The Four Revelations: Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man

We might as well get this out of the way right now Fred (affectionately known as Fred Les) is most often spotted in the background of numerous Peaches Geldof paparazzi shots. Far be it from us to engage in showbiz tittle-tattle (Donny Tourrette is firmly off the agenda of today’s interview) but we just thought we should let you know who that gangly bespectacled man is. Fred however has quite an established indie CV already having fronted the riotous and now sadly defunct Les Incompetents and now leading the show with his new band Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man. A pain to type but a joy to listen to. Gigwise caught up with Fred to discuss the demise of Les Incompetents and the Lazarus like rise of Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man.

“It was the summer of 2006 when we (Les Inc) split up and it was for a number of different reasons," explains Fred. "We reached a point where we could have made an album and done it properly but some of us wanted to go to Uni. and some wanted to do music full time so there was a divide there. By the end of our tour with Vincent Vincent and The Villains we were not getting on and could no longer collaborate as a six piece. So in order to create high art we had to move on”

Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man (taken from the book of Revelations in which four angels avert an apocalypse by taking the form of an Ox, Eagle Lion and a Man) formed surprisingly quickly after the end of Les Inc, “Me and Shaun (Paterson, Les Inc and Ox guitarist) had a few song ideas that didn’t fit into the old band so we already had a couple of tunes up our sleeves. It wasn’t very long, a matter of weeks in fact, until we formed the new band. We wrote four songs in two weeks and that was our first demo that we put up on Myspace. We had already decided that if Les Inc split then we would form a new band. We wrote our first song ‘A Matter Of Timing’ when we were still in Les Inc. It’s probably the poppiest song that we have. I had just moved into a new flat and all we had was a Casio keyboard so we thought we would build a good song around that. That song is about how people deal with the passing of time and the things that people do. I think that young people are not aware that they will soon be old, they think it’s just a matter of time and skill. They think they will end up with a good job and a nice house. If you are always thinking about the future and not in the moment then you cease to live really.” 

So how would Fred describe OELM’s sound? “I’d say it’s quite theatrical, we want to put ideas into peoples head that might be not already be there. Like when you hear a song and it tells a story that’s not disturbing but on the border of it. We have written about nine songs but are only playing about six of them live, we’re scared of letting things out too early. We want to let things mature like a fine wine.” And lyrical influences? “I think of situations and characters from real life and then try to put those characters into different surroundings and then try to imagine…” Fred tails off at this point and begins his sentence again. He does this a lot and is clearly very wary of how he comes across in the media. “I try to write from different perspectives so a lot of my song writing is done from peoples points of view. I write about characters I have known or people that I meet and add a twist. It’s about real life but from the outside looking in.” Fred has no real need to worry about how he comes across, as he seems very intelligent and erudite. He is clearly just very passionate about his new band and wants to be portrayed in the best light.