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| Credit: Jon Mo |
The
Guildford outfit has already released the much-hyped, acclaimed singles 'Gotta
Know You' and '2 Minutes from Lincoln' and played a string of live dates across
the country, but The Estevans are now due to appear on stage
as part of This Feeling's Alive tour in association with Red Stripe and
Scott's.
It’s
All Indie caught up with three quarters of the band - Guy Ferris, Oscar Pugin
and Ollie Thomas - to get their take on the excitement of being part of the
tour and how they feel 2019 has been shaping up thus far.
How
do you feel about being part of the Alive Tour?
Oscar: This Feeling have been crucial to our band
over the past year; the exposure, the opportunities and Red Stripe has given us
as well as countless other bands a platform and a chance to make something of
ourselves. We can’t thank them enough. To be picked for the Alive Tour this
year is pretty humbling as there are so many f*ckin great bands!
Guy: obviously it’s
every year, and This Feeling has so many bands, and the likelihood of it being
us was quite slim, so the fact that we are on it, is just incredible. We are
not going to take it for granted, and we are going to smash it!
You
have already played shows for This Feeling. What's that been like?
Ollie: it’s been
great. A bit hectic but it’s been really good. I couldn’t say a bad word about
This Feeling. They have given us so many gigs that we wouldn’t have been able
to get ourselves, and I don’t know what else to say - just positive words
really.
and
more generally, what’s 2019 been like for you as a band?
Guy: there has been
festivals. We recorded, we were recording an EP, but it didn’t really go that
way, so we just recorded a single. The single is now done and it’s going to be
out soon. We have also done a couple of tours. We have been writing as well. It
has kind of been one thing after the other, but that’s the way we like it as
well. non stop really.
How
and when do you find the time to write new material?
Oscar: I guess it’s a
bit DIY at the moment. We are just practising in a room. We have like tea cloths on the cymbals because we just can’t afford to rehearse in a
professional studio. In terms of getting stuff together we don’t even try and
stress too much because then it’s not fun. If we just sort of do things at our
own pace we are having more fun with it and we do get stuff done that way it’s
a lot better than stressing about it.
You
come from Guildford. What’s the music scene there like?
Guy: the music scene
in Guildford is all focused around the college, and there is a couple of
venues. That is where all the bands will come through. There is a band called
Blackwaters and Sophie and the Giants who both come from there, and we are
hoping to be one of the other bands that break out of the circuit.
Oscar: we do have the
Boileroom venue, but because we have two or three venues, it’s so easy to get
stuck in the same area, and just gig in that one place, but This Feeling have
set up so many gigs elsewhere for us, we have been pretty lucky with that.
It
must have been challenging to play a number of shows in a short space of time.
How did you tackle it?
Oscar: it’s about
trying to keep them consistent. For instance Guy broke a lot of strings in one
set, so I had to give him my guitar, and I had to go without my guitar, sh*t
like that has happened, but all the shows are still pretty similar and
consistent.
Ollie: but I think we
are starting to change the shows now. We are changing the order with more new
songs. We have already played quite a few of the new ones live.
Why
do you think so many people are taking to your music?
Ollie: there is a lot
of bands who are trying to be too clever with it, and a lot of music is
over-produced. I think that we have an idea of what a good song is.
Oscar: a song should
speak for itself, and the guitars should sound a bit scratchy and that still
carries through each song we come up with.
How
do you see your own influences?
Oscar:
we always give the same answer The Strokes, The Libertines and The Arctic
Monkeys.
How
important is it for you to get signed?
Oscar:
even just hearing you say that is like way ahead in our minds but of course it
is something we would like to achieve.
What
are your future plans, and what’s next?
Oscar:
try not to kill each other. Then Wembley Stadium (laughs).
Guy:
it’s really great for us that people are appreciating good music again, rather
than what Ollie was saying earlier, going for “overproduced” stuff.
Ollie:
and I think we just want to keep doing what we are doing and then see what
happens next!
Alive
will visit the following venues:
October 2019
Wed 2 Oct - Record Junkee, Sheffield
Thu 3 Oct - Broadcast, Glasgow
Fri 4 Oct - Night People, Manchester
Sat 5 Oct - Hope & Ruin, Brighton
Wed 9 Oct - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
Thu 10 Oct - Thousand Island, London
Fri 11 Oct - Boileroom Guildford
Sat 12 Oct - The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Advance tickets will be £8 for London’s Thousand Island venue,
and £6 elsewhere on the tour, available from thisfeeling.co.uk and metropolismusic.com