More about: The Backseat Lovers

Filling the iconic Manchester venue Gorilla with warm orange light, crowds of people await the American charm of The Backseat Lovers - TikTok’s new favourite band thanks to their nostalgia filled indie sound.

Led by front man Joshua’s cheesy smile, the whole audience settles into a sense of awe at the group's energy- in particular Josh’s ability to bound up and down the stage throughout the set without missing a beat. Playing through their discography from firm favourites like ‘Maple Syrup’ to a crisp, captivating performance of ‘Kilby Girl’ - the band presents an obvious brotherly bond- which makes the spectacle that much more appealing, bringing the crowd into their fight knit relationship for an hour or so.

Full of excitement as they command the stage, uniting the mass of people around them - the confident group feel worlds away from the mellow, nonchalant individuals we chatted to backstage…

GW: You seem to have brought the sunshine with you.

BL: Amazing, happy to be back in Manchester- we love it here!

Can you introduce yourselves to me?

We are a four piece band from Utah in the US- made up of:

Joshua Harmon: lead vocals and guitar

Jonas Swanson: lead guitar and vocals

KJ Ward: bass guitar

Juice Welch: drummer and background vocals

So you opened your UK tour in Glasgow and played last night in Leeds, what’s it like being back in the UK? 

It feels really good- feels almost natural now. We are looking forward to playing our newer material that we are really excited about.

Having recently finished your US dates, what’s a more daunting experience, a US tour like that or coming across the pond for this run of UK shows?

I guess it’s more excitement than anything; getting to travel and be in different places with different fans. Our US and UK fans seem to be just as enthusiastic about our live shows which is great.

You played Gulliver's in Manchester before- this is obviously a much bigger venue and a real favourite here in Manchester. How are you finding the venue so far? 

We have only been here 10 minutes hahah! But this is such a great venue- we love it already. It certainly feels like a place to build the atmosphere tonight.

I want to talk a bit about the tunes you have out now. Although released back in 2019, which seems like ages ago now due to COVID,'Kilby Girl' is obviously the big one gaining instant popularity. How have you found becoming ‘TikTok Viral’?

It all happened through COVID so it definitely kept us going and motivated. It was a gradual thing but definitely unexpected. 

Have you found it your most popular song to perform live, or is there another song that is a clear fan favourite when touring?

Sinking ships is always a favourite-but definitely our new material. Whatever is new to us feels a lot fresher and more enjoyable for us to play as a band collectively.

In your earlier years when you first became a band, what music shaped you to perform and write, any British musicians perhaps? What has inspired you recently?

The Beatles of course are a big one, as well as Radiohead. However, recently we have been enjoying folk music and letting that inspire us.

Staying on the topic of the UK, any particular iconic British music venue you dream of playing at in the future? 

Wembley- doesn’t everyone?!

And moving into the future- do you feel an extra pressure now when releasing new music after this recent boost of attention, or are you embracing it? 

It's a more self critical process- we want to make music we love and enjoy playing more than necessarily impressing our listeners. Our new material is definitely some of our favourite stuff we have written.

Having not released any new music since ‘Heavy’ in July 2020, where next for Backseat Lovers- will a new album bring something different from the last? Do you think you have all developed as musicians and songwriters?

Definitely! We feel we were not really the  band we were when we first started- as we have grown as people and, over covid especially, we have grown as individuals massively. Our new stuff has a different feel for sure.

Can we expect any unreleased music tonight?

A few songs maybe- we try to switch them up while on tour…

See photos of the show by Saffron Rose below:

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More about: The Backseat Lovers