0
Cabezudos, the local Liverpool band who has exploded onto the music scene quicker than you can say boo, will be a name you will be hearing a lot of around the indie music circuit within the next few months.
Following the massively successful launch of their EP, She Waits, I managed to grab the lads for a quick interview just as they finish their set at the Zanibar – 11.12.2015. (Jack Hughes (Vocals), Chris Bolton (Guitar), Harry Strachan (Drums) and Tom Maher (Bass)
I know you guys have only came together quite recently, tonight is your third gig together, right? How did this all come about?
Tom: Well Harry and Chris already had a band, then when they split, me and Chris just started jamming together. Jack got involved too, then the three of us started writing bits. Then we looked far and wide for a drummer…
Jack: I had to look through the dark parts of the internet to try and find the best drummer in Liverpool…
Chris: Yeah, he was probably on Pornhub for a bit too!
Tom: That’s when we got Harry (Strachan) down, next thing you know, we’re playing X&Y festival, which was our first gig.
The name and artwork for the EP is quite abstract and unusual. How did you land on the name and imagery?
Chris: Look at our heads, they’re all massive…
Jack: I think we originally said it taking the piss. Cabezudos is a Spanish festival where they all wear huge paper-mache heads. With the artwork, we wanted the image of a woman walking away, which fits the EP’s name ‘She Waits’.
Tom: It’s based on a painting, and we really liked the Parisian theme and it was actually Chris’ talented sister who drew it for us.
Harry: Yeah, she designed our logo and everything for us too.
So the whole creation process was kept very local and almost family orientated?
Tom: No, it’s definitely all been original ideas.
Jack: We really wanted to keep everything as close to home as possible, so we’ve been asking for favours from everyone, even for the launch.
Chris: Basically, if you can skip, we want you.
So how long did it take you to record the EP, start to finish?
Jack: Two days.
Chris: Well we had to add an extra day to finish off the last few overdubs so yeah, 2/3 days. I can imagine that to be tough to try and perfect everything in that short time?
Jack: Yeah Tom doesn’t help!
Harry: you’ve just got to power through it but we got it done.
Jack: Chris decided to go to work that night as well, so he got in at six in the morning and turned up without having any sleep. If anyone would even breathe on him he started snapping at them.
It’s amazing how professional the record sounds, it doesn’t sound like a typical EP.
Jack: To be honest, I don’t think the recordings do any justice to our live shows at all.
Did you take any inspiration from any other bands when you were recording the EP?
Chris: Well we’ve got our influences, mostly like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones…
Harry: Yeah, apparently we sound like everyone.
Jack: It can be frustrating though. We’ve had people saying we sound like Nirvana, and it’s just frustrating because none of us particularly like Nirvana and we’re really not trying to sound like that.
Tom: Yeah, and The Doors mixed together. What a patronizing sentence.
What’s your favourite song on the EP?
Tom: Foolish.
Harry: Yeah, Foolish.
Jack: To be honest, people have taken to the other ones a little bit easier, but the artistic influence in Foolish is unbelievable. That’s the one I’m proudest of, definitely.
Harry: The thing with Foolish, I think it’s one that grows on you. The first time you listen to it, it might seem a bit boring or a bit long…
Chris: So long!
Harry: But after a few listens, I think people really start to get it.
Jack: When Chris first showed it to us, it was like a ballad, bringing the ballads back, which we were all really into.
Do you have a favourite song to perform?
All: I’ve Never Seen.
Tom: Hands down, I’ve Never Seen is the best to play live, definitely.
What are the group dynamics like within the band?
Jack: We all contribute massively. Chris has went on this writing phase which has been absolutely unbelievable. He comes to the band with like, 16 new songs and we can take our pick. We all add our own thing in though, no one is as important as anyone else.
Chris: The thing is as well, we all lend a hand at different things. Like, I’ll go in with a few half written songs, and they’ll take it and turn it into a full song complete with the melody and everything.
Jack: Even Harry on the drums just comes up with rifts and wrote a song a few days ago… we just love working together and playing together.
Well it really radiates from your performance how close you all are and how much you’re enjoying doing what you’re doing. Last question, what’s next for Cabezudos?
Jack: We’ve got another gig in February…
Tom: to be honest, the skies the limit for us. We just want to see what can happen from here, after the launch has blown over.
Jack: We look at bands like Tame Impala who have had massive vitality and a cult following and… I don’t know, I guess we just want to be huge.
Tom: We just want to be playing arena’s one day.
Jack: Yeah, like even before, I was joking to Tom saying it won’t be long until we’ll be playing Glastonbury. It sounds like arrogance, but it’s not like that. I just think we’re quite self-assured and know what we want.
Well, thank you so much for taking the time for this impromptu interview. I am genuinely looking forward to the next time you’re playing and wish you all of the best luck for the future!