Slow Readers Club talk head of Birmingham show

But despite that ever-growing group of followers, there are still plenty of unconverted to whom Slow Readers Club might preach.

And their forthcoming UK tour, which reaches Birmingham’s O2 Academy 2 on March 20, will give them the chance to reach that group. The show is part of an enormous 32-date run for the Manchester band, who have been playing sold out gigs across the UK.

They are touring in support of their new album Build A Tower, which was released in May last year and went straight into the official UK album chart top 20 at number 18, 10 in the physical album chart, 4 in the vinyl chart, 4 in the indie album chart and Number 1 in the cassette chart.

Since then, there have been festival shows and gigs alongside such kindred spirits as Richard Ashcroft, The Vaccines and The Charlatans. That marks progress for the band, who previously played together as Omerta as long ago as 2003, before beginning Slow Readers Club towards the end of 2011. Since then, they’ve been making a slow but steady ascent, in a style similar to that of fellow Manchester band Elbow.

Frontman Aaron Starkie says the band are happy to take things at their own pace. And they’re looking forward to being on the road, where they’ll be giving fans a taste of some of their newer materials.

“There’s a lot to look forward to. We spent time in the studios in January and put six demos down in.”

Slow Readers Club are a band that give hope to groups around the UK. Until recently, they were combining full time jobs with their work in the band.

“Up until this point, we had full time jobs on the side of being in the band. But it’s time to go for it. This year, there’s 47 dates, with 15 in Europe, and we’re very busy. It’s been building up for a while. The first album did okay but things changed when we went on tour with James in 2016 and played to much bigger audiences. We’ve been bringing people on board since then.

“It’s going in the right direction. Last year, obviously, we got to number 18 in the charts. It’s the first time we’d had a record properly distributed. Then we played live and we ended up with 3,500 in our home town.

“It’s continuing to gather momentum and now it’s time to get out to more places and spread the word.”

And yet it’s not been easy. There have been numerous occasions when Slow Readers Club might have given up. “I’ve seen it happen to other bands. We did a gig out in Wrexham or somewhere and there was just the bar staff and two or three people. That’s soul destroying when you’ve got in the van and done it.

“But you have to believe in yourself and believe in what you are doing. “We believed in our music from the start and we’ve come on as performers over the years. We’re always plugging away to get new opportunities and eventually people get to hear about you.”

In an era of instant gratification, digital downloads and free music from the internet, that’s a remarkably old-fashioned attitude to have. But it’s one that works for Slow Readers Club – just as it worked for Elbow, James and such mega-groups as REM.