Slaves at O2 Institute Birmingham - gig review

Last Wednesday, I spontaneously went to go and see Slaves at the O2 Institute in Birmingham after randomly bumping into Laurie from the band in town and being added to the guest list earlier that day due to the kindness of Laurie himself.

It's been a manic year filled with gigs and music highlights, however, Wednesday night with these guys left 2015 on a memorable note to say the least.

The garage punk Kent duo's music seems to personally target their fans with an anger fuelled projection of intense noise demanding to be heard accompanying upfront lyrics, as if lead vocalist Isaac is hollering orders that any listener would struggle to disagree with. Due to their rather confrontational vibe and urgent sound, the duo have been known to split opinions but that's a sure sign of a good band.

It truly was a chaotic night, with balcony ticket holders watching in awe from above as the mosh pit below them erupted around the entirety of the room; the floor shaking as if struggling to cater for the typical temperament of Slaves' fans.

Each song had the kind of energy that was almost hard to keep up with, if you blinked then you'd miss it; with Isaac's comic yet straight forward explanations behind some of their songs in between acting as pit stops and giving the crowd mere moments to recuperate before bracing themselves for the next hit. I personally enjoyed hearing about how 'Where's Your Car Debbie?" came about in particular, with the explanation consisting of the pair of them walking a girl back to her car and being scared of being attacked by a rumoured big foot lurking around in the night. Well known single 'The Hunter' entailed the kind of reaction that's rare to see these days with upcoming bands, with the almost natural response casting an animal like hunger within the crowd - a refreshing moment to be a part of. Determination and energy levels rose with Isaac regularly enforcing that 'Birmingham is always one of the best if not the best crowds to play', the rowdy nature of the audience only magnifying with Laurie making it his mission to successfully crowd surf from the front of the room all the way to the sound guy and back again.

The whole night was truly something special to be a part of and I'll be sure to catch Slaves again as soon as I can next year.

The Magic Gang in Birmingham - gig review

Photo credit to Consequence Of Sound

Last night wasn't your typical, boring Monday evening with The Magic Gang in town. With their chilled out, indie, LA surf vibes I was surprised to hear that this quartet came from Brighton. With almost 200,000 listens collectively on Soundcloud across their other equally as infectious tunes, comparisons have been made to other bands such as Peace and Swim Deep, due to touring with them not so long ago and capturing a similar group of fans. 

Photo credit to me

Mayhem, in the most fashionable way possible, was inevitable for this band due to the box like boiler room of The Sunflower Lounge; movement was unavoidable due to the size of the place, even for the guys who like to stand at the back with a beer nodding for the entirety of a show. There was no playing safe at this gig; anywhere you stood you'd soon find yourself being hurtled around in a sea of excitable fans reciting every word of their snappy, memorable lyrics as if naturally rolling off the tongue without thought. (and possibly due to the sheer noise of the band making the room feel slightly unstable.)

The band were fully going for it, with the exception of having to make little announcements after songs telling the audience to 'be careful' after floods of crowd surfers were ungracefully thrown across the room, practically hitting their heads of the ceiling and kicking all of the stage lights on their way around; and the occasional wave of fans spilling face first onto the stage with the band lifting them up and bidding them farewell again into the mosh pit mid song. 

Photo credit to me

Sweat soaked members of the audience called for a predictable stage invasion to the Wheatus infused sounds of unmistakably contagious tracks - 'No Fun' and 'Alright', setting the scene for something in between wanting to effortlessly sway and plod along to their laid back riffs to the kind of hyped up, crazed energy that their gigs are known for. Their new song - 'She Doesn't See' gave us a possible teaser for their long awaited debut album that I hope will be coming out soon, encouraging just as much energy and uncontrollable singalongs as some of their older material. The set finished with a deafening orchestra of the crowd screaming the lyrics to 'Shallow' louder than the band themselves.
You can listen to their new, two day old song - 'She Doesn't See' on Soundcloud HERE

Written by Rosie Mulhern.

New Music November

November has been a prominent month for new discoveries. Below I have compiled a list of some of my favourites, which I would highly recommend at least giving a listen.

photo cred www.stereogum.com

Yak - Hungry Heart (20/02/15)

Meet Yak, an exciting new addition to rock music with their anger fuelled, full on presence. The band are currently half way though a UK tour this month but there's still some tickets left to selected dates over HERE. I was introduced to this band after seeing them support for Peace in Wolverhampton in October; a performance that I wont be forgetting in a hurry with an utter chaotic stage presence (in the best way). Hungry Heart depicts influences such as The Black Keys, The Vaccines and even The Rolling Stones, with front man Oli Burslem looking similar to a young version of Jagger himself. The song itself screams that they mean business with the colossal amount of noise that they emit, each song sounding too big for any speaker. I'd definitely put them down for being ones to watch next year.

Listen to Hungry Heart HERE

Or buy it on Itunes HERE

photo cred @_themagicgang twitter

The Magic Gang - Jasmine (09/11/15)

The four piece from Brighton may have already caught your attention with songs Alright and No Fun. Jasmine consists of feel good laid back vibes with a Californian surfer style grunge-pop. Having recently completed a tour with Swim Deep as a support act, they are soon to be setting out on a tour of their own across the UK; tickets are still available so bag yourself a few whilst you still can HERE

Take a look at their soundcloud page and listen to Jasmine HERE

photo credit to @GetInuit on twitter

Get Inuit - I Am The Hot Air (04/09/15)

If you're a fan of bands similar to Vampire Weekend and Foster The People you're sure to like this Kent-based four-piece with their upbeat surf-pop tunes. They've recently been on tour as a support act for Broken Hands and have had support from the likes of Radio 1 DJ Huw Stevens and TV show Made In Chelsea, after having this song played on one of their episodes. I Am The Hot air is a heavy guitar-pop song with catchy, repetitive, foot tapping grooves alongside the striking and unique vocals of front man Jamie Glass.

Buy I Am The Hot Air on ITunes HERE

Or have a listen to it first HERE on YouTube

photo cred Sugarthief on Soundcloud

Sugarthief -  Provide (15/11/15)

Meet new 4 month old indie four piece from Staffordshire, Sugarthief. With front man Jordi and lead guitarist Jack having played for about a year before as an acoustic duo. They have two other released songs on Soundcloud with over 1k listens. Provide entails the kind of memorable guitar riffs similar to The 1975, and fellow Brummies Swim Deep with a style resembling Ratboy and the song collectively consisting of a likeness to Pale Saints - Sight Of You. If you're interested in going to see them they'll be playing some gigs around Birmingham early next year at The Rainbow club in Digbeth with Baddies Boogie.

Take a look at their Soundcloud page and have a listen to Provide HERE

photo credit @thevryllsociety twitter

The Vryll Society - Coshh (23/10/15)

Introducing new Space-rock indie band from Liverpool - The Vryll Society with Coshh, a single from their debut EP Pangea. Coshh is an indie sounding, laid back track being both upbeat and dark at the same time laced with bass heavy hallucinogenic waves accompanying eerie, recurrent lyrics. They'll be supporting Blossoms on their UK tour across February and March next year which you can still get tickets for HERE.

You can buy Coshh HERE on Itunes from their EP - Pangea

Or, you can listen to some of their other songs HERE on Soundcloud

photo cred www.heavenlyrecordings.com

The Wytches - Summer Again (22/07/15)

The Brighton trio caught my attention after hearing this dark, anger fuelled grunge track containing bass heavy waves of noise infused with murky psych rock alongside unsettling and mysterious lyrics. This track was taken from their debut album - Annabel Dream Reader released last year (listen HERE) and since then they have just completed a UK tour supporting The Cribs.

Listen to Summer Again on YouTube HERE

Catfish and The Bottlemen - back in Birmingham

To have two sold out tours across the UK now over and done with and sat comfortably in their back pockets in just this year alone with only one album being out is pretty inconceivable. Last Saturday night at the O2 Academy in Birmingham was my second time witnessing Catfish and The Bottlemen’s inevitable rise to success first-hand. If you’ve ever seen them live then you’ll know what I’m talking about, their colossal stage presence being placed next to the likes of The Arctic Monkeys and even Oasis’s early success. They've always seemed to have been more than ‘just another rock band trying to make it big’ from the get go; even their performance at an almost empty London Barfly on the night they got signed by Mumford and Son's keyboard player - Ben Lovett "sounded bigger than what we did last night playing an arena" according to Ben himself. However, admirably they've worked for eight years to get to the point they are at now, with the band managing to undoubtedly being on their way to becoming one of this generations essentials for rock music. Now, Catfish and The Bottlemen seem to be claiming their own identity regarding their sound, breaking out of all of the ‘they sound like’s and ‘they’re the next so and so’s.

Before the lights went down (my photo)

The band certainly made an entrance as they took to the stage with The Beatles' - Helter Skelter as their intro music, followed by an hour-long set which consisted of the entirety of their debut album - The Balcony. I felt as though the band could have done with adding some more new material with the exception of only one of their new songs - ‘7’ being played. The song seemed like a real tease for album two as it sounded a lot different to their older material whilst it focused more on vocals with a more easy-going, slower tempo track yet nonetheless still being rather dramatic. Van admitted himself that ‘album two embarrasses the first one’. With ‘7’ consisting of the kind of easy, repetitive lyrics that will have you unknowingly singing along in no time building up to a signature drop where a lengthy guitar solo appears; a regular occurrence within Catfish’s songs. (listen to a live recording of 7 HERE - credit to owner)

Photo credit to my friend Chloe Bailey

Despite this, the audience did not seem to mind the set-list as Van was barely audible over the crowd belting out each and every song from their album word for word, Van still seeming astounded and not yet used to the hysteria with a head shake accompanied by a humble smile of disbelief appearing now and then alongside various thank you's shouted out here and there. Favourites of the night included Kathleen and Business, with the kind of chorus' that created waves of people on each others shoulders with their arms around each other and arms thrown hopefully into the air with a true euphoric sense in the room. The array of ages across the audience wasn't surprising as this band really do seem to be taking the interest of most people that discover them.

I have to say, this performance was even better than when I saw them last March due to the crowd size, excitement (coming from both the crowd and the band), and atmosphere being heightened to a whole different standard. The entirety of the night was absolute chaos (in the best possible way). Not one person was stood still, possibly due to not being physically able to as the crowd was just one huge moshpit; even those sat on the balcony were being encouraged by Van himself to stand up with the regular prompt of "Come on, what are you doing sat down? I want everyone stood up and moving!" which, unsurprisingly acquired worried looks on the faces of security guards. They're a band who really know what they're doing, not only in stage presence and maintaining their full-on adoration from their fans within their live shows but their ability to produce hit after hit. I'm suspecting that the new album will come out early next year and so if you haven't seen this band live already, I highly recommend you try and do soon before it becomes almost impossible to bag yourself a ticket for their predicted future shows at stadiums.

An interview with Broken Hands

Broken Hands - a refreshing addition to new rock music with heavy, urgent and intense growling guitar riffs and catchy lyrics with occasional distorted whirring space sounds adding a sense of uniqueness to the band. With their recently released debut album - Turbulence, the five piece have embarked on their headline tour across the UK.
   I went to go and watch Broken Hands at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham last night due to front man Dale Norton very kindly inviting me along to the show. I can honestly say that it was undoubtedly one of the best live performances I've ever seen; as soon as the set had finished I was left wanting to see them again. The whole show sounded colossal. I'll definitely be around for the next time they come to Birmingham as I know they'll be selling out bigger venues for sure as the rather intimate size of The Sunflower Lounge did not stand a chance against the enormity of the sound that they were emitting. The band were truly captivating to watch onstage, with each member putting on their own individual show and fully getting into the music. It was difficult to break yourself out of the mindset that you weren't actually travelling full force, hurtling through space; with everything from the sketchy flashing lights erupting in sequence alongside the almighty bass lines that pulsated throughout the room, the background covered in what looked like aluminium to the band's spaced themed blue boiler suits contributing to the undeniable futuristic feel.
   I also managed to have a little chat with Dale about the band's music before the show. Have a read of what he had to say below:

You've just got back from touring in America, how do you find the US audiences in comparison with the UK ones?
"People in America seem to have taken to us pretty good. We've only done six shows out there and we only played New York so progressively I think people are tagging on. It's almost like playing your first gig all over again. It's hard to tell but generally speaking we seem to be going down quite well. We're going back there soon too so we'll see."

I've heard about the price of touring in America being really expensive now, what's that about?
"One of the main reasons it's so expensive is because there's five of us in a band so to play/work out there in the U.S. it's £700 for a visa each; so you've got that before you've even started thinking about touring costs. You need to be in a position where someone can back you to get to that point. You can actually go and play a showcase which is good if you're a new band cos it's what we did at the start but you can use an ESTA and you can do up to three shows if you're not being paid. So that's a good bit of info for anyone trying to get out there. SXSW is especially good if you want to start playing out there - it's one of the first things we played there."

The album cover for Turbulence is rather distinctive, are the symbols representative of anything?

Photo credit to www.brokenhands.co.uk

"It's a bit of a concept which is a bit of a dirty word on our record, each song has a symbol and the main cover is just all of them put together; like the cover for one of our singles - Meteor, that has a symbol on it there so that's one of the ones that's been put together on the album cover. A graphic designer did it called Stuart Ford - who works at the label. Because we had quite a strong idea of what the music was about and all of the themes were in the titles and the lyrics, cos it's about a flight taking off, it was easy for him to portray his own take on it. It's made the whole process easier as when we first started we didn't really know what we wanted to do, we were just playing to figure out how to get better and to build a fan base. It got to a point where we were a bit disillusioned and we were semi copying off other people and it wasn't getting us anywhere so we just thought we'd do what what we wanted to and that's how the whole idea came up."

How do you want people to perceive your sound?
"Someone asked me the other day 'how successful do you want to be or do you just want to sell your records' but if people get the idea of the concept that it's a big analogy for coming up and taking off and the paranoia of coming down and weather they like it or not, I'll be chuffed. That's all we've tried to say, that's the whole conversation of the record so if they get that then I'll just be proper chuffed. Sometimes, I'll get a review and people are just like 'they've worked with Royal Blood's producers so they just sound like Royal Blood' - we do sound similar because we're a heavier band but if people gave it a bit of time and understood the concept then our job is done weather they like it or not."

Is there a message that you try to get across in your songs or is it more about the sound?
"Yeah, I think there is a message. Like I was saying when we were a bit of a loose end and we were just copying other bands at the time, we kind of got to the end of the road. I was dropping off a few friends at the airport, this was when we were thinking about maybe stopping it, but I sat down and basically as I was coming down I dropped them off which is weird cos have you ever dropped someone off at the airport? It's fucking bollocks because they go off to have a nice time and you get really excited but it's like 5am and you've gotta go home. But anyway, as I was dropping them off I thought - fucking hell, everyone I know is getting on a plane and going abroad or travelling and all in their early twenties so they were gonna get absolutely wrecked and 'expand their minds' and all that. But I saw a correlation; the idea of flight and travelling and the idea of actually going up in your head so I think the message is about us trying to get out and see a bit more. The only reason we started playing music was that so we could go round and get a free pass to travel - which sounds bad but I'm sure most people have thought that."

Myself  and Dale

How does your songwriting come together?
"For a long time I wrote all of the songs and then when we came up with that concept I explained, we all moved in together to try and make it work and that was when we started writing together more. Half of the record is written by me and the other half is a co-write between us all. Because we had this idea of what we wanted to say planned out, it made it easier for us. But, co-writing has been wicked and I hope that we do more of that on the next records. It's a bit awkward sometimes in bands if there's just one person who writes all the stuff because it's a bit awkward for the other members to try and approach it. Sometimes I used to go up to the boys with an idea and they wouldn't really agree; it's like you can be best mates but it's like an elephant in the room - you can't really say you don't like it. So having a joint idea and direction made it easier to talk about."

What do you think is influencing you right now?
"It's a bit weird because the whole record was about getting on a flight and taking off so getting on a flight and taking off now is a bit weird, and when we actually play the music now it's like 'this is great'. I was actually really stressed out because the last time when we were working abroad before the album came out I was thinking - fucking hell imagine if we all crashed and died and we've made this whole record about it - it would be absolutely dreadful! But at the moment, we've been really interested in kirlian photography; it's when they load electric into different items and it shows you where the energy fields are. So, for the next album which we're already writing, it's going to be based on plus, minus, magnetism and the relationship between people, so I guess it's a relationship record."

You can purchase Broken Hand's album - Turbulence on Itunes by clicking HERE

Or, you can buy a physical copy by clicking HERE


Written by Rosie Mulhern

An interview with Pretty Vicious

   You might not have heard of them now but you will do soon. New four piece teenage band from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales caught my ears recently after stumbling across their newest single online - National Plastics. (listen HERE) It's an urgent, anger fueled take on modern rock; an explosion of noise impressively contained into a four minute long track; with sounds relating to a more intense, punk-rock take on The Black Keys, slight correlations with Jet's - Are You Gonna Be My Girl and a heavier version of The Strypes. It seems to be going pretty well for these guys after only a year of being together as they have already played numerous festivals with the likes of Reading and Leeds and Latitude sat comfortably in their back pockets. They're also currently on tour with Nothing But Thieves and are admirably scheduled to be playing as a support act for The Vaccines late next month.
   I managed to catch a quick couple of minutes with the band before they went onstage on Wednesday night in Birmingham at The Rainbow in Digbeth. So, meet Jarvis (bassist), Tom (lead guitarist), Elliot (drummer), and front man Brad.

You're currently on tour with Nothing But Thieves, how's that been so far?
All: "Brilliant, it's been really good so far"
Elliot: "The crowds have been awesome too and it's been a great opportunity to get more gigs under our belts."
Tom: "We've had some really nice venues so far as well. This one seems pretty good so we're looking forward to tonight"

Have you played here before?
Tom: "Not here but we've played Birmingham before, I think it was the Hare and Hounds."
Elliot: "But this is a really cool venue by the looks of it. We're excited."

How did you get into music?
Brad: "Our families got us into it but I just wanted to learn guitar when I was about ten"
Tom: "I always fancied playing an instrument and my dad was a drummer but I just didn't fancy drums. I remember he was playing guitar so I had a quick go on his and I just really wanted to learn."
Brad: "I told him that if he bought a bass he could be in the band so that's what he did"
Elliot: "I remember my father and my brother were all into music so for me I guess it was always around and I was born into it and I just ended up getting into drums"

Photo credit to Simon Sarin 

How did you get together as a band?
Jarvis: "Brad's really good at telling this story"
Brad: "I think it was a random Thursday night and everyone from our school was in this field and we all decided to have a bit of a campfire and we all got a bit drunk. I was in a cover band at the time but they didn't want to play original songs, so I saw Elliot across the fire and I knew he played drums and I just asked if he wanted to be in a band. I decided to start messaging him on Facebook and we really got on-"
Elliot: "I still have the messages actually. There's one where Brad said 'You never know what's gonna happen'"
Brad: "And now a year later it seems to have gone a bit mental."
Elliot: "Three days later Brad asked Tom to learn and buy a bass and he did and it took off from there. We recorded Cave Song six months after and four months after that we got signed."
Jarvis: "I met some guy at the train station from GumTree and he sold me a bass guitar for thirty quid."
Brad: "We just lived in a bit of a unit then. We practiced every day and worked really hard for the next six months just writing and grafting and then it started to kick off"

Who would you say were your main influences?
Tom: "There's honestly loads like Nirvana, The Jam-"
Jarvis: "Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols..."
Elliot: "Iggy Azalea that is of course, not Iggy from The Stooges obviously" (laughs)
Brad: "The Smiths, The Cure, Oasis"
Elliot: "There's a load of different genres too for instance, Brad is into a load of different ones like electric and house and shit like that"
Brad: "Well I like The Prodigy sort of dance stuff, I like a bit of rock and electric too - especially after the gig; it keeps you on a high"
Elliot: "Basically just any good music, not really specific genres."

I saw that you're playing with The Vaccines in November, how did that come about?
Elliot: "I actually have no idea how the hell that happened"
Brad: "I think they mailed us actually"
Jarvis: "What, The Vaccines asked for us?"
Joe: "Yeah I think they literally just mailed us, it was really weird"
Brad: "We played with them in Jersey when they headlined Jersey Live Festival"
Jarvis: "We also met them at Latitude Festival when we played there, they're really nice, they're really tall as well actually"
Brad: "Well I was drunk so I can't really remember it but from what I can remember it was really cool."

Is there anyone you'd like to tour with?
Tom: "Queens of the Stone Age"

Myself and the band

Jarvis: "Public Image"
Brad: "We're not really into many new bands so I can't really think of many else."
Jarvis: "We of course appreciate a lot of new bands but it's like you're so focused on your own music you don't really pay much attention to new stuff that's going on"
Tom: "We'd like to do our own shows too where we can play more of our own stuff. When it's a co-headline show there's like different groups of fans so it's nice to have your own fans at your shows"
Brad: "And we do have our own tour in November so we're really looking forward to that. It's all on our Facebook page if you're interested"

How's the album process going?
Brad: "We've pretty much got it all written out it's just timings we're waiting for."
Elliot: "We've basically got the next three albums written it's just waiting for the right time so doesn't clash with other people's and building up a fan base. Hopefully we'll record it soon and be releasing it in the summer right before festival season."
Brad: "It'll be good then because people will be able to sing our songs back to us when we play festivals"
Elliot: "That's the main part of getting your album out - just being able to tour and play your songs to people and seeing that people actually know your songs that you've made"

What's the one song that made you want to be in a band?
Brad: "I don't actually know but All Day And All Of The Night by The Kinks is a good one, I wish I would've written that. I remember being gutted as a kid that I didn't write it.
Tom: "Sunshine Of Your Love made me want to learn guitar."
Elliot: "I used to be into bands like Oasis so probably one of their songs, but I'm a bit past that now."
Jarvis: "I think I've just always had that mentality to want to be in a band"

What the first album you bought?
Tom: "I don't think I've ever bought an album, I just downloaded them all. (laughs) But my first one was Youth & Young Manhood by Kings Of Leon"
Jarvis: "Mine was probably The Simpsons soundtrack" (laughs)
Elliot: "I think it was the live soundtrack to when Led Zeppelin played Royal Albert Hall"

Listen to National Plastics by Pretty Vicious HERE

Written by Rosie Mulhern.

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.