London rockers The Howlers have quickly been making a name for themselves over the past year and a bit since their formation back in 2019. Known for their raucous live-shows and ferocious style the trio have gained acclaim from BBC Radio 1 and have had their music feature on the likes of BT, Sky Sports and Soccer AM. I caught up with band member, Adam recently to discuss the inspiration behind their latest EP ‘Rebirth’ and the difficulties faced over the past year…
So you have an EP on the way this year, what can we come to expect from it on it’s release?
Rebirth … that was overly profound for 3 working class lads but it’s true, the EP represents us as a band and the horrendous things we’ve been through together and as individuals in our lives so far, I personally lost family to COVID-19 and the rest of the boys have gone through things we wouldn’t wish anyone to experience … but through it all we are always there for each other. The EP was wrote during a time we were grieving and London was gripped by the black lives matter protests, every day we would trek to a factory in north London past protests, sirens and people queuing in masks for shops and we wrote a record that represents what we were feeling who we are and what we wanted to be as a band and I think we achieved it.
You have a pretty distinctive sound, are there any particular periods of time in music or styles that have influenced this much?
We get asked this a lot, we take ideas from the 70’s and 60’s periods of time when you could still pioneer music as ‘new’ hanging n amp from the ceiling and chucking it around wasn’t mental it was experimental so we try and think like that, but ultimately it’s how it feels when we play a track together and until you experience that moment you can’t describe it, you just know, but our sound has been shifting slightly towards what we always wanted to be, its gone more west coast, more structured and more, hopefully, in our writing.
The past year has been difficult for everyone in and out of lockdown(s) and what not, how as a band do you feel the circumstances have affected your creativity?
For us it’s been strange, the unfortunate circumstances in our lives has fuelled a drive of creativity i personal wrote 40+ tracks in the space of 2 weeks while I was grief stricken, I needed an outlet, and as a result were sitting on probably and album and a half’s worth of material. As a band we can write with energy and gusto but when its me the boys often say i can pull a sad song out my arse.
Bandcamp has helped out artists of late waiving their fees on the first Friday of each month, has it benefited yourselves over the last year and how vital do you feel its platform is now for artists to make some form of income without touring?
100% we’ve seen bandcamp build further for us, a lot of fans in the US especially, Bandcamp definitely has its place for artists my hope is when this is all over it remains a focal point.
You have been quite prolific for your touring as a band since your inception playing both at home and across Europe, it must’ve been hard not having that outlet and connection to fans. With Brexit now posing a threat to artists travelling across the continent through inflated fees, how do you see things panning out going forward?
It has been tough. We did something like 50+ shows in our first year as a band so we practically lived out of rental skoda’s and vans. its not been easy, we are quite fortunate Guus is a dutch national so for us as a 3 piece we only really have to worry about 3.
You have announced recently some dates around the UK for this spring. What can fans or new followers of the band expect from your live performances?
A lot of energy! we are often told we are a different animal on stage all together, we’re all very quiet people, but on stage we perform. But at the same time we’ve taken the set we had, ripped it up and then started again and there’s a lot more ‘moments’ in the set, its often a highlight of any review we receive ‘get down and see them live’ and that says everything really.
I saw recently you were announced to play Stag & Dagger here in Glasgow this coming May too as part of a pretty stellar line-up. Are there any fellow artists playing who you are a fan of or would recommend our readers to check out?
Stag & Dagger has one of the best emerging line ups of the year (If it goes ahead) The Goa Express, Goat Girl, John, Sinead O’Brien are all amazing artists.
What does the future look like for ‘The Howlers’ then? Is there a clear vision set-out or is it more a case of enjoying the journey as it unfolds?
We 100% have a clear vision of the future for sure …. more records in the works and a few things we can’t really divulge just yet but hopefully things pan out but at the same time what’s the point without enjoying the journey.
You can purchase tickets for the bands upcoming tour, as well as some cool merch, over on their Bandcamp page here: thehowlersuk.bandcamp.com
TWITTER: @thehowlersuk
INSTAGRAM: @thehowlersuk
FACEBOOK: @thehowlersuk
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