One of the many acts to join the archive of successful bands and artists that have played Live at Leeds are first timers Disraeli Gears. The Leeds/London based foursome juggle studying, summer internships and creating their distinctive alt rock sound. The band are made up of Teia Fregona (Lead vocals and guitar), Tom Kitson (guitar), Samuel Delves (Bass) and Alex Moorse (Drums). File next to bands such as Radiohead and St. Vincent; their soft rock guitars are rippled by a moody aura and have a slightly gothic undertone.

Disraeli Gears have previously played at venues from all ends of the Leeds music scene. Drummer Alex, speaking of the city venues at which they've played, says: “I feel like we have done most of the ones we wanted to do now which is really good, most of the ones we were able to do before we left Uni, we all graduated this year.” Newly added to the Live at Leeds bill, Belgrave Music Hall has already got a good name for itself and has seen an ample amount of musical talent through the doors. On this sunny early afternoon, the readily awaiting music lovers head down the industrial staircase to join the large crowd waiting for Disiraeli Gears which sound more glorious in and amongst the heat. Bass player Sam admits that he's been looking forward to this particular live date, when he says that “This is the last venue I really wanted to play at Leeds where we haven’t performed before, so it is quite cool now were not living in Leeds together so it’s nice to do it.”

Entering the stage at Belgrave Music Hall, the band's nervous smiles look over to the packed out crowd as the audience applaud them into playing. Disraeli Gears play through songs such as ‘Mother I’ and ‘Skeleton;, which are tracks taken from their previous EP. Sam candidly reveals that this is the largest crowd the band has faced so far, saying that “It is the biggest we have played to I think, it didn’t faze me to much but you notice more easily how audiences react to the music when there’s lots of them to look at. I find it strange”.  The spacious gig space at Belgrave is filled with bodies itching to move to the twang of the guitars, while some stand and stare at the performance before them. This is a common sight for the band, Sam admits to me, saying that “No one really knows how to dance to our music, they kind of just stand there it’s a bit disconcerting sometimes like especially when there’s a big crowd of people not doing anything, but you hope they are listening at least”.

On stage, Disraeli Gears grapple with their instruments and, immersed in their sound, they fall into the hip shaking groves they produce. Lead singer Teia Fregona leads the way. Alex is quick to applaud her stage presence: “She goes for it; maybe we should release a video on how to dance to our music”. The band's half hour set feeds through the airwaves plucking at their soulful, sounding hooks and rubbing grit into their textured guitar break downs. Reflecting on the band's distinctive sound, Sam identifies their diverse influences: “We [sound like] alt Rock I guess, these guys [Moorse] are quite jazz influenced, we all listen to different types of music. I have got an internship in London, I was working before in Leeds doing like the underground music scene here, listening to a lot of drum and bass and stuff and now I’m working with the Philharmonic Orchestra. It's quite a difference, but I wouldn’t say either of them really influence our sound.”

Balancing work life with band life Disraeli Gears strong work ethic pays off as the crowd finally go with the music and sway and stomp to ‘Skeleton’. Soon after, the band leave the stage and join the crowd to see the many other acts performing at this year’s Live at Leeds. Spanning over 24 venues across the city, Leeds is ablaze with the fresh talent the industry has to offer. Alex confesses that his musical involvement in the event is far from over, admitting “I actually have a gig tonight with my other group [Collective 92] so I will not be able to enjoy all the really good music, which is a shame. We saw Snarky Puppy yesterday - they'e sort of like a jazz pop fusion band - they are really good and they played at The Wardrobe.” For Sam, however, the festival is almost at an end: “I’m going to see a back seat of a train for 3 hours. I would have liked to catch Albert Hammond JR if I was sticking around as I am a massive Strokes fan. Basically when I was a teenager all I listen to was The Strokes. I was in this Strokes cover band, I think a Strokes song was our name as well; it was so bad, we all had really bad hair. We played one of our friend's parties, it was like a 13^th Birthday party, everyone loved it.”

The band pack away their instruments, feeling the aftermath of adrenalin that performing live brings with it. Disraeli Gears casually filter from the stage, checking their phones and returning to normality. Gentle gossip is muttered amongst the crowd as they blush in admiration for their favourite members of the band. Alex slyly tells me that someone has a secret admirer on Twitter, and Sam is quick to respond to his bandmate's suggestions, saying “I feel admired, I don’t know what I was doing in particular that enticed her so much. But I think I will let her down gently because my girlfriend's across the table!”

The popularity that the band enjoys can be seen in the huge following they have as they play from gig to gig. Disraeli Gears are not yet allowed to take a break as summer festival season is looming. No doubt, Piped Piper-like, they'll pick up many fans as they move from city to city. Of the band's plans for the summer, Sam tells me: “We have been invited to play one in the Lake District, it is called Fell Foot Sound and it is quite a low key festival. It will be quite a nice break for us, [we will] go probably for the whole weekend and make a bit of a holiday out of it”. There will be some down-time on the cards, as well though, with Alex adding that “We are all going to be in London as of July so we are all going to really get our heads down to writing I think and we will see what gigs come our way. We haven’t spent as much time as we probably should have in the last year to actually focus on the band, so hopefully once we have all kind of got over Uni that will be our main focus.”

To listen to tracks by Disraeli Gears, head on over to their Bandcamp page. To keep up to date with upcoming live dates, check the band out on Facebook. 

Edinburgh's Electric Circus plays host, this Bank Holiday Sunday (May 5th), to the Big Day In event. The full line-up is handily displayed on the image to the left and you can obtain tickets by clicking here.

John-Paul Mason and Tallah Brash, the dual brains behind the day's goings on, were good enough to answer a few questions that we put to them:-

Here at Muso's Guide, we got pretty stuck in to the build up for Record Store Day 2013. In between vainly attempting to reduce our list of desired records from this year's releases down to a reasonable number, we got chattering away to record companies around the country about their involvement with the big day in the attempt to find out what life is like on the other side of the till. In addition to being a significant day for record stores wanting to increase their local profile and to please their many fans, Record Store Day is a highpoint of the year for the many record companies who take part in the event.