Imperial Leisure drop a massive soul bomb in the form of “Animal” with an accompanying video which sets the visual stage of a skatastical journey into the lives of the hiphop transfusionists known as Imperial Leisure.
About Imperial Leisure
From their humble beginnings in London as a party band born out of school friendships, Imperial Leisure go from strength to strength, forever evolving their style but sticking true to their reputation for delivering fun and high energy live performances.
Taking influences from all around, the music is a fun-loving throwback to the ska-2-tone era, combined with more recent punkrock-hiphop sounds. It’s always a party and it’s always huge: gigs are an exhilarating experience from start to end with very little let up in between – don’t be surprised to leave the venue dripping with sweat and cava spray!
At the end of the night your clothes may lay about you tattered and boozy but you’ll still be wearing a great big smile.
Imperial Leisure’s first break came with an appearance on ITN news, the band’s infamous Guerrilla gigging antics around London in the mid 2000’s landed them not only in hot water with the London Met but also gained them a rather flattering piece in the evening.
@ILband [rotatingtweets screen_name=’ILband’]
The band are caught on camera playing a fully plugged-in impromptu live set smack bang in the middle of London’s busiest district, Oxford Street! They’ve not forgotten their roots so from time to time this old party trick gets pulled out the bag – don’t be surprised if you hear some skapunk beats resonating in your local shopping centre or high street.
The TV appearances seem to have come back around in more recent times at home and globally with the band’s music featuring on Peep Show, Russian Cop comedy ‘The Policeman of Rublyovka’, and a commercial for India’s first reverse roller coaster, Recoil!! It all ties in perfectly with the band’s ethos and with their unrelenting will to instigate a good time.
Undoubtedly by now they have many tours under their belts having played extensively across the UK and Europe supporting Ugly Duckling, Roots Manuva, UB40, Less Than Jake, Young Blood Brass Band, The King Blues, Sonic Boom Six…. the list goes on!
Clearly they love to get out on tour but without a doubt if you really want the Imperial Leisure experience you need to get to a festival, reaching new highs every time and pulling in the crowds, from the super-sized Glastonbury (2008 and 2016) to the hedonists’ hot spots that are The Secret Garden Party and Boomtown Fair. If it’s an afternoon set in the sun they’re tough act to follow.
Core band members
- Denis: vocals
- Scott: drums
- Richard: keyboards and synth
- Jack: bass
- Ben: guitar
Brass section
- Elliot: trumpet
- Rob: trumpet
- Russell: Trombone
- Steph: Trombone
Albums
- 2008 – The Art of Saying Nothing
- 2012 – Death to the One Trick Pony
- 2015 – Lifestyle Brand
Awards, accolades and quotes
- Best Band Big Red Bus Award;
- Best Band Mintsouth;
- Channel 4 Road to V 1st runner up;
- Southern Comfort Battle of Bands Champions;
About ‘Animal’
Denis says: “The song lyrics came to me in a dream, I just woke up singing it one morning. It’s a love story for wilder kind of city dwellers. I laid it over a track we had been working on in the studio and it came together really nice. The trumpet solo is my favorite part”
LINKS:
https://facebook.com/imperialleisure
https://twitter.com/ILband
https://instagram.com/imperialleisure
