Being a band is no easy task. It will always take hard, consistent work to continue when difficulties arise. You must have the passion to keep pushing forward. Our recent find South of Summer has only been together for about a year but they have accomplished quite a lot so far.
We had a chance to catch up with the band and get a little deeper into thier 2019 and what comes next. Enjoy the interview:
First off, what is the story behind the name South of Summer?
There isn’t really an exciting or meaningful story behind it, we’re afraid! Coming up with a band name is an exhausting task to the point where you basically look anywhere and everywhere for inspiration. Adam came up with it, we liked the sound of it, and that the initials were SoS too – that was that!
How would you describe your sound?
Very 90s inspired but with a modern edge to it. We like that we sound kind of familiar, playing on those big bands of the past but add our own thing into the pot too – it’s the past and the future at the same time!
Which bands have had the biggest influence on South of Summer?
Far too many to list individually! We all have our own influences that obviously inform how we play and write but the shared love, and what brought it all together, is for the kind of alternative and post-grunge sound of the 90s. Think R.E.M., Matchbox Twenty and Pearl Jam and you’re on the right track.
The band did a lot in 2019. Take us through the year from your eyes?
2019 was when we formed and started to pull together the foundations for what we have now. It’s been massively exciting for us and full of lots of fun stuff like photo shoots, recording, and just generally getting to know each other and having a laugh. Highlights for us would probably be our first gig in August and our headlining show at Manchester Academy 3 – that was a big one for us – and then obviously the release of the EP in December and all the fun we’ve had promoting that so far.
What is your songwriting process? How does a song come together for the band?
It tends to be in either one of two ways – Yoz may have a song that he wrote at some point over the years or one of us has a guitar part we’ve been sitting on that we think could work, so we jam it out as a band, adding our own little touches here and there until it sounds like us. Alternatively, little moments of inspiration can spark during downtime when recording or rehearsing that suddenly and unthinkingly transform into something cool – it’s the classic thing of ‘oh my god, play that again!’ and before you know it you have a song out of nowhere.
Your new EP December just came out. Tell us about making that happen?
It’s been a labour of love! We recorded it ourselves in the rehearsal room, mixed it on the kitchen table, created the artwork ourselves (thanks to a photo taken by Ste’s brother), distributed it ourselves and created a music video too. It’s very much ours and we’re incredibly proud of it!
What do you hope the listener takes away from a South of Summer song?
Other than a raging boner and wanting to listen to another? I guess we want people to have a good time – that’s what most bands want, right? If we bring back a fond memory or make people stop to think about something we’re talking about then all the better.
Where will South of Summer be at the end of 2020?
In the words of Rainier Wolfcastle; ‘on top of a big pile of money, with many beautiful women’.
Failing that, we want to carry on our current momentum and be finishing this year on a high having spread our wings with gigs and festivals all over the UK (and maybe further afield), bringing our own brand of noise to as many hungry ears as possible. Watch this space!
Keep tabs on South Of Summer on FACEBOOK
