After the trio met at the intersection of Sheffield and Devon, they have become known for their blend of pop, blues and rock elements into songs that are both technically impressive, and profoundly emotional. It would be a mistake to assume from their choice of band name that their sound is purely derivative of The Velvet Underground.
Whilst echoes can certainly be heard in their music, it is on the contrary a smooth contamination of influences. The influences are drawn from the most disparate corners of a lively and interconnected scene of which Pale Blue Eyes, very much a touring band, are both an integral part and a propelling force. We have met with them at the 2025 edition of Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival, to which they were returning for the third time, to discuss their whole trajectory as a band, from their origins and motivations, to what lies in wait for the future.
It’s nice to see you back at Sŵn Festival! How was it the other years?
We actually came here for the first time, it must have been like five or six years ago, and saw Dry Cleaning. We had an amazing time, but we came just as punters. And then we filled in for a band that had dropped out at the last minute, so we did that. Then we played again another time, so we have been here three times. It’s our hat trick. The first time we came here, we’d had quite a bit to drink and we were staying at an AirBnB, and we got the door number wrong, and we were trying to break into someone’s house. We were quite far into a building that turned out not to be the right building. It was weird, but that’s that.
We are now pretty much at the tail end of the festival season. How was it for you this year?
We haven’t really done any festivals this year. We’ve just come back a few days ago from a tour that we did in Europe, which has been absolutely amazing. We liked playing Tivoli, in the Netherlands. And there was a Scandinavian ferry where they did karaoke, like an overnight ferry from Helsinki to Stockholm, where this amazing Viking-looking guy was just picking people to dance with. Lucy was like, I don’t want to do this, don’t you dare, don’t you dare come over to me, and lo and behold, he came over. And she got into it, she did the whole dance. So we’re ready for Strictly.
Other than that, what other venues do you particularly love playing?
Baggen, in Copenhagen, the whole experience of that venue is absolutely incredible. Then in the UK, there are so many amazing venues. We love the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge. The Barrel House in Totnes, where we all met, is kind of legendary to us. It’s just the centre point of the community, we all played there in different bands as kids growing up. Just going back there to play is pretty special as well. And you can feel the floor flex. The owners say it is a sprung dance floor, but it’s probably just about to collapse. There is a gold leaf ceiling, too. Stunning. Lots of childhood memories there.
Obviously your band name is a direct reference to the song. How did you land on that?
When we were coming up with band names, Matt just put that forward, because obviously it’s such a beautiful song, and the way in which the words just sit next to each other is really beautiful and poetic. We didn’t argue about it, it’s just a really nice way to describe our music. But also, from Matt’s point of view, it was a song that meant a lot, because it was always played on a Sunday. The first thing he’d hear on a Sunday morning would be his dad playing that tune, it just wafted around the house with other interesting smells, and so it is just a reminder of a nice childhood.
Are there any new projects you’re thinking about? What’s coming next?
We’ve got some plans. So we’ve got an archive volume, all the tracks that didn’t fit on the first three records, during the Glastonbury weekend we got them all together and finished them all up. That’s going to come out in November, as an accompaniment to the end of those three first records. And then we’ll just be playing shows and thinking about the next record. We’ve got a few little sketches of ideas. There’s a few collaborations that we have in mind too, there’s a plan to collaborate, hopefully, with another band, but that might take five to ten years. So let’s leave the mystery.
We always like to ask: who or what is to blame for your music?
For Emma and Matt, we both had really inspiring music teachers. It may be kind of an obvious one because they’re music teachers, but they really were an inspiration to start with music. And then Matt’s parents were really supportive and creative people, so they gave us a lot of time. Then for Aubrey it’s probably the rest of the band who’s to blame, because he was just there taking pictures, and he got pulled in, and from there it’s got more and more extreme as the years went on.
Chiara Strazzulla
Images: Lucy Craig
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