The Molotovs | Interview with Lyndsey Parker (LPTV)

Hi, I'm Lindsey Parker for LP TV. I'm here at Licorice Pizza with Matthew and Issy Cartledge from The Molotovs who are exploding everywhere. You're huge in the UK. The British invasion is happening here. This is your first time in Los Angeles. You're here to celebrate the recent release of Wasted on Youth. You are a model of youth to us. We're all so happy that you're here. So they first of all, thank you for coming to Licorice Pizza.

Thanks for having us.

I saw actually in your press release when you were talking about coming to LA. I'm reading the quote. You said that you were excited cuz this is your first time in LA, right?

Yeah.

That you were excited to visit at the home of everyone from The Birds to The Go-Go's. I was happy you mentioned The Go-Go's cuz they're friends of the store. So you spent a few days in LA. Has it lived up to your like kind of mythical expectations? I know you've been to the Chateau Marmont and the Rainbow and I don't know what else.

Yeah, it's been it's been good.

It's definitely put a hole in your wallet.

Yeah, it has definitely. Yeah.

We went to on the first night over to the Viper Room.

Okay.

To see Ryan Roxie's like supergroup band The [ __ ] with like Sinjin Phantom and another one from like Guns N' Roses and others from somewhere else.

But yeah, that was a great night to be part of and to be there and be invited.

Very cool. Sinjin Phantom is a friend of the store as well.

he? Yeah, he's a great guy. Really nice.

So have you has LA mythology I mean obviously you're influenced by so many different artists American and British is like the whole Hollywood LA rock thing like a thing that you have been inspired by?

Well, as we said like I guess The Birds definitely and like hearing stories of like Whisky a Viper Room, like Rainbow Bar we went last night. All those sort of places. I mean it's kind of I guess your parallel was kind of so whole in like the 70s and the kind of zeitgeist that was going on there.

Um, it's just nice to have the American counterpart and experience it.

Awesome. So, one thing I like about your success story so far, the successes is you you know, like I said, you're blowing up here is you kind of did this the old-fashioned way. A lot of people think that young bands, I mean, how old are you guys again? 17 and 18? 17 and 19?

18 and 20 now.

And you've been doing this already for six plus years and a lot of the younger artists you you know, they just blow up on TikTok or you think that's how it's perceived that they came out of nowhere as like a like an internet phenomenon and that they didn't pay their dues. But you guys, I mean, I I was looking at this math. Is it true that you've played 600 shows in five years when

Yeah, six years, yeah. Yeah, actually we started in 2020, about summer 2020. So, we're coming up to six years, I think, in July or something like that. Yeah.

We haven't counted up the numbers recently. That's the number that we've had for maybe a year or so, so it's

Yes, there there or there abouts, really.

Just over.

Just over, yeah.

So, how young were you guys when That's five six years ago. So, you were middle what we in America call middle school age.

Yeah, I was in middle school, man.

I don't know what they call it in in England. They call it middle school, but yeah, you were tweens.

Secondary, early secondary school.

So, let's go back to the beginning cuz like like I said, I think it's important for people to realize that in an age where the idea of bands touring and gigging and building up a fan base organically is kind of a dying thing.

That is what you guys did. It all kind of started during the pandemic and my understanding is because regular venues were shut down, you started busking. Tell me about that.

Yeah, that's right. So, Mat and I So, we started six years ago and out of necessity, you know, we were in bands before, but those obviously broke up as soon as lockdown ensued. So, we joined forces and we went out like playing the covers of the bands that we loved at the time and still do Libertines, The Kooks.

Um

You're you're a Libertines shirt right now. I'm going to wear this for you.

Good Raymond.

Um we're doing What else did we play? We played like the Beatles

The Jam.

The Jam, Sex Pistols, all this sort of stuff. And we'd go out to like Brixton, Soho, like round Oxford Street. And even though there was like a load of protests at the time, anti-lockdown ones or uh anti-ID, um these kind of things ensued. So we'd go out on the street and we'd play music to all the rallies, like I Predict a Riot by the Kaiser Chiefs or Anarchy in the UK, things that were fitting. And then as soon as everything opened up again, we just said yes to every opportunity and everything led to something else and that's just how we formed as a band was just playing live and it's still what we I guess thrive at. Thrive's the right word.

Yeah, we still do it.

Well, Libertines obviously still do it. You just do it in big venues now. Um and we'll get to that. But what Libertines covers did you do?

Did

Um

Don't Look Back in Anger, Can't Stand Me Now, like the big ones really. We didn't do anything uh

deep cuts?

Yeah, no deep cuts really. We did like Delilah or anything like that, like

Unfortunately in America, they're kind of all deep cuts cuz they never really got big here.

Nah, well they were

probably allowed over here.

They only came out here once with Pete.

Yeah.

was Coachella and then they toured one other time without him for the reasons you might expect that he couldn't come out here. But yeah, they never really had a chance to break out here. They were more known for him dating Kate Moss than anything else. But I always loved them and I love the influences that you have cuz obviously I hear Jam and I hear 70s punk and I hear 80s new wave and I hear 90s Britpop and stuff, but a lot of the stuff I hear from you is um reminds me of that era, not just the Libertines, but like The Kooks, The View, The Maccabees, um I mean actually I hear a lot of The Futureheads in the way you sing. I don't know if that's a band you know.

I've never listened to them, no.

There's a really great of Hounds of Love by Kate Bush.

I've seen their their stickers everywhere. That's that's about it. Just in my venue toilets and things like that.

It was an era that enemy kind of the enemy kind of disparagingly called landfill indie, which I hate that term cuz obviously it sounds derogatory. But the reason that it was called that was it was this idea that there were just so many indie bands at the time putting out physical CDs that like eventually it was enough it was too much. It was enough to fill a landfill.

Maybe pet a dish indie would be a better term for it.

But it was you know that really the arts are

[laughter]

There you go. I prefer that. I prefer that. But you know that era of all the bands I mentioned and like did I say the Maccabees, Fratellis, like all of that stuff. It's kind of the last time that stuff seemed to be really in vogue. I don't know. I could be wrong.

No, totally.

So am I right in saying that you kind of pull from that as well?

were sort of the band of that era. That was it for me. I mean I I got really into them for like quite a while and not saying I don't like them anymore. It's just that my focus like drifted elsewhere. You know, probably times before that I guess I started I started with Green Day when I first picked up the guitar and that I think 90% of kids who pick up guitar do.

And then it was like the Arctic Monkeys and then it was the Libertines and then yeah, then it was like Fratellis and all that sort of thing and yeah.

When am I have I read correctly that you know Billie Joe Armstrong and by it's great obviously he's he likes you guys. He's shouted out you guys. Um he has this thing of bringing a kid on stage to play guitar on a song. Have I read is the urban legend true that he did that with you once?

I didn't I didn't get on stage but he he [clears throat] told me to come up and then the security picked some other kid.

I was sort of I'm sort of it's all right. I mean I was I was gutted at the time. So yeah, I mean I was

Still gutted.

I went I went home and I was like pretend well it was it was hard to enjoy the rest of the gig I'll be honest. But, um But, I've gotten over that now. And, I'm sort of

[laughter]

I'm sort of glad, if anything, because I don't want to I don't really want to be the known as the the kid who just got picked by Billie Joe to come on stage and play one cover song, you know what I mean?

I mean, it would have It would be a clip that would be resurfacing now. Like, watch, you know,

would never get [ __ ] away from it. Yeah.

Who did Why did they pick the other kid?

I don't know. I don't know. I mean, he did

Was it the haircut?

Better haircut, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I find that hard to believe. I mean, maybe you didn't have this haircut then.

No, no, no, it's better now. Yeah.

Have you had a chance to meet

[laughter]

is on?

They're all on.

Oh, they're all on. So,

So, you can pose for all three.

Yeah.

[laughter]

Have you had a chance to I assume you've crossed paths I assume you've crossed paths with Billie Joe. Now, he's sung your praises, like I said. Have you ever told him like

Never Never actually spoke to him or met him. Just he's sort of been this uh

Well,

online flirt, really.

we got is he played a pub in Covent Garden, uh called the Marquis, which we're at all the time. It's like they all do only vinyl. It's tiny. It's apparently where Dickens drank, but Dickens drank everywhere in Covent Garden, so So, yeah. So, so the legend goes. But, we we're always there. We love it. It's like a proper They call it the Freakish Mod Pub. And, just Green Day did a gig there. Like, 60 capacity.

Uh I mean, there was condensation over every surface there. It was absolutely rammed. And, you can see in all the videos uh Matt's bleach blonde head uh just outside the window bobbing up and down, just wishing to get in, but it pressed right up against the glass. And, while they were coming in, you know, he gave like a little nod of acknowledgement. Like, he definitely saw you.

That was That was about it. He sort of pointed like he knew who we were. But, um But, yeah, that was about it. I mean, the pub is probably not as big as the studio, you know.

Yeah, it's tiny.

just a tiny bit smaller, but

I feel like it's inevitable that you'll end up doing something touring together or collabing or I don't know. It feels like with all the other ways your career and all the other great people you've played with or met or toured with or opened for that I feel it's inevitable that that's going to happen.

We need a petition.

I don't know, maybe if he sees this man he can make it make happen, you know.

[laughter]

What do you have in mind?

We have some ties to the Green Day world. I'll I'll put in a word. Although I don't think you need my help at all.

please do. Thanks a lot.

So you've you developed you developed a a reputation for being a great live band, like I said, the old-fashioned way and you started, like I said, busking. How was that a a good test for or a good way to hone your live chops because I imagine it's hard enough if you're an opening band you're playing a club or a pub to get people's attention. But when you're trying to get people's attention and people are just like walking by on the way to the the tube stop or to work or whatever, like that's a really difficult audience.

Yeah, I don't know. I think people people don't really mind it if because I it's like London they'll they'll assume there's going to be busking and things like that. It's part of the culture really and what why London's such a great and vibrant city. Not that it's the only city that's got that in the UK.

I mean, like, you know, Liverpool and Manchester and all the rest of it got that as well. Um but I think it was a really good test that you got to grab people's attention like really quickly cuz you got maybe about 5 seconds when they're walking past to get them to either stop and watch or at least like, you know, follow you online or and then after that buy a ticket. But people might just they like they like the idea that, you know, kids are getting out there and doing it. And we were kids at the time, so yeah, that was great.

rid of a lot of fear as well. To go out onto the street and you're not on a stage, you're not on a pedestal, you're at the same like physical level as people.

Yeah, you wouldn't do it for ages.

And to make it like make kind of fools of yourself out on the street. I mean, you had to be completely delusional and so into it at the time. And so I think that's that's kind of translated to how we perform now. There really is no like inhibitions when we play. It's just is just pure

Yeah, we're not we're not delusional anymore, you know, we we

Now we know our [ __ ] Yeah, I was about to say that, you [ __ ]

Yes, I'm shooting off. All right.

It's No, it's all good. Also, believe it or not, this is not the first time I've discussed the C-word in during the interview here because in it was with somebody who was Australian cuz in in Australia and England, that word is different than it is here.

How so?

It's more Here, it's actually like considered pretty bad swear word, but like here it's I know I No.

It's fitting, then, yeah.

And um my understanding is that in the UK and Australia, it's kind of it could be used as a almost like a loving a term of endearment or it's it's definitely like it's got a softer landing is what I'm trying to say.

Yeah, I'll go with that.

So, anyone who was watching this going, "How dare you call your sister that?" Like, it's cool.

So, I should call me calls me worse.

[laughter]

So, eventually lockdown started to ease up and and um you know I mean, feel free to say whatever you want. It's a safe space here, but I mean, no no one's

going to get offended.

Um but so, lockdown started to ease up and um but some venues during that time were struggling and are still struggling and I know your that's a big cause for you. You've done like you have this thing called the Youth Explosion shows you do and it's to like support small venues in the UK. Can you tell me about that?

Yeah, so we started them what, about 2022, 2023?

2023, we started the Youth Explosion gigs, yeah.

so, what those were is cuz we were see a lot younger then. We were under 18. But we managed to kind of weasel our way into venues and make it work even though we weren't supposed to even be there, but then play there. But a lot of our peers didn't have the same you know, we were dressing up and able to kind of act a little bit older and they the rest of them couldn't really do that. So, we wanted to set up these all ages gigs, really accessible at £3 tickets just to get a kind of new generation into rock music cuz they weren't exposed to it. Like, they'd never been to a gig before. So, our shows where we'd curate the lineup with other bands on the scene, which there were a lot of similar There were some great uh guitar bands in London at the moment. Um but yeah, we put on these shows and people like aped it. They started wearing the sort of things we were wearing, listening to the influences that we were inspired by. And we went on and did ones at Bush Hall, which Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols ended up on stage with us as well, playing God Save the Queen. And that was with all proceeds going back to the venue cuz it was going to shut down. But we did a lot for like Music Venue Trust as well. Um like supporting their £1 ticket levy uh that Coldplay did, for example. And uh who else did it? There loads of people at like Wembley have started doing this kind of like uh campaign with £1 from each ticket goes back into independent venues. So yeah.

Wouldn't give away £2, though.

No.

[laughter]

I mean, that's taking a piss. How are they going to make any money?

I mean, yeah, it's hard. I mean, I was saying how a lot of bands don't come up the way you came up, but it's hard. Like

of them do, though, to be fair. Like in in history and that, that's how

In history, yeah.

Yeah, but not now. That's how some of the bands come up.

Right. It's less common now, or it seems less common now.

It is. You're You're completely right. Uh I don't know what he's on about.

It's just cuz we It's just cuz we don't have things like the NME anymore. They don't Like they don't

come back?

Yeah, but it's only online now. It's not a press thing. It's There's no money in magazines, really.

is is far rarer now, but uh because it's everything's like digital sphere now, there's even more reason to go out and buy physical media, buy vinyl, buy magazines. Um It's kind of all that's Well, obviously we're in a record shop.

to hear it. We love to champion physical media here. Keep going.

You're You're never going to That That can't die. Those sort of third spaces, um So but that's like, you know, people rising on social media, that's kind of the way people doing it now. And uh I think part of our success has been because um people have really taken to us as individuals and through the gigs and feeling a kind of loyalty um, and from the people that they meet in those rooms, you can't get that kind of sense of community through online and social media.

Yeah, they like the way they've gone about it, yeah.

And being the age that you are and that a lot of your peers and and fans are, I mean, you guys got robbed of a lot of that because during your teen years, your developmental years when you should have been out discovering the scene, you were in lockdown or busking. So, I feel it's even more important now kids have to catch up with what they missed out on.

Oh, definitely.

Yeah, and that's why we got a lot of younger fans and that because they were at the right age where lockdown was when they weren't doing much anyway. They didn't go out and they weren't of pub going age or even gig going age really.

So, now that they're out of it and they've seen us coming up through and out of lockdown, they're now of that age where they can go and see gigs and that's where you know, we have got a lot of younger fans and you know, I'm really I'm really proud of that is cuz I've been where they was, you know, like in their shoes at that age going out and seeing gigs and going to pubs and things like that and it's a nice feeling cuz I've always been like the baby of all the bands I've gone and seen and you know, been around and been on the bill with. I've always been the youngest one. And for the first time in history it's like I'm not the youngest one anymore.

And I feel like such a I don't know, nonce even being around them.

I wouldn't worry about that.

No.

I would not.

I'm not, by the way, but yeah. I feel a bit weird having to Yeah, having to clear that up, but

No, I know. I know it. But yeah, I mean, obviously you're you're still quite young.

[laughter]

Um, all good. You talked about physical media and when you guys first charted, like your first single in the UK wasn't it like kind of special because it was very physical media driven, which is

one in the in like physical charts, which just shows that there's still a

And it was what a vinyl single or

It was a the Yeah, so it was a the 7-in singles chart and it was the overall vinyl charts, so albums and singles.

Very cool. I'm sorry, what were you about to say about that achievement?

Yeah, well, it was just it just shows that there's still the consumer base there for this sort of stuff and still people are very much interested in vinyl. It's not dead yet and we should like acknowledge that and we always like even with the new album we got to number three in the whole charts in the UK and a lot of that was to do with our vinyl sales as well and people really buying into that. It's not just the music, it's the artwork, it's the lyric sheet, it's those tiny decisions that go into a larger product.

Yeah, you won't believe it. We had like so many discussions about whether to keep the plug socket in on the on the album sleeve. And I was pro pocket sleeve socket plug socket on the on the on the sleeve and she was anti, but we agreed in the end.

How did you as brother and sister, it seems like you get along, but brothers and sisters can fight and now you're also in a band, so you're sort of business partners as well. How do you How do you navigate those kind of business decisions?

Creative decisions. Physical fighting.

All right.

Physical media and physical fighting.

Yeah.

There you go. Um you mentioned the Bush Hall.

Structured debate.

Okay, I feel like we're having some kind of like debate, you know, like at the way it's set up like a PBS.

Or an intervention.

This is more something like that. Something like that.

So I have my first speech and then we get like, you know, 20 Trump supporters and then we all have to like we don't know who the No.

No, no.

and Democrat.

[laughter]

Um You mentioned Huh?

So he knows they're great and they'll have to run to the chair. It's like musical chair political musical chairs.

Okay. Well, actually since we are talking politics, um I wanted to talk about some of the messages in your music cuz you've talked a lot about, you know, we sort of I sort of touched on it about kids going through the pandemic, but you know, Gen Z, um you know, it's a tough time whether you're in England or the UK to be it's a tough time to be young right now, you know, a lot of financial struggle, it's hard to get jobs.

Yes.

And I actually even think maybe, I mean, I'm not from England, I don't live there, so you tell me if I'm wrong, but I almost see like some parallels to post-Brexit UK with what was going on during the Sex Pistols era or the Thatcher era in the early '80s, so uh

there are some songs, there are some themes about that on the record.

Yeah, but definitely, I think there's a lot of I think we're [snorts] definitely in a decline at the moment, but always in history when there's a decline going on in whatever way that is, um I think great art and great music comes out of it. Um and yeah, we're in a sort of weird time in the UK at the moment and I think in the world. Um

Everything's very polarized, it's extreme, and you know, with our music and with kind of the best in your lot of songs, we want to just touch on more universal truths and what whatever side you're on, you kind of still find some unity. Yeah, unity.

Cuz then we can have open the conversation that actually gets gets stuff done and if we're not polarizing, then people don't want to talk to each other and you know, who've got opposing views, but I think that yeah, you might hate them for it, but you've got to talk to them.

Which is everyone wants the same thing, which is stability. Uh young people want job stability, they want to be uh financially independent, uh they want to have friends and a community, identity. And so, this is all the sort of stuff that no matter where you are politically, these are the stuff that rings true.

And you know, we want to champion through our songs and through our gigs as well, give people that kind of space and you know, find something to energize them.

Are there certain songs on the album that address this more, I guess, overtly? I know New Newsflash seems

Yeah, Newsflash, that's a sort of anti-lockdown song. I mean, I don't think we should lock down, but

But I suppose I think the more the disproportionate uh how disproportionate was on young who weren't as affected by uh COVID and so they were kind of left out of the conversation and still now they've been left behind and

Well, socially as well. I mean, in your formative like social years, that's when you That's when you like learn to actually interact with people. So many people like young people were starved of that experience and that those teachings and and they they won't recover from that and ever will because they're they're too far gone and socially inept now.

Exactly.

So, it's an anti-lockdown song just in what sense? Cuz I mean, I think people maybe will look back at that history about some of the measures that were taken in this country as well about and go, "Oh, was that necessary to shut down the schools?" We didn't know at the time what was going on.

When I was writing it, I didn't realize but it's so so scary to realize how compliant people were and how people just they'll go go forth with anything that the government says. Yeah.

Was that insp- I mean, obviously you were out busking and actually it was a really creative time that led to all these cool things for you but

with the police but going out busking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, loads of them. We had like neighbors calling calling the police of us playing music and things like that and a lot of times we just

got uh asked for uh

10,000 pound fine we got for him with a fine um by these police officers and they said we were inciting a social gathering which is mental. But

Obviously we showed up and played but we kind of we were going to pack up and go and then uh we did one last song and they got

They just got arsey

Yeah, they got arsey cuz we said to the crowd, you know, "This is our police Yeah, this is this is our met police. This is what they're focusing on." And then they were like, "Actually, they did the [ __ ] Columbo." Came back and they were like, "Oh, we're going to give you a fine."

said that. All right, now you're getting fined. It's like, yeah.

Did you have to pay it or did you get out of it? No, we just

[laughter]

fine and we haven't had anything since.

Did you get a lot of tips when you were busking?

Yeah, you can take the 10,000 pound worth. quid that's in our guitar case. How about that?

50 quid's all right. It's not 10,000 quid, but it's all right.

Yeah, yeah. I could I could stomach losing that.

How has been the reaction? I feel the reaction to a song like Newsflash now would be different than if you'd put it out in like 2020 or 21. Like

We still sung it back then.

And how would did people react?

I know the PA was so [ __ ] they couldn't hear the lyrics.

[gasps and sighs]

But um but now they can and they've got a a lyric sleeve as well. Um I think it's it's actually not a song that really gets talked about on the album. So I'm glad you brought it up and people just talk about the singles and Daydreaming and Geraldine really cuz they go who's Geraldine?

Who is? No, I mean

Yeah, I mean it's a um

I'd rather talk about Newsflash to be honest.

Yeah, okay. Yeah.

There's another song I have to look at the title. I'm so sorry. It was called um Rhythm of

Yourself.

Rhythm of Yourself. And I feel tell me about that one because it's my understanding that basically obviously you're doing something that's kind of although it evokes the past it's it's a fresh and different compared to a lot of things going on now. But there were people in the music industry that were like this ain't going to work, kids. Change your look, change your sound.

Yeah. But the fact that they'd they'd happily tie you up in a contract for 15 years, but they don't like anything about what you do. They just think you're good models for it. Which I think is so insulting.

And uh it was like you know, change your clothes, change your face and hair, change the guitars you play, and um what you sound like and they're trying to get us get all all grungy, get in baggy jeans, and I'll get you sponsorship with Vans. I was like I don't want [ __ ] sponsorship with Vans, you know. Um

What would you want sponsorship for?

I know. We We work with a brand sort of work with them. I mean we um

Rickenbacker would be good.

Yeah. That'd be great.

Vivienne Westwood.

Vivienne Westwood. Yeah, yeah.

Adam of London. They're great.

Yeah, cardigan. We're not wearing their suits and things like that.

But Yeah, just to go back to they just thought this wasn't like cuz you're you're you signed to an an independent label. You're still independent.

Yeah. But the the people the big wigs just didn't get it or

Well, it wasn't necessarily it was a medium wig, I think. He's he's not as He talked big It's one of these lot that talk big game.

It's one of those sharks that you see a lot in the

But yeah, and he presented us with a contract which was so [ __ ] insulting and scary and it was like you're mad if you ever thought we'd agree to anything like that. And I found it it was a really eye-opening experience that this is what the music industry can can be like when you're so young. I think I must have been like 14, 13 when I wrote that song. And it was like do Is that really what you can do to like a like a pair of kids?

They did it cuz you were young probably and they thought you'd just be like, "Yeah, record deal." and wouldn't know know any better or your parents might not.

management deal, yeah. But um But yeah, that's anyway, cunt's a good word for him. There you go.

In the American sense.

Well, it was a it's the song's about a personal experience or inspired by Matty's personal experience in the music industry. It's also just a wider uh claim for people to uh you know, march to the beat of their own drum, dance to the rhythm of yourself.

It's about individuality more than anything and not to get swayed by the trends or other people.

Stay true to yourself, authenticity.

yeah, stick with your guns. Yeah.

Awesome. So, you mentioned the Bush Hall. We've been talking a bit about the Sex Pistols and you mentioned the Bush Hall um show you did where Paul Cook got on stage which of course you've now played with the Sex Pistols. I'm very sad you're not touring. I I found out you're not going to be doing the American shows. That's okay. Um but tell me about that experience. Um I'm sure you've talked about it a lot, but my understanding is that I mean that wasn't planned. He just like jumped on stage or did had you met him before? Did you know him?

Well, he was uh I was told he was going to come to that gig um

He's a West London boy and it's

Yeah.

It's his citizenship is British.

Yeah. And um yeah, he was going to be coming down to show his support for the venue and music venue trust and things like that and basically saying no, it's not shutting down. This is an important place and it's good that youth music is also still thriving here. And I saw him in the crowd while the support band were playing and I just said to him, all right, Paul, you know, are you getting up for a tune?

And he was like, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, I'm not. I'll leave this to you kids. That's what he said. I was like, well, yeah, all right, you know, everyone's got to be a punk at some time. Um and anyway towards the end of the set, he was there side of stage like edging to get on. I think it was before the Pistols like did their recent run of gigs like a couple years ago before they, you know, I think they were taking like a extended break. I could just see in him that he missed it and he missed his feeling of all these young people jumping up and going mad and I guess just feeling that that excitement and unity in the room of um of youth arrogance and and he he's went, yeah, we'll do God Save the Queen. I mean, I knew it. So

So John got kicked off at the time?

Got kicked him off, yeah.

Kicked off, he jumped straight into the crowd and started

He got sacked for 3 minutes.

I'm sure he didn't mind. I'm sure he understood.

Yeah.

I mean, that's crazy. When I was talking about how there's parallels to some of the things going on with your generation and songs like uh New Sensation in particular, but just a general this idea of you know, Gen Z and dealing with what's going on in in a post-Brexit England. Is there stuff about the Sex Pistols and what they were reacting to in their era of, you know, it was all about like no future, everyone was on the dole. Like, is there stuff in in their music that resonates with you even now at your age?

I guess so, but I think we've got a bit more um a bit more hope than that. I mean, we think there is a future and we think that we can attribute to that.

Yeah, there is definitely a pessimism at the moment and uh that kind of same nihilism, you see that in voter turnout, especially for young people. But I think there's some great movements at the moment in the UK and I think music is is one of those driving it forward. It is providing hope

Yeah.

and going to people that they do have a power and it's it's for them to start enacting it and and having agency to go and do things.

But there is a whole lot of what's the point as well. You know, what's the point in showing up and registering to vote or whatever. And um like my best mate doesn't vote. He's just going oh well it's all [ __ ] and I think that's just such a lazy

yeah.

view to have here the same. Yeah, it's just such a lazy view to have and it's like you know, you might not have much faith in the system, but you've got a [ __ ] sum cuz otherwise what else have you got, you know, and what else are you doing to make it better?

Totally. Like laziness will will be the killer of us all.

Yeah.

What do you think is

At least believe in bad and worse.

That's a good quote. That's a good Yeah, I like that. That's a song lyric right there. Write that down. Write that down. That's that's a a song lyric or an album title. Um what do you think for your generation in in Britain is like the biggest concern or worry or obstacle?

I think just money. Money more than anything.

And isolation as well. I think a lot of people isolated and feel like hopeless and helpless. Um there's and it is it is that no future thing people uh either in the university system at the moment like the education system

lie.

Um which is what daydreaming is about.

That

attending university?

Yeah. I'm not saying that it's it's a necessarily a bad thing, but I think that young people aren't being told the full truth about it and

Which is

over prom They're just over prom I mean it's happening in America

Cuz you're going to get like you get an education in college and your life is made and

spend a lot of money on it.

Yeah, here we have student loans. I don't

Yeah, yeah, we do have it in the in the UK as well.

People rack up huge student debt and then can't uh can't get a job out of that. Especially with AI coming

You're promised a flashy flashy degree that millions of other kids have got as well. And um you're promised a great job at the end of it, you know, with a high paying you know, 50 grand a year you know, fee or whatever.

But then blue collar jobs and things that are more uh like manual uh aren't given the dignity, the respect, or the same uh monetary value as those other jobs. So, you've got this real Found upon exactly.

thought as a stupid

Or yeah, lesser than. And so, there needs to be a whole switch around, but that's also just the UK and how entrenched we are in our kind of class system. And that's been there for a while.

Yeah, it's still there even though totally.

I mean, it's not officially there, but it is.

Oh, definitely. It's It's so stuck into people's brains. It's uh

You don't want to go You don't want to be a cobbler or something like that. And it's like, "Well, but why not?"

Yeah, it's it's art in itself. It's craftsmanship.

Well, that's something, yeah.

And there's such a creativity to all these things. And um but yeah, it's just not given the respect that it needs to deserve.

presented of as jobs that you sort of would be happy with, even though a lot of people probably would. And a lot of people are, mind you, but

Like we grew up with parents who were hairdressers, and that's like of course you did.

Yeah.

I'm not surprised.

[laughter]

But, that's especially creative role. And you know, it's very sociable role. Um but that's not

And it's looked down upon as a choice for

Yeah, exactly.

I love hair I mean

Yes, exactly.

I wouldn't look like this without my hair. So, shout out Marissa.

Well, I think since lockdown as well, people just been a whole bunch of I just do that, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I I figured out how to dye my hair during lockdown. What would you guys be doing for careers if you weren't doing music then?

I ain't got a clue. I'd make a [ __ ] footballer, that's for sure. Um I don't know. I mean, I like skateboarding, but then again, I only really got into that because of music and then like clothes was cuz of music as well. I didn't dress like this before I got into playing the guitar.

Um but I don't know. I think I'd like to be a tailor otherwise or something like that. It makes sense. Yeah, I'd be cool cuz but that's only a thing like now that I like clothes, so.

Yeah, cuz you're good at like fine details and patience and things like that.

my my shoes aren't marked actually, which you probably won't be able to see if I didn't point it out, but

So, thanks for the post.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, cheers.

So, there was no real plan. I mean, obviously, you're you're you are young and you started this very young, but there was never any real plan B for what you might do with your lives other than music.

No, no, our parents weren't like, "Right, dad's a hairdresser, you're going to be a hairdresser." You know.

Well, there was no plan B and like, I think as soon as you have a plan B, you you kind of already betting on plan A for for not working. And so, we we never thought of this initially as we we're going to do music as a career, but it ended up being so consuming and we have this like all or nothing attitude that there was no alternative. We it never even crossed our minds plan B.

mean, teachers and even like friends and like people in school and things like that. Um, "God, what do you want to do?" Like, careers they were just [ __ ] useless for me.

Um, you know, like, "Oh, you know, what do you want to do?" I was like, "I want to do, um, I want to do, you know, be in a band." And they're going, "Oh, well, you should be you should probably think about, you know, going to university just in case." And well, what about all these people that are going to university? Do you tell them, "Oh, well, maybe you should learn an instrument just in [ __ ] case." You know, but that that's something that's solved. Yeah. Why don't you join a band and write some songs? Yeah. I don't know. It's seen as I don't get me wrong, it's not like a easy job to be in in a lot of ways and the failure rate is through the roof, but here we are.

So, you the whole Sex Pistols Paul Cook thing happened, which like I said, ended up with you and you I don't know if you met Glen Matlock that way, if you met him through playing Blondie cuz he was playing with Blondie for a while while Chris Stein was sitting in on it.

well, well, we met um, first of all, supporting the Professionals, actually.

Wait, the Professionals?

Yeah, like the Professionals.

They're still around? Like, they did things?

Yeah, it was

They're in one of my favorite rock and roll movies ever, Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains.

All right.

Yeah, and then and then in 2022 or one, I think that was, And then 23 we did the the uh the Blondie gig.

And that was great. That was really good. And we saw Glenn Matlock there, but we we met him backstage at um 229, which was a venue in London. If anyone knows it, probably not. Um but yeah, that was great.

When was that made, that film? I'm going to say '82. Maybe maybe '81. Early '80s. Uh but it's about a fictional girl punk band. You should You should totally watch it. But Paul Cook and Steve Jones are in it playing The Professionals. And it's about an all-girl punk band and like Laura Dern and Diane Lane are in it and they were teenagers. It's amazing movie.

English film?

It's not. It was an American film. Um but like it The Professionals are in it kind of playing like a rival band or older band they go on tour with or something. You would love it. I didn't know that they ever did anything. That's so cool. I learned something. I'm learning a lot. Um and then you ended up playing with them at Royal Albert Hall, which is people who grew up in London I mean it's a world It's one of the most famous hallowed venues in the world, but I I mean that must have been like an out-of-body like what the hell is is this my life experience?

my 17th birthday as well.

Holy cow.

Yeah, uh we were on tour at the time.

Mhm.

And um yeah, the next day we did a signing in a in Rough Trade, which is like yeah, probably half the size of even this room.

Oh, like the one in Notting Hill, not the one in East London?

one in uh one in Beak Street.

Oh, there's a new one?

small one. Um so it's we've done a few of them like big extremes. You play the Royal Albert Hall and then you play like a you know, 20 cap venue. We did that recently. I forgot what it was. Um but but yeah, that was that was amazing. And for Teenage Cancer Trust, so we were glad we were there for such a good cause, supporting such a great band. And um you know, Roger Daltrey wrote us a a letter of thanks as well, which was nice.

Wow. I know you're big Mod fans.

Yeah, it was that.

So I imagine that was crazy.

And it was even more crazy when uh Pete Townshend gave me a guitar recently.

Oh my god.

Yeah, bought me a 12-string Rickenbacker 450. I don't know the model of I'm not really a guitar nerd as such, but it sounds [ __ ] great.

That's I mean, that's insane. Well, I mean obviously, you get kind of compared to punk stuff. Sex Pistols get brought up a lot, but I feel like your roots maybe are a little bit more in the in the mod thing.

Yeah. Mine probably especially, you know, I don't want to speak for him, but yeah, I love the old '60s and then the late '70s mod sort of revival thing. I don't really want to call it a revival. Um cuz there's always been mods.

Have you been to Brighton? Do you have a scooter?

No, I don't have a scooter. No.

You can push a scooter off a cliff. Don't do that. Don't do that, kids.

I don't think that was in Brighton even. I don't know.

I'm making the Quadrophenia movie reference, but

Likely, wasn't I don't know how

I. But Brighton, I've been to Brighton and that's like a Mecca of that. You've played like scooter rallies and stuff, haven't you?

Yeah. We've also done the mod weekender down there as well.

loads of that when we were starting. Yeah, we did Nicky Weller's mod weekender as well. The Woking weekender at Woking Football Club.

When is is that an annual thing? Cuz I want to go.

I think so.

is every year in Brighton, that's what

loads. There's like something like Skegness, Morecambe, Redcar, um Brighton.

Wow. So, I'm sure you've been asked some variation of this question a million times, but like how did you get into obviously a lot of influences that are from before your time? Was it a parent, an older brother?

Yeah, his parent, yeah. We don't have any other siblings, but we've got um

Don't have a Paul Gallagher.

No, no, we don't we don't have a Paul. Uh but our our dad was into all that sort of thing like Squeeze and Abbott and Costello and the I mean, The Jam was his band, but The Boomtown Rats, Buzzcocks, The Undertones were massive, Stiff Little Fingers he was a massive fan of. Um and then obviously The Kinks. But that's a really big band for me, I'd say. My top three bands at the moment are probably The Jam, The Kinks, and Happy Mondays. And then The Specials probably somewhere in there somewhere in there.

No notes.

No.

Love all those Buzzcocks actually one of my favorite bands of all time. Pete Shelley's actually my favorite lyricist.

Yeah, even his solo stuff is really good as well.

Yeah, actually yeah, but he was kind of at the forefront of doing a lot of techno stuff that I don't think people maybe understood then. Who are your favorite lyricists from that era that you

Well, Ray Davies. I think that just that social commentary that's really good and he wrote almost these um these 3-minute movies um and put into amazing music and I think that's something that people like Paul Weller attach themselves to and took massive influence of. Uh the same with The Small Faces, I think they're great. Um Steve Marriott's really good.

Um I really like Feargal Sharkey's lyrics. I think they're quite funny a lot of the time. Um things like his mom bought him a synthesizer and got The Human League into advisor. I think it's

It's a good line.

Yeah, yeah, good stuff. Yeah, like Jimmy Jimmy and got my number and Teenage Kicks one of greatest pop songs of all time.

Isn't that like John Peel's favorite song of all time?

It is, yeah.

Yeah, famously. Um have you met Ray Davies yet? I feel like that's going to happen.

No, I haven't. I the closest I got is I saw the Cast Off Kinks on my 50th birthday.

like a tribute band?

Yeah, yeah, but Mick but all the members in it, they all toured with The Kinks. Like they were all in like in the touring band.

Are they literally called The Cast Off Kinks?

Yeah, The Cast Off Kinks.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah, but

C A S T?

Yeah, yeah.

[laughter]

I was joking, but okay.

No, no, that's what it is, yeah. And and Mick Avory um who was actually in The Kinks.

Right.

Yeah, he was he drums in them. And yeah, I met him and he was great, quite funny actually.

One thing I'm interested in is you know, we're talking about something bands that are like quite British and I mentioned how like The Libertines never really made it here and it wasn't just cuz of Pete Doherty's like criminal It was cuz like what they did was extremely British. The accents when they sang, the slang they used. The Kinks got big here, but not that big compared to England.

banned from America as well for ages.

Right. They were banned kind of at their prime. But they also were like, you know, a song like, you know,

Waterloo Sunset.

Waterloo I was actually about to say that. Or like the whole Village Green era. Super British. And then

Or dedicated follower of fashion when they're talking about like Regent Street and Leicester Square and yeah.

And even some later bands like Pulp never really got big in America. Blur certainly didn't get as big in America as Oasis. Only song two like their sporty song got big here. Even Robbie Williams is not big here, which is a crime. And all The Darkness never got super big here. Their humor is very British.

And so it's hard sometimes for British bands to break

America would think The Darkness.

They liked one song. I believe it's a thing called love. And before the record, they were one of my favorite band. I think The Darkness are amazing. But I don't think a lot of their humor translated and with the um uh who was I just saying uh with Robbie Williams, his humor didn't translate. And then there's just other bands like The Manic Street Preachers who I adore.

Oh, yeah.

What they do wasn't going to So it's hard sometimes for British bands. Oasis obviously are big here, but like huge here, but a lot of times it's hard for British bands to cross here if they're too British. Like I really like I'm now going down this list of bands I like. But like The Streets, Mike Skinner, no one was going to understand what he was rapping

were never going to be big. Jam were never big in America.

No, they really weren't. I mean, they were big within a certain world.

Yeah, just like Mod

Squeeze were not that big here like one time.

Really? I thought I thought Squeeze did it over here though.

I mean, define big, but, you know,

Yeah.

I mean, they actually are playing the Hollywood Bowl like next in September, so maybe I'm wrong. But

Not

not like Springsteen.

Not that.

No.

It's hard unless they sort of whether they're doing it deliberately or not like Americanize themselves or tamp down the British nature.

have I just don't really think they would have denim.

[laughter]

White denim, which is actually a very manic things to do. Actually, when I see white jeans, I always think of the Manic Street Preachers. I'll think of you now. I'll think of the Manic Street Preachers.

of the small faces and I guess Style Council.

Even better. Style Council, amazing band. But um

They did better in America than the Jam.

Huh?

They did better in America than the Jam, probably did.

Style Council did?

Yeah, they had like Was it Shout to the Top? Went Went to

They had like one minor hit here, which was um Ever Changing Moods. That got on MTV a bit. But all of these bands were still kind of maybe considered cult bands here. And so I guess this was a super long way of me I I That was a question, I swear.

How do you guys, I don't know if you even have your sights on breaking America, which a lot of British bands do, that is the dream, but like hitting that sweet spot between embracing your Britishness and you're singing about your culture and you're and growing up there, but also like having a wider appeal, cuz so far America's like loving you guys. And you're definitely very British in the best possible Anglophilic way, but it's not in a way that like if you didn't grow up in South London, you wouldn't get it, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I I don't think I'd be made to come back to tour America for like 6 months in a year, which you sort of got to do cuz the place is so big and you know, to make even the smallest of an impact. Um I mean, that's somewhere that social media does help is you can reach a lot of people just quite easy. Um But yeah, I don't know. I I don't I don't I wouldn't mind either way, but

Yeah, yeah. We were saying

my songwriting for it. I'm not going to tailor to an American audience. I can only write about what I see and what, you know, environment. So, I guess the more I travel though, and the more I tour, those horizons get broader. So, I'll probably come back right as the more I go.

Writing over spring steenian.

Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't be writing about that. Denim.

I mean, a song about white denim. There is a band called that, actually. But um What were you Is he to say?

No, I mean, it would have been a fantastic opportunity had the Sex Pistols tour in America gone ahead. I mean, obviously that got like, uh, canceled last year when Steve Jones broke his wrist. We were meant to be supporting him all them across, uh, America.

That's why I heard

[laughter]

it in the first place.

I mean, that tracks.

I mean, let's put it out there.

Um, okay, so I've actually been told I have to wrap up, but I have a couple more questions. So, I've been mentioning the Sex Pistols, you know, your tour you've toured with them. You've opened for a lot of people. You've opened for Young Blood, I believe you've opened for the Libertines and Blondie and there's people like Green Day who have said good things about you. How does it feel, it's a two-part question. How does it feel to have this support from idols and heroes like that? But, there's also a certain pressure that comes from that because everyone's like, every few years a band comes around people are like, "Rock is dead and this band's going to save it." And things have been written to that effect to make you, I think Channel 4 in the UK even said like, this is that you've like

brought back gigging, yeah, and all that.

gigging from the dead.

Yeah, that did that did us loads of bad, actually, like

Really?

Well, people cuz people spun it like we said it.

Mm.

And people were like, "Who the [ __ ] do they think they are saying they brought back gigging?"

Yeah, there's always going to be a backlash. I know you've experienced maybe a bit in the UK where like the press is like, one minute they love you and the next day they're like, "Nah, they suck now." Like, the press is very mercurial there, but like, the pressure of sort of having these accolades from your heroes and then sort of being held up as someone who's going to like, that they're passing the torch to. I mean, as young people who are even though you've been doing this for six years, like to a lot of people you're a new band, that's a lot of pressure. How do you feel about all of that?

Uh, I don't really feel much sort of pressure really with it because people are going to make what they make of it at the end of the day anyway, so I'm not really we just going to do what we do and it's quite black and white, really. I don't feel the the weight of past heroes sort of on my shoulders.

And as long as we make something we're extremely proud of and we continue to do that. Like we're working on the second album at the moment like in the studio and like writing Matt's perspective and then bring it to the studio and and thrashing it out. So if we can make something that we think is extremely poignant or touching on our feelings about the times that we're in now and people relate to that and connect with it then I think we've done our job and it doesn't matter what then the press says about it cuz we know that we've done what we're here to do.

Awesome. Any bucket list collaborations or anything you want to do? You've already met and worked with some of your heroes.

I'm a huge fan of um

Sabrina Carpenter.

[laughter]

She would maybe do that.

She's got the hair.

Yeah.

Anyone else?

No.

Is he?

No one else.

would do.

I really like Matt Johnson from The The. I think he's

Oh.

like one of my favorite songwriters like

Wow.

and even with what he did with his music videos and the artwork and almost as a kind of creative director of his own world. I think he'd be a very interesting person to uh just even just talk with.

Absolutely. I have actually interviewed him and I can tell you he is a very interesting person to talk

Oh era.

like last year.

Oh last year. Okay.

he's amazing.

My god.

So Sabrina Carpenter, Matt Johnson, Ray Davies, Billie Joe Armstrong and whoever else, if you're watching this, let's make that happen. In the meantime I'm so happy that you guys are having the success. We are honored that you came to the store and thank you for keeping physical media alive and hope alive. It's just awesome and rock alive if people want to say that too.

Yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't say any of that really but

If there's anything positive they can say what they like.

Yeah.

Thank you guys. Thanks for watching everybody.

Cheers. Thank you, thank you for your time.