Coming Alive with The Rolling People

Words: Darci Jackson

Photography: Izzi Glover

As Richard Ashcroft spellbindingly drawls: ‘So come alive with the rolling people,’ on The Verve’s 1997 debut album, Urban Hymns, here we are 28 years later coming alive with Stockport’s latest offering on the scene.

"When we were starting the band, it was more like a placeholder, we were just going through our Spotify playlists like ‘we need to call it something, we’ll change it down the road,’ but then it kind of stuck," explains frontman, Charlie McNichol, with regards to their band name.

The Rolling People are Charlie McNichol (guitar, vocals), Elliot McGovern (lead guitar), Asa Knighton (bass) and George Clark (drums).

The four-piece have known each other since their school days, with Knighton picking up the bass guitar on his last day of school.

From those early days to last December’s headline at Manchester’s O2 Ritz, the band are already looking ahead to the future.

"We don’t think about it much because we’re always thinking about the next one," admitted Knighton, albeit to a few snorts of disagreement from his bandmates.

"It was amazing though," added McNichol, with just a one-word answer from McGovern:

"Mega."

And with how ‘mega’ that last show was, The Rolling People are back out around the UK this December, but is there a hometown (or Manchester) date in sight?

"No," stated McNichol, with a smirk on his face.

"Well, not yet," added Knighton.

Seems like there’s something going on there, but alas we will not dwell. But one thing we will say is it sounds like the second half of the year is shaping up to be a showstopper.

The Rolling People also supported singer songwriter Andrew Cushin around the country in May.

Their winter tour is already over 50% sold out, with dates in Nottingham, Liverpool and Bristol. But McNichol talks about Glasgow holding a special place for him:

"Scotland’s got a vibe, I was saying the other day, Glasgow and Manchester have a connection I think, the people are very similar. Obviously, they don’t sound the same but I think people just want a bit of a release, so they go to gigs."

"They’re all up for it," added Clark.

But if December’s a bit too far away, The Rolling People are making an appearance at Monument Festival and Tramlines Festival as we reach the peak of summer.

"Festivals are good because it’s a lot less pressure, but you can show yourself to a new audience that might not have heard you before," noted McNichol.

The Stockport outfit recently released their first single of the year, Edge of the Knife, a darker, more daring era for the band, full of twists and turns.

"It’s kind of a bridge to our new sound. We’ve been writing loads at the minute so that’s exciting and I think it’s the best stuff we’ve done yet really," explained McNichol, with McGovern adding:

"It’s exploring new dynamics and having a bit more space within the song rather than it just being quite noisy guitars."

As a quartet very much at the start of their journey, it’s clear they’re full of potential. And dreams.

"It’s dead easy to say you want to play the big stadiums and then when it doesn’t look like you’re going to do it, you just feel bad like you’ve not reached where you want to go. But we’re just taking it as it comes. We are living the dream basically," admitted Knighton.

"Hopefully soon or one day releasing an album which we’re all dead happy with and that we can say ‘this is our debut’ and that’s us, that’ll be a big milestone for us. But we’re just taking it as it comes really, there’s no pressure on ourselves for anything," added McNichol.

As they help to put Stockport on the map step by step, The Rolling People’s growth as a band seems to be growing stronger by the day, and as we roll through the year, it looks like it could be the start of a quiet but confident turning point.