Vote Fest: Meet The Banana Equivalent

Having sat in on some recording sessions with The Banana Equivalent recently, we can definitely say that we are chuffed to have them on board with Vote Fest and can't wait to see what they pull out of the bag for their set. Read on for their views on music, elections and radioactive fruit...

The Banana Equivalent will be playing on the 5th February at our Lemmy gig.

From what I gather you are pretty newly formed. How are you finding playing together? How did you get together?

Yes, you’re absolutely right - we’ve only been playing together for a few months. We’ve all played in bands before but it’s really great to have been able to find such like-minded people to play with here at Exeter. We have to thank Campus Bands for providing such a great platform for people like us to meet up and do all this as it would have been much more difficult without them. We are all really enjoying it, and have high hopes for this gig!

What years are you in and what subjects are you all studying?

Well we have Owen on guitar: he’s a first year studying English. Jack and Ben are both in second year studying Mathematics and Biological Sciences respectively; Jack plays keyboard and Ben does the bass/vocals. Andy, our drummer, is in his third year studying Geography.

How would you describe your sound?

A very difficult question. We all agree that we are somewhere between indie, funk and rock but that is a very broad spectrum to cover! We have an EP coming out soon and we will be promoting this across Exeter over the coming months, so the best thing to do is to hear it for yourselves!

You are going to have to explain the name...what’s the story there?

Another big question! Well, it has its route in nuclear physics (believe it or not) as a ‘banana equivalent dose’ is a non-standard measurement of gamma radiation exposure equivalent to 0.1 microsieverts. This roughly equates to the exposure gained from the consumption of one banana, a fruit high in a radioactive isotope of the mineral potassium. The radiation from one banana is negligible, but truckloads of bananas have allegedly set off alarms at security checks! We kind of like the geeky ridiculousness of it.

Who are the artists you most admire and who are your biggest guilty pleasures?

As four individuals we all have our own tastes so it is difficult to throw specific band names out there. But there is a level at which we all can contribute and communicate musically, and that is the key thing for us as a band. Again, listen for yourselves and you will probably come up with a list of influences we have never even heard of!

How are you feeling about playing Vote Fest?

Excited and nervous in equal measure probably! The Lemmy is a great venue for gigs, so we know the sound and crowd will be awesome. We have a great line-up of bands as well so it’s just up to us now to do our bit!

What can people expect from your set?

As a band we find it much more liberating to go mostly for original material, which we are probably better at anyway! Look out for a lively and hopefully engaging performance with maybe one or two crowd pleasers thrown in for good measure...

Will you be voting in this year’s Sabb elections? Why?

We certainly will be voting! The sabbatical elections are our chance to have a say in how we are represented to the University in the same way as we vote at a national level. We live in a democratic society, so no matter what your views are it is important to have them represented appropriately, and we would encourage everyone reading this to do just that!