Some songs are built for journeys. Long train rides, contemplative walks, driving at night… Supercaan’s latest single The Great North Eastern proves itself to be the perfect companion.
The track simultaneously generates a sense of poignant nostalgia whilst pushing forward with sense of urgency. Walls of anthemic synthesizers serve as the shimmering backdrop for progressive guitars, dulcet baritone vocals and unrelenting drum beats.
Keen to learn more, I had chat to the band about their influences, writing process and future plans…
Hey Supercaan! How did you form as a band?
Hey! We used to play in a band together (Greg, Tom and Lottie). After a few years off, we decided what we really want to do was make an album. So have spent 5 years doing that!
Congrats on your new single The Great North Eastern. It’s really evocative and has such a poignant feel. What’s the story behind the song?
The album has a loose concept around memories and trying to figure your life out. We’re in our 30s and wanted to the lyrics to reflect the kings of things we talk about.
The Great North Eastern is about going back home after you’ve moved away, and how that can throw you back to the person you used to be, someone you thought maybe you’d escaped.
I love the music video you’ve made. What are the ideas behind it and how was it filmed?
Thanks!
We always loved the idea of making a music video with contemporary dancers, and I thought it would be nice to play with the song meaning and have the dancers performing in an old-school working men’s club, and showing the juxtaposition between the two. The old man is looking back over his memories and wondering if it ever really happened.
Nick Bennett (Director) and Polly Hudson (Choreographer) then turned it all into a real thing by being generally brilliant! We were so happy with how it came out.
You’ve been compared to bands like Echo and the Bunnymen and The National (both two of my faves!). Who are your biggest musical influences?
We’re very happy with those comparisons. Alligator was a really big album for us. Six By Seven and Broken Social Scene have also been big influences in trying to make rocky emotional indie that’s got really depth and layers in the production.
Have you got any live shows coming up soon?
We’re playing our first ever live show 18th April supporting Victories at Sea at the Hare and Hounds in Birmingham.
We recorded the album as a three piece and haven’t played any of the songs live before, so we’ve added Justin Januszewski and Ralph Frost to help us get the sound right for live.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a band?
Everything Simon Weaver (producer on the album) said, in particular telling us that every song doesn’t need to have a three minute slow build-up intro… (we’ll bring them back for the live gigs!)
What’s the plan for the rest of the year? Is there more music on the way?
We want to book some more gigs for the autumn to promote the album, and the plan is to record a single or maybe EP as the five piece live band to have something new to put out early next year.
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