A lot has changed since we last spoke! Congratulations on being signed with Stimulus, how does it feel?
J: Feels great! Especially coming out the back end of lock down, we’ve hit the ground running with a lot of gigs that has led to a lot of new opportunities.
S: It’s been amazing enough just getting back to gigging after the last few years, and for the work we’re doing to have caught the eye of something as big as Stimulus is mind blowing. It’s honestly an honour just to be even vaguely associated with some of the acts they’re working with!
You have just completed a 40 date run how did it go?
S: Absolutely incredible! Everywhere we’ve been the crowds have been unbelievable, up and down the UK, been great seeing so many people back together enjoying live music again. Huge love to everyone who has come out to see us across the gigs, the energy has been mind blowing.
J: Gigs are all we know now. It’s been a LOT of time on the road! I apparently have a family I’ve left somewhere….I hope they turn up at the next show…
What were the highlights for you?
J: Latitude Festival was an amazing highlight to cap off a run of about 10 hours on the road travelling from gigs in Newquay, Kettering, Darlington and then on to Suffolk. It’s an incredible set up and the crowd were great!
S: Latitude for sure is up there, it was the first weekend of things being normal again and everyone was just so happy to be out and partying like normal again! Though to be fair all the festivals this year have been really good to us, Music Barn, Great Estate, Maui Waui, Beautiful Days, Little Big, Inglefest, Kaya and all the others, all absolutely smashed it! We played Party In The Castle at Exeter Castle, that was insane! The homecoming show at Mr Wolfs was insane, and Falmouth Underland Bar was awesome, too many highlights to name them all!
Were there any venues that you really enjoyed playing?
J: We’ve been loving the small town shows recently where the crowd really appreciate a good live show! We’ve enjoyed the challenges where we’ve had to work with the venue’s through the crowd restrictions with some imaginative results, but it’s nice being back to normal gigs now! Oh, and playing a venue filled with wall to wall taxidermy, you have to see it to believe it!
S: Oh definitely the taxidermy one! Percys in Whitchurch, if you’re ever in town make sure you check it out!
You have an EP coming out in February, give us three words to describe it?
S: Gives. More. Than. Expected.
J: Experimental. Unapologetic. Seamless.
What are your favourite tracks from it?
J: The “Get Down” remix with Akil from Jurassic 5 is a soulful new take on a stand out classic from our last LP.
S: We’ve started doing one of the tracks, “Hype”, in the live show already with an awesome bit of crowd participation collective screaming that I’m loving at the moment! The EP version features Dizzy from Ugly Duckling too which is still sort of blowing my mind!
You have worked hard on it with some heavyweight producers, what did you learn from those sessions?
S: It’s always an experience collaborating with new people, Astro Snare on the last EP, Vice Beats produced all of the new one, the next is Cut Beetlez who are in Finland. It’s always awesome seeing how you can work together and usually ends up with both sides bringing something to the table that really works but you would never have even considered working alone!
J: It’s been fortunate for us that distance doesn’t matter so much anymore, it’s something positive we have had to get used to during lockdown but it has helped us learn a lot of different techniques for writing which has been great.
You released videos in 2021 that showed off your creativity even further how did you come up with the concepts for them?
S: Well, those videos were very much the epitome of working within the constraints of lockdown! The concepts were very much based around the idea that, at the time, I couldn’t leave the house or gig or go anywhere to film, so I just worked with what I had to hand and tried to pull something interesting together. Very happy with the results!
Coming up to the end of the year, what has been a real stand out moment for you?
J: Performing in the middle of a perspex walled circle like a cage dancer for a theatre performance. It was….different!
S: Oh man that was amazing! It allowed bubbles of six to all have a front row seat while maintaining social distancing, looked a bit like the bit in “Stolen” where they sell off Liam Neeson’s daughter. Popp Theatre it was called, well worth checking out! To be honest the amazing crowds everywhere have been a constant stand out. We played at the Tour Of Britain bike race, that sticks in the mind for being so different. I remember seeing the tour poster for the first time with all the dates on and just being amazed, it’s been an incredible time.
Did you pick up any new skills?
J: It’s definitely produced a tighter set, especially after so many gigs you definitely learn what works after road testing so much material in such a short burst! Crow work and adapting the sets from festivals to venues became a lot easier, also there’s nothing like watching a song you love get thrown in the gutter after finding it just doesn’t work live!
S: We’re getting pretty good at powering through long journeys on very little sleep too!
What are you looking forward to next in 2022?
S: We’ve got the EP release in February and will be hitting the road again then, also very excited about working with Stimulus and seeing where that takes us! Like I said earlier, some of the names they work with are just crazy, Nas, Wu Tang, Snoop, far too many to name, and if we get a chance to work with some of them in any way it would be awesome. So mainly looking forward to seeing what 2022 brings!
