This week Source spoke to the three members of Prose, a dynamic hip hop acoustic trio hailing from the mean streets of Stretford, Manchester. It’s rap but not as you know it. With heartfelt and eloquent bars spoken over an acoustic backdrop courtesy of Dave Stone and Lee Royle, the sound of Prose blends the emotional turmoil of The Streets with the melodic brilliance of Oasis. The group are on the cusp of releasing their four-track EP ‘What If’ and after a busy year of festivals and song writing, the lads were eager to tell Source all about their journey…
Mike Murray = rap, vocals
Dave Stone = songwriter, producer, bassist, vocals
Lee Royle = acoustic and electric guitar, vocals
Good afternoon lads! Prose is going from strength to strength at the moment, but what brought you together?
Mike: We’ve all been close since we were young. Lee used to be in a rock band and Dave was a producer but he also played guitar and wrote songs. Dave used to give me beats and music to write to and he also made music with Lee but we never worked together as a group. I approached Dave one time when I went to record some songs and told him I wanted to do something with a live feel, a live guitar track and something with real instruments. He said, ‘Perfect, let’s go and see Lee.’ So we made one song with him and didn’t stop making songs after that. We met up every week from then on.
How long have you been rapping for?
I remember having a lyric in primary school… I wouldn’t say it was rapping, more like a party trick. I had that one rap for a few years and when I started secondary school I started actually writing raps so yeah, how old am I?
Dave: Twenty-five, haha.
Mike: So I’d say about 13 years.
And how long have you guys been together as a three piece?
Lee: We’ve been together for easily six or seven years. As soon as we got together as a three piece and started making tunes we just never stopped. We started doing open mics and little local gigs and stuff.
Mike: We were making music at home and never even thought to take it live. It was just for the fun of it then one day we decide, ‘Actually, let’s start performing properly!’
Lee: With Dave and Mike being cousins and me knowing Dave, we were mates as well so it was easy to be around each other. It’s not easy any more. [lots of laughing]
You’ll be sick of the sight of each other now…
Yeah exactly! Hahaha
So how has 2015 been for you?
Mike: We started the year by finishing the album in February and then carried on writing. We’ve had a few gigs but we’ve all been waiting for the release of the EP! We’re on to writing our second album now. It’s exciting; we’re trying to stay five steps ahead of the game.
You are all very proud of your home city. What is it about Manchester that has inspired you musically?
Lee: Firstly our family and friends but also the music that has come from Manchester, like Oasis and the Stone Roses.
Mike: And the rain! The rain keeps us nice and moody. I’d say for myself as rapper it’s been growing up in Manchester and personal experiences which have influenced me. I wear my heart on my sleeve don’t I…
Lee: He’ll tell you a deep story then he’ll tell you a joke two seconds later.
You did a few festivals in the summer – do you prefer playing there or intimate gigs?
Mike: We love it, that’s one of our favourite things – getting to travel and play live.
Dave: We’d obviously like to do a lot more [festivals] – Barn on the Farm was really good fun!
What’s Barn on the Farm like?
Mike: It was really chilled and relaxed. We stood out a lot there which actually helps us a lot. It’s a big farm with loads of guitar, folk and acoustic bands but because we come with a bit of a hip hop influence, everyone seemed to get quite excited about us because we were different to the rest.
And do you all get on quite well?
Mike: Yeah, we live with each other and we’ve been together day in day out for the last four years. We spend more time with each other than our own girlfriends. We love each other.
Lee: I spend more time with these two than anyone else in my life!
Your genre has been described as loads of different things like rap fusion and acoustic hip hop. Can you put a label on it or do you prefer to let people make their own minds up?
Dave: It’s always been difficult to describe, we end up saying that it’s guitar based hip hop with blues and rock but that’s still not a good enough description.
Lee: It’s always good to hear what people come up with and see what bands they’re influenced by. It’s hip hop because that’s always been a focus and Mike’s rap is a big part of the records. For me and Dave from day one we’ve always tried to create a song with a rap verse rather than a hip hop tune with a rapper. Each element is important.
Can you describe the music writing process?
Mike: We’re all fully involved from the start and we all bring our own elements to the tunes.
Dave: It could start with me or Lee coming up with a song idea and then Mike writing to it, or Mike having a lyric idea.
Lee: Or we start with a blank canvas and put our heads together. There’s no ego, we respect each other’s suggestions during process and build our music together.
You collaborated with Emeli Sandé – how did you first meet her and how was she to work with?
Mike: We met her through Naughty Boy (Shahid Khan) when he brought us down to London. [Khan and Sande created a publishing venture with the same name as his album, Hotel Cabana, to help nurture young talent]
Lee: She’s a songwriter and a lyricist so she really appreciated Mike’s lyrics. She’s an amazing songwriter and really down to earth so she’s easy to work with.
Mike: We supported her at a Shelter gig for the homeless charity in London. It was an awesome gig in a big church and about 700 people. So she helped us with that. I performed with her and Naughty Boy at a gig in Brixton too.
You’re coming to Glasgow to play King Tut’s soon. Have you ever been to the city before?
Dave: We haven’t actually! We heard about King Tut’s being voted the best venue by NME. Every city we go to,we like to challenge the locals on whether they can keep up with our drinking. I hope Glasgow can handle us.
Well you’re in for a treat! Have you been to Scotland before?
Mike: This is going to be our first time! I think I’ve got Scottish family…
What are your plans after the release of the EP?
Lee: We will eventually release another EP then move onto the album. We’ll try to do as many gigs as possible! Mike: We’re excited to fit in some more gigs in towards the end of this year. We can’t wait!
Prose’s EP will be available on the 16th October on Itunes and you can catch them in NME’s best small venue in Britain and “quite possibly one of the best small venues in the world,” King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow, the day before the release. I imagine they’ll be VERY excited bunch of lads.
Check out their songs Mountains, What If and I’m Sick and catch the band at King Tut’s on 15 October. Find tickets here.
Pre-order Prose’s debut EP ‘What If’ from iTunes here.
