All My Good Friends is The 23’s’ Single Out Now
Good Day Noir Family,
Diving into The 23’s and their single “All My Good Friends,” what struck me most was the band’s resolute determination, extending beyond their music into a meticulously planned approach to promotion.
All My Good Friends is The 23’s’ Single Out Now
Releasing a single every month and engaging audiences through competitions with enticing prizes, they’ve crafted a strategic path to connect with fans and expand their reach.
For those interested, their music and merchandise are available on their website: http://the23s.co.uk.
The band’s sound, infused with 80s vibes and a retro aesthetic, carries a modern and inspiring edge.
Each song reveals a different facet, showcasing their kaleidoscopic nature. “All My Good Friends” stands out as a refined ballad, impeccably produced and brimming with nostalgic vibes.
The 23’s are not just creating music; they’re orchestrating a multifaceted experience that transcends the boundaries of a traditional musical journey.
Here are some questions I’ve asked the band.
Tell us more about yourself. Why did you decide to create your own music?
Rob G : I’ve been in bands since the age of 14. I was the singer in a band at school. Took me a couple of years to realise I couldn’t sing while learning guitar. I then started writing songs. I’ve been in an indie band, a punk band and a rock band. Now I’m in this, whatever this is?
Tom T : Hi there I’m Tom, ace pilot, and I’m currently here on holiday from universe 67.1 alpha. I decided to create music after losing a bet with a scallywag who stole my front teeth somewhere around Uranus.
Rob C : Aye up, Rob, from Sheffield, I do Music & Art / Design, I kinda got roped into doing all the artwork for The 23s, and also singing for them on a few tracks, playing guitar and abit of synth and songwriting etc, previously been in other bands as has Tom T and Rob G. I was in / Marmalade Sun / WildCohen and a quite a few other bands before this, so a power pop band and a psychedelic rock band, I did design at college with Tom and also worked alongside him that’s how we met, not sure how he met Rob G?, I personally decided at 13 to start creating music when I was working with AUDUS, who is now a dance producer and musician in Sheffield, he played guitar back then, and taught me everything I know, well the basics anyway, and that’s what started me off and made me decided to get on with music stuff!
2) What are the bands or artists that inspire you?
Rob G : Inspiration wise, I’m all over the place. I like Leonard Cohen, Oasis, the Beatles, even Daft Punk and Metallica. You like what you like don’t you? A song is a song. You can take any song and make it country, death metal, synth pop. That’s the beauty of music and why it’s different to any other art. You can’t repaint the Mona Lisa with a sombrero, standing in a field selling bananas to passing businesspeople who are in town for the big conference. Or maybe you can. I don’t know. Rob G
Tom T : George Formby and Les Dawson have been massive inspirations to me.
Rob C : Mainly I am inspired by local artists, I was a massive Longpigs fan back in the day, we supported them a few times in Sheffield, they were amazing, Astrels they are hot right now locally fronted by Steve Edwards, I love all the new local music going off in Sheffield right now too many good new bands!!! Mock Tudors are amazing! Also, A.Wake she is great, and there are so many bands in Sheffield that should have been massive, but they didn’t get what they deserved back in the day! I am a massive fan of All Seeing I, Babybird, Dead Sons, AUDUS, I Monster, Hoggboy, Union Blue, Harrisons, Little Glitches, 65 Days of Static, Reverend & the makers, Toddla T, and used to love local retro bands like Moloko, The Dylans, Blameless and Pulp / Richard Hawley etc back in the day! and Arctic Monkeys in their prime, their early material, used to see them on the bus going to rehearsals back in the day! I am a massive fanboy of the Sheffield scene past and present and there is not enough support given to local music! I am a bit OCD and have collected a lot of demo tapes from these bands over the years! and have become friends with some of them, I also Love a lot of Psychedelic Rock stuff, like early Tame Impala, Orange Deluxe, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and anything that comes under the umbrella of Neo Psychedelic! or old 60’s Psychelia… and everything in between.
3) You have a new single out now, can you tell us more about the recording process, and what inspired you to write this song?
Rob G: We write and send the demos to Tom. Tom deconstructs them and rebuilds them. Much like the process of joining the marines I imagine.
Tom T : I mainly hit things and hope they make noise. The inspiration for this latest track was a lack of hard drugs and liquor.
Rob C : Ok I don’t think Rob or Tom are really selling us as a band here or the new single, but it is called “All My Good Friends” and was out on the 23rd of Nov 2023, which is when we release all our singles, as in 2023 so far, we have released a single a month on the 23rd of every month at 23:23 UK time, and this single is technically our xmas single we released a bit early!
With us being a skint band and that and me having limited time, I did the video (although loosely it can be called a video) basically it is a time spanned edit of me making up the artwork to the single cover, in a parody style of Peter Blake’s classic for Sgt Pepper! which was Tom’s idea! if we had money or more time we would have done a proper video for this!
Tom sings this one, and it about Drugs, being Lonely and Addiction, although that isn’t obvious when listening to it, you can see the video and all the videos we have done on our website at : http:www.the23s.co.uk or you can just watch all the videos on youtube at our official 23s video playlist, I promise you some of the videos are ok!
Also, at this point, I would like to mention we have a The 23s Xmas Competition, for anyone out there that would like to win some 23s merch all details of that competition are over on our facebook page! – https://www.facebook.com/The23z/videos/1548431145897004 we have various prizes, unreleased songs on CDs and signed stuff, posters etc! anyone interested pop over to our Facebook and give us a follow! cheers Rob
4) What about the lyrics, what is your favorite line and why?
Rob G: I love that we’ve released a Christmas song that is about addiction and loneliness. These are very real issues that affect a lot of people. I love Christmas but I appreciate it’s a really hard time of year for many people for many reasons. Even though the song tackles tough subjects, I think it’s accessible to all.
Tom T : Personally speaking my favourite line is about my friend Jack, a top bloke with an interesting set of stories about his time as a seafaring pirate.
Rob C : I love “Day in a LIfe” by The Beatles, amazing song and lyrics, I guess it’s a bit of a predictable answer but, He Blew his mind out in a car, and 1,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire spring to mind. The whole song lyrically is amazing! as are most of the best Beatles tracks! I think my favourite bit lyrically and melody wise is the “I’d Love to turn you on!” how they did that bit is really spacey and dreamlike! then it cuts back into the track like you have woken up and suddenly gone somewhere else, and the string and orchestration build up is just mind blowing! even now all these years later!
5) I noticed that you have a great catalog of songs already on Spotify, what are your biggest challenges in promoting your music?
Rob G: Probably the fact that 30k streams doesn’t cover the cost of electricity to mix the songs! Bring back physical media!
Tom T : Apathy, from me
Rob C : The hardest thing in promotion for music is just the absolute volume of other amazing bands and musicians you are basically going up against constantly as there is so much talent out there, the hardest thing is to get noticed in a sea of sounds and bands, so, getting stuff in blogs or on radio or locals newspapers or magazines and gigs etc all helps, and advertising, which I know is a dirty word, and alot of people hate ads popping up, but you have to get your sounds out there into peoples ears, in the hope they pick up on your vibe and go and check out what your about! I don’t think there are that many indie bands these days making a living from music, we all have side hustles or several jobs as well, which is why I never had time to do better videos, or that is my excuse anyway!
6) What do you think about the music business today and the quality of music in general nowadays?
Rob G: I think the music business has suffered greatly, with the artists suffering the worst but the consumer having access to almost anything at a fraction of the price. I remember buying albums for £15.99 20 years ago after loving a single. Now you can instantly stream an album. No longer will people buy albums that they end up not liking, just because of a killer couple of singles. The artists have more pressure to up the standards, rather than 3-4 great songs and 8 fillers.
Tom T : Robin Crooks, isn’t he the CEO of Spotify these days? As for the music around these days – pass – I never listen to music.
Rob C : it’s a double edged sword really, we have everything at our fingertips right now, you can write, record and release from a bedroom, and anyone can do this now, and there is so much great music and bands out there, in loads of different styles, and the quality of the best stuff us unbelievable really to say most people nowadays do this in a bedroom, but the bad side to this is studios are losing out, as people haven’t the money now for studio time, and we have lost some great studios and venues and pubs over the years, also another negative thing, because it’s not like it used to be, people buying records etc, a lot of bands don’t get signed, and that means they have to do pretty much everything, gig posters, recording, promotion, videos, marketing, booking gigs, etc etc, all the things a record label would do for you, most bands have to do that, and write songs and rehearse, do the artwork for their merch and covers whilst also working 2 full time jobs! so, that has a negative effect on maybe the quality of other things, but on the whole it is great to be doing music these days, you can write a song and release it the same day if you want! although if you get less than 1,000 plays a year you won’t get any money for streaming! as they have just announced!
7) Tell us a quote you would like to be remembered by in the world?
Rob G: Love each other. Even the ones who don’t love you. Rob G
Tom T : Without forks, there would be no spoons
Rob C : “This guy talks too much! especially when he is making excuses about why he isn’t doing top quality videos…..” no seriously, come and check us out, if you like something that is ever changing! eclectic and abit leftfield at times! even if we don’t know what we are doing next! but with another 13 singles to be released between now and the 23rd of Dec 2024, wel, 2024 is going to be another interesting year for us! By the way our next single “Emergency” will drop at the usual time and date of the 23rd of Dec 2024! and this one is about the world ending by a global emergency with the world getting shut down by hackers taking down all the computer systems! another happy one from The 23s, over and out, cheers……
All My Good Friends is The 23’s’ Single Out Now!
Intriguing!
All My Good Friends is The 23’s’ Single Out Now
The 23’s are Rob Cohen, Tom Taylor and Rob Gurruchaga, based in Sheffield, England. The band have driven, melodic indie pop arrangements with analog synthesizers and synth guitars.
“Never be the same” was the band’s debut single, released in February 2023. Showcasing Taylor’s unique production, coupled with rich guitar/synth melodies, vocals and songwriting brought in by Cohen/Gurruchaga and Taylor himself. The band’s sound is already evolving, as they spent lockdown in the UK writing 100’s of demos. ‘Never be the same’ is the first track from an album of genre flipping anthems, showcasing a vision for modern times in the new post Covid world. The songwriting has very intimate and melancholic moments through the lyrics, whilst musically connecting to the feelings listeners can relate to in the 2020s.
Artistically, the band pulls influences from a variety of historical artists. These include producers like Trevor Horn and musical artists such as David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, Blaqk Audio, Gary Numan, The Beatles, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Talk Talk, Oasis, Ultravox, Echo & the Bunnymen and Thomas Dolby.
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