Stumbling upon the Struts on a Sunday Evening
“We’ll be fine handling fame. We’re already massive rock stars in our heads (…)”
When spirits aren’t high and reflexes are sluggish towards the end of the weekend, you come across ‘Could have been me’. You do not remember how and it really is of no importance.
Sounds like Freddie? Moves like Jagger and somehow feels like Bowie? Is it just me or is it really Luke Spiller, the frontman of The Struts? I listen to some more. Tunes are big, dense, raucous, glamorous but light as the air. This is rock ‘n’ roll. “I knew that Freddie wouldn’t abandon us just like that.” is the first thought that pops into my head, but soon enough I decide to do the band some justice and refrain from comparisons; I want to find out who they are.
The internet tells us that Spiller met guitarist/songwriter Adam Slack in 2009. The time was right and the two of them began writing together for nearly three years. By 2012 the band had dismissed a bassist and a drummer and recruited bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies resulting in the current line-up.
The Struts started playing throughout the UK. They formed a following and released their first single, ‘I Just Know’, in June 2012 with Future Records. After the company’s dissolution, the band were transferred to Virgin EMI and continued touring in France and the UK. In 2014, they opened for The Rolling Stones in Paris in front of an audience of 80.000 people and that very summer they did a 24-date tour including an appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. Their debut studio album, ‘Everybody Wants’, came out in July 2014, the same year when Mike Oldfield chose Spiller to sing on his album ‘Man on the Rocks’.
In 2015, the band signed to Interscope Records/ Polydor and relocated to Los Angeles. In August 2015 they released the EP ‘Have You Heard’, their first U.S. release, and began a tour of the States in September. This July the band will be going back home for a UK tour on which Spiller has stated: “I’m proud and excited to announce that myself and The Struts will be hitting the UK for three fantastic shows. See you all there; it’s going to be huge.”
The reviews they have been receiving are enthusiastic. They are known for their powerful live shows but this is not the end; Spiller’s amazing vocal range and versatility as well as his impressive stage performance have been extensively acknowledged. To top it all, he has been repeatedly described as “the musical love child of Freddie Mercury and Mick Jagger”. So it turns out it wasn’t just me. Yay! All that said, bring it on, Monday! Rock ‘n’ roll is alive and kicking.
Now do yourself a favour and watch the video of their biggest hit, ‘Could have been me’, and a stripped back acoustic version ‘Kiss This’ that they have just released.
Related Links:
https://www.facebook.com/thestruts/?fref=ts
http://thestruts.rtouring.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheStrutsVEVO
https://www.youtube.com/user/strutsofficial
https://www.instagram.com/thestruts/
Debbie Maliotaki