EMERGING from the charred ashes of former bands and projects that never quite reached the dizzying heights that they’d hoped, every single note of Saint PHNX’s material pulsates with a drive and an ambition to succeed that many aspire to but is altogether more difficult to attain. Asserting themselves among Scotland’s top prospects with near unprecedented deftness as the tunes just kept getting more and more awe-inspiring, the sibling duo’s unencumbered clamber to the top of the heap has been met with plaudits from far and wide and resulted in high profile support slots, millions of streams and a plethora of sold out shows.
Speaking from inside the studio as he worked on new mixes, frontman Stevie Jukes spoke to TTV about the massive leaps and bounds that they’ve taken, their upcoming UK tour, Tenement Trail and more.
Given how massive their inaugural year as a band has been, both Stevie and his brother Alan would be forgiven for being in a state of shock induced catatonia when attempting to decipher how they’ve came so far in such a short time. Refreshingly, it appears that they may be somewhat taken aback by the ever quickening velocity of their journey but their unwavering faith in what they were creating makes it easier to comprehend:
“I think it’s a 50-50 thing. First and foremost, we believed in the songs, we always thought they were special when we finished them at the start. We’ve written a lot of songs and played in a lot of bands before but these were the first ones where we thought ‘these could go all the way and be huge.’ So we always had confidence in them but you having it and other people liking them is a completely different thing so you always have that self-doubt. Now it’s been a year and when you stand back and look at what we’ve done as a brand new band, the pace that it’s went has been pretty insane. We’d hoped and we’d dreamed it would be like this and it has been so it’s a bit surreal but expected without sounding arrogant.
Following on from the momentous opening gambits that were ‘King’, ‘Reload’ and ‘Rise’, the band’s most recent single ‘Magic’ is one that wrung with a degree of poignancy and provided a new insight into their journey. When delving into the lyrics, it becomes clear that the sorcery in question is the spark that ignited the band and it’s a concept that Stevie is quick to corroborate.
“Well that was it. The whole idea of ‘Magic’ and the story behind is that we had previous musical experiences with other bands and there were high and lows and it got to a point where Alan and I had exhausted all avenues of the songs we were writing and maybe… fell out of love a wee bit with what we were doing. We were thinking ‘where do we go next?’ and ‘where do we turn?’ and just out a bit of magic, we created a demo. There’s a song called ‘The One’ and when we did it we thought ‘holy shit’ and it gave us a bit of a lease of life and came straight out the blue so that’s what it’s all about. Giving you that injection of energy just to go again and start something new. “
Given the fact that they’d already had a few spins at the industry wheel, it’s not hard to imagine that the brothers could’ve ended up discouraged and perhaps even thrown in the towel at another juncture. In the wake of their success, the band serve as a modern-day parable about the power of pushing through adversity and it’s something which Stevie sees as hardwired into their material.
“Perseverance is in every song that we’re singing and I think you’ve got to have that. No-one’s going to give you it or walk up and just give you everything you want. You’ve got to fight, work hard and visualise it in your head and say ‘this is where we want to be, how are we going to there?’ That comes through perseverance and a hunger to do it and basically start from scratch. When we started the band we thought ‘what is it?’ Two brothers, big drums and anthemic choruses, that’s all we had. So when you start you think ‘how are we going to build it?’ ‘how are we going to make it big?’ so it’s just a testament to the band being built on perseverance and working hard. “
In a year that has seen them become one of the leading lights of the nation’s music scene, it’s safe to say that they’ve been inundated with moments that will be etched into their minds forever. When asked to pinpoint what it is that made them take a deep breath and realise how much they’d accomplished, Stevie cites a varied list of occurrences that helped to paint a vivid picture of what it’s like to experience such an ascendancy.
“There’s been a couple of them. I think one of the big ones was getting played by Greg James on Radio 1 Drivetime. That was a big one for us from thinking we’d always dreamed of coming out the speakers on Radio 1 and to get it was a bit insane so that was definitely a milestone. Playing onstage with Imagine Dragons was a dream come true. Every festival we played and everywhere we showed up had a packed out tent or a big crowd so I think that was a milestone in terms of it meaning that people were connecting what we were doing so that was definitely another big thing for us.”
As September begins in earnest, its first few weeks act as a prelude for the relentlessly busy time that is ahead of them. Running all the way into October, the band are preparing to embark on their first ever headline tour of the UK and the excitement among the Saint Phnx camp is palpable.
“I just can’t wait. This is what you want to do in your day-to-day life. You want to go out to play music to people, brand new people and build a fanbase and a following that believe in what you’re doing. The fact that we can travel the country and get people to buy tickets to come and see us is obviously something that we’re super excited. “
From Ray and Dave Davies to Noel and Liam Gallagher, there’s a long lineage of divisive sibling dynamics in the pantheon of rock ‘n’ roll. For Stevie and Alan, it seems that the trials and tribulations may cause the odd squabble or two but their bond goes deeper than most.
“It’s a Nightmare, nightmare (laughs). It’s just such a hindrance (laughs). People think it’s an act like ‘you don’t like your brother’ but you’re just constantly at each other’s throats. We’re best mates, we hang about with each other, we used to work together, we’re in a band together, it’s almost like a marriage but it’s just the slightest wee things that annoy you. In the old band I threw a guitar at him and he threw a drum at me and it’s not got to that point but it’s definitely just rolling around fighting and shouting. We know that you can be cutthroat and cross that line but you know at the end of the day you’ll be fine. He’s away on a stag do this weekend so it’s good to get a break from him phoning me saying ‘you need to do that social media, you need to do this (laughs). “
Amid their upcoming tour, the band will venture back on to native soil to perform at our very own Tenement Trail. Although the excitement of a hometown show may have been enough, Stevie is no stranger to the festival and the ripples it sends through the city.
Can’t wait. Been to the Tenement Trail a couple of times in the past few years, brilliant festival and it’s amazing to be involved with it and headlining a stage. Tenement TV was the first time that people saw us live when we did a session so it was a big deal for us. Being two guys in a band trying to make a big sound, sometimes people say ‘where’s the bass player, where’s the drummer’ so to try and do that and on camera to let people know what we’re all about was cool to do on that platform. Going back to the festival, there’s some amazing bands on the bill as well and we can’t wait. Massive fan of Neon Waltz, they’re one of the best bands about. There’s also an electronic guy called Kvasir who I’m a massive fan of. He’s playing it very quiet just now and very low-key but I’m looking forward to seeing them. The Temperance Movement are an amazing band as well and Phil’s (Campbell) got an absolutely unbelievable voice. He’s actually been in doing some work in the studio next to where we’re doing ours and his new stuff is sounding incredible.
Although they may be preparing to take their material to brand new locales and audiences, Stevie is quick to reaffirm the belief that his home nation’s crowds have more than earned their reputation as the world’s elite.
There’s something about Scotland and Scottish people. Don’t get me wrong I think I know what it is, it’s the drink (laughs) but people just embrace music. Glasgow’s a music town, that’s just how it’s always been and how it’ll always be. Glasgow crowds are renowned for being the best around the world and we’ve done two sold out shows here so there’s an appetite there.”
On the subject of Glasgow, the conversation soon turns to one of the city’s most revered venues in the East End’s Barrowland Ballroom. For all of those who watched the band’s stripped back performance of ‘King’ on its iconic floor as they gazed towards the stage, it wasn’t hard to imagine that they’d soon be doing it from a different vantage point. As it turns out, this is something that the bands are eager to accomplish.
We did it in the Barras as an excuse to say we’ve played The Barrowlands (laughs). We played there before in another band and It was brilliant and we’ve been in the Barrowlands so many times. Friends of ours like The Lafontaines have headlined it, sold it out and I’m sure they’ll sell it out again. Seeing boys like that work hard, persevere, do everything off their own back and sell out the Barrowlands is incredible. It’s unbelievable and hopefully we can replicate that in the near future. That’s a big goal for us in the next couple of years.
In an era where fans are constantly lusting for the latest output from a band, being gun-shy in releasing the track that could send shockwaves through the world can be a dangerous game. Luckily for us, it seems that Saint Phnx have a wealth of material that we may be treated to in the near future:
“We’re always working on new stuff. We’ve got the guts of an album there and we’re just tweaking it so we will be releasing one. I think we’re going to go big with our next song. We like having things up our sleeves but we’ve thought nah we’re just going to release a big number next and change the game. We were discussing It last night and I think there’s a strong possibility that we’re going to do something special next.”
Check out the aforementioned performance of ‘King’ from the hallowed Barrowland Ballroom below:
