Hi guys! How are you? What about a quick introduction of STORMS and you as members of the band?
George: Hi, I’m good thanks. Well we’re a 4 piece guitar band based in London. Felix plays lead guitar, Yacob plays bass and provides backing vocals, Ben plays the drums, and I sing and play rhythm guitar.
Your first EP ‚Visions‘ sounds brilliant. I hope it’s more like an appetizer for a following album?
George: Thanks man. Yeah, we’re gonna release an album next year. For me, the three tracks on ‚Visions EP‘ aren’t even in our top three best songs so I’m really excited about the prospect of recording our debut album. We wrote this song called ‚Swell‘ last month which is my favourite, we’ve got a new track called ‚Undress‘ that Felix wrote which I’m really excited about, and yeah, I just can’t wait to record them properly. I guess now all we need is to find a producer who is right for us, ‚cause at the moment we’ve producing ourselves, and I think a top class producer would take it to the next level.
How would you describe your sound in a few words?
George: Grunge Pop – a mixture of 90s brit pop & grunge, but with a modern stamp on it.
‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘ is a great song! It reminds me a bit of The Stone Roses? What’s the song about?
George: Stone Roses? That’s interesting, the guitars are quite Stone Rosesy I guess. The song is about dreaming of a better place, escapism, and freedom. We stole the ‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘ line from Bill Hick’s book ‚Love All The People‘. Felix and I were writing the song in his bedroom, I had written the chords for the verse, and we were struggling to come up with a opening line or melody. I happened to have the book on me at the time so I just flicked to a random page for inspiration and the first line was ‚I Had A Vision Last Night‘. We went with that line, I went downstairs for a cup of tea, and when I came back up 5 minutes later Felix had pretty much written all the verses and he was in the middle of writing the chorus.
Does one of you write most of the songs you perform or do you work on the music together? George: It really varies. Sometimes Felix will have an idea or a song that’s fully developed, sometimes Felix and I will write together, sometimes Yacob and Felix will write together, sometimes Yacob and I will write together, and sometimes we’ll all write together at band practice. The most important thing is that there are no egos, we all get on really well, we all want what’s best for the band, and that’s to write the best songs possible.
Which of your influences would you love to hang out with for a day?
George: Hmmm.. I’m thinking maybe Snoop Dogg (Or is it Snoop Lion now?), I’d love to see if digs my impression of him… however, I’m not so good on the weed, I’d probably fall asleep and waste the whole day with him… Yeah, fuck that, I’m gonna go with Noel Gallagher. Ol‘ Parker from Thunderbirds would be be a right laugh wouldn’t he!
Which artists have you been listening to lately?
George: Wolf Alice, Broken Hands, Jagwar Ma, Mac DeMarco, Azealia Banks, Temples, Splashh, Big Deal, Foxygen… I love Vampire Weekend’s latest record too.
Which album changed your life?
George: It’s out of The Verve – Urban Hymns or Radiohead – The Bends…. I’ll go with The Bends.
Any insider-tip for this year?
George: I think Superfood are ones to watch. They have this tune which is also called ‚Superfood‘, it’s quality. It’s like a mix of Beck, Blur, and Radiohead. I can’t wait to hear their album next year.
Let’s get less serious!
If you weren’t in a band what would you be doing?
George: Playing chess with old people.
What are your musical guilty pleasures? (we all have one..)
George: I love songs like ‚New Radicals – You Only Get What You Give‘ and ‚Livin Joy – I’m A Dreamer‘. But should I be guilty about that? Maybe, I dunno… The first album I ever bought was ‚Mike and The Mechanics – Beggar On A Beach Of Gold‘ if that’s what you’re after? Haha, I was only 7 years old at the time though.
What’s your favourite sports team? (If you have one)
George: West Ham. COYI!
And a last one. What’d you call a perfect Friday night?
George: Listening to tunes and getting on it with friends round my mate Gubbo’s house.
Thanks for the interview, I really appreciated it. I wish you all the best for the future! Fingers crossed for a following album!
George: Thanks man. All the best with you too, we must do this again after the album comes out.
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Yannick