And So I Watch You From Afar

And So I Watch You From Afar向我们证明了后摇音乐“静水流深”的强大力量 —— BBC
这个来自北爱尔兰的乐队名字可能有点拗口，翻译成中文是：我在远远地看着你。这个有着低调、忧郁色彩的名字恰好与乐队极具爆发性的现场风格截然相反。从出道至今，And So I Watch You From Afar（以下简称ASIWYFA）一直是北爱尔兰独立音乐界的骄傲。
乐队因杰出的现场表现而被当地乐界所熟知，还被英国著名媒体杂志NME评为当月最佳现场。ASIWYFA是一群音乐才子们的**，首张迷你EP从创作到演绎，从制作到设计，到最终的发行权权由乐队自己操办。短短一个月之间，对他们的积极评价就遍布在了当地各大媒体，在把脉UK最流行音乐的BBC Radio 1上也获得超高播放率。虽说是后摇乐队，但乐队深受硬核朋克鼻祖Fugazi影响，音乐中充满了疯狂和力量。2011年，乐队发行专辑《Gangs》他们在俄罗斯进行了首次巡演，这次全国巡演的长度及广度打破了所有欧西乐队的记录，同时，从主流大型的英国雷丁音乐节，到独立乐迷钟爱的美国SXSW，在大大小小的音乐节都可见到他们的身影。
 
And So I Watch You From Afar have made startling progress in the six months since they moved to Belfast.
They've been selected for showcases, played prestigious support slots for the likes of High On Fire and 65daysofstatic, and have been championed by print publications and online media.
The Antrim boys have made a splash not only on the NI scene, but further afield, earning regular plays on Huw Stephens BBC Radio show and honourable mention in rock bible Kerrang!.
Instrumental rock is a genre that's particularly hard to market, a genre with few famed practitioners, offering only limited exposure to its artistes. Many promoters and record labels just don't understand how an instrumental rock act can speak to an audience.
As such, And So I Watch You From Afar's achievements are all the more impressive.
Guitarist Rory Friers believes their success is partly attributable to the band’s refusal to be limited by the inevitable ‘post-rock’ tag.
‘We never considered ourselves in those terms, our sound just evolved from early jamming sessions. Strange though it may sound, to us this feels very much like punk rock.
'We play the music we want to play, try to do something a bit different and to me that feels punk rock.’
The band have released debut EP This Is Our Machine And Nothing Can Stop It, five tracks that combine knuckle-duster rhythms and smartly shifting time signatures.
It is the quality of material as much as business savvy that explains the band's accomplishments. In addition, Friers cites the intervention of lady luck.
‘We’d been playing in Katy Daly’s and were approached by Moving On Music. They decided to give us a gig at one of the Blueprint showcases and that was the catalyst for everything since.’
However, Friers and company were all too aware that they couldn’t rely on luck to come calling time and again, so set about capitalising on fortune’s intervention through sheer hard work.
‘We’ve had to learn how to manage a band. We want to achieve things, to do more than simply playing in bars, so it requires a certain commitment and just putting in the hours.
'The band has turned me into a complete computer nerd. I don’t have much of a social life, I’m constantly on the computer, emailing, making contact with my fellow MySpace nerds. Since the EP was pressed we’ve been trying to get it out there, get it to people who might be interested.
'The internet is indispensable in trying to arrange gigs, you can check promoters or companies who book similar bands and contact them. It’s all a bit of a slog, though every now and again you get a positive response, the odd glimmer of hope.’
Friers points out that it's by making connections the old school way, working the phones and glad-handing at gigs, that has proven most effective in promoting And So I Watch You From Afar.
‘Getting people on the phone and having a conversation can get more positive and immediate results than sending out a thousand CDs. In some cases you’ll be lucky and people will approach you, as happened with our Radio 1 session. But, it’s not always like that.
‘We supported 65daysofstatic and that came about because we really wanted it and chased it. We phoned around, got this promoter’s number and completely brass-necked it.
'Folk seem to be pretty good and it really is true, if you don’t ask you don’t get. In our case we were helped by NIMIC and Moving On Music. When the Oh Yeah project launches, it’s gonna be great for the future of NI music.’
And the future of And So I Watch You From Afar?
‘It’s good to keep pushing on, to have that drive and determination to take things on to the next stage. You can build things up so far, but then, if you have serious ambitions, you have to try and take things further afield.
'We’ve lined up shows over in the mainland and we‘re working on a couple of other projects. Unfortunately we can‘t divulge any details until it‘s all confirmed. It‘s pretty exciting.’
Before taking his leave Friers is keen to impart some final words of wisdom to fellow fledgling outfits.
‘Don’t think that anything’s above your station. Don’t think that you’re not good enough to do this or that. Just go for it and, for live shows, our attitude is to go our there and play as if we were trying to make the building collapse.
'When we moved to Belfast we had a plan in mind of what we wanted to achieve, be it playing BelFEST or whatever. Set yourself targets, be realistic, but above all have confidence in what you can achieve.'