Q. How have your personal styles changed over the years, and what has stayed the same?
A. A few years ago I realised that there is no benefit to chasing trends when it comes to personal style. The real secret is finding your own niche through a mixture of quality pieces and timeless cuts. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with the following: Jacket: Like a great friend, a good jacket should make you feel comfortable, warm and ready to head out for a night on the town at a moment's notice. This one’s up to you.Boots: Boys wear sneakers, men wear boots. End of story. Cowboy preferred.Loafers: For when you are not wearing cowboy boots… or sleeping. Jeans: Wanna know what good jeans look like? Go watch a Liquid Zoo show. They might even be nice enough to tell you the cut. Suit: You think you know better than Serge Gainsbourg or Nick Cave? Of course not, get a suit you dumbass!T-Shirts: Go to a local band's show and buy their merch, god knows they need it.Other than that, you can always pop into Deus and have a poke around.
-
Q. You’ve carved a signature sound that fuses together alt-country, indie grit and spaced-out guitars. What’s the through-line in your taste that’s shaped the music you make and love?
A. You remember when the Arctic Monkeys recorded that record with Josh Homme in at Racho De La Luna? Pre leather jackets and hair gel? Well imagine they stayed, took too much mescaline and wandered off into the Mojave desert. That’s the kinda sound we’ve been going for.
-
Q. Your latest EP Neon Cowboy feels like a cinematic soundtrack.What draws you to certain genres or artists, and how do you honour those influences without losing your own voice in the process?
A. We always talk about the Venn Diagram between spaghetti western, surf and old spy movie soundtracks. Whilst they are all incredibly different moods they seem to share that spooky guitar sound that we love. I think what we’ve done on this last record is combine them in a way that feels dark, sexy, hopeful and reflective all at the same time.
-
Q. From pub shows to festival stages, how has performing live shaped your sound? Have any songs taken on a new meaning after being played in front of a crowd?
A. We’ve always been quite a loud band so smaller rooms (whilst fun) were always a challenge for us. We had a track off our last EP called Tyranny of Reason which was a slow burner when we started playing it in smaller rooms but has turned into a total groover when we get some serious decibels behind it. I find stuff like that really interesting as it shows you no longer have control over what the song is or means, at that point you’ve given it away.
