His Rhyme Has Come!

If he so wished, John Dinsmore could spin one hell of a sob story.

When we last met up with The Beat Poets’ frontman, the talk was of hard work, heavy gigging, and serious industry interest. While too smart to set the fireworks off prematurely, the subtext was clear: John had the look of a man in no doubt that good times lay ahead.

Three years on and, while the optimism remains, it’s coloured with a healthy dose of pragmatism and hard-won experience. In the time since, the Beat Poets have run an almost Candide-like gamut of industry skulduggery and ill-fortune – deals falling through, promises broken, illusions shattered. But while the pressure could have led other outfits to fold (and seen their members roll out the hard luck tales), Dinsmore is in unexpectedly upbeat form . He’s still hopeful and, with some justification, claiming the band are now better than ever.

“It’s been an eye-opening time,” he laughs. “I’ve learnt more about the machinations of the music industry than I’d ever imagined. Looking back, we didn’t know our arse from our elbows when we started off. Good things were happening to us, opportunities were opening up, but we weren’t ready for it. We didn’t know what to do with them.”

Quick out of the blocks, the band’s debut single ‘Turn It On’/‘Shadowlands’ was released through Manchester indie label, Premier, and although John dismisses it now as “a pile of shite”, it gave the band some jet-powered early momentum.

“We got two UK tours off the back of it,” he reveals. “We played tonnes and tonnes of London shows. But we couldn’t follow it up. We’ve never been one of these bands who take a nosebleed as soon as they leave Belfast. We’ve always wanted to build up a fanbase outside of our comfort zone. So, we pretty much gigged like mad men on Easyjet flights every weekend. And while it was great, we took our eye off the ball on the songwriting front. We just didn’t write enough material.”

Despite the incessant gigging, the casual networking, the clever self-promotion, the band were unable to make any great commercial or creative breakthrough. But take a look at their CV – the 57 London dates, the appearances at SXSW, their headline shows in New York, their appearances on MTV – and you can’t accuse The Beat Poets of treading water.

“We’ve been getting told since we started that we needed to find our own sound and I think we’ve now done it. A lot of things have gone into that: a greater knowledge of songwriting, a settled line-up, just growing up a bit and getting older. It doesn’t come overnight. But I think we’ve benefitted from playing in front of so many different audiences – in the UK and the States – you very quickly see what works and what doesn’t.”

Their recent The Making EP proves that all this hard-won experience is serving the Beat Poets well, and likewise, John’s decision to set up a label to promote local bands, suggests it could prove equally beneficial to many emerging artists over the next few years. So, what lessons has he learned?

“Well, there are loads of sharks out there, and we’ve met them, and loads of mistakes you can make, and we’ve made them. It’s fairly common sense stuff: establish a fanbase, plan your distribution in advance, put it out properly – design and sound-wise, and get your press sorted. Basically, it’s all about planning and surrounding yourself with the right people.”

“Every band has a story to tell,” he concludes. “For some, it’s instant fame – everything comes together straight away. But that’s not the case for everyone and certainly not the case for us. But that’s what makes it all so interesting. We’ve so much to do, so much still to prove – and I think we’ve finally found our voice.”