In our latest band spotlight, we chat to Storms about their music, ideas and inspirations.
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S] What ideas inspired the tracks for ‘Shame’ and ‘Girl’?
Felix] “‘Shame’ was an idea that came from watching a bunch of horror movies and hearing some really cool, old school, creepy sound-tracks. One of the tracks that came up was ‘I Put A Spell On You’ by Screaming Jay Hawkins. I thought it would be interesting to do something with an old school vibe like that and try and inject loads of energy into it, like he did, but with a grungier vibe. ‘Shame’, just seemed like an appropriate, creepy, not heavily discussed topic that seemed to fit the music. ‘Girl’ is a little more obvious. She’s left a very deep mark, and I was going genuinely a bit mad I think. We both behaved like lunatics and I don’t think I’ve ever been like that before. But, I still feel completely the same about her.”
S] What sort of stuff inspires the band outside of music – think books or people/places for example?
Felix] “I love 80s movies, satires, teen-movies and horrors. Love anything John Hughes, Tapeheads, Heathers, Fright Night. There was more of a poetic romanticism about things back then and things felt nihilistic in a more positive way; the humour just seems smarter too. I work part-time in a bookshop so reading has always had a big impact on everything. I love Philip Roth, A. M. Homes, Douglas Coupland and Kurt Vonnegut, to name a few.”
George] “I love DJing and finding new and old music. I’m really into 80s hip hop currently; J.V.C. Force, Gang Starr, Eric B & Rakim, to name a few. I love films, court room dramas, crime dramas, comedies. I love to go to stand up comedy nights when I can. My heroes are Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Lenny Bruce, Peter Cook, but in recent times I’ve been most impressed with Seann Walsh and Trevor Noah. Places? I like to travel to Deauville Festival and New York once a year, great for inspiration.”
S] What are the band’s major plans for this year?
George] “We’re making a video in the U.S. for our next release and we’re about to announce a tour which we’re really excited about.”
S] If you could come up with a Frankenstein’s monster for the band – eg: the head of Nirvana, and the arms of err…Garbage, what would it be and why?
Felix] “This is a tough one. Let’s try, the head of an angry tiger, the spinning extendable neck of Billy Corgan, Chris Cornell’s vocal chords, Pearl Jam shoulders, Flaming Lips arms, Weezer hands, the torso of The Replacements, Billy Idol’s hips, Pixies’ Legs, Oasis feet, and the soul of Genghis Khan.”
George] “Sounds good. Let’s add John Lydon’s menacing eyes, the cheekbones of Richard Ashcroft, and the arse of Rick Waller and we’re sorted.”
S] Any great memories from playing Northern cities like Manchester or Leeds?
Felix] “Manchester is always amazing, a lot of my family live there. Having a rammed out room full of people you don’t really know is always great. The Soup Kitchen and Night and Day are my favourite spots. We did a show at Night and Day once that was sponsored by a rum company, they gave us a whole case of rum before we played, the show was a very drunk affair but still great and the party afterwards is just a blur but the pictures make it look like a lot of fun.”
