Prose interview: Manchester is crying out for a band to get behind

Prose open up about their path into music from a Manchester council estate and debut album 'Home Of The Brave' - ahead of dates in Manchester and Birmingham.

Ben Smith

Last updated: 8th Dec 2016

At the time of interview, Prose are just setting up their gear in a new studio in Trafford Park, an area not too far from where it all started for them in Stretford. It's not as if the whole Manchester thing hasn't been masterminded from its estates before, but Prose aren't typical of the city's so-called archetypal sound.

While still firmly rooted to the ground, the trio spin soul-punched acoustic rap that tears pages from life experience: subjects that are extremely personal, straight-talking and plastered with grit. It's Manchester, but not as everyone knows it. Debut album Home Of The Brave encapsulates these feelings and more importantly bottles over six years of hard labour as a band.

Keen to carve open the bands upbringing and understand what is like to have a hand on the city's flag at present, we spoke with vocalist Mike Murray ahead of 2017 dates in Manchester and Birmingham.

There's been a great response to Home Of The Brave, how are you guys finding it in the band at the moment?

We've had some great feedback, it's gone down really well. We can feel the fan base growing. We're proud of it as well, we can be our own worst critics at times but the album as a whole and a body of work, we're proud of it. It's amazing to hear people listening to it because some of the subjects are quite personal and people can relate. We've been hearing how it's helping people so it's great that see our music touches people like that.

Also it's in HMV as well, it's a massive moment to see our faces on the shelves. We thought we were too ugly to be on the shelves.

I heard you started out just playing in bedrooms, how did it develop into this?

We used to meet up at Lee's and Dave's, they both had a little bedroom studio; I didn't have a bedroom, never have [band laughs]. Lee used to play a few open mics at the pub. At first Dave didn't get up with us live, he used to play and make the music but it was me and Lee doing open mic. So we said "Dave fucking get up on stage man" and then we started doing a few proper gigs and it went from there.

Did you find it get difficult to get gigs in the beginning because your music was a blend of rock and hip hop?

Yeah. I think promoter's like to pigeonhole and know what acts they're having on; If it's an indie night they want indie bands and if it's a rap night they want rap. I think with us they were bridging the gap so didn't know what night to put us on.

Eventually we found that no matter night they put us on, we'd stand out in a good way because we weren't just one or the other. It worked in our favour in the end, but at first it was difficult to get shows.

Do you find when you're gigging that the audience is split in that respect?

We've definitely got a contrast in the crowd, even from genres and style to ages. We get quite a lot of the older generations listening to us and one we hear a lot is "I didn't usually like rap, but I like you guys or whatever". So hopefully we're bringing down those barriers because that's what music's about: bringing people together.

So when you were younger, did you grew up listening to the Manchester bands, acid house or was it rap?

To be honest we've all got different influences but crossovers as well from when were growing up: Oasis, Guns & Roses, Eminem... I grew up with three older brothers so I'd hear through my house Oasis being played in one room to DMX in the other. I grew up on it all and when I got to my early teenage years rap was a big part of my life.

Is there enough noise coming from the council estates in Manchester these days?

I think it went quiet for a while after Oasis. I know there has been others, but I feel like now Manchester is becoming hub again for music and we can be a part of that and one of the leading forces eventually.

That's all we want to be. Manchester gets a really good rep for music anyway, but as soon as people hear 'a new band from Manchester' they automatically give them a chance more than normal if that seems right? Because it's been such a big pillar for English music and even around the world.

Usually Manchester bands so to speak are acquainted with rock music. Did you find that when you were growing there was a stigma attached to rap music?

There definitely was a stigma attached and in some aspects there still is. Where I grew, at the time, in that era there wasn't that stigma, grime had just come about. We were all doing grime because it was new thing at the time and we were like "this is fucking sick."

It was rap, but it was our rap. There was that stigma with the older generation still and they'd turn off as soon as you sing. I was a fan of rap before I was grime, but I started doing grime before I was doing rap. I'd like to think the stigma is going away, but it's still there in some places.

What are your thoughts on grime in its current state with artists like Skepta giving inner city youth a voice if you like?

I think it's wicked, I like to see it man. When grime first came about it was a big passion, now it's great to see that its finally filtering into the mainstream. There's some great artists and other places wouldn't have payed much attention to our rap scene, but now it seems that it's going global. For music as a whole there's also going to be a new scene breaking through.

I noticed your next tour goes off the beaten track to places like Dundee and Preston. Was that strategic or just coincidence?

It was quite strategic in a way that we wanted to play in places we had never been before. Hopefully people will show up [laughs].

Moving closer to home and your headline date in Manchester next year, do you feel your music resonates with the north and that reflects from your audiences?

We think Manchester has really got behind and we think a big part of that is because we talk about life in Manchester. And I'm sure places in the north and south can relate but I think Manchester is crying out for a band they can get behind.

You know, working class musicians that can speak for the people other rather than, I'm not trying to slag anyone off, middle-class music. Something that's got a bit of grit and rawness to it. We want Manchester to feel like they have a part-ownership in us because it's the place that made us.

Which kind of relates back to the point that their isn't enough noise coming from the working classes of Manchester as there once was...

A lot of bands have come from here [Manchester], you'd think there would be more. There probably is, but they're not coming through. I think London gets a bit more shine than Manchester because of the pure size of it. But when you get a decent Manc band that breaks through people do appreciate it.

Do you have more material at your disposal to push on and be that band?

Our next step is to knuckle down and get album two done really. We're constantly writing and producing new material. We've got to pick and write the tunes for album two and any tunes we're going to release around that. Now that album one is done it's not over with. Album one has still got a lot of breathing room and a long way to go. We're not going to rush into anything else and forgot about Home Of The Brave.