Britain’s Latest Fashion-Sound Collision Sonically Delivers

    Four boys are sitting in the glistening sunshine outside a North London studio. Mickey, the drummer, is quiet and sporting a serious expression. Dominic, the bassist, is a dark horse—he seems to be a motivator. Ed, the guitarist, holds a Mickey Mouse emblazoned phone. Sam, the lead vocalist, is the mysterious one, armed with a dangerously seductive voice. They go by the moniker Life in Film and they spout English wit, and banter like they’re stuck in a time-warp somewhere between 1960 and 1998, when British bands went by their first names and traded in waggishness.
    Life in Film are very much in tune with each other. Sam and Ed are childhood friends, with Sam later meeting Mickey and Dominic at college. Ed says, “Sam and I would play each others songs trying to come up with guitar bits. Once Mickey and Dom moved to London it all started to make sense. After all, I suppose it’s always good for Sam and I to have a backing band to keep timing.” The ribbing continues, dryly.
    The boys tell me, “We always bear in mind historically, musicians did not make a particularly good living. It was something people did because they loved it.” This is all said, because, despite not yet having any official releases, their ’90s-leaning Brit-pop having already caught the ear of fashion heavyweight Christopher Bailey, Chief Creative Officer of Burberry. The song “Alleyway” has been selected as the first track to front the Burberry Acoustic initiative.
     “He said my clothes look shit!” says Ed of Bailey’s interest in their music. “I replied, ‘They are yours!’ It’s amazing really that he likes us. Burberry can have their pick of established acts to punt their gear around. It’s a compliment that such a high flyer can connect and get something out of our music.”
    Bailey had this to say: “We have collaborated on so many projects with new and young emerging British bands over the years. We felt that with the great interaction that we have experienced with our social media website ArtoftheTrench.com that we could collaborate with musicians and artists to put together an incredible group of on-going acoustic sessions from some of the finest talent coming out of the UK and bring them to the broad global Burberry audience.”
    Life in Film openly admits without the support of Burberry, “We would not be in a position to release music and push ourselves. Burberry’s involvement has allowed us to make new fans and play to people who would never have seen us otherwise.”
    Suddenly, as if on queue, in walks a perfectly manicured young lady carrying several large Burberry bags. I have lost the boys’ attention. After all, they did say earlier, “Fashion and music go hand in hand. With any good band it is important to think about how you present yourselves to an audience.” Well, with Burberry on their side, these boys are well on their way to fashioning themselves in the finest attire the industry has to offer.