Who are you and how would you describe your band?
We're Ben Morgan, George Townend, Isaac Turner, James Kay & Sammy Robinson, AKA Treeboy & Arc. We're a Post-Punk band from Leeds in the North of England.
You have just released your new EP “Life Preserver”. What’s next in the pipeline?
We're in the middle of recording our debut album currently. We've actually been working on it for quite a while now, but when the pandemic hit everything was put on hold. We wrote and recorded 'Life Preserver' as a bit of a lockdown project and are now back to focusing on the record. We're finishing recording it in January 2022 with Matt Peel at The Nave Studios in Leeds so hopefully it'll be out in the world at some point later on in 2022.
What can we expect from your debut album?
Hmm, that's a tricky question to answer. So far, it feels a little darker and more Krautrock-y than our older stuff. There's also a bit more synth on the newer stuff. Not in a 80's lead synth way though, more just textural sounds and horrible glitch-y noises haha.
There are many amazing bands in the Leeds scene - sadly only a few are getting attention down South. What are your thoughts on how London-centred the industry is? How can the industry change to better support bands from around the UK?
I think it's a shame how London-focused the industry is. There are so many cities in the UK that have incredible music scenes but it often feels like the North get's less attention. I think it's important that bands stop thinking they have to move to London to succeed. We're pretty content just doing our thing here in Leeds and if that gets noticed by the wider industry then great, but we're not going to go chasing it. We like Leeds and feel it's a part of who we are and the music we write.
There’s been a post-punk revival surge in the past few years, with the press slapping the generic post-punk label on any bands consisting of 4 or 5 members. With exception of Dry Cleaning, there are barely any women. Where do you position yourself in the scene? Do you think it will change?
Yeh I think it's a funny one, the whole 'Post-Punk' tag. We say it, but only because we're not always sure what else to say. I don't know how 'Post-Punk' we are when you compare us to the actual Post-Punk scene of the 70s/80s, but this new wave of 'Post-Punk' bands doesn't really have it's own name currently. With regards to the lack of women in the scene, it's amazing to see someone like Dry Cleaning doing so well, because not only are they great, but hopefully it will inspire other women to go out and try to do the same thing. I think there's a lot of really amazing bands featuring female members who are making amazing music right now, Team Picture, Silverbacks, The Wants & Sweeping Promises (to name a few) are all on our joint playlist for album inspiration. In a way it feels hypocritical of us to comment on this with us being a group consisting of five men, but I think it's important for everyone to discuss these subjects, even if it makes some feel uncomfortable. It's probably only making people feel uncomfortable because they're too comfortable the rest of the time and have things easy. We always request for our headline shows the support acts are not all men, and generally hope that promoters are trying to do this regardless. Hopefully we can reach a point where line-ups for all events are genuinely equal, individual shows or bigger festivals.
Can you make us a playlist of songs that inspire your music or you as musicians?
