As the Band on the Wall venue in Manchester re-opened last weekend, we talked to electro heads The Bays, who played to a packed crowd on Sunday, about the legendary music venue.

“The carpet won’t last,” percussionist Simon Richmond said. “Last time I played here eight years ago it was at the low end and a bit rundown.

"It’s obvious that they’ve spent loads on it. I’ve got a few friends coming up because it’s re-opened. I had no idea it had that kind of attachment to it. It’s brilliant and I hope we don’t let them down.”

Playing live is the only way you’ll get to see The Bays. They don’t rehearse and they certainly don’t produce albums.

They’ve got techno beats — spanning deep house, hip/hop, drum and base, and most importantly electro — but all the words in the dictionary cannot make up for watching this dance collective in action.

Simon said: “Playing live music is what we do. There is no setlist. There are no familiar tunes and people just turn up to see what we do.”

Drummer Andy Gangadeen added: “The whole business of a recorded album is a modern concept. We’ve only been recording music for the last hundred years. And they’ve been making music for thousands of years, so we’re actually not being new, we’re just very old in fact.”

“But we don’t just go on with random stuff,” Simon said. “It is designed so that people won’t get bored, it sticks within the genre we’re doing.

“The thing about a live set is that we can change it, just like that. If we turn up at a theatre, then we can play something that is more mellow. But, if it’s a banging club night, we can pump it out, because that’s what’s required at the time.”

Guitarist Chris Taylor said: “I think a lot of people forget (it’s not rehearsed). I think they are intrigued and then after a while they sort of think it’s been done like that, which is the best reaction you can get.”

In 2008, the London-based band played in Manchester at The Royal Northern College of Music, but haven’t seen much of the city since they arrived back. In fact, fourth band member keyboard player Ski Oakenfull was relaxing in his hotel room just before the gig.

Simon said: “What I can say is it’s a kind of music place. Some places you can go outside of London where you feel people might not be quite so sharp in terms of their musical ear. I would never think that of Manchester. You feel like people actually know exactly what is what.”

It’s hard to believe a band can exist solely for a love of the music and to entertain.

But Simon explained: “No one is making any money out of selling music. Eight or nine years ago, when we started, people were saying, ‘why are you so wilfully against all of this?’.

“Meanwhile the industry has whittled away and suddenly the bubble bursts. Music isn’t worth anything any more.”

Back to the venue and Band on the Wall is striving to bring back that relationship between audience and act.

Lesa Dryburgh is on the board of directors. She said: “It’s about the capacity — it’s a 400 people theatre.

“There is an intimacy and a relationship with the artists. It’s a musicians venue and it’s a music fans’ venue.”

The Bays fit perfectly into that ethos. Simon said: “Relationship is crucial to us. Sometimes, even when the crowds have been really up for it, we’ve been physically distant from them and it’s been so much harder for them to connect.”

And as for the future of the band, Andy insists they really won’t go commercial. “There’s no need to. We’ll just get lumped in with every other band who does that.”

As for the future of the venue, it looks set to be a success. Gavin Sharp, chief executive at Band on the Wall, said: “What a fantastic launch to the long-awaited return of this much-loved music venue.

“It is just the beginning though and we look forward to providing Manchester with a platform for some of the best local, national and international music.”

On Sunday night, The Bays went down a storm. Simon said simplicity is the key: “It’s just a band and we play mostly dance music. It’s not avant-garde. There isn’t artistic vision — its just a bunch of people making music.”

l For more details go to www.thebays.com For more information on Band on the Wall go to www.bandonthewall.org