Sugarthief, consisting of brothers Jack and Jordi James and close school friends Reece Downton and Luke ‘Lukey’ Owen are a local band from Penkridge, Staffordshire who are up-and-coming on the indie scene, with a headline performance at O2 Academy 3 and a live interview on BBC West Midlands already under their belt.
Last night, I was lucky enough to attend a Sugarthief house party which included a private live performance of some of their original material as well as some of their best covers, I also managed to have a chat with the members of the band:
How did your band’s name ‘Sugarthief’ come about?
As a band, we are heavily influenced by the band Superfood, and we wanted to have a catchy name like theirs that was completely original and different from anyone else. There are several other influences for our name, such as Jordi’s love for fizzy drinks like Dr. Pepper and the definition for Sugarthief on Urban Dictionary. This is what made us decide on the band name and we created a logo to resemble this.
Can you describe your music in three words?
I would say our music is upbeat, lively and original.
What was the first venue you played at?
When we formed the full band with all four members, our first gig was at a pub in Newport called ‘Newport Navy Club’. This first gig is what sparked our music and we followed this with performances at the Custard Factory in Birmingham right through to headlining O2 Academy 3.
Do you have any pre-gig rituals?
We like to keep track of all the events we have done over the short period and keep in touch with the fanbase we have, so we tend to vlog before every gig to keep a record for us to watch back and upload to YouTube so the fans can see what we get up too.
What are your favourite songs to play live and why?
We have several favourite songs to play live that include our own original material and some covers.
One of the favourites to play live is our song called ‘Provide’ as this song has meaningful lyrics to Jordi (frontman), who usually writes his songs at five in the morning, and allows the audience to relate to any real life experiences that they may have had.
Another favourite has to be ‘Money’ by Peace, the upbeat pace of the song and the heavy guitar melodies is what makes this song perfect for us and this is what we believe gets the crowd going in the moshpits.
Finally, a song that we like to play is ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ by Ed Sheeran. The fans are usually optimistic about this one, but we take a heavy indie spin to this song which the fans love due to its originality and different style.
Do you have any post-gig rituals?
We usually go into the city we’ve played in to have a look around or we go to the nearest house party there is to wind down after playing.
As a band, who do you take inspiration from and who influences your music?
There are several influences for us as a band, old and new, but one band we are highly influenced by is Foals due to their original heavy indie sound on their new album ‘What Went Down’ and their sound on past albums is what we like most.
When are you next in the studio and what songs are you thinking of recording?
We are in the studio next week actually, so new music will be out soon for the fans. We are going to record two songs that are titled: ‘Provide’ and ‘Super Jazz 6’ however, the title of Super Jazz 6 is yet to be officially decided so this may change.
What is your main aim as a band?
Obviously we want our music to reach a wider audience and make it big time, but for now we are quite happy playing the venues we do around the area, appearing on the radio from time to time and just jamming out at home and in the studios, it’s a case of seeing how far we can get but we are happy with the progress that we have already made in such as short space of time.
Any artists we should check out?
The Magic Gang and Hockey Dad.
Final words?
Thank you to all our fans who have supported us so far on the journey, and we hope you come to our next gigs in Birmingham!
Social Links:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Upcoming Dates:
Saturday 2nd July – O2 Academy, Birmingham
Friday 22nd July – Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham (Headlining)
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