The indie genre is fast becoming something of the past as it shoots down our drains and becomes something else, but we still hear many indie bands making the mainstream even though they sound nothing more than a repeat of Maximo Park.

Many of these will fall but there are some who are here to stay in our consciousness. What do bands have to do these days to remain alive?

Pull Tiger Tail (PTT) are an example of a band that must prove themselves to stay with us, and not be cast off as another Kaiser Chiefs.

Matt Byard chats to Marcus, Davo and Jack of PTT before their gig in Wolverhampton to see what they reckon:

What do bands have to do to remain in the mainstream and prove their worth?
Marcus: “To come back with a really good second album is really important”.
Davo: “I think people just ran out of really good music” [Laughs].
Marcus: “You’ve just got to roll with the punches. Your first album is a collection of songs that you’ve been writing for years whereas the second album is in a short space of time, it’s a test as to whether you can adapt to that”.
Jack: “You can’t over analyse your music too much like some bands do. Like where bands try and do a concept album, when they should just chill out and write how they always have”.
Marcus: “The main thing is to just write a really strong second album and stay like you always have”.
Davo: “And it’s important not to try and make your mark too much and think about how people are gunna look at you and have great expectations of a second album, because then your gunna feel the pressure”.

What do you think to the British music scene now; where do you fit in?
Davo: “I think it’s quite good, we fit well into the lad/rock thing that’s around at the minute, the music scene’s always gunna be the same, there’s shit bands and good bands”.
Marcus: “I don’t think we’ve ever really tried to fit in, if you try to corner a particular niche then you shouldn’t be making music, you should be banished!” [Laughs].

Do you think there’s still money and popularity to be made from the indie genre?
Davo: “It’s hard to say. There’s only a handful of bands that make it, out of the thousands of bands that are out there. And the shelf-life of bands and a bands expectancy is getting shorter these days so it’s hard to tell who can make it, it’s down to the music”.

Musically, who do think your biggest influences are?
Marcus: “We never really set out with any real sound that we wanted to sound like. We just had songs that we’d written and you go from there”.
Davo: “I reckon it was probably Smashing Pumpkins that did it for us”.
Marcus: “Yea, when we were like thirteen and you’re all asking each other: ‘can you play this by the Pumpkins? Yeah, I can’t either’” [Laughs].
Jack: “I think it’s bad how bands seem to model themselves on their influences and certain records. There’s no point, those records were amazing because they were right for the time. Like OK Computer, it shouldn’t be just done again”.

You’ve all been to university, what do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t in a band?
Davo: “I’d probably run a record label because that’s where the money is” [Laughs].
Jack: “I think being on the right side of music would be good actually, producing maybe”
[PTT’s tour manager Ant shouts up]: “Be a tour manager!” [Everyone laughs].

Being mates from an early age, does it make it easier to write music?
Davo: “Yea I suppose, you can be honest with each other”
Marcus: “It’s interesting, people always ask us, ‘is it hard living with each other all the time?’ We’ve been on tour and recording since January and been with each other all the time. But we do get a holiday in a week, but we all go on holiday together as well”.
Davo: “We can’t get away from each other”.

Do you think you’d ever be forced into the indie image/genre? Do you think you could shake that?
Marcus: “I don’t think were really an indie band anyway, we’ve got a pop sense about us more”
Jack: “I think people will call us that, there’s no control over that”.
Marcus: “It’s just stupid, naming and labelling bands so you know what they sound like isn’t good. It serves a purpose but the reason why some music is so amazing is because you can’t describe or define it”.
Davo: “I think we’ll be an indie band in the way that Sonic Youth were an indie band”.
Marcus: “I think to use the word ‘alternative’ would be safer maybe”.

The Wolverhampton civic is a small venue, do you think this is the last time you’ll be performing a gig of this size?
Jack: “Hope so” [Laughs].
Marcus: “This is our first headlining tour and it’s been great and we’ve had good reports. But there’s no way to know what kind of position your band’s in until you’re out on your own”.

Pull Tiger tail seem like a band wise beyond their years and are happy to chat openly about other bands and the music scene. Just being three mates from London who formed only two years ago, they are a great example of the level of music that Britain pumps out their stereos.

With a good knowledge of music and being huge music fans themselves, they know what they have to do to remain in the mainstream but not to get too bogged down by trying to do it.