Carnaby street was the setting for Ben Shermans Late night shopping extravaganza in association with Grazia, one of the live acts dj'ing that night Man Like Me were kind enough to sit down and give us a little interview.
Johnny (left) is wearing: http://bit.ly/cJf6gn
Peter (right) is wearing: http://bit.ly/bTH6dB
Even with all the attention they are getting from the current Ikea ad, the mid twenties london natives Johnny and Pete a.k.a Man like Me are refreshingly frank, down to earth and if anything, still a little shocked from the surge of stardom. They joke about how people might see it as them selling out for featuring in an ad, but as Johnny points out, after years of constant gigging, hard graft and saving everything possible to get into the studio, they feel that this is just the next step in the evolution of their musical career and why should they feel bad for all their hard work paying off? "After all, if we started getting paid for our music we wont have to work real jobs to get by and finally can realise our musical dream."
This is not to say that the guys are resting back on their laurels whilst riding the waves of success, on the contrary, they are still holding down multiple jobs. Johnny tells us they have, and will continue to work all hours of the day to gather the funds necessary to migrate from bedroom recording to the studio for the release of their second album next year.
Delving into their past over the past 5 years Pete explains that Man like me has had a series of lineups but Johnny and himself have been the mainstay of the band since day one, knowing each other since school and have grown up to be what appears to be the best of friends. Because of this tight camaraderie, a wanton desire to succeed and great work ethic they see small set backs are nothing but bumps in the road to their success.
Man Like Me's songs as well as their videos are known for being quirky and inventive, based mainly around the seemingly mundane social lives of characters in London, but in a way that is entertaining and far less boorish than perhaps some of their other piers do. This ingenuity coupled with some theatrics make a Man Like Me live show quite animated and entertaining, though they did say they have scaled back a little on some of the dramatics since there was a bloody incident during a routine where Pete had a gash on his eye from a staged slap to the face.
On describing their musical style, "it's certainly very diverse" explains Johnny, mixing electro with elements of hip hop and new wave to create something truly unique. Surprisingly though, when talking about their influences and admirations they explain they draw from the great soul and funk singers like Gaye, Mayfield and The Meters, basically who they describe as "true artists".
Both Johnny and Pete obviously have their heads screwed on pretty tight and take a rather studious approach to their work being full aware of the pitfalls of the music industry and even though they are currently working on their next album, they don't see themselves slugging it out for years and years down the line in the charts, but would prefer to be on the other side of the mixing desks as producers. Saying that, expect a lot from these guys in the not too distant future and even though it's been 5 years already for them, Man Like Me are just getting started.
