Having said all that I do appreciate the opportunities that new technologies offer. It's made recording much cheaper for a start. And I love iTunes and iPods. I've a huge CD collection, but I never play most of them, I wouldn't go 'Oh I fancy listening to this CD from 1984', but when a track comes onto your iPod shuffle you're like 'Oh do you remember this band..' - it's like having your own personal radio station. If you can be bothered to upload all the tracks. Stuff like YouTube is fantastic. All those bands we used to listen to in the 80's, that we never saw the videos for (MTV didn't arrive in Europe until 1987) you can now just type their name into YouTube and there they are. It's amazing really, so I think it's a double edged sword, but I think it will make it harder for new bands to survive and at the end of the day that's what you want, new bands coming through.
Finally any pitfalls you'd particularly advise bands to watch out for when starting out in a career in music?
I know it's been said before, but always read the contract! I've never had a problem with a major label, but I did have a problem with the huge legal bills we had to pay and I think it's very tempting when you get offered a deal, especially if it's not worth a huge amount of money, to think it's not worth getting a lawyer to look at the contract, but that can be very dangerous. People do sign contracts without getting proper legal advice and have regretted it. And above all concentrate on the music – and make an extreme record.
El Rey by The Wedding Present is out now on Manifesto in the US and Vibrant in the rest of world. Find out more on the band's MySpace page.
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