9+1 Q&A with Sarpa Salpa

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

The four of us (Marcus, George, Ethan & Charlie) formed the band after all of our individual projects ended around roughly the same time, we then recently became a five piece in September this year with Meg joining us on keys! Previously Marcus (Vocals & Guitar) & George (Guitar) shared synth duties live but bringing Meg into the mix has really allowed us to step up our live game and play the songs the way they were supposed to be.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

Our EP “Say Something” is a five track release featuring lead single “Say Something” a track written about disconnection in relationships whether that be romantically or with friends and family and how trying to please everyone at once can be difficult. The EP also includes live favourites “Lost Time” and “Paralysed”. These are tracks that we have been playing live for a while now and have become a staple of our live set, we felt it was finally time to unleash them into the wild. The last two tracks are our previously released single “Before It Goes Dark” and an acoustic version of our BBC Introducing Radio 1 Track of the Week “Casanova”.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

We take inspiration from a variety of sources but I think our biggest influences are definitely Tame Impala, Foals and Friendly Fires!

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I think we try to avoid repeating ourselves. In other words with every song we try to add something different and stray away from reusing the same old ideas. We draw a lot of inspiration from 80s music but try to add our own flare to that.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Desert Island Albums:
Get To Heaven – Everything Everything
Currents – Tame Impala
Friendly Fires – Friendly Fires

Desert Island Movies:
2001 A Space Odyssey
Hot Fuzz
The Dark Night

Desert Island Books:
Sapiens
The Life of Pie
How Not to Be A Boy

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

We love both! But I think definitely live – playing live is such an important think to us and whenever we’re writing music we’re always thinking about how it will be received in a performance environment. We always try to put so much energy in our performances and it’s great to see when a crowd replicates that.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

One time recently after a show we stopped at a service station because our drummer Charlie was dying for a waz. So, as we pulled into the station, he opened the door and basically fell out of the car and ran desperately through some randomers towards the toilet. Turns out that the randomers were actually the band Peace who we all love, not the way we envisioned meeting them but definitely won’t forget it haha.

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I think we try to add unique features to all of our tracks – as for the most unique I think that’s difficult to answer but we all definitely have favourites. For me “Say Something” is a personal favourite because I think it incorporates all the elements that we love as a band.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

In support of the release of our EP we’re heading out on tour from the end of January throughout February heading to the following:

24.01.20 – The Chameleon,                         Nottingham
25.01.20 – Icebreaker Festival,                   Southsea
31.01.20 – Green Door Store,                     Brighton
02.02.20 – The Portland Arms,                    Cambridge
07.02.20 – Jericho Tavern,                            Oxford
12.02.20 – Camden Assembly,                    London
21.02.20 – The Music Hall,                            Ramsgate
22.02.20 – Duke’s Head Ballroom,             King’s Lynn
28.02.20 – The Boileroom,                            Guildford
29.02.20 – Bootleg Social Club,                   Blackpool

After that we’re heading back into the studio to record some more new music that we’ll be putting out in the Summer!

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given so far as a band?

I think the best advice we’ve been given so far would be to be consistent. Try to put out music as much as you can but at the same time make sure that you are proud of it. It sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many bands we’ve met along the way who will release one track and expect that to be that – if we’ve learnt anything as a band it’s that patience is a virtue and you’ve got to keep pushing.

Photo credits: Bella Evans (Be Visual)

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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