In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to Fine Creatures about their music, and inspirations.
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S] What’s motivating the band outside of music right now, think movies, people, and places?
We’re all very different people and individually have eclectic tastes and interests that motivate us. We spend a lot of time quoting films, tv shows or different jokes that we like. We all have a fairly dark sense of humour at times…
We’re motivated by classic films such as The Breakfast Club to the School of Rock. Nostalgia and especially the kind that reminds us of discovering music for the first time is always inspiring and motivating. I think films and tv shows are as much of an influence on everyone as music is. Being in a new place always excites us, especially when we’re there to share our music with new people. It’s never really that daunting playing in front of new faces, it makes us play better and work harder.
S] What would you say that the mission statement is for the band?
We’d be lying if we didn’t say that we want to be popular and successful. Who doesn’t? We just want to write great songs and play live.. a lot. We’ve always been into the idea that the song comes first, and the idea of serving the song. I personally grew up on a lot of 90s music but I only discovered my own thing when I was about 17. Ever since I was 18, I’ve been obsessed with starting a band and conquering the world.
Given that we’re into many different genres of popular music, I think our music is fairly varied.. especially some of the new songs. I think now people don’t care too much about that: People who listen to music today, aren’t tied to one genre, they just want to hear a great song that makes them feel something.. that’s all. I want to be one of those bands that are not stylistically the same every song. to be explorative but universal is what we try and be. In the end, our mission is to write really great tunes and to play to as many people as possible.
S] What has been a defining career moment, so far?
We played The Great Escape Festival in Brighton last year and it was incredible! We did three shows in three days, met a bunch of different people, and discovered a lot we didn’t know about ourselves…
That’s when we really became confident. One show was a showcase show, very industry based, One was in a hostel, and the other was connected to our old university. We learned how to take advantage of different gig situations, busy, not-so-busy, and industry-based. We networked our asses off that weekend as well. Which really benefited us, and got us to where we are now.
S] How, as a band, do you judge success?
As a band, how we judge success at the moment, all comes down to the shows. If we played a cracker, we celebrate, if not we have a proper sit down. Not in an overly serious way. We care so much about being a great live band, we’re all very honest with each other and I think we’re very lucky to have that honesty in our band. In the future, we’d love to be selling out 150 cap venues across the UK etc.. in the next year or 2. That’s a realistic, short period answer.
In terms of career success, we want to have longevity, and I think most bands strive for that. A career, where you can make music, and live off it. I’ve dreamt of having a career as a musician since I was a kid, so I’d feel like I’ve made it if we can just live off of writing and touring.
S] What direct experiences led to the development of ‘Panthers’?
Lots of experiences shaped that song. Mostly just the feeling of isolation I think most people get when working long hours and not seeing anyone apart from colleagues for days on end. That’s what I had at the time that I wrote, ‘Panthers’. The experiences you have from 18 to 20 really shape your life and I tried to outlet everything I experienced through my songwriting.
A lot of the song comes from Social Anxieties and Insecurities. Being in a new place, meeting new people or just trying to fit in. Self-isolation is easy, but self-accpetance is hard, and that’s what the song explores. ‘Panthers’ was formed lyrically through relationships I had with friends and people I met at parties at a young age. The cliques that are around you when you’re young can put so much pressure on you. I just didn’t want to be a part of it. The song is an expression of anger and frustration and feeling better in the process.
S] What about the EP itself, were there any challenging/intense moments, in terms of recording, or with regards to developing the songs?
The whole experience was really amazing. We worked with a great producer called Dan Austin. He was very positive and enthusiastic the whole time. We recorded in Stockport in the dead of winter. We worked pretty quickly, and organically. Everything was very natural. Not to say it wasn’t an intense time. It was our first time recording as a band, so we didn’t know how it would turn out.
It was a little hard in the pre-prod sessions because sometimes you don’t want to let certain ideas of structures go…but Dan had some amazing ideas that in the end, improved the songs so well. Hearing yourself back is always a bit nerve-racking, and you end up hating your own takes. We’ve learned a lot since then. The initial “first time recording” can be hard to deal with if you’re not used to doing things over and over again, and hearing everything over and over again. This can easily lead to overthinking and overanalysing, which isn’t healthy. In the end, it was a great result. Recording this EP, was a huge learning process for us.
S] What have been some highlights of the Fangclub tour?
This is going to be our first proper tour, so we expect a lot of new things. We’ve never been to some of these towns or cities before, we think that traveling to new places is gonna be a big highlight for us. Another highlight we think will be meeting people at and outside of shows. We know that touring life is unpredictable, and anything can happen.. there will most probably be accidents or mishaps of some kind, but we’re ready.
S] What are the best and worst things about touring for you guys, as a whole?
The best things about touring, from the experience we have had so far are the shows themselves, the comradely aspects of tour life, which occurs when you’re spending all your time with your band. We love being in new places, and getting out of Brighton, so usually being in an alien place is one of the best things about touring.
The worst things about touring are the fact that you get hardly any sleep, the lack of healthy food and cleanliness. We know some of these are inevitable so we have prepped. On the whole, this tour is gonna be an intense roller coaster, and we can’t wait to start.
