It’s a classic name, conjuring up images of Dr.Robotnik and the like. It’s also the name of a Brighton-based band who really are worth checking out. I first saw them a couple of years ago and must admit, I didn’t quite ‘get them’. Probably cos I was a newbie to the Brighton indie scene I felt a little out of place. Anyways, that’s all in the past, I saw them play recently at The Albert and they were on top form! This band, originally hailing from the coolest sounding place in Leicestershire are set for big tings.

They have a new deal, a new video and have just been nominated for the Orange Unsigned Awards. I took a little time to catch up with their drummer Joe Askew…

First up, introduce yourself (and the band) my good man –

We have myself (Joe) on drums, Dan on keys, Foz sings and stuff, and Luke likes to play four strings

End of Level Baddie is quite an elaborate name, how did it come about?

We all grew up playing computer games… what can I say?

How did the band form?

I met Foz and Luke at school. We all grew up in the small Leicestershire town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch - A town probably best known for its manufacturing of popular snack foods. As you can imagine, there wasn’t much for us to do, so we used to meet up in my dads attic and play Iron Maiden covers. When we moved down here we found Dan and became the Baddies

How would you describe your sound?

Always a difficult question… well I guess we’re kinda an inde-rock band – but we add some nasty keyboard sounds to keep it interesting.

Where can people hear your music online?

We have our website or our myspace. Or come to one of our gigs and ask us nicely for a CD. We just made our first music video for Creeps On The Beach – if you want to see Foz in a dress, look no further…

You got any gigs planned in the near future?

Our next gig is part of the Brighton Live festival. We play on Friday 26th September and it’s free!! For all up to date listings check our website.

I hear you’re getting involved with Orange Unsigned. Can you tell us a bit more about it?

A friend of ours entered us for this. We don’t know much about it, but we like oranges.

Speaking of which, what does the future hold for EOLB?

Well… we’re looking to record some new tracks in the next couple months. We’ve been offered a single deal with a local independent label, but we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out. The main thing for us is to keep gigging. We’ve been trying to set up our own UK tour, but our Baddie Van just died a terrible death. We’re thinking of going up market and purchasing a Volvo Estate… we know how to keep it real

Do you hope to follow in the footsteps of your bro or do you want to concentrate on your own trail?

The Knives have done great, but we consider ourselves a very different band. They’ve worked really hard and deserve to do as well as they have. We’re happy just to see people come to our shows and enjoy what we do. If we don’t have to get real jobs then it’s all goooood.

Whats your favourite track and why?

Mmmm I can’t be held solely responsible for this bitch of a question. So here’s the Baddie collection of favourites:

Foz: Aaargh… what, ever?? That’s a hard one. There’s lots, but I think ‘sympathy for the devil’ is up there with the best of them…I saw the documentary about the making of that track recently, so maybe that’s pushed the song back into my consciousness, but I like the fact that it’s the result of a long creative process, some songs are hard work and I guess that shows it’s worth the effort!
Luke: (Repeat above pain in having to choose a song) but if I have to, I’m in a regressive period at the moment and I’m loving Toto – Hold the line
Dan: Yep, it’s a tricky one, but off the top of my head it’s No More Heroes by The Stranglers, purely for keyboard genius.
Joe: …Mmmm well right now its maybe Gary Numan – Music for Chameleons.

If you’ve liked what you’ve read and heard, be sure to vote for End Of Level Baddies in the Orange Unsigned Act Awards. Make sure you look up their Facebook group too.