Is it grunge, alt-rock or indie? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the unique sound Mindofalion resonate certainly holds itself high with the very best music coming out of Brighton’s vibrant scene. With brothers Archie and Jack Brewis-Lawes joining forces with Sam Evans, the trio have entered a new chapter bringing with them an exciting live show that they will be showcasing in January at the Green Door Store. Ahead of the release of their first ever music video for ’Machina’, I caught up with Mindofalion to find out more.

Where did you grow up?
Archie: Jack and I grew up in High Wycombe in a pretty dead town where not much was going on.

Jack: The only thing we had really was music.

Sam: I grew up in Devon, just outside of Exeter. Similar to Archie and Jack, it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It was good, as when I was growing up my parents didn’t really mind us being outside because the was no one else around for miles, just fields and cows.

What kind of music were you brought up on?
Archie: Our parents influenced us a lot. We grew up around festivals since we were born – seeing The Prodigy at Glastonbury was one of our first memories. Our dad was into Britpop music like The Verve and Blur, but as we grew older we started finding more of our own music. I listen to a lot of hip-hop, then I found out about Rage Against The Machine which has pretty much been a religion to me and has been a main influence.

Jack: Our dad is highly involved in the skinhead and punk scene, recently featuring on Don Letts’ BBC4 documentary The Story Of Skinhead. He also worked at festivals, so from a young age we were always at festivals and meeting bands in their dressing rooms. Our mum was also in a band and we would sit in a studio whilst she was recording.

Archie: It was cool; we would hear mum screaming over a track and then we would go to school.

Jack: We were listening to a lot of “underground pop” music growing up – acts like PJ Harvey and Radiohead.

Sam: My dad was really into his music, a lot of 80s punk bands. He got me into a lot of old skool British and American punk from an early age. Later down the line I started listening to heavier and political punk as that’s what all my friends were listening to.

Can you remember the first album you owned?
Jack: I was about eight when our dad bought me a 12” single release by The Hives, it had tracks taken off their album Your New Favourite Band – I had that on repeat for years.

Archie: My mum gave me a Rage Against The Machine album when I was seven. That was my first CD.

How did Mindofalion form?
Jack: Archie and I have been in a band together since we were 12. We came down to Brighton about three years ago and have had various bassists since then but it wasn’t really cooking.

Archie: I was working as a stage manager at Camden Rocks Festival and there was this band called Outside The Coma playing with the sickest bassist who was called Sam. I texted Jack saying I had found this bassist, but he said to keep on looking as he is obviously from London. When I got back to Brighton, I saw him stepping off the same train as mine. Then, Jack randomly ended up meeting Sam at BIMM.

Is there a story behind the name?
Archie: It stems from the Rage Against The Machine sort of vibe, having a political and social undertow. A lion is such a strong character, and as Jack and I have had a lot to do with animal charities when growing up, we thought we had to include an animal as it was such a pure image.

Tell us a bit about your upcoming music video for ‘Machina’?
Archie: The track came from a picture from The Matrix and is based on the idea of society being one big machine. We are all clones from the same tower, doing the same things – we are cogs in the same machine. The feeling that things need to change and we should express ourselves outside this mould. We wanted to capture this vibe in the video.

I have heard you are going into the studio in January. Have you been thinking about the next release?
Sam: Yes, we have chosen the next two tracks for our release. It’s going to be an A and B side single, which will act together to paint a picture of its message.

What has been a musical eye-opener and how has it affected you?
Archie: The biggest eye-opener in terms of the band is meeting Sam and the musical relationship of three people. In terms of myself, it’s growing older, being able to research more and find out about the world and its issues.

Jack: The biggest moment in my musical life is picking up some drum stick. The drummer of our mum’s band tried to teach me a little bit and that was the start.

Sam: After we went into the studio for the first time together to record some music, we became so much tighter as a band. The music and the live show that came afterwards was immediately at a much higher level.

Who would be in your ultimate supergroup?
Thom Yoke, Jack White, Damon Albarn, Alex James and Mitch Mitchel.

What would be your perfect line-up for a concert you are putting on and where would it be?
Playing in the desert somewhere, like Coachella. Day 1: Kyuss, At The Drive In, Rage Against The Machine. Day 2: Gorillaz, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers.

Do you get to go to many gigs?
Jack: I caught Science of Eight Limbs live who are great, they’re coming out of BIMM.

Archie: A new Brighton band called Ditz are insane and have a really, really great live show.

What are your future plans till the end of the year and after?
Archie: We are in the middle of finalising a tour in Germany, starting out in Paris. That will be promoting the upcoming single, which will also have a music video. We will then be coming back and try and hit festivals and get on support tours.

Jack: We have a one off date coming up on 12^th January 2017 at the Green Door Store with Wild Front.

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