“I’m a sucker for a dream. Total sucker. Donkey with a carrot. Baby with an iPhone” 1
The Big Moon by Calum Torbett from Issue Six, opposite Baby Strange by George Heaven from Issue Six
Issue 11 Autumn/Winter 2016 This special edition fondly looks back but excitedly looks forward. We
catch up with the bands that have defined So Young so far. Starting with Palma Violets, whose early gigs inspired us to put pen to paper. We
then revisit our interview with Fat White Family, the band who single
handedly gave independent guitar music the shot in the arm it needed
and have now left an inspired generation of young bands in their wake.
Parquet Courts have kept us on our toes during our three year existence alongside indie darlings Wolf Alice and Swim Deep. Within the pages of Issue 11 we catch up with conquerers of UK psychedelia, Temples,
as they ditch the kaleidoscope and draw influence from Disney films.
We stay heavenly as we chat to The Wytches and dissect their approach to the long awaited second record. Goat Girl are the new dark darlings of Rough Trade Records, So Young digs deep into their psyche as they
break out of South London and reach for the world…without thinking
too hard. If 70s inspired, child YouTube sensation, drop kicking, mullet bearing brothers from Long Island is what you’re after, we bring
you The Lemon Twigs. Following months of pestering, we take great
pleasure in being one of the first to chat to HMLTD, the most exciting
live band in the country right now. We myth bust their studio home and talk about their self-influenced mission to ignite a cultural movement. And maybe most exciting of all, you’ll find a page where we introduce
the future. Nine bands with various amounts of exposure to their name have grabbed our attention and they deserve yours too. We briefly
introduce Cabbage, Shame, Our Girl, Dead Pretties, Lice and more. Read
it, take them in and then go look them up and press play. That’s what So Young is for. Use us.
6 The Lemon Twigs
22 Wolf Alice
As Long As We’re Together
Isn’t That Enough
We Accept PV
Don’t Do It To Try and Make Money
What’s a HMLTD?
All Your Happy Life
Certainty
Scum
Hope For Music
Leccy Bills in the Recycling
Your Fave New Bands
No Expectations
7 Palma Violets
12 HMLTD
13 Temples
16 Fat White Family
19 Who Are You?
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26 Rough Trade Records
27 The Wytches
32 Goat Girl
36 Swim Deep
39 Parquet Courts
Swim Deep by Glen Clothier from Issue One
“Live, it is still just the 3 of us rocking out as hard as we possibly can.� Sunflower Bean by Daniel Brereton from Issue Nine, opposite The Amazing Snakeheads by Derek Ercolano from Issue Five
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Cabbage
Dead Pretties
“Cabbage are a transgressive mother loving project. For those with
“Oscar, Jacob and Ben from The Arch, Seven Sisters”
bad breath or who get the gut-wrenching dismal tremor at reading
the news, for those whose place is no more recognised in a rejected
generation or want to find another way of forgetting the sociopathic
Favourite band to play a show with?
world without having to force an orgasm. We are from an insignificant
“We’ve done some of our best ones with Monk, Fish and Shame, who are
Our music is a wonky purge, a tremendous release. The politics comes
LIFE
dead zone 8 miles out of Manchester city centre, a place called Mossley, where cheap lager reigns and fights and friendship go hand in hand. natural as does the humour. It’s beautifully reactive.”
FISH
“We’re four young people from North London making grunge drifting between post punk or something like that? Definitely a band making music in London.”
“It’s really important to be playing shows with people and music you
love. It would feel very lonely without it, also people gravitate to a sense of community so it’s a win win situation. It’s so important to build a fan
all really worth going to see if you’re getting bored with fairy liquid and milkshakes.”
“We’re four punks from Hull, workers who write about youth culture,
politics and sugar Gods. When we are not in the tank, myself and Stew
(drums) are project workers in a youth centre, Loz (bass) treats people on the shrink table and Mick (Guitar) fries his eyes in a call centre, he drew the short straw; making money for cunts whilst being exploited like a free shitter in a fun park.”
Our Girl
base in London. As a band you definitely want to have a good following
“We are Soph, Josh and Lauren. Before we started I was playing guitar in
LICE
played guitar together, and we were messing about with a song and he
in your home town, kind of sets you up to go out to the big bad world.”
“We’re students at Bristol University and we started the band to make jarring, discomforting music and regurgitate things that weren’t popular in their heyday.”
“Misconstrued as ‘Post-Punk’, LICE are a monument to four young men’s
various bands, but I also had a few songs written and really wanted to
find the right people to play them with. Josh and I met in Brighton and tried some bass on it, and has been playing bass since! Then we found
Lauren, we had one practice with her and she was perfect and awesome so we asked her to join that day.”
Savoy Motel
inability to create anything worthwhile. Instead they are a shallow
“We are from Nashville, TN. Well, we all grew up in towns outside of
men naked and humping their instruments on stage? If so, LICE are one
You’re a band that are exciting a lot of people, but what excites you?
copy of Frankenchrist, saved only by their singers competency and the alarming nature of their shows. Do you like to see intoxicated grown of many bands for you.”
“We are the crust on your nostrils, we are humans who make sounds that you could loosely describe as art.”
The Orielles
Nashville. But that’s where we all met and started the band. We play southern rock with a little funk mixed in.”
“Making people dance. Feeling the grooves and vibrations from people enjoying our music is one of the most exciting feelings we have as artists.”
Shame “We all met at a house party a while back where we shared a similar
How important is it to be socially aware as a band?
and start playing shows.”
“It’s definitely very important. Being socially unaware just exposes your
album! It’s a pretty big step for us but we’re excited to show everyone
You’re seeing audiences grow, Do you feel your message spreading?
passion for music and film and decided to have a jam together. It wasn’t until around a year later that we decided to take things more seriously “We’re currently in the process of writing and recording our debut the new material we have been writing.”
ignorance. If you claim to be “neutral” on pressing social issues that
seriously affect people’s lives then I’m afraid to say you’re are ignorant.”
“Our biggest message is Steen’s nipples, and yes, they have definitely grown.”
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Words by Sam Ford, illustration by Josh Whettingsteel
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“I ended up smashing my nose open on my guitar (during the song Blood Let - ironic)” Theo Verney by Dogboy from Issue Three
38
“from ‘Booze Britain’ to L.S. Lowry. I try to make it an array of subjects really.” 41
Eagulls by Elliot Kruszynski from Issue Ten
Artists Josh Whettingsteel Calum Torbett
George Heaven Glen Clothier
Spencer Pullen
Derek Ercolano
Daniel Brereton
Editors Sam Ford
Josh Whettingsteel
Writers
Rob Knaggs
Josh Whettingsteel James Endeacott Rhys Buchanan Georgie Jesson Sam Ford
Cerys Kenneally
Printed By Ex Why Zed
info@soyoungmagazine.com
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43
Oscar Mitchell Sac Magique
Grace Wilson Jean Jullien
Gabriel Alcala
Alex Gamsu Jenkins Tara Booth
Emma Crockatt Adam Higton
Maddy Mould REN
Dogboy
Alexander Medel
Elliot Kruszynski Russell Taysom David Biskup
Photos for Cover Collage Jono White
Charlotte Patmore Yi-Hsuan Li
Special Thanks Jack Reynolds
Matthew Sid-Ahmad Matthew Luke Cal McRae Tom Dyer
Campbell Baum
“Being surrounded by creativity is probably an instigator for our own.” Drowners by Russell Taysom from Issue Two, next Eagulls by David Biskup from Issue Four
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“When we think about doing records, we think about Beatles records.� 45
The Magic Gang by Jay Cover from Issue Nine