By TAM XUEH WEI
alltherage@thestar.com.my

“WE’re different,” said Adam Pitts, drummer of the London-based band Lawson during a recent telephone interview. And guess what? They sure aren’t your typical boy band.

Initially called The Grove, after a shopping centre in Los Angeles, US the four-piece band now goes by the name of Lawson. It was chosen to honour the surgeon who saved lead vocalist Andy Brown’s life when he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

“We’re lucky that (the surgeon’s name) sounded good too!” they once said during a BBC interview. Also in the band are guitarist Joel Peat and bassist Ryan Fletcher.

Lawson started off their musical journey by posting original and cover material on YouTube, as well as playing gigs all over Britain. They wanted exposure but only made their breakthrough after becoming a supporting act for The Wanted – one of the biggest pop bands in the world right now.

That gave them the recognition they craved and the band has been gaining fans ever since. Capital FM, a local radio station in Britain, even tweeted out saying that a “Geese”– that’s how the female Lawson fans refer to themselves – broke up with her boyfriend because he didn’t look like Brown.

With screaming fangirls and stalker teens who follow their every move on Twitter and in real life, how are they taking it all in?

“It’s amazing, but we were not used to it at first,” said Pitts. But now, the boys are definitely enjoying the limelight and are excited to bring their music to fans across the world.

Appearing on the scene as four blokes in a band, most people would automatically label them as a boy band but Lawson refuses to accept the tag. They are often compared to their countrymen One Direction and The Wanted, who also happen to be their friends.

“They have amazing success, but I don’t think we are the same (as the other boy bands). We play drums and other instruments, and our music is more pop/rock,” said Pitts.

Their debut album Chapman Square was released in October and the band has received good reviews from critics and music listeners.

Working on a full-fledged album was a different and surreal experience for the band members and Pitts expressed that it was all “amazing and very new”.

The band flew to Los Angeles to work on Chapman Square and they were really hyped to have John Shanks, a Grammy-award winning American producer, on their team. Shanks had previously collaborated with Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Take That and a few other major names in the music industry.

Pitts said they find inspiration for their songs from the little things that happen in their daily lives.

Love and heartbreak are also sources of inspiration, apparently. Brown’s break up from a long-term relationship with Mollie King from The Saturdays led him to write When She Was Mine – the band’s debut single which managed to reach the number four spot on the UK Singles Chart.

The band also derives inspiration for their music from Coldplay, Kings of Leon and John Mayer; and with no collaborations on Chapman Square, the guys are looking forward to include a female voice in their music soon.

“We’d like to work with Taylor Swift, Jessie J and Katy Perry, all very successful singers in the industry,” said Brown. The band is also a big fan of The A Team singer Ed Sheeran, and would love to collaborate on a song with him in the near future.

When the guys are not working on their music or doing gigs, they claim that they’re just a bunch of goofballs who like to hang out for a couple rounds of video games. Their definition of a relaxing day is hanging out, playing FIFA or Call Of Duty on their PlayStations,

The band had just recently wrapped up their Hometown Tour, which was a series of intimate gigs at the cities they all grew up in – Liverpool, Sheffield, Brighton, Nottingham and London. They are also planning to go on another tour outside of Britain soon.

“It was amazing and we really love doing gigs. We can’t wait to see our Malaysian fans,” said Pitts.