We Have Band

We Have Band started as a musical ménage à trois. This buzziest of the new British hype groups began when husband and wife Thomas and Dede WP [Wegg-Prosser] invited a fellow desk-jobber from EMI Records, Darren Bancroft, over for dinner. After a little tipple, the trio found themselves writing a song over a fuzzed-out old drum machine, and We Have Band was born. Initially, Dede thought of the group as a marital aid. “Thomas was making music, but he was uninspired,” she explains. “Like a good wife, I said, ‘Let’s do it together.’â??” “I was fascinated,” Bancroft confesses. “A married couple making music together instead of just sitting in front of the TV is quite strange!” On their debut album, WHB (Naive Recordings), all three bandmates alternate vocals and instruments, creating an uproarious disco-synth hootenanny. The shiny, homemade grooves belie the songs’ poignant narratives. “It’s the geeks’ revenge,” Bancroft notes. “We’ll do something weird and then trick you into dancing to it.” Indeed, their dance card has been full since WHB made their live debut in 2008 at the tastemaker showcase Club Motherfucker in London. At the time, however, they weren’t entirely sure they had band at all. “It was the first time Dede had ever stepped onstage,” Bancroft says. “We had a contingency plan if she couldn’t go on,” Thomas continues. “If I’d known that night that by now we’d have gone to Russia twice, toured France, Germany and America, I would’ve been terrified too!”

Photo: Thomas and Dede WP and Darren Bancroft of We Have Band in London, December 2009. Bottom (From Left): on Thomas: Shirt: French Connection. Sunglasses: Ray-Ban. On Dede: Sweater: Diane Von Furstenberg.  Sunglasses: Arkiv. on Bancroft: Shirt: Gap. Sunglasses: Ray-Ban. Hair Products: Aveda, including brilliant universal styling creme. Fragrance: Gap close by Gap. Styling: Victoria Young. Hair:  Chi Wong/Jed Root.  Makeup: Nancy Sumner. Special Thanks: Spring Studios.