Teenage rockers Minster Conspiracy have been lighting up stages in York since 2010 and were finalists in this year’s SoundWave Music Competition. We figured it was high time to find out a little more about Ellie, Sam, Morgan, Ryan and Ollie, including their experience of playing a Leeds O2 Arena, and what they’ve got coming up next.
By Jane Howkins
Feature Photo by Andy Argyle
First things first – you’re playing a gig this Saturday (4th March) at Fibbers with tribute band The Guns N Roses Experience. Are you looking forward to it?
ELLIE: Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it, it’s going to be a great night.
SAM: We’re really excited about the gig on Saturday. Most of us are huge Guns and Roses fans so it’ll be awesome.
You’re also playing a hometown show at The Fulford Arms in April for their all-day festival. Have you played at one of those before?
ELLIE: They’re usually really good! We’ve never played an all-dayer but I think this will be amazing. I mean, just look at that line-up.
MORGAN: We have played gigs there before, supporting AWOOGA, if I remember right. Dan did a great job on the sound. It was pretty epic.
You recently got through to the final of the Soundwaves Music Competition 2017, which included a performance at Leeds O2 Academy. How did that feel, and was it daunting taking to such a large stage?
ELLIE: It was the best experience. It felt so good and brought such good vibes.
MORGAN: Oh man, that was a good experience, it felt pretty nerve-racking but it was good because of the amount of people there. It’s fun playing on that huge stage.
SAM: The O2 Academy is one of the biggest stages we’ve ever played so, yeah, a bit nervous but as soon as we got out there it went great. Even though we didn’t win it, we learned so much as one of the youngest bands in the competition, and that is what is important – to keep learning and keep pushing ourselves forward.
We hear there’s a chance you may be in the running for a tour of several Academy venues across the country. Can you tell us any more about this, or is that something to be confirmed later?
ELLIE: I think that will be confirmed later but, yeah, that would be very good if we had the chance to do that.
Do you have any more gigs lined up apart from the ones we’ve already mentioned? The Guns N Roses one is a big one, so well done!
ELLIE: We have a few lined up but not as many as usual. Apart from the few you have mentioned, we’re leaving the gigs for a bit and working on some more new songs. One gig we have booked is at Copmanthorpe Carnival. Pretty excited about that one!
You’re all young, so it’s certainly impressive that you’ve managed to gain such traction already. Has your age hindered you at all? We imagine it might be quite hard to get into certain venues if you’re underage?
ELLIE: Our ages haven’t really been an issue. We still manage to find a way to play the gigs we want and perform at such good places with good bands, regardless of our age
You’re from York and you’ve been playing in this area for quite a while now. What do you think of the music scene here, and what local artists do you particularly enjoy?
ELLIE: I really think there are some great bands and musicians in York. The scene is full of amazing talent. We like being part of that.
SAM: York has a wicked music scene. There’s loads of venues to play at and some awesome bands too. My favourites are A Jokers Rage, Blind Eye, and RSJ, who we’ve played a few gigs with in the past.
MORGAN: I particularly like RSJ and Faux Pas, but there are loads of great bands – it’s hard to choose.
Who/what influences you most as musicians, and what have you been listening to recently that you can recommend our readers check out?
MORGAN: My musical influences are drummers like Travis Barker and Dave Grohl. Right now, I listen to a mixture of music from the Plain White T’s to Blink 182, and I recommended everyone has a listen to any Blink 182 or Rush track if you want some good drumming.
ELLIE: I have been listening to loads of stuff really, and a wide variety of music as I don’t really have one genre I mainly enjoy. I’ve just been listening to a load of different things, but one band I have really been enjoying are Catfish and the Bottlemen.
Do you have any plans to release any music soon? We recently wrote an article about releases that we are looking forward to this year, and we put you down in the hope that you might have something planned!
ELLIE: Yeah, we’ve just started playing a new original song live and that’s one I really like. We have a lot more planned.
SAM: We’re always writing new music. For me it’s one of the best bits about being in a band. There will be an EP out later this year, but in the mean-time check out our songs on Soundcloud that we recorded last year.
Any last words for the fans?
SAM: Thanks to everyone who supported us in the SoundWave Competition. That was a massive boost for us. To have so many people vote and come along to the show was amazing. We have a great new website where you can sign up to stay in touch and be the first to hear new tracks.
ELLIE: I’m just looking forward to writing some new songs, and we hope to see you at our gigs in the future!
MORGAN: I really want to thank everyone that has shown us support over the last 4 years, we have come a long way since those little 10 year olds on the main stage at Galtres. It’s hard for me to believe we actually have fans now. How cool is that?
SAM: Yeah, it’s pretty special. We really need to thank our parents as well here. They keep on running us all over the place. We appreciate that. The guys in A Jokers Rage, Blind Eye and RSJ for putting us on at gigs and for believing in us when we were way too young to be rocking Fibbers. Finally, from all of us, Tim Hornsby, Chris, Paul, Sam and the rest of the team at Fibbers. Thank you for being there and helping us along and treating us like musicians. That means the world to us.
Minster Conspiracy play at Fibbers on Saturday 4 March 2017.
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