Hiya Weekend Millionaires (Maisie, Eric, Josh), thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
Thanks for joining us today… Tell us bit about where you are from and how you got into music?
We are originally from Lincolnshire, before we moved to Sheffield. Maisie and Josh met when Maisie auditioned for a band that Josh played guitar in at the time when that band ended Eric, Maisie and Josh started a new band which evolved into ‘Weekend Millionaires’
What’s the live music scene like in Sheffield right now?
There’s always something happening around Sheffield, Sydney and Matilda is really cool, a good venue for seeing upcoming bands and a great place for discovering new artists.
Maisie actually used to work in the Leadmill before it changed management, so she has always been around the live music scene in Sheffield.
Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
Bands that we’re good friends with a few of the members are Nottingham based Kid Spirit and Grimsby based Riverwolf. Both are alt rock bands, kid spirit more a synthy sound and Riverwolf are a little heavier. Great bands to check out.
Do you think its easy to become a victim of of our surrounds sometimes?
I think there is an element of that for sure. We grew up working class, we didn’t have access to a lot of 3rd spaces, or finances to fund the band. We’ve had to beg, steal and borrow to get the record made, buy our own equipment but we’ve made a record we’re really proud of.
What are your ambitions for the band?
We want the band to be our full time job, we want to play festivals, have a community of people that we can share our creative works with and share updates with. It would be great not to have to work our 9-5s and be able to support ourselves through music, and once we’re there then who knows?
Whats your favourite social media platform to use and why?
I think we’re of a generation where all the socials are important. I think Instagram is the one we all use the most, personally. We get a lot more engagement on our facebook posts than tiktok, or insta, but things are just starting out we just have to keep on chipping away at it until it clicks.
We believe its essential to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and X to introduce yourself to all the different types of audiences out there, what’s your thoughts on that?
We think twitter(X) is mostly bots these days, so we don’t see a lot of value in that now. Tiktok & reels I think is where the viral moments happen and where new artists seem to be breaking more often. Facebook is still useful for pulling all of the audience into 1 space.
What’s your view on the Music industry today?
Its in a tricky position for the artists we think, it’s ultra-competitive as well with so many amazing bands being active, and the way to promote is through socials we’re all trying to get to the same audience all the time.
We have some friends that work in A&R and the consensus seems to be that the traditional ways gatekeepers, and tastemakers used to break bands are not landing these days and so it’s depending so much on viral moments, and that’s meaning new genre’s & bands are blowing up that wouldn’t traditionally, which is great
Whats your thoughts on AI generated music?
It’s not music. It should be banned. Art/music/creative writing is all exploring your inner thoughts and getting your feelings out there. I don’t think AI or LLM’s can do that, or will ever do that.
Whats the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
Maisie -It’s weird for me, this was the first time I’ve been in a studio and recorded something we’ve written, you doubt yourself as to what people are going to think, is it as good as we think it is? Will people get it? But you just have to let it go, and get it out there.
Eric – the thing I’ve learnt is that people like what we’ve made. The feedback we’ve heard and the coverage we’ve had from radios playing it, reviews in magazines has been class. We’ve always had a knack for writing catchy hooks, so it’s nice to see the material being put out there and being well received.
Josh – it’s easy to get hung up on being a perfectionist. We’ve recorded at studios where the tracking has been so stop start as you’re trying to get the perfect take and you end up hating the songs through that. We tried hard to do minimal takes and not overdub too much on the record as it just felt more authentic to have those little moments in and we love the raw feel to it.
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
We’re listening to a lot of Blossoms recently. Such a great band. Girl in the year above are a wicked band we’re into as well and one of Maisie’s favourite band at the minute. Amazons are on the list for Eric. Wet leg, Wolf Alice, Sam Fender, Classic the Killers. Guilty pleasures for us are Sugababes, Britney, Chappel Roan, a lot of 90s/00s pop all of these on heavy rotation.
What was your worst experience on stage? Any funny stories to share?
We Played a set once where no matter what we did we couldn’t hear Eric on guitar. We had a panic and were checking through all the patch cables, making sure the volumes were set right, making sure none of his pedals were broken, but it turns out he’d just muted his signal, so the panic was for nothing.
We’ve played to empty rooms where you travel a few hours and no one comes down, so we have to stay positive and entertain the bar staff. We had one gig in Hull where someone jumped up on stage with us and played a solo on the spoons. Maisie sometimes forgetting the words or forgetting where to come in is always a fun one.
Got any fun, funny stories from life on the road?
We played a gig once and the venue had an unofficial minder for us, he followed us everywhere on site, we couldn’t even go to the toilet without him hovering by the doors. After a while he suggested that he and Eric should go this caravan to watch football. It was all a bit weird, he had a caravan tucked away behind the venue, so we all decided follow Eric and ended up 5 of us crammed into what was a dingy, sticky caravan, only meant for 2, awkwardly watching a football match that we weren’t interested in.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
Yes, our new single Dopamine Released last month on streaming and reception has been great! We’re proud of how it sounds. It’s a raw energetic, driving song with a great hook of a chorus. It’s about a journey through addiction and how it can start before you even realise what it is.
What was the recording process like?
We had a great time! Our engineer Connor, at Woodley Moss studios was such a lovely guy. Recording was really chilled out and he gave us space to do what we want and we collaborated really well. It was a good laugh and his sofa was so comfy, and it needed to be with the monster mixing sessions we did there 9am – 4am the next morning one session.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
We’re really happy with it, we’re believers that the imperfections make a record and give it life. So, we could go back and redo all the takes to make them perfect, we could write more counter melodies to go underneath the main hooks, we could add more textures, but we love the raw feel to it, it’s the sound we were aiming for on the budget we had.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Yes, We have another single releasing on 24th august on streaming. We’ve loved the reception to dopamine, and we’re excited to get another single out as well so people can hear more of our work.
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