THE HONEYMOON SUITE are a 4 piece alt/indie dream rock band from Derby. Praised for their energetic live set, the band have seen themselves landing some big name SOLD OUT support slots including the likes of: JAWS, TRASH & The Blinders. INFL caught up with them ahead of their set at the the Angel Microbrewery on the 13th Dec with Avalanche Party, Babe Punch and Clonk.
How do you feel you’ve evolved from ‘Taste-less’ in 2017, to your most recent ‘California Suite’?
George: That’s a good question… We keep kinda fluctuating in the way we write music and the way we’re sounding as well.
Lou: It’s not that we all just listen to very different music like especially, I think with me and you Tom we go through phases of listening to very different music. Sometimes we’re a bit riffier, sometimes we’re a bit heavier, sometimes it’s dreamier, sometimes we try to make it a bit dancier. Sometimes we don’t! It just sounds how it sounds.
It sounds like musically, you’ve come quite a way in a short space of time, how have you achieved this?
Will: We just practice a lot. We’ve been pretty lazy recently to be fair, but we usually practice twice or three times a week every week. George: What’s pretty efficient as well we’d go in, and we’d actually be quite productive. We’d write something, play the set all the way through, write, jam, and in doing that we were getting the set done so we don’t have to worry about that and we were able to make some new songs as well.
Tom: We play a lot of gigs as well, we just try to play as much as we can.
You’re doing everything independently – Is this an active choice?
Lou: No it’s not, but I think it’s –
Will: Yeah I think because there’s not that much money in music anymore I think it’s hard for people like labels to sign artists, and actually make them money then, I dunno –
Tom: We get kinda the same scope out of if we had a manager or were signed at this point then if we just carried on.
Lou: What would it do for us that we’re not doing now?
George: I enjoy being independent as well because you’re free to do whatever you want, and I guess with a label you have got some restrictions on what you can record, and where you can play, who you can play with and all that.
Lou: Now, we can be as shit as we can can’t we!
What’s your opinion on the Derby/Nottingham music scene?
Lou: Its’s great isn’t it
Will: Definitely Nottingham. Marvin’s Revenge are sat just out there (the practice room) they’re playing just upstairs (at Dubrek) tonight they’re really exciting. Tom’s other band glass cannons…
Lou: There’s some really good grime music in derby at the minute, loads in notts.
Tom: There seems to have been an increase, when we first started we were like the new people playing with all these old notts bands, and two years later there’s all these new notts bands, it’s good.
You guys are all from Derby/Nottingham, and it can be pretty dull sometimes. Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Tom: Day to day life, George’s family
Will: Growing up, people around us
George’s family? Talk to me a little bit about that
Tom: Adore George’s family, and they’ve got horses
WILL: Yeah… what makes a horse a pony? George: I dunno, I think it’s the height or the build.
*They continue to talk about George’s horses, how big they’re getting, and what makes a pony a pony*
Just gently steering you back… What’s your favourite venue to play at home?
Will: It’s got to be the venue for me, the gigs we’ve had there have been really good.
Tom: It depends which way you approach the question, in terms of good memories then the venue
Lou: I like Rough Trade, I really like Rough trade
Will: I think we’ve all got different answers to that one.
Tom: The sound at the Chameleon is good, the sound tech is really good at what he does, a lot of sound techs tend to have it quite low, so they’ll blast it out to the audience but we can’t hear on stage but with him he sounds really good.
It’s been said that it’s particularly difficult for artists from the east midlands to gain recognition – why do you think this is?
Tom: Because we’re not from London!!
Will: Because we’re not really on the map
Lou: There’s not as many big cities in the whole of the midlands really is there apart from Birmingham, especially the east midlands.
George: there’s only really been Jake Bugg, but the scene isn’t that big so it doesn’t rival bigger cities
Will: Like in Liverpool or London there’s venues people will go to just to see music at the venue like the Cavern Club, we don’t have that.
Tom: There’s less industry folk round this area, they’re all situated where they know there’s gonna be bands.
What can we expect from one of your shows?
Tom: Mistakes Will: Mistakes that we style out every time!
Lou: We’re quite silly, quit loud, a lot of energy. We like to get in people’s faces if we can, if we feel inclined on the night
Who has the worst habits in the band, and what are they?
Lou: I get a bit grumpy sometimes, like I get really angry sometimes.
George: Yeah you got really angry with me that time for climbing a lamppost…
Tom: Sweat patches, Will sweats out his arse a lot…
Lou: George never finishes telling a story, it’ll be really long and you just end up kinda staring in his eyes because it’s not going anywhere
Any pet peeves from other bands performances?
Tom: What I’ve noticed recently, what I’d like to tell bands to stop doing because it creeps me out. They play without any shoes on.
Will: It’s good for your pedals!
All: No it isn’t.
George: With your toe you could turn one of those nobs mid set
Lou: Another thing I’d like to tell people to stop doing, is when they tell everyone to get down. Get down, get down! Fucking hate that.
Will: Unless it’s with the Enemy where it works really well with the set…
What are five things you as a band can’t live without?
1. Dubrek – in terms of our band we’d be slightly fucked without Dubrek
2. George and Will’s cars
3. The Rider – We don’t always get them but we like them
4. We all really like reverb, plenty of that. Couldn’t do without our reverb
5. Energy! We’re not a big band but when people see us and are proper into it gives you more energy and the shows always better. People who give energy!
Would you like to add anything:
Lou: Can we shout out some decent bands?
Sure!
Babe Punch, Velvet Blush, Sancho Panza, Soft girls and boys club, Glass Cannons, there’s loads we’re enjoying at the moment sorry if we’ve missed ya!
Catch them next playing Nottingham with Avalanche Party, Clonk and Babe Punch on 13/12 at The Angel Microbrewery –
Tickets are: £6 in advance (Paper tickets available at Forever Records or online HERE from Gigantic Tickets). £7 OTD.
We also have ten free tickets for NHS workers, if you work for the NHS and would like to come along please email NHSAVALANCHEPARTY@GMAIL.COM
Interview by Rosie Grace
No comments