BEFORE they’ve even had a chance to properly regain their composure after arriving onsite, the media are descending upon the Liverpool-based outfit known as Clean Cut Kid. In the midst of what is inarguabl the longest sustained period of exponential growth that they’ve experienced in their career to date, band members Evelyn Halls and Saul Godman are still ecstatic after their performance at Hyde Park on the previous evening. A show that allowed them to share a bill with artists such as The Killers, Elbow and Tears For Fears, Evelyn is quick to reveal that they can now count a member of the latter’s touring band among their ever-growing legion of fans.
“We were on the bandstand which is just as you came in so we started and everyone that was passing was like ‘hey!’ so it was really cool. The drummer from Tears For Fears came up to Mike (Halls, frontman and songwriter) and was like: ‘aw mate I really loved the set so I just had to stop and watch. I was meant to meet some friends but I had to miss it because I just loved the sound and the tunes so give me your details. Mike was like “oh my god!”
On account of how much of a phenomenon they’ve became in recent months, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that we’re less than two full months removed for the emergence of their debut album Felt. Accruing rave reviews from fans, critics and newly emerging converts alike, its arrival seems to have been almost serendipitous in the eyes of Saul.
“It’s definitely paid off because you can see that everyone knows all the songs and not just the singles. The fanbase has grown and festival audiences have grown so it’s definitely an exciting time at the start of this season when we’ve still got another 20 to go.”
An album that exudes an infectious ambitiousness and is laden with anthems-in-waiting, one track that has garnered a particularly emphatic response is ‘Vitamin C’. Although it’s been in their repertoire in various forms for a few years, the track recently received a new lease of life after it was dubbed Scott Mills’ tune of the week on his BBC Radio 1 show. Refreshingly honest in the fact of many bands that seem to decry their own success and talent in favour of some sort of luck or divine intervention, Evelyn attests to the fact that it’s always been a song that they’ve loved:
“ In a way but it’s one of those ones. I always think that the best songs that Mike writes are done in like 20 minutes and that was one of those so we always get excited when brings that. It’s all of our favourite so we’re happy that it got such a response. It’s cool. “
Nonchalantly taking in the atmosphere from behind the stage that they’ve soon be striding on to in a matter of hours, the band spoke about their excitement about performing and their affection for Scottish audiences in general.
S-The clips from yesterday looked brilliant and it’s great crowd. we love to be in front of a Scottish audience, We played king tuts the last time we were here and it was amazing gig. Tom Grennan’s headlining and he’s really good. We met him at Live and Leeds and he’s really good. Louis Berry played yesterday and he’s another one that we’ve caught up with along the way.
In a stroke of good fortune, it just so happens that Evelyn has harboured a longstanding affection for Sunday’s headliners Biffy Clyro.
“-We always have a messy time when we come up here. I’m looking forward to Biffy Clyro because I’ve been a fan since I was 15 and just grew up loving that band. The last time I saw them when I was about 18.”
In a humorous turn of events, it turns out that Saul was also present at the show in question:
“The last time I saw them I was working at Leeds Festival I think. Wow was that 2008? That’s mad innit. I know people who’ve gone to jail and came out since then (laughs).”
Whilst there were various acts that they were looking forward to catching, one thing that dismayed Evelyn was the fact that Glasgow’s own The Van T’s had played on the previous day:
“They played with us in Scala and we love them. Good girls as well, we actually had a message from our tour manager in our itinerary when we last came up to Scotland which said ‘we’ve got an early drive the next morning, don’t get too drunk with The Van T’s’ even though we weren’t playing with them (laughs). It was class. “
Set to journey back up to Scotland in September for our very own Tenement Trail, the band voiced their approval of the format and exposure that inner-city festivals provide for up-and-coming bands.
“ We really like the inner-city festivals because a lot of them start out like that and they move into things like Sound City when they went down to the docks and stuff like that. We really love them, it’s very exciting and you can feel that the whole city looks forward to it.” It’s just like a Saturday night out but focused on bands and that’s great.
Currently experiencing what has been a whirlwind year for the group, it would be understandable if the band were reticent to say what they planned to do next. As explained by the energetic Godman, the band have no plans to slow down as they gaze towards 2018 and even further down the line.
“As soon as you’ve achieved one goal then you set a new one and as soon as Mike’s written one song, he’s already thinking about another one. You don’t really think of it as boxes ticked as it’s all one big box that you’re sort of heading towards. I think (2018) is going to be huge. You can’t imagine all of the stuff that’s been happening so far and everything everyone’s saying is going to happen has happened so it’s just going to keep going that way.”
Tickets to see Clean Cut Kid and so much more at this year’s Tenement Trail are available here.
Watch the band’s video for ‘Vitamin C’ below:
