HEADBOY // TELEVISED
You all grew up in various parts of London which has a very supportive DIY community at the moment - how has starting a band in that specific scene influenced your growth and development?
The London DIY community is really special. Post - pandemic there’s been a really collaborative atmosphere around live music and it feels like everyone is just so excited to see new music. It's quite a determined community and there’s always a bit of a constant battle against developers to try and keep venues open but it speaks to the resilience of the DIY community that everyone pitches together to fight back. We’ve been playing gigs for 6 months now and we've been really influenced by the bands we’ve played with and have been to see since. We’ve played on line-ups which have ranged from punk to hyper-pop, dreamy lo-fi to 90s grunge - and our sound has definitely been stretched and become richer for it. We’re not afraid to be loud and have got braver experimenting with texture and emotion. Along the way we’ve met other musicians, producers, and promoters who have all been really encouraging.
I’d describe the music of Headboy as being both charmingly melodic and disarmingly punk - do you think there are any (sonic or otherwise) touchstones that inform indie rock in today’s landscape?
Indie Rock is definitely having a comeback moment. There are still the influences of the American bands of the 90s, and indie guitar bands from the 2010s - but at the same time today’s landscape is less contained by the rock tagline. The definition of indie has loosened. The scene is becoming more inclusive. More voices are getting to be heard and it’s an exciting time to be making music. Beyond indie rock, arguably the pandemic and everything that has come with it politically has stoked a post-punk fire; rule books are being torn up. You can hear the pressure of the pandemic in the new wave of UK music. It's absurd but heartfelt.
Other than a couple of demos on Soundcloud, the only way to see Headboy is to come to a show. Because there’s such a limited amount of material available, how do you view each track as a representation of the band and do you have any thoughts on the impact of digital releases vs the live experience?
The soundcloud demos of Alligator and N.O.W were some of the first songs that we’d worked on together during lockdown. Lots of the parts we’d written completely separately from each other. Our newer music has by and large been created together in rehearsal studios around London. We’ve been able to develop the songs as we’ve played live and seeing how crowds respond to certain moments. Both ways of writing have their merits and ‘Televised’ is an accumulation of the two. We love playing live and we wanted to capture the energy you’d find at one of our live shows. By putting out a digital release we are really proud of we are hoping to open up the world of headboy beyond our London bubble.
HEADBOY
MIX
Do you have any creative pursuits that go side by side or amplify the music you all make?
Mars is a visual artist and created the artwork for the single. There is definitely a visual world for headboy that exists alongside our songs and a lot of our lyrics are visually quite descriptive - so illustrating these graphically helps with the bigger picture. Writing music and visuals come hand in hand, it's hard to imagine one without the other. Lyrics often begin as pictures or as something that personifies or symbolizes a feeling - so when writing lyrics there are often drawings to accompany them. We also take a 35mm compact camera with us everywhere we go and we like to keep a track of the small moments that happen along the way.
Tell us more about the recording process/inspiration behind this new track!
The recording process was super fun. We arrived at the studio in South London having been on the road for a couple of days gigging so we were kind of rough and ready, which suited the feeling of the song. We recorded to tape which helped capture the live emotion. We spent quite a lot of time with our producer Joe Futak playing around with texture. We were keen to make something that didn't sound too clean. For example - with the guitar solo we wanted to make sure it sounded like it would burn through tarmac. From the get go we wanted all the parts to sound like they are hurtling towards you.
Any under the radar musical peers we need to know?
Slug Puppy, Fräulein, Piglet, Speed training, Junodef, Lilo, The Early Mornings, Paddywak, Lazy Day, Hot Wax, Lime Garden, Sam Apkro, Jelly Cleaver.
What’s special about the mix you’ve made?
It's about friendship. The mix includes some of our favorite recent tracks from artists around our scene. When one of us hears a song we like, we bring it to the table at band practice. This mix sums up what has inspired us over the past year. We feel lucky to have played with some of these artists and admire all of them!
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