easyGroup lawyers say Hard Life’s new single ‘Tears’ is “disparaging and defamatory”
nme.comHard Life – formerly known as Easy Life‘s – new single ‘Tears’ is “disparaging and defamatory”.The Leicester indie band announced that they would be surrendering their band name after being sued by the conglomerate in October and being described as “brand thieves”, thereby avoiding a costly legal battle they said they could not afford.
They played a London farewell gig under that moniker (which saw the sold-out KOKO crowd lead chants of “fuck EasyJet“) and released a final single, ‘Trust Exercises’.Their comeback single ‘Tears’ addresses the legal battle – “It’s a hard life, I can’t lie,” frontman Murray Matravers sings, “it’s been a rush, in the hard times, lucky I got friends that I trust.
It was easy in my 20s now I gotta lawyer up, gimme air miles or a fair trial Stelios.”EasyGroup’s lawyers have taken issue with the lyric referencing owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, labelling it “disparaging and defamatory” and claiming it is a breach of the settlement made with the band.
They added that he and EasyGroup were “disappointed” Hard Life have “chosen to needlessly refresh the dispute, which the band chose to settle several months ago”.Matravers spoke to NME about the change of name, revealing Hard Life was the first alternative band name they came up with.“I really don’t want people to read too much into the name,” he said. “I was nervous, because as a white, middle-class man, I haven’t exactly had a hard life.
Read more on nme.com