Twickenham band follows some famous footsteps

Featuring four brothers and named after the Twickenham street where they grew up, the band are picking up strong support for their debut single, Don't start me off' which is released next month.

Music is in the blood of the McManus brothers- Ronan, Ruairi, Liam and Kieran - their father Ross was a renowned jazz singer and their elder brother Declan is probably better known as Elvis Costello.

"It has always been the family business. It's what we do," explains singer Ronan.

But how does their relationship compare with rock's most tempestuous siblings, the Gallagher brothers?

"There are only two brothers in Oasis, there are four of us, which means double the arguments. But it can work two ways, as it is no effort for us to say what we really think," says Ronan.

The band also contains one non-sibling, bassist David Bowles, who has been in the band for three years and sensibly describes himself as totally Switzerland'. "I try and stay out of it when they blow up, try and stay on everyone's side because if you take one it will come back and haunt you," he says.

Ronan adds: "We get on a lot better than we used to, but we spend so much time together that it would be difficult not to argue. There is a real bond between us though and I think it comes across in our music. We are familiar with each other's playing as well as our personalities."

There was no conscious decision by the brothers, who went to St James' School in Twickenham, to create a band and get involved in music, we always say it's just what we do, like breathing it's an instinct,' Ronan explains.

Their musical style is described as featuring great songs, tight harmonies, chiming guitars and gravely vocals', influenced by their wide musical taste, the Counting Crows and artists like Jeff Buckley are cited as particular favourites.

There was always music at River Way as the boys were growing up. Keyboard player Kieron did the usual piano lessons throughout childhood and their father always encouraged them to sing. Liam was last to take up an instrument and Ruairi explains how he ended up on drums, "Were playing as four of us about eight years ago, I'd been playing the drums for about three years, Liam sat down and after five minutes was better than I was".

Ronan is the group's main lyricist, although the songs are a collaboration. He says: "I have always written, since I was ten. I thought if I kept writing and writing, then I would come up with something half decent eventually. So I just kept going."

And the band's definition of a good song? "If you can break it down to an acoustic guitar and someone singing and it still sounds good then that's what we want. No gimmicks," he states.

Dad Ross played in the Joe Loss Orchestra and has always encouraged the brothers. Ruairi explains: "He instilled a good work ethic into us, saying if you want to do it, then get out there and do it. We formed the band and went out playing clubs and pubs, learning our trade, getting out there to play." The Three Kings in Twickenham is a regular haunt for the band, they have been performing there for about six years. Ronan says: "He's a cracking landlord.

"He lets us play anything we want, some landlords say you have to play certain things."

And these days the band perform to more people than just their mum. He says: "We do have friends who come along and support us regularly. But we are starting to see people we don't know who we just see at gigs. It's not easy on a wet Tuesday to get people out of their homes to see a band playing. So to see people making the effort, coming out and paying money to see you, is really cool."

The band also frequent the Half Moon in Putney, the King's Head in Fulham and the Grey Horse in Kingston. But the live music scene isn't as healthy as when the area's first rock bands were playing. "You just have to look at what was the Bull and Bush, all that rock heritage and they changed it into a big wine bar. There used to be a plaque above the door which listed the bands which had played there the Kinks, Small Faces, Rolling Stones proper bands playing locally," Ronan says.

"But in last ten years bands like us just couldn't get a look in, what was the point in getting into a rock band, because if you were not Westlife you were not going to get signed up. So venues which took bands closed down. A lot of rock and roll history in the area has been taken over by wine bars."

But things are beginning to look up he says: "People were determined to come out of the other side and now we have a renaissance in bands, which is cool. So hopefully some venues will start opening up again."

They also cite the new laws concerning music licences as a problem, if you want to have more than two people on the stage then you have to have a licence. "It's strangling the life out of live music", Liam says.

How has hailing from Twickenham shaped the band? "We're not like Oasis, coming from a Manchester council estate, so we can't say we grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, but it is a really arty place and you are exposed to different people and classes here" says Ruairi.

Ronan adds: "A lot of people at our gigs and our friends are musicians, artists, dancers. And the Stones started from Twickenham and are still very popular and that is something to be proud of and we want to do them proud."

Older brother Elvis Costello has given the band advice, but they don't need to rely on his name to make it. Ruairi explains: "It's a point of interest for people and we would never deny it. He really went for it and did it, was single minded about it. He had a couple of top tens before I was even born, was always famous as we grew up.

"He has taken a healthy interest but he does his own thing and we do our own thing, his view is that if we're good enough we'll make it by ourselves."

Kieron adds: "He made it all real and seem possible. It made you think people really do this'."

After a warning that I'll need a whole new notebook and pen, Ronan is surprisingly succinct in presenting his view of Pop Idol, bone idle' he says. They elaborate that this laziness is on the part of the record companies and artists who are looking for fast quick fame. The group's debut single was only meant to be a small release but has been regularly played on Radio 2, "It is just getting bigger and bigger," Ronan says.

Ruairi describes the moment he realised that Radio 2 DJ Richard Allinson was playing their song on the radio for the first time. "It wasn't even a proper CD, it was only a copy, which a lot of cd players can't read, so halfway through it stopped. I had been ringing everyone saying we're on the radio', and then it was like oh, now we're not anymore'.

"It was never meant to be a big deal but now we're getting played on the biggest radio station in the country."

The group are to start recording their album in the next few weeks, with Adam Seymour of the Pretenders.

Last word from Ronan: "We've got the right ingredients so with a bit of luck we should make it." For this band of brothers, the future is certainly looking bright.