Glasgow’s Prides make anthemic electro pop, that is so addictive you could swear it’s a drug. Their song, Out of the Blue, has been sweeping the country and gaining them lots of attention and rightly so, that’s why I previously named them as my ‘Hype of the Day’. The song is also currently being featured on an advert that some of you might have seen on the telly, promoting MTV’s EMA’s 2014, that are set to take place in Glasgow next year. With new material promised to come very soon from Prides, it’s a very exciting time for this trio.
I caught up with the band’s frontman, Stewart Brock, to discuss everything from the band’s conception to what’s next for the band and everything else in between. Read on to hear what he said.
How did the band come to fruition? How did you all meet?
Lewis and myself have been in bands before, and met Callum when we were looking for someone to help us play live. Once we started writing together we realised that we should really give him his due and add him as a full member. Boom. Prides was born.
Describe Prides in three words or less.
Have a listen.
What’s a show for Prides normally like?
We make a conscious effort to throw ourselves into it, so it’s loud and brash and sweaty and exciting. We enjoy ourselves and have been incredibly lucky so far that other folks have too.
How do you fill your time while you’re on the road? Do you have a music playlist, any bands in particular that you listen to?
It depends. Reading, drinking, and shouting at each other, are all front runners, but generally yeah there’s always something on the speakers. Comedy, or podcasts, or Paramore. Whatever really.
Your song, Out of the Blue, has received over 38,000 views now on YouTube. It must be quite humbling to see that this song in particular has gained you quite a following and that it’s picked up steam so fast. Did you ever expect this would happen before you put the song out there?
Not at all, we just threw it out there. We were excited about it and thought it’d be nice to let people hear what we’d been up to, we never expected for a second that it would take off the way it did. It’s been great for us, and it’s nice to know there are so many handsome people with impeccable taste out there!
After hearing Out of the Blue, I knew immediately that there was something really special about this band. I will come out and say it right now, 2014 is going to be your year. Will you be releasing any new material anytime soon?
Yes indeed, the plan is to get a track out very soon, followed by an EP sometime the beginning of next year, and go from there. We’re excited to see how people feel about some of our other stuff.
The music scene in Glasgow is flourishing right now and it has to be said, it always has been quite a special city for that. It being the home of bands such as Franz Ferdinand and Travis, to name a few. Having said that, what are your thoughts on the music scene in Glasgow and are there are venues that you would recommend checking out?
The scene in Glasgow has always been amazing, and not being from Glasgow originally, it’s always felt to me like there’s a community here not mirrored in many other places. It’s good that Scottish music in general has been doing so well recently, and I think its made people look north of the border with slightly more enthusiasm. There are loads of good venues, which is one of the great things about Glasgow. I’ve seen great shows at small places like Bloc and 13th Note, more typical venues like King Tuts, ABC and Stereo, and then the big boys, Barrowlands and the Academy. And, although I’ve not been yet, we’ve got the daddy of them all in The Hydro.
You are very active on social media, twitter and Facebook in particularly. How important is to for you to connect with your fans that way?
Massively important. We try and approach things without any kind of professionalism, in hopefully a good way. We don’t want people to think that we’re just trying to punt them some CD’s or whatever. We’re just making tunes and hoping people listen to them. We’ve got great interaction with people who, I hope, feel like they can approach us online, and it’s amazing to have the kind of support that means people give a shit what you have to say.
We’re big supporters of new music here at Bitter Sweet Symphonies. Having said that, are there any new artists that have caught your attention recently that you’d like to share with us?
Honestly all we’ve been indulging in recently is Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Lorde. All brilliant.
What’s next for Prides?
Songs, shows, sweat, tears, the inevitable crossing of fingers and after that, who knows.
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A special thanks to Prides for this interview and for more info on the band, check out the following links below.
