Eagulls

FEW have tread the ground the adopted Leeds five-piece Eagulls have wandered, rolling around in a dazed grunge state, getting truly under the skin of their listeners.

Starting their journey back in 2010, they had not stumbled upon the scene quietly - with first single Council Flat Blues solidifying their punk ethics, it became extremely difficult for major institutions to ignore the resentful murmuring spewing from the seams.

With a few tales of run ins with police over their award winning music video, Nerve Endings and instances of opinionated clashes with certain music festivals the urge to fall in love with Eagulls is certainly at its highest. With many audiences arguing the fact that artists keep their head clearly in the sand, well let's just say these lads are certainly not going to fade away.

In March this year we witnessed the heavily-awaited release of Eagulls debut, self-titled EP featuring
tracks such as 'Nerve Endings', 'Tough Luck' and 'Amber Veins' as they broadly open the gateway to a world of  neo punk adopting foundations of which legends such as Joy Division and Sex Pistols had so adeptly built upon with a sullen desperation. Each track rippling in rejuvenation, there is progression clearly visible within each scratch of instrumental, numbingly tasteful and weighty in desire.


This post-punk quintet aren't half fans of touring either, after a busy schedule of shows this summer, October see's a huge selection of gigs - especially with a fantastic Liverpool date on 26th October at the most adored venue, The Kazimier. We grabbed an interview with front-man George Mitchell to understand the tapered world of Eagulls...

You’ve recently come back from a few months on the road and you’re going back again later this year; what is it about touring which seems to have you hooked?

Touring enables us to show music in its truest form: live music. We’ve been hooked on touring since day one. Planning future tours like this upcoming October UK tour keeps the flame alight and gives us a path to look forward to.

It’s fair to say your music is certainly different to any current craze; how did you discover your sound - was it intentional or did you stumble upon it?

Our sound came as a natural progress over the years of playing in a band together. Our sound wasn’t stumbled upon; it just came through a lot of time on the road and a lot more time in dead end jobs wanting out. So it was an intentional effort.

You released your first self-titled album back in March this year; do you think it fully portrays Eagulls as a band?

I think it portrays our band very well at that stage in time. I feel it can speak to a lot of people and it can relate to a lot of people too and that’s what our band wanted to accomplish.

Do you have a particular venue which stands out to you as being the Holy Grail if you like?

Leeds Brudenell Social Club is our favorite venue to play at as it’s right on our doorstep and is important in its own original way. We’ve always wanted to play Primavera festival as it was there when we said we wanted to start a band back in 2009.

How would you describe an Eagulls night out?

Get out the van, unload the gear, sound check, read, eat, drink, play the show, talk to people who came to the show, drink, pack the gear away, drive, drink, park the van, go to our favourite/worst bar in Leeds called Milo’s, drink Ray and Nephew Rum, do things we shouldn’t do, get kicked out, get back in, have a lock in, get kicked out, walk home, pass out at 6am, get up, do it again.

You’ve performed on shows like Jools Holland and David Letterman; do you find these shows are the best way to gain overall coverage?

Playing on shows like this enables us to present our music to all different types of people. We have never cornered ourselves away to a specific audience like some bands tend to do as we want to show what we have to say to everyone and anyone. We perhaps pissed more people off being on these shows than we did gain fans and were content with this approach as were voicing our concerns straight to the people that are causing the problems skipping out the middle man.

You’re up for best live act at the AIM awards on 2 September and you’ve previously won the NME best music video for Nerve Endings; did you ever think you’d get this kind of support when starting out?

When we first started out we never thought we would get up and out of the basements we were playing in, so it’s a great accomplishment to have recognition in something we created all ourselves. Being up against huge acts like Arcade Fire and Lily Allen for the NME best music video award when they perhaps spent thousands and thousands of pounds and then there is us who spent £300 and us winning it is great. Being put forward for the AIM awards is another great feat ... shame Sophie Elis Bexter won it though.

What are we going to be seeing from Eagulls in the next year?

Next year we will be doing more touring hopefully in countries we have not yet reached. Also we are currently in the process of writing new material for our second album, so hopefully people will get to hear some new songs on the upcoming tours.


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