The Brighton-based outfit has deep roots which are firmly grounded in the sonorities of classic rock, and the required ambition to reach for the stars and experiment with sounds that go much further afield - beyond the boundaries of traditional indie and into something a little rougher and a lot more energetic. Add a penchant for relatable lyrics that don’t shy away from a very earnest exploration of feeling, and the ability to put on live sets which constantly strive for connection with the audience, and it becomes very hard to shed the impression that this band is going places - even though they themselves seem happy to keep wandering forward and be surprised by where they end up, which is a kind of exploration that can prove extremely valuable in a guitar band.
As we sat by the seaside in Brighton, we traced those wandering steps back together - from where they started, to where they’re at now, to where they think they are going.
MITB: Let’s start with the very beginning. Thinking of your music, who or what would you say is to blame for it all happening?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: The first core of the band met in school, then moved to Brighton and we kind of bonded over the same sort of artists, so we’d guess they’re the ones to blame. Arctic Monkeys, and The Kinks, and The Beatles. They created this mess.
MITB: So you’re not actually from Brighton - even though you’re usually considered a Brighton band.
Bighead Tea Drinkers: Yeah, it’s a common misconception. It’s easy to think we are because we’ve been here awhile now, but we’re kind from all over the place. But we do treat Brighton like a second home in a way, and it’s always good to play it. We love living by the sea, so it’s great. Our favourite Brighton venue is probably Green Door Store - we’ve played there a couple times and they’re always so nice, and it just sounds great. It’s good vibes as well, cool decorations.
MITB: What’s the real backstory, then? How did the band get together?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: The band originated with Marshall and Fred back in school. They played a few gigs at their hometown and then decided to come to Uni, and from there it was like fate. The rest of the band came together from being housemates and then a networking event.
MITB: You named a few bands you consider your influences, and there’s some classic rock in there, and then something more on the indie rock side. If you were to quickly describe your sound, where would it sit?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: It’s very raw. We just try and make anthems, really. We want to make songs that people connect with and relate to, similar to our influences. We just want to connect with the sort of young people around nowadays, to make a difference with our music, and we love just trying different things. It’s hard to put a direct genre label on the kind of music we make, because it continuously changes. At the moment it’s a whole landscape of different genres, and we are constantly influenced by new bands. We take a lot from old bands, because we like older music, but the new kind of indie rock or alternative rock acts coming out now, like Fontaines D.C. or Wunderhorse, that’s the music we think should be made. A lot of bands take influence from really old things, but we have all heard bands try to sound like Oasis for thirty years. We’re kind of sick of it. So we want to sound like a new band, and we are influenced by new bands.
MITB: Would you say the alternative music community plays a big part in it? Is there a lot of exchange going on with other bands?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: Definitely. It feels like there is a bit of an uprising with guitar music in the UK nowadays. Like the artists we just mentioned, and then even bands from overseas, like Been Stellar, there is some seriously great guitar-based music. And it feels like there wasn’t for a good twenty years. Or at least not real bands that broke into the mainstream, like Arctic Monkeys did. So it’s good, and it’s a promising scene, in the UK at least. We just want to add to that and then take it further. It definitely feels like something is happening after a period of stagnation. It grew a bit stale, guitar music. Now new bands are coming in and leading the way.
MITB: What is your process, with writing new music? Do you try to come out and test it live first?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: Yeah, that’s what we are doing with festival season. For instance, we are playing a brand new song that has not been played live before. You try it out at a festival and it could be a great decision or a very bad decision, but we like the song, so it’s always going to be interesting. We always keep the live part in mind when writing. We do quite often think, like, with this part people will react like this, and with this part people will react like that, it’s definitely something we consider. We don’t even have a title for our newest song yet. We just wrote ‘new one’ on the set list. If it gets a good reaction, we might give it a title - it might deserve one.
MITB: What is it about?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: We tend to write about quite personal things, so a lot of the lyrics are sort of about life. It’s kind of hard to find a title, sometimes, for a song that is about the last three months in your life.
MITB: Given your band name, I have to ask: do you drink tea? And if so, what is your favourite?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: We do drink tea! And we all have different favourites - Yorkshire, Tetley, Red Label. It feels like everyone just buys one brand of tea and then say that it’s their favourite. To go around and try all the different brands would be quite the mistake. It’s like supporting a football club - it’s a commitment. Or like starting following a band, once you’re in, you’re in.
MITB: What are your future plans? What’s coming next?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: We are playing the Isle of Wight Festival in June, which is very exciting. It’s the first festival we’ve had to travel to play, and it’s what we have always wanted to do as a band, play Summer festivals. We are writing at the moment, so we haven’t got any songs that are completely done, and we are going to start teasing them in a while. It could be three months away, it could be a year away. Who knows? You’re just going to have to stay tuned. You know, watch this space. Stay hopeful.
MITB: You’ve got to trust the process, as they say.
Bighead Tea Drinkers: For a long time, we just would write songs and then instantly release them, and not really think about it, think about whether it fit us as a band. Now this is a step we are really making forward when writing songs. Write lots of songs and then really continue with them if they are good enough, so we can have an actual songbook to pick from for a future EP. That’s what we are doing right now.
MITB: What would you say your live shows are like, for someone who’s never seen one?
Bighead Tea Drinkers: We always take a long time rehearsing songs, figuring out what the set list is going to be, what the transitions are going to be, how we are going to interact with the crowd. That’s something that’s a great strength for us. We try and make it feel like an experience, rather than, like - oh, here’s this song, here’s this song, here’s this song. We also don’t try too hard to make it look like we’re not having a good time, which is a thing we hate with bands. You can see we’re really having a good time when we are on stage, because we are. We’re quite unapologetic with the way we portray ourselves. People are a bit tired of that sort of rock’n’roll attitude of just doing the sullen and broody thing on stage. There’s no point, and it’s not us. So yes - expect a brutally honest live show.
Chiara Strazzulla
Images: Aoife Hyland
