QTheMusic.com

Hailing from Harlow in Essex Morning Parade are intent on world domination. Originally formed in 2007, little over two years ago the five-piece were working in jobs they hated, channeling their dissatisfaction and disillusionment to attempt to further their musical ambitions. Ambitions, that have from the outset been grand, lead singer Steve Sparrow explains how they've incorporated them into work ethic and songwriting process, "We have a rule. Whenever we write something, we ask ourselves, "Can you see 100,000 people singing this back to you? If not, we get rid of it. We want to be huge."

So whilst possibly vying with Mona for an imaginary 'New bands of 2011 intent on being massive' award, so far, their plan seems to working out just fine, being signed to Parlophone and receiving the enthusiastic backing of Zane Lowe.

Want to know who the tracks and artists are that influence this quintent? Singer Steve takes us through some of the songs that inspire him to write songs and make music:

Qthemusic.com Playlist: Morning Parade - Roots And Influences

M83 - Teen Angst
French euphoric shoegazey electro, LOVE the production on this, the choruses seem to wash over you... the whole 'before the dawn heals us' album is great, I used to listen to this album on my IPod when I was working as a data entry inputter... had to have something to keep the brain engage

Radiohead - Street Spirit
I remember the Dad of one of my friends playing me this track when I was about 14 and it blew my mind, I covered this and 'fake plastic trees' in my first year of college too.

Air - Run
I love the production on Air records and this one is from talkie walkie... its really dark, I love the textures, the weird vocal and how they use them to shift the dynamics on this track.

Muse - Plug In Baby
Lunchtimes in the music room at school, me and phil and a drummer playing this as loud as possible... Muse was the first arena show I went to, we saw them at London Docklands when we were still at school.

Biffy Clyro - Joy Discovery Invention
Biffy were 'MY' band, the band I thought that I knew and no one else did, I saw them at our local music venue with Phil and about 30 other people when I was about 14... The whole blackened sky album was a soundtrack to my teenage years and their live shows were insane, a lot of the energy in our live shows is inspired by that first gig I saw.

Elbow - Great Expectations
Guy's lyrics and delivery is just incredible, I saw Elbow at the start of March and fell in love with this song all over again.

Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy. Jnr
A friend of mine played this to me after he'd spent some time in Chicago, he told me about the monsterous crimes John Wayne Gacy committed and then pressed play... I felt like my heart stood still for the 3 and half minutes it lasted, the imagery in the lyrics will make the hairs on your neck stand 'he dressed up like a clown for them, with his face paint white and red, and on his best behaviour in a dark room on a bed he kissed them all' it has always remained with me...

Jeff Buckley - Grace
An absolute classic. The arrangement, the lyric, and most importantly, the vocal.

Faithless - God is a DJ
The simplicity of the hook... Massive anthem of my youth... reminds me of sunshine, good times and festival

Sigur Ros - Andvari
What the fuck is he saying/singing about? I don't care, its just stunning. The 2 and a half minute string outro is one of my favourite pieces of music ever made... I can't even describe how it makes me feel, so its that good. We've always admired Sigur Ros' huge sound and ability to evoke emotion purely with performance and arrangement.

Mew - Am I Wry? No
This is a band that Chad and I really bonded with, it was the first gig went to see together. We bunked off college at went to ULU to see them and they were awesome, they have the most incredible live shows, great production, visuals and segways, their gigs really feel like a show... I saw them for the first time when I was 15 in our local 250 cap venue and became a fan instantly. Frengers is one of our favourite records.

Qthemusic.com Playlist: Morning Parade - Roots And Influences

Track of the Day: Morning Parade - Under The Stars.

2:05 PM | 17/03/2011