One important fact about a certain local festival that passed recently, Togfest was scorching, not just because of the weather but quite a few of the bands were hot stuff from around the country, not just the concrete city itself. One group in particular were the Soundcasters, a new young band from Kent who dress as sharp as their chords. AMPjam gets in touch with the lads early on the Sunday to talk about their quick rise and life in a scene that actually keeps you on your toes.
When I catch up with the guys they aren’t exactly suited and booted for their gig but pretty much dressed for enjoying the festival and seeming to be enjoying the bands that have been on so far, the guys are also due to play later so I chance them on a description of their sound to get things going.
“We’re kind of an indie-sixties-kind-of-rock n’ roll I’d say” starts bassist Scott, giving a broad outlay of what we could be hearing later. “Our songs are quite different” adds Simon, their lead guitarist, “It’s a hard question, but the way we dress and the way we play is very much sixties pop with a bit of Arctic Monkeys and indie thrown in there as well.”
Said hard to nail sound also stems from a wide range of influences, the guys having been immersed in music since a young age yet still being into their own things, like most good bands there’s a sense of individuality. “All of us like all types of music” says Tom, the band’s frontman/rhythm guitarist. “So this sort of festival, Togfest, is actually great because there’s so many different types of music. But I think as a band we’ve taken a bit from everything really, we’ve even got a bit of jazz in our music, for example.”
It’s not just the love for music that goes back a long way either “Me and Tom went to the same school” starts the lead guitarist, “We wanted to start a band so we just went for it!”
“We found you on Ebay, Matt, didn’t we?” Jokes Tom to the band’s drummer and smallest member.
“Half price, postage and packaging!” He chips in as a reply, before continuing on a more serious note ”I just put up an advert on the internet because I was looking for a band, then we got in touch and it just all worked out, it was really lucky actually!”
As we said before, the lads seemed to be enjoying most of the festival and loving the range of music on, mentioning the rather colourful jive display on the previous night from Hellzaboppin’ and also about Cyba X who drummed up (excuse the damned pun) a good crowd yesterday though tastes were rather mixed. Besides the other acts, the guys are also due on later today with the band having mixed feelings of nerves and excitement, Simon pretty much sums it up for us.
“The crowds getting bigger and bigger and you think you’re going to be up there in four or five hours. We’ve got other stuff coming up aswell, the whole week for us has been quite nervous, we’ve been doing stuff for Channel Four documentary so it’s been quite hectic and this is kind of the peak to the nervousness. After this is done we’re going to have a few drinks and relax I think…”
The guys do have a point though, right now the lads aren’t exactly on their home-turf in Kent but for myself it’s really refreshing to talk to a band that isn’t from our rather questionable Concrete Scene. In fact Kent is pretty damn developed, and “one of the best places for music” according to Matt, the county being what the guys describe as a brilliant and vibrant scene.
“There’s a band playing about every night if you want to go watch anyone, it’s a really good music scene!” he adds with a clear hint of enthusiasm.
“There are some really good bands,” continues Simon, “There’s a lot of competition back there, it keeps you on your toes and it would be a bit boring if you were the only band in town. There’s a band called Underground Heroes that made it quite big, they appeared on Lily Allen and friends and were also on a Channel Four documentary. I think every band tries to get into that sort of position, that’s the kind of thing we’re trying to aim for. But the music there’s great, there’s a lot of jam nights aswell.”
Going back to the whole ethos of being busy, though, the guys also have a headline slot coming up at a Maidenstone based festival, though there’s a bit of a story behind it as the band put it quite simply.
“When we auditioned we were the last band on, we just bowled in there.” Laughs Simon.
“It was going from one in the afternoon until six at night…” adds Tom. “And we walked in six-on-dead. We were the last band on and we bagged the headline slot which is great, we’re really pleased with that. We’ve also got Lounge On The Farm in Canterbury.”
“We’re playing with our mates, The Lovedays aswell, they’re on after us so we’re just going to chill afterwards.” says Matt.
Times are indeed looking good for the young band, and they’ve only been gigging as a four piece since early this year, quickly picking up steam and making ground. Last year seen the band as a five-piece that mainly did covers and as the guys collectively explain, the gigs with their own material have only been going since March and took things back to basics. Tom gives us a glimpse about the start of the year…
“We were in the rehearsal studios for three months, it’s a bit crappy because we had a whole year of gigs, they weren’t the best gigs but we were still gigging and we had to do three months of pure rehearsing. At least now we can just turn up, play and be confident about it.”
That pretty much sums it up for how things are with the Soundcaster lads, they might be young but their heads seem screwed on and they’re heading in the right direction, even if it’s at a pace that can be quite scary. But as long as they can take a few moments to chill out, like after their gig later today, the ride to potential stardom should be a fair bit less bumpy.
Craig \m/
