Today Hutch release their new single Ice on the Lake, taken from their forthcoming Smile & Wave EP, so we caught up with them at the Lord Nelson (just opposite The Radiator Centre) up to talk about the EP, the upcoming tour, and the buzz around Brighton bands at the moment.
Track One : The Bow
The bow was the first single from the EP, and came out last September. “It’s a song we had before we ever started gigging – there’s an early version of it up on Bandcamp – but we revisited it a couple of years later. We love long jams but we wanted to write some snappier songs. We started opening sets with it when we started doing tight 30 minute sets and playing gigs outside of Brighton – it’s got a lot of energy and in a room with people hanging out and chatting it’s a tune that can turn heads”
Track Two : Ice on the Lake
Was it a deliberate ploy to put Ice on the lake when it’s so cold out? “We’re so glad it worked out that way! The day that The Bow came out there was a Rainbow over Brighton that day, and you can’t write that kind of thing. So with this weather it’s perfect timing. Maybe when Marmalade Air gets released there’s going to be marmalade everywhere! We were actually supposed to release it last year but then we had some setbacks finishing the EP, and we wanted to release it in the wintertime.” It’s a track that has a few tempos – faster, then slower then faster again – “We had songs like Radiator Centre which also do a similar trick – this was a way of writing a long song that was a short song. I think it came off quite well”
Track Three : Marmalade Air
“This came together in a rehearsal session at Under The Bridge, and it was just an idea when we went in, and by the end of the rehearsal we came away with something we were pretty proud of. We played around a lot with recording it faster then slowing it down, so it feels like you’re stuck in a jar of marmalade.”
Track four : See It All
“This was originally written by Eva (Lunny – who’s now just a studio member of the band) so at the moment we won’t be able to play it live. We’re going to try and find a way to do it but we really wanted to put this one on the EP for her. Eva’s like our Spirit Guide. She came up with that song, and it seemed quite fitting at the end of the EP. It’s quite an emotional one.”
The EP was produced by Bobby Smiles, who’s an artist in his own right as well as a producer. “He’s amazing to work with – Some of us played in Tin Man so we worked with him on those recordings, and Charlie and Owen also play in Soft Top, and they worked with him too. He was on Our Family Dog a few years ago as well. He’s got around, but he’s also one of the nicest guys. He’s recording a lot of Brighton bands at the moment.” It feels like there’s a really strong Brighton Scene at the moment – you’ve mentioned bands you and Bobby Smiles are linked with, Flip Top Head are touring with Ideal Living, you go and see one band and the first three or four rows are full of members of other bands. It feels like the Brighton scene is the strongest it’s been in a long time. How does it feel from your perspective? “For us it feels like we’re just hanging out with mates. We’re really lucky, we started gigging just after lockdown and were ready to go once everything opened up again. We played gigs every three days for the first four months, but we weren’t the only ones – everyone had that energy and hunger to get out and about. You meet people and everyone becomes friends and then you’re all just doing it together. If they’re not playing in the bands, they’re working at the venues, at the bar or booking the shows. Also you play with loads of bands and everyone inspires each other, and that’s a beautiful thing. You go and see a band like Ideal living at Green Door before Christmas, and seeing those guys, you’re like Wow, there’s something really amazing going on. The competition is FIERCE! – We’ve been lucky enough to go and play elsewhere and meet a bunch of other bands that are local to those areas and there’s such great vibes, but then you come back to Brighton and there’s things like Mumfest and 234 – the standard of bands in Brighton is so high. We’ve got to try and be the best we can be. And everyone’s doing their own thing, it’s not like everyone’s overlapping, they’re supporting each other, it’s just wonderful. There’s always new bands cropping up as well. Van Zon are the new ones to watch. And Moon Idle (who supported Van Zon on the night we met up). We played at Mutations, and they played just before us. They’re a really cool band. One of those ones where you see a band and you say to yourself give this band a bit of time and they could be huge.”
The week after the EP comes out Hutch are heading out on tour. “We’re all just buzzed to get back out on the road. It’s the BEST thing. It’s so much fun. This is the longest tour we’ve done, with the most dates, and all headline shows. In September we went on tour with Gitkin and we went to Europe, we were playing every night – when we looked we thought we would be exhausted, but then the excitement after the first night, you get there and you have that post show buzz, Man, that’s so much fun. And you look at the tour dates and see that you’ve got that same feeling for another couple of weeks. And a headline tour will be even more exciting. And tours bring us closer together too – Although we spend pretty much all our time together anyway!”
And you’ve got Lewes Psych Fest at the end of January before the tour. “I’m so looking forward to it – it’s one of those line ups that you look at every year and want to check out all the bands because you know they’re going to be cool. Initially when we started playing we thought it would be so great if we could do that at some point”. You’ve worked with Chris Innerstrings (who organises LPF with Melting Vinyl) before – didn’t he do lights for you at 234 festival in 2022? “Yeah, He’s a lovely guy – he’s also doing lights at our show at the Green Door Store date on the tour. That’s the date that we’re most excited about – We’re heading out and slowly working our way back to Brighton. I think the Brighton one will be one to remember.”
Ice on the Lake is out today, the Smile & Wave EP is out 23rd of February, and the band head out on tour on 29th February, playing Brighton on 15th March
Firstly a shoutout to what I like to think of as the Old Guard. Fatboy Slim DJed at the Prince Albert when it felt like it was under threat from a planning application. The Go! Team proved they’re as sharp as ever with their album Get Up Sequences Part two, Electric Soft Parade surprised everyone with their release of Avenue Dot which nobody was expecting (and Thomas White also played his first solo gig in ten years), and Steve Mason dropped his fifth solo album Brothers & Sisters (which he showcased with a gig in Worthing last week).
There’s also a number of acts who have been in the music industry for a while but are releasing under new names. Electralane’s Verity Susman has teamed up with Wire’s Matthew Simms to form Memorials, whose double album Music for Film showed their skills to be far more expansive than either of their other bands work. It’s still not too late to catch them live this year – they’ll be 
Brighton has long welcomed people from outside it’s borders – those who claim that you’re not a proper Brightonian if you weren’t born here could do well to remember that Brighton was just a small fishing village with a population of less than 2,000 before the Prince Regent turned up and had the Pavilion built, so very few of these people can claim to have families dating back more than a couple of generations. Which leads me to possibly Brighton’s brightest star at the moment – CMAT has just played four nights in a row in Dublin, but kicked off her tour with a hometown gig at Chalk, with banter between songs about Lewes Road, and Penelope Isles Jack Wolter / Cubzoa on guitar. Now’s also a good time to give a shout out to ĠENN (originally from Malta), Ciel (Netherlands and Spain), and Wax Machine (Brazil via Italy) who are all making the place even more special.
At the completely opposite end of the music spectrum to Lambrini Girls, there’s a couple of ambient albums that have soothed my ears this year. Ironically, the first is from the sister of Lambrini Girls’ lead singer – Eva Lunny’s Sonics & Meditations, equal parts harp and electronica, came out in the spring on Bella Union’s Private Pressings imprint and is still on heavy rotation in these parts. There was also Guided by Horses by Sam Organ (sometimes seen as a third of Physics House Band), a lovely pastoral work inspired by the South Downs.
My current enthusiasm for the local music scene comes from by being at gigs recently and recognising so many people from other bands in the audience, seeing how they support each other – collaborating on each other’s releases, playing support slots, and just showing up to watch them play – all of which makes a big difference. Most recently, at last weekend’s Ideal Living gig at the Green Door Store I spotted members of Fliptop Head, The New Eves, Van Zon and Hutch in the crowd. There were probably more I didn’t spot too. All of these bands would be worth seeing independently, regardless of who they were friends with, but regularly spotting people supporting each other feels quite life affirming. I imagine most of them will be back 
I also wanted to give a shoutout to a bunch of other great bands I’ve loved this year ARXX and their album Ride or Die (who are have 
Last week Memorials, Brighton’s newest supergroup, made up of Verity Susman (from Electrelane) and Matthew Simms (from Wire, It Hugs Back, and Better Corners) released a double album called Music for Film. We caught up with them when they were on the road launching the album to ask them a few questions about the band and the record, and took along our camera to the show at their Prince Albert (with the photos underneath the interview below):
Brighton Music Blog 