Indigo Empire eye purple patch

Indigo Empire

MEMBERS of young Oldham band Indigo Empire are hoping to spread their wings this year.

The indie rock ’n’ rollers from Shaw — drummer Joe Dawson (19), vocalist/rhythm guitarist Jimmy Hodgetts, lead guitarist Jack Taylor and bassist Steven Collins (all 17) — teamed up 12 months ago after initially meeting at Crompton House School.

More than 50 live performances later, the talented teenagers have had plenty of opportunities to hone their craft - and the gigging is starting to pay off.

Their set — upbeat, rabble-rousing cover versions — is becoming tighter with every show, and original material is starting to take shape.

Their two studio tracks — “Open Arms” and “City of Mine” are catchy songs: it’s little wonder audience are growing.

Bassist Collins admits they probably should have kept gigs local - Manchester drew them in a little too early.

“We did it the wrong way round really,” said Collins. “We shouldn’t have done Manchester gigs at the start, we should have done local pubs first.

“We only had one or two of our own tracks, so we turned our focus to one or two pubs in Shaw and Royton and worked with a load of covers.”

That plan seems to be working, and while Indigo Empire is still focused primarily on the local area, thoughts are turning further afield for the next step in a hopefully promising musical career.

“We’re trying to branch out a bit,” revealed front-man Hodgetts. “It’s all about working towards producing a full set of our own material now though — that’s the aim.

“We just want to be writing as many new tunes as we can, then we’re hoping to record an EP in the summer.

“Perhaps then might be the time to return to Manchester, but for now we need to get that balance right in terms of keeping ourselves busy with new material people will enjoy.”



LISTEN to Simon Smedley’s exclusive audio interview with Indigo Empire here