NEWS
EVENTS
We caught up with Baby Strange to talk touring and T-Rex
Indie | Thursday 9th April 2015 | Alice
We caught up with the Baby Strange trio at Angel's Electrowerkz. The boys were relaxing and prepping for their joint headlining tour with Dolomite Minor.
How did you all originally form?
Connaire: Well we are brothers.
Johnny: Yeah and we are cousins… no I’m kidding.
Connaire: That’s always a good story “Yeah we met after his birth”. We actually all met at a community music group years and years ago in Glasgow.
Johnny: Years and years ago. The band formed out of a mad summer. And then we dreamed up this idea, so there was no script really.
I’m shocked to hear Aidan is only 18 years of age.
Aidan: I was applying to college but I gave it all up for this.
Connaire: You can always go back to college.
Aidan: I guess but then I’ll be old.
Is there any connection between T-Rex’s song 'Baby Strange' from their The Slider album and you naming the band Baby Strange?
Johnny: No, unlike people think we actually made the name up and it really stuck, and then we realised it was a T-Rex song.
After looking at 'Pure Evil' I noticed the lyrics “Ew I'm tired of my generation”, what influenced these lyrics?
Johnny: We were standing up and making a stand. I was tired of not being productive and not getting to where I wanted to be. We locked ourselves in a room and wrote.
What attracts you to darker aesthetics?
Johnny: I try not to get too deep. We all have to like the idea, then the lyrics come. It’s not like we have an exact theme, although a lot of folks think we do. It’s always an idea of a song, then the lines just come out and make a story. They are stories made up in our head but I guess we can resemble some parts to a certain extent. Sometimes a little bit of truth. Some people think I’m narrating my life and that I’m some sort of psycho [laughs]. We haven’t released an album yet so I guess we are sometimes too close to the songs to think of where they are from.
What did you take from touring with bands such as Palma Violets and Swim Deep?
Johnny: Swim Deep are really lovely guys, it was nice as they invited us as they liked us. It’s always nice when they ask instead of it being through management and them not knowing us.
Alice: And Palma Violets…
Johnny: A lot really. Opened us to big crowds. It was nice and they were of a similar age. They gave us some great shows.
Aidan: I was quite new to being on stage so watching a young band helped me I guess and learned things from them.
Johnny: Parties are much different from being on stage
Connaire: We were able to watch them on stage and think that’s what we could do or need to do. They really interact with their fans, so we took that away, that and not creating a wall between the stage and us.
I see you’ve played festivals such as Reading & Leeds as well as singular events at KOKO?
Johnny: Leeds stood out to us. The tent was rammed which we weren’t expecting. Reading was good, we got to spend time there and catch Palma’s.
How do you enjoy camping?
Johnny: We enjoyed it; we had already done T in the Park. We had a great summer.
What festivals would you ideally play at?
Johnny: We would love to go back to Leeds but Coachella and Glastonbury would be great.
What bands would you ideally support in the future, even if they weren’t of a similar genre?
Johnny: We would happily tour with Slaves for a full year. If we could support anyone it would be Mark Ronson for a long time. 'Uptown Funk', couldn’t say no! Or Slipknot. We love them.
What are your aims for the next year?
Johnny: A finished album and a great first album at that. Also just to keep playing and coming back to cities we love.
Where do you want to be in five years or where do see yourselves?
Johnny: I dunno, I guess still doing this. Perhaps have our own sketch? (Laughs)
As for the gig, the boys demanded the attention of the young crowd. They play their catchy riffs and latest single, causing the crowd to bursts into pits. Overall the boys have clear talent alongside a vastly growing fan base. I have no doubt they will continue to do what they do best, produce music.
Follow Baby Strange on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.
