SBC: There isn't necessarily anything great about them per se—though I always loved the TV show. The song 'Green' is this imagined 'lightning' tree at the centre of the universe, something like Yggdrasill from the Nordic myths, that the outcasts of society congregate around to inherit ideas of a transcendent nature from which they can express their art, absent of metrics or judgement.

 

I wasn't trying to romanticise that. I was pining for something less righteous. If we aren't freaks or geeks ourselves (I'll let others judge) then I certainly feel a kinship with them. Musicians and artists really ought not to be held in any esteem, I far prefer a medieval appreciation for what we do; we should be rolling around in the gutter.

 

The fast growing, if not already established merging of artist and influencer is deeply problematic to me: I think it's an unhealthy cultivation for our art and I think the calibre of output around us at the moment is totally symptomatic of that. It's boring. I don't feel as though anyone should be looking at their artists for guidance in behaviour or ethics. Long live Kanye. 

 

 

 

SBC: I think so. In the case of the title track, for example, the sound and texture of the record and even the lyric and vocal performance is in essence all production, and is the spirit of the thing. I wouldn't describe it as songwriting. Much as Chris would like to be able to I don't think he'll be playing it on an acoustic guitar around a fireplace on a campsite anytime soon. Never say never though.

 

We are increasingly interested in crafting experiences with our records that are more immersive. I hope there are some people that will listen to this EP in particular on anything other than Spotify because I think they'll miss half the experience in compression. Daniel Ek and his cretinous little orcs can continue to demand and dictate a culture that cultivates cheap, flat, and fast-food records but we're reluctant to give in to that and are doing everything we can to protect the depth and richness of what we do. Part of that means remaining in full control of how our records sound for sure. It's important to us that they sound dope.

 

 

 

 

SBC: I thought the title was pretty funny. I always hear it in Larry David's voice with an eyebrow raise. Pedro was explaining the translation of the lyric sampled in the title track, and Tom felt it particularly profound and it stuck. You can look at life from both sides. I guess it's got a bit of that 'it's not about the destination, it's about the journey' vibe but with a SBC twist. Hopefully Moms will buy posters of it to stick up in their kitchen. A lot of this record is quite existential I think, I don't want to talk about it too much, I'm not sure I know yet what it's about.

 

 

 

 

SBC: Haha I haven't actually! I knew I wanted to exorcise some of my emotional frustration and I was always very amused at how vulnerable and emotional 'sports' were—I loved the Viagra Boys take on it (maybe felt a little attacked at points)—but it took a second to work out how to contextualise it in our own language. I had a good time with that record, it was definitely a different angle.

 

 

 

SBC: I think you just get more and more focussed on the work than any of the other stuff around it and that is an enormous blessing. It feels like we're growing closer and closer to what it felt like discovering writing for the first time every day. My cousin (who did the artwork) wrote her dissertation on the idea of 'El Duende', a character from Spanish folklore often depicted as an elf or goblin that visits in or perhaps causes moments of heightened states of emotion that inspire creativity. I think a lot of the industry side of things can be very distracting and lead you away from that wretched lil creature and it's nice to be less distracted and in touch with it more often.

 

 

 

SBC: No, it sucks!

 

 

 

SBC: My dad keeps asking me this but I am firmly in the Eno camp: so far nothing has convinced me that there is anything worth making in that arena. 'Worth making' for me implies bringing something into existence that adds value to the world, not just to a bank account. NFTs seem to me just a way for artists to get a little piece of the action from global capitalism, our own cute little version of financialisation. How sweet—now artists can become little capitalist assholes as well.' Also, I don't really get them.

 

 

 

SBC: I am actually writing this having just arrived at our studio for the weekend...It's out in Hastings where we're starting to piece together the first sketches of what we think will be an album. I think there has to be more reason than 'it's what you do at this stage' to put one together. We've already put out well over an album's worth of material so we're going to enjoy feeling out how we can manipulate a longer form to do something interesting, I'm excited to get into it.

 

 

 

SBC: As yet I think we only have The Great Escape announced but there's plenty more on the way. I love festival season, it felt maybe under a little bit of a cloud the last year or two so it'll be good to get back making a total nightmare of myself.

 

 

SBC: This interview was great, I really enjoyed myself. Thank you very much for having me.