment to some little old lady who’d insist on stamping everything, it took forever. But the wait would be worth it, as then you’d get your goal scoring celebration opportunity as you’d ran down the line of queuing friends tormenting the others still stuck at the back of the queue. For a few seconds you’d feel on top of the world… By the second year they changed all hand-ins to online submissions. That’s when the magic died.
Andy: The other day I saw this massively butch Hell’s Angels dude running down the street, fending off the rain with a ladybird umbrella. Obviously there are other good memories, Leeds is a great city, but that tops it for me.
Chris: Seeing a secret Corinne Bailey Rae gig of gospel and soul covers with her original band. People in the audience were crying, it was so spiritually moving.
Andy: Me and Jeff went to see T model Ford which was pretty memorable, not for him though: there were signs everywhere saying ‘don’t buy drinks for the performer’ but he’d shout “JD TIME!” after each song and people would obediently top up his pint glass. He played for hours and must have had about 4 pints of the stuff, not bad for an 85 year old!
Ellen: There are loads of nice parks around here….. Hyde Park tends to be where all the students are, there are some cool vintage shops and cafes there but if you fancy somewhere quieter with nice lakes you should visit Roundhay Park or Golden Acre. There are loads of things to do, the best thing is just to explore, there are some really nice other little towns around Leeds too.
Andy: Erm, in a bar? Some of them have beer gardens…It’s sometimes nice to go out into the dales too and visit some of the quaint towns out there. If you can make it as far as Masham you can visit the Black Sheep and Theakstons breweries and make it worth the while.
Chris: It’s a lot friendlier than some places we’ve been, there’s also so much live music in Leeds its ridiculous. There are your real community vibe venues, they’re my favourite places to play, and that’s where a lot of cool bands will play on their first tours.
Ellen: Leeds is great for music, it’s really diverse so there are loads of different bands playing in different bars and venues. We like playing the folky acoustic kind of nights- there are quite a few good ones around.
Andy: It’s always good to play to a home crowd as some of the people who come to see us have followed us since we first started, we’ve got to know a lot of promoters and sound guys too so most gigs in Leeds are just like hanging out with your mates.
Ellen: I’d say just make sure you venture out of the town centre and the obvious areas cos it’s a big place and there’s more to it than that. But there is a ton of great live music and some really cool bars. Andy: I’d say it’s worth spending the time to get involved in the local music scene and not just go to the big selling gigs at the bigger venues. There’s loads of talent hidden just under the surface which goes unnoticed by a lot of people.
Chris: Also most students miss the trick of using the city market and go for tesco home delivery. Last thing on a day if you’re brave enough go haggle yourself a bargain from the locals, you’d be amazed how may ripe bananas for 10p you can get.
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