Scarlet Harlots: Exclusive Interview

Birmingham Punk/dub Band Threaten to Steal Orange Unsigned Act Crown

Jan 24, 2009

Suite 101 goes backstage at the Orange Unsigned Act semi final to catch up with the competition's favourite Brummie wildcards, The Scarlet Harlots.

Orange Unsigned Act draws to a conclusion this Sunday with the winner finally to be decided from The Scarlet Harlots, Hip Parade and Tommy Reilly after last week’s semi final saw Bo Bruce and Toby Sebastian leaving the competition.

The Scarlet Harlots are sure to be remembered as the wildcards of the competition. They’ve got a jungle-infused indie punk/dub sound, which lends a breath of the unconventional to proceedings, and a loyal public fanbase which saw them getting voted back in to the competition just a week after being knocked out by judges Lauren Laverne, Alex James and Simon Gavin.

Suite 101 caught up with the Harlots’ Sam at last week’s semi final to find out his take on the whole experience.

The Public Vote and Likely Winners

Suite 101: So you’re back in the competition, that must have been quite a rush last week.

Sam: Yeh it was wicked man. It was amazing to get voted back in by the public.

Suite 101: Apart from yourselves obviously who would you like to see win the competition?

Sam: To get signed, and to win, I think would suit Tommy the best. Simon Gavin likes his solo artists, so that would fit him well. But maybe Hip Parade, too.

Suite 101: You said there ‘to get signed’. Do you feel that there’s maybe different categories of performers in this competition?

Sam: I just think that in terms of winning the competition and going on to a label, it would suit Tommy better. And I think there are different levels of where everybody’s at in terms of how much work they’ve got to do.

Suite 101: There are some great performers in the competition this year, with yourselves and Hip Parade, and there are the slower, singer/songwriter acoustic types in the form of Tommy and the “babyfaced assassin” Toby Sebastian. What sort of act do you think should be winning this competition?

Sam: Us really! We are different. In terms of music we have a different approach. It would be healthy to have that noticed in a competition like this. But that’s not always the way it happens is it? So we’ll see.

Lauren Laverne and Keeping Simon Gavin Happy

Suite 101: Lauren Laverne has championed you throughout the competition, and all the judges have had pretty positive comments for you today, for what’s it worth with the decision now in public hands. Which of the judges’ opinions do you value the most?

Sam: I respect them all. Lauren is really great with what she says and she’s really encouraging. But I think we all have to listen to Simon Gavin a little bit more, because if he’s not happy with who wins they’ve got a bit of a situation there [since he will go on to work with the competition’s winning artist]. But they are all worth listening to.

Winning Over Alex James

Suite 101: And Alex James, possibly the coolest man in Britpop? It must be nice getting his feedback on your work too?

Sam: Yeh he’s great. He hasn’t been massively into us for a while, but I think we’ve kind of won him round. He likes everything to be quite straightforward for this show. I don’t know what his tastes are outside of this, but he definitely sticks to his role as judge for this show.

National Uproar and Loyal Fans

Suite 101: As Tommy put it there was “national uproar” when you guys were dropped from the competition a few weeks ago, and I think it was always obvious who was going to be voted back in by the public. All the other acts speak so highly of you too. How do you think you have managed to build yourselves such credibility?

Sam: We’ve come into the competition the same as we’ll leave it. This isn’t the be all and end all for us. We’re honest about everything that we do, and we believe in what we’re doing. I think people must pick up on that.

Competition Highlights, Favourite Moments

Sam: The best bits have been getting to know everybody, meeting Murph [from the Scarlet Harlots’ ‘mentor’ band The Wombats], having a really good chat with Lauren, and getting out to the public. Having the public leaving messages on our MySpace has really encouraged us, because they’re really getting into us.

Suite 101: And I guess that what this is all about really, everything comes down to the public as they’re the ones who will be buying the winner’s records.

Sam: Yeh and it’s been great. We’ve got to where we wanted to be in the sense that people know about our music now and people are coming to our MySpace.

Fans on MySpace

Suite 101: What would you like to say to all those fans who’ve been leaving you messages?

Sam: I’d like to say thanks for coming on board with us. And I’d like to tell them to stick with us because we will have something for them in the near future, definitely.