Couples have been labelled as a band to watch out for in the next decade, shown in their hit single ‘Rip Em Out’. They may still be relatively unknown but after they all graduate they will be unstoppable. We were lucky enough to have a quick chat with the band and find out what to expect from them in the new millennium.
Why ‘Couples’, how did the name come about?
When we first started we actually named ourselves after a good friend of ours from school, ‘Roya’, but a year or so down the line (when we were travelling together) we got an email from a woman from America saying that she’ll sue us over the name so we decided to change it. We flitted through a few names, and then settled on Couples when we came back from travelling. It was supposed to be ironic at the time because we went travelling with our partners that we’d had at school, and came back and all pretty much split up. We thought it was funny at the time, but it’s become part of the furniture now.
How would you describe your music to a new listener?
I guess we describe ourselves as post-punk, but we’re been described as everything from indie, to rock, to new wave and even ‘newer wave’. We try not to pigeon hole ourselves, as we think it can affect songwriting and could stop us from experimenting with our sound, which we are doing more and more.
What’s your favourite venue to play?
I don’t think we particularly have a ‘favourite venue’. We play the majority of our gigs in Camden, as there are some amazing grassroots music venues there, like the Dublin Castle and The Camden Assembly.
We always found it quite exciting playing outside of London. We’ve played the Black lion in Brighton for the alternative escape 2 years in a row now and that’s always a really amazing weekend, like a big family holiday.
We played the Casa De Musica in Portugal last year which was super exciting, but the stage was so big and quite overwhelming. We’re definitely more comfortable in small, sweaty venues right now.
Any chance you’ll be playing Southampton next year?
Never say never! After we graduate next year, we will be looking at going on tour again!
Top 5 musical influences?
Recently we’ve been influenced by bands like Slint and Swans, but we are also into 80’s new wave like The Cure, Joy Division and Sonic Youth.
What’s in the future?
We are looking at releasing a single in the next few months, then after that an EP later next year. We’re all still students as well, so our dissertations are looming over our heads at the moment, which definitely stunts progress. We have a few big gigs coming up, we’re playing the Zine UK’s Christmas Party at The Monarch in Camden, then we’re headlining The Social for the Modern Age Music’s ‘Ones to Watch 2020’. As for the New Millennium, we’ll be focussing on putting out our EP.
