The DuBarrys are a band that we’ve had our eyes and ears firmly fixed on since they released their self-titled debut EP in the winter of 2014. A mixture of ambient tones and personally-etched songwriting addressed to finely-tuned indie pop production. Return to the present and the foursome continue to impress, with the release of new single ‘Catch The Rider’ – this breezy ditty boasts bright sonics and passionate sentiments.
We caught up with the band’s singer to discuss the past year, what’s to come, and why you need to be in attendance for their hometown headline show at The Hope & Ruin next month.
You’ve just released a new single ‘Catch The Rider’. Can you tell us more about the track?
‘Catch The Rider’ is a song Alex wrote a couple of years ago in Brighton but somehow the demo got put aside for a while. It was only a few months ago when we were looking through all our demos with management, to see which songs we were going to record, that we stumbled upon it again and decided to work on it as a band. We felt it could be a potential single so we decided to record it and everything just fell into place.
This is your first release in over 12 months, what was the reason behind the wait?
We’ve had a couple of changes in the band over the last year, our original bassist Chich unfortunatly had/has RSI in his arm, so for a while we were not able to gig and we were waiting and hoping for Chich to get better. Sadly it didn’t, so we had to make the hard decision to find a new bassist for the band. We’ve also had some changes in management over the last year. This has helped us get back on our feet and we are now working towards a more relevant and longer release plan.
‘Catch The Rider’ is quite a step forward from your earlier work, what sparked the evolution in sound?
I think we just all evolved as musicians and the songwriting followed. Listening to different kinds of music and writing on different instruments helps alot. The first EP was all written on guitars, this EP is 90% written on keyboards, that coupled with the introduction of a new band member and things were always going to be different this time around.
Have you found it easy to get back into the swing of band life since re-launching? I feel that the industry has become a fair bit more condensed in some ways and harder for new bands to reach the ears of their fans…
Yeah we’d agree with that to some degree. Luckily we have a pretty devoted set of fans around the world from the last release and they have been dying for something new, so when it came out everyone was ready for it and jumped on board. In terms of getting back to band life, we all love it and it’s all we want to do all the time so it’s like getting back with your childhood love. We always loved it, but we’ve learned and matured so we know how to love it properly.
You’re playing a big hometown show at The Hope & Ruin to celebrate the release of ‘Catch The Rider’, are you looking forward to getting back out there and playing the new material to your fans?
Yes! We can’t wait to play all of our new songs to people! The live set up has changed quite a bit, with new instrumentation and new challenges so it’s keeping us on our toes! But we’re much tighter and much more confident as a band now as well, so we’re looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to the new material.
You’re a Brighton based band. Now the city has become a hub for emerging musicians and bright eyed newcomers. Do you feel proud to be a part of the music scene in Brighton and its trailblazing culture?
Yes, we are definitely proud of living in the amazing music hub that is Brighton. We’ve all been here for around 5 years now and have seen with our own eyes the rise of some Brighton based bands and it’s really cool to see. It gives us hope that if we continue to work hard and release good music that it will happen to us as well. It does however also mean the competition is really hard here though. There are bands and musicians everywhere, so many venues and so much choice.
If we were to come and experience Brighton for the first time, where would you recommend? Where’s the best hangout spot?
Snoopers Paradise is the bees knees for sure! Brighton in a nutshell, a second hand vintage shop with every little quirky thing you could imagine, we loose hours in there frequently!
Your sound borrows from the past with your own distinct flair impressed upon it, but who are the bands that you are particularly fond of that have inspired you over the years?
For me (Alex), there’s one band/man that has inspired me a crazy amount since I’ve been in Brighton and that’s Kevin Parker of Tame Impala. For me, he’s a true musical genius and I think that in 50 years, he will still be remembered for the music and innovation he was a part of. He brought back psychedelic music and mixed it with catchy top lines and hooks and i think he’s a big part of bands becoming big again and small bands actually getting signed and getting given the chance to make it.
The artwork for ‘Catch The Rider’ is interesting, can you tell us more about that?
The artwork is from a tattoo artist friend of ours in Belgium called “Sydney Mahy” or “SYYDLEKID”. We’ve always admired his artwork, he put this drawing up on his Instagram page one day and we just asked him if we could use it for the band or if he was going to tattoo it on someone and he said “All yours”. We really like the concept of the image, it has all the elements in it that our new songs have; the girl, the drinking/medication, the escapism and illusion.
I believe there is a music video coming soon for the track, are there any stories that you can share with us about the making of the video?
Well we used a big projector for it, finished earlier than expected and watched Utd vs Arsenal for the last half an hour, best experience ever!!!
And finally, we have to ask when are we going to get more new music from The DuBarrys? Please don’t leave it so long next time.
We already have a second single and music video ready to go once this one is released, with more to follow after that. In terms of time scales, we’re looking to release 2 more singles this year. We’re ready and raring to go so you won’t have to wait long at all!
The DuBarrys are headlining Brighton’s The Hope & Ruin on Thursday 28th April. Head here for ticket details.
