The Scheme
London's pop trio, The Scheme, have been one of my favourite acts of 2015 and I am so so lucky to ask them some questions so we could get to know them a bit more! Just fyi, the guys are: Kyle Carpenter (Piano, Vocals) Kristofer James (Vocals) Aleksey Lopez (Guitar and Vocals).
So relax, sit back and check out the Q&A below!

I know you’ve always been connected to music while growing up. Did any one of you had a backup plan in case music didn’t work out?
Actually, no not really, we have never wanted to do anything other than music and we’ve been working at it for so long, none of us have ever ended up making any back up plans.

So Kris and Kyle met at a Studio in London. How did you guys meet Aleksey?
We (Kris & Kyle) were out in London watching a gig and Aleksey was the guitarist for the artist performing. After the gig, we got chatting to him and found out he wasn’t in a band. Soon after, we asked him to be a part of the band and we haven’t looked back since.

I know some fans have been questioning about the line-up change. Are you still in touch with Billy?
It’s just a case of, sometimes things don’t work out. We decided to go in different directions and we don’t have much contact with him anymore.

What are your musical inspirations/influences?
We have so many great artists we can think of but to name a few; The Script, Coldplay, Maroon 5, Justin Timberlake & having a scouser in the band, obviously, The Beatles.

Let’s talk about your gorgeous single Dust. How was the working process behind it? Who came up with the idea for the music video?
For this song, we knew straight away we wanted to make the video entirely about the music. So, we sat down with the directors and came up with the idea for the contemporary dancers. Once we saw it being filmed, we knew it was exactly what we were aiming for.

You also have a big heart. The B-Side, Jordan’s Smile, is an emotionally-charged tune. How did you guys hear about his story and decided to help raise awareness about the risks associated with amoebas in fresh warm waters?
My (Kyle) family became close friends with Jordan’s family following my Dad doing the funeral for Jordan last year. When I was home last December Jordan’s father approached me with the idea of writing a song for Jordan. Naturally, I took the idea back with me to the guys and we ending up writing Jordan’s Smile a few weeks later.

Out of the songs you’ve already released/written which means the most to you and why?
Jordan’s Smile. We wrote this song for Jordan’s family and because of our close relationship with them, it has become a very special song to us.

When can we expect a full length album?
We planning our full album release in the summer of 2016!

Are you planning any collaboration? Is there an artist/act that you would absolutely love to work with and why?
Not at the moment, but if one came along we’d love to collaborate with artists like; Pharrell, Disclosure, Calvin Harris, Maroon 5. We’ve always thought they were great and we’ve always talked about collaborating with amazing artists like them.

What has been the defining moment of your musical career so far?
As you know, we’ve only been together as this line up since January. Since then, we have had so much positive feedback from our song Jordan’s Smile and for our upcoming single Dust. We kind of feel like we are going through a defining moment now as a band, and we’re hoping to make a big impact later this year!

If you were given the chance to pick one artist/band to tour with which one would it be and why?
We would love to do a tour with bands like Maroon 5, Coldplay & The Script. We have always loved their music and they seem like cool guys to hang with!

Do any of you have secret/special talents?
  • We found out one night while we were working that Aleksey is a great cook!
  • Kris can speak to dogs on the street. (There’s never a time while passing a dog, that Kris doesn’t bark!!).
  • Kyle can do backflips from almost any surface or ledge he can find.

Name five things you can’t live without.
We couldn’t live without; our instruments, our studio, our phones, the gym & most importantly our FANS!!! :) 
If you could be superheroes, what would your superpowers be?
  • Kris would like to be Optimus Prime because he’s super powerful & he can transform into any car.
  • Kyle would be Batman. Because he has awesome gadgets and has some serious cars.
  • Aleksey would be superman because he can do everything!!

If you could change into an animal which one would it be and why?
  • Kyle would change into a monkey. Swinging around tree tops and eating bananas sounds great!
  • Aleksey would be a Dolphin because they’re great swimmers & very smart.
  • Kris would like to be a parrot, so he could sit around on his perch and repeat everything everyone is saying, all the time.

What’s your favourite song of 2015 so far?