What was the beginning pint for your music career? How did it all start? Was there any bumps on the road? What kind of challenges did you have to deal with?
I was in a band called Salad Days when I was a teen, we did some gigs, wrote some terrible songs. When the band broke up I was 18 and looking to get into more aggressive, noisy rock music, so I started SUE. It was just me at first, making demos on my dad’s computer, and when I had enough material I starting look for musicians to join on.
It’s been tough finding permanent members for the band; we’ve been through 3 drummers, 4 bassists and a guitarist, but I’m really happy with the line up at the moment. It’s also tough finding time to do the band while still being able to afford rent, and writing music is always a bit of a war, but it’s worth doing and so i do it.
I’ve just turned 24, meaning I’ve been doing the band for 6 years (-2 because of lockdown), and it’s only just that I finally feel like we’re getting a bit of recognition for what we do. I’m hoping we can really build on that and get a bit of momentum behind us, but only time will tell.
What was the most fulfilling and satisfying moment so far?
Putting out our new EP ‘I Will Dance With Hell So You Can See Heaven’.
I had it written before lockdown, and it’s been a long time since then, but we’ve finally got it out and I couldn’t be prouder of it. We’ve done three videos for it, all ourselves, and the music itself was recorded either in my bedroom or our bassists (Adam) shed. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I can’t wait to do it all again.
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
Genre wise I always say Noise Rock. It’s quite a vague term which I like, because it gives us a lot of wiggle room in terms of songwriting and musicality, but at the same time rooting us in what is SUE’S essence: noisy rock n roll. Loud guitars, screaming, pounding drums, thumping bass lines, that’s what we do, and we do it well.
What is your creative process like?
Honestly I’m not sure. I make demos on my laptop, which sometimes takes weeks, sometimes just a few days. I start with the music first typically, but not always, and then do the vocals after I’m happy with the parts. I can’t tell you how I come up with the stuff, half the time I don’t know myself, but if it sounds good and feels good I’m happy with it.
So I send the demo to the lads, we bang it out in rehearsal until it sounds good, and then it’s ready to record.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I think the thing that really pisses me off is the pop music cycle, and how it’s not even the damn artists that write the tunes but a load of songwriters hired by the label trying to make the next hit. It degrades the art form, turns music into a product that can be easily digested, and it makes me sick. There are so many talented musicians that don’t get anywhere their whole life, yet these fuckers with millions of fans and millions in the bank can’t even write their own damn music? What in the actual fuck is that.
If you were asked to give a piece of advice to upcoming bands, what would that be?
Just keep on going, don’t give in, don’t give up, embrace the bullshit and try to push past it. You’ll regret it if you don’t, I sure know I would. It’s hard, really hard being in a band, especially when you don’t feel like you’re not getting what you think you deserve, but you have to remember you don’t deserve anything. There is no order to this chaos. You fight to be heard or your lost under the noise, so get your fucking armour on and go to war.
What has been the best performance of your career so far?
For me personally, it has to be an open mic night we did a few months back. We played after a load of acoustic acts, did our 20 minutes, and somehow everyone fucking loved it. After we finished we were offered a headline by the owner of the place, and that was the icing on the cake. Where ever we perform we seem to get people on our side, and I reckon it’s because we look like we fucking love what we’re doing, and that’s because we do.
All hail SUE! Ha.
If you didn’t become a musician, what would you be doing now?
I’d be dead in a ditch somewhere.
What is new with the band at the moment?
I mentioned our new EP before and that is the main thing we’ve been working on, but we’ve had a new drummer join (Joe) who is an angel and our first gig in London a couple week ago, which was awesome. We’re also promoting our new music video for the final single from the EP, A Pathetic Man, which was a blast to make. My dad did the camera work and my brother edited it together, with me being the director, and it was a lovely time .
What are you currently working on and would like to share with the world?
Well I’d tell the world to go listen to our new EP, cause its great, share it with as many people they can, and watch the damn music videos once they’ve done all that. Then I’d tell them to listen to the album we put out a couple years back (It Will Never End), because that needs more love too.
We’re getting more shows together, we’re working hard on new material, and busy promoting the EP. Once the EP cycle is completed, we’ll get to work on the next one, and once we’ve done that we’ll do another, for art is a demon, a demon that follows you along, and it’s not something you can stop, even if you should.
