The duo of Steve Boom and Neil Steward are The English Rain, a Brisbane band playing an eclectic mix of pop, rock, trip-hop, country and electronica they dub 'jangle pop'.
"Our goal is to write songs that resonate with people or hopefully just make you sing-along."Steve and Neil first meet in 1983 playing in Brisbane bands like Nightwatchman and The Psychotic Iguanas, and their friendship grew as did their passion to write good pop songs.
While the duo first started to focus on songs for The English Rain in 1990, it wasn't till last year that Steve and Neil returned to their earlier work, this time inviting some of their talented musical mates to join them.
We have a quick chat with Steve to get a vibe of The English Band.
Who is The English Rain?
We are a Brisbane-based jangle pop band who are similar to a collective like Massive Attack where we invite vocalists and players to join us for individual songs.
Our first single 'My Town' has just been released on all digital platforms and is a tribute to both Grant McLennan and the city of Brisbane.
We sound like... The Shins/ DMA'S. We are mostly jangle pop, but the upcoming album has a psycho-billy track, a couple of trip-hop songs, a gospel-blues number, some swamp boogie and some rock.
Our first gig is... Most likely an acoustic session from Recordworks prior to the album release.
When did you settle on the group's name, and was it a unanimous decision... I came up with the name years ago and we just agreed on it at the time.
In the studio we usually... Spend a lot of time talking about music, playing pinball and recording vocals.
If we could tour with anyone... It would be The Beatles as they would definitely get a great crowd.
Social media is... Really important to us as we are more studio based than a gigging band, so it's the way we can get our tunes out to people.
My favourite app at the moment is? Songwriter. Really helpful when I'm stuck on ideas and a really good organising tool for songs.
To date, my most embarrassing moment was the time... Really can't think of any.
Life on the road can be... A blessing, so we can get out and actually play the songs.
If you'll have us on your bill, all we ask is that our rider contains... A pinball machine.
The most scary scenario we've found ourselves in, was... We are lucky enough to say there are no scary moments in our history.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be spokesperson of the band? John Cusack. He owns Championship Vinyl. What else could we want?
Three people you'd like to invite around for a dinner party? Bill Hicks; funniest man ever. John Lennon to help me finish off a few songs. Annabel Crabb – I just love her.
If we were coming over to your place, what would you cook us? I would be getting you to pick takeaway up on the way over.
No matter the expense, send me a case of... Rickenbacker guitars.
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... Actually only about eight months ago. I joined one and really got into a great routine, then I didn't.
What's the one chore you dislike the most? One chore? Settle down, I hate them all.
Do you have any phobias? Fear of heights. I can jump as high as I like to go.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? Nope, hate them.
If you could prank any of your friends, who's your target, and how are you bringing them down? Not really a fan of pranks.
