An interview with Sundara Karma

   Last night I was lucky enough to attend Sundara Karma's sold out show in Birmingham. If you haven't been caught in the rising of this Reading-based band's success so far, I strongly suggest you look into them soon as after the performance they put on at the packed out Sunflower Lounge last night, I'm placing my bets that they're going to be the next big thing in 2016. If you're a fan of Arcade Fire or MGMT you're sure to like these guys. The venue felt as though the floor was going to break and the walls were going to cave in; everything about their show sounded big, almost too big for them to be performing at such a small venue. It was hair swishing gallore - coming from both the band and the audience; with a welcomed stage dive from Oscar thrown in every now and then. They seemed really experienced and comfortable in the spotlight, knowing full well how to put on a good show and get the crowd going - almost as if it was second nature to them. Pretty much all of their songs sounded like hit singles, each one possessing the rare quality of a potential euphoric arena singalong, so I am very much looking forward to see what their album will bring.
   I managed to sit down and have a chat with the band in their dressing room before the show. Have a read about it below..

Meet Dom (bassist), Ally (lead guitarist), Haydn (drummer) and front man Oscar.

Photo credit to www.tumblr.com

So, where does the name come from?
Oscar: "Sundara Karma means beautiful Karma and we're all into that hippy shit. I suppose the phrase means just 'be nice'."

How did it all come together for you as a band?
Dom: "We all went  to school with each other but at different times. Me and Ally went to school together when we were really young and so did Oscar and Haydn. Oscar and Haydn were in a band together called 'Ricochet'"
Oscar: "Such an awful name and such an awful band"
Dom: "Also, me, Ally and Oscar went to school together and sort of formed a little group. I remember Oscar telling me that he knew a really good drummer that he used to be in a band with -"
Oscar: "But we couldn't find him so we just settled for Haydn instead (laughs)"
Dom: "But yeah, that was when Sundara Karma was properly formed, I guess. We had many other names before that too but they were pretty bad."

Who are your main influences as a band?
Oscar: "Gordon Ramsey. (laughs) Lionel Richie and Luther Vandross? Sum 41. I really want a Sum 41 tattoo, actually."

How did you get into music?
Oscar: "School Of Rock! I saw that film and I was like "I've gotta fucking play guitar and be in a band, man" yeah, that was pretty much it for me"
Haydn: "For me, it's always been in the family. My dad works in the music industry so I grew up with a lot of music and it's been enjoyable since"
Oscar: "Yeah, he's Simon Cowell! (laughs)"
Haydn: "Oh, yeah - and my mum's Sunita"
Ally: "Guitar Hero - last week, actually. We had a go on the new one. But no, I just really enjoyed playing it years ago so I thought I might as well give a real guitar a go."
Dom: "Every kids dream is to be a rock star, isn't it? That's how it always was for me. When anyone gets asked when they're younger 'What do you wanna be?' I always just used to say I wanted to be a rock star...I'm still trying to make that happen.. I'm not quite there yet"

Have you played this venue before? It's of course sold out too tonight - congratulations.
Oscar: "No, never. We've played in Birmingham but not here. Is it nice? it seems nice cos it's small. I'm really looking forward to it, I think it's gonna be a sweaty one. Hopefully another stage invasion maybe? That happened last night in Nottingham and it was mad. But yeah, thank you, this one sold out pretty quickly, too. Birmingham is always one of the ones we look forward to so hopefully it goes well."
Watch the music video for Vivienne HERE

This is your first headline tour too, isn't it?
Oscar: "Yeah that sounds really weird. It makes the fact that we've sold out like 5 or 6 dates even weirder - it's madness."

You've literally just come off tour with Circa Waves too; how does that feel coming from being a support act to starting your headline tour a few days after?
Oscar: "For me, it's the weirdest thing. You get so used to playing to an audience and trying to win them over so then when you're playing your own show it's completely different. And also, with your own headline show you've got to meet expectations and you're constantly in a different dynamic, so it's just about trying to get used it. They're both just really fun."

Is there anyone you'd like to tour with?
Oscar: "The Maccabees would be so sick. Also, I think it would be pretty cool to support The 1975. It would be awesome to do another Swim Deep show and maybe to do a show with Peace - that'd be so cool."
Dom: "I think Friendly Fires would be a good one as well."

Myself and the band

What's the one song that made you want to be in a band?
All: "In Too Deep - Sum 41"

What's the one song that you can't get out of your head at the minute?
Haydn: "That Cheerleader song! It's just been fucking stuck there forever"
Oscar: "That's probably the worst song. For the rest of us it's probably Distant Past by Everything Everything - it's such a tune."

So, your new song - 'Vivienne', the video for that has just come out, tell me about that.
Oscar: The water scene was absolutely freezing! It was shot in Berlin. We were out there doing the album and we got inspiration from out there so we decided to do the music video there. It was so cool. It lasted from 9am until like 4am the next day so it was really long but so much fun - it was like being a movie star. But the song itself - it's not about a person called Vivienne. I haven't met my 'Vivienne' yet I don't think, but it's about what I hope Vivienne would be like."

You've just mentioned the album, can you tell me anything about that? Have you finished recording it?
Oscar: "We've finished half of it I think. We've got like 12-16 tracks so far, obviously they're not fully mastered yet but they're there. We need to do about 4 more I think. We still don't know how many we're putting on the album but we've gotta do a deluxe as well so maybe like 16-18 tracks all together?"

Are there any main themes there already for the album?
Oscar: "Escapism, definitely. Either just wanting to escape your boring, mundane life and getting out of your hometown or escaping to like a spiritual truth."

What would you like to have achieved by this time next year? Maybe in the next five years?
Haydn: "A load more gigs"
Ally: "Retired with kids and maybe living in Thailand (laughs)"
Oscar: "Next year? probably here, again - maybe not the same venue but hopefully with you like we could have a reunion! That'd be really weird. But in five years time - I don't know and I actually don't wanna know, either. As long as we're happy that's the main thing."

You can purchase their latest single - Vivienne by clicking HERE

Written by Rosie Mulhern.