A CONVERSATION WITH…SCOUTING FOR GIRLS
With a 15th year anniversary tour coming up, Alex talks to Roy Stride of Scouting For Girls about their musical inspiration and the upcoming tour.
WHEN DID YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH MUSIC?
The first time? I was about twelve years old and I'd been away on a Scout holiday. Hence the name- Scouting for Girls. It was on a weekend away camping, and the only album we had to listen to was REM's Out of Time. I didn't actually like it when I first listened to it. It was just on all the time.
After I came back, it wasn't until much later somebody gave me a copy of that album, then I put that record on and it just reminded me entirely of that whole trip which I'd been on. It took me back to everything like the smell, the taste, you know how magic music is. That was the first time -- when I was like twelve years old, that magic of music hit me. That was the first time I ever discovered the power of me to make me feel something in a way I'd never felt before.
WHAT REALLY INSPIRES YOUR MUSIC AS A BAND OR AS AN INDIVIDUAL?
I think we've always loved entertaining an audience, whether that's live or through our music. Scouting for Girls is very much about having fun, having a party and escaping from everything else. I think there's definitely a softer, exposed underbelly there with some of our songs like ‘This Ain't A Love Song’.
People know when they come to a Scouting for Girls gig, it's going to be fun and it's going to be a really good time. It was amazing because it's our 15th anniversary this year. We went to the venue where we first started playing, which is in Harrow, and we signed our record on February 14th. So on February 14th this year we played that venue, which is like a 250 capacity. We did two nights there actually, and we're still really good friends with the owner because he used to put us on 16/17 years ago and he still runs the place. All we did when we were there was just put on a really good night for our friends and sing songs that they could sing along to as well. We had 'real' jobs that we hated doing, and so performing and singing along with our friends was an escape from the real world.
MUSIC REALLY IS AN ESCAPE FOR SO MANY PEOPLE, I’M GLAD YOU STAY TRUE TO YOUR ROOTS. IF SOMEONE HAS ONLY HEARD ‘SHE’S SO LOVELY’ FROM A SNIPPET ON TIKTOK, WHAT SONGS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND THEY LISTEN TO TO UNDERSTAND WHO SCOUTING FOR GIRLS REALLY IS?
‘She's So Lovely’ is definitely our biggest song and if you like that, then our first record is very much like that. It's just very light and fun indie pop music. So like '‘Elvis Ain't Dead’ and ‘Heartbeat’. You know, sometimes on Spotify's Top Ten, the most popular tracks, they kind of are our best ones. You don't really have to go very far generally.
When you come and see us, we will play all our popular songs. We're not one of those bands who are like, "Oh, we're saving that one for another tour". We're a very nostalgic band, like we kind of thought of ourselves as having this link to the past. And so I feel those first ten songs on Spotify are a really good place to start.
GOOD TO KNOW! YOU HAVE A TOUR COMING UP AT THE END OF THE YEAR, WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED FOR ABOUT IT AND WHAT CAN FANS EXPECT? WHAT’S IN STORE?
Well, there are a couple of things. First, because it is our 15th anniversary, we've gone back to that first album, which we didn't play a huge amount of over the last couple of years. It's coming up to Christmas, and we've always loved Christmas, so we've almost got a show in three parts.
So we've got the first album, then some of our other big songs, and then the encore. I got quite excited about it. Before I spoke to you, I was going through some set list ideas, and I think we're going to go quite Christmassy. Oh, my God, it's weird to talk about it in summer. We've always loved going on tour at Christmas because it's like everyone's just in a really fun mood.
What I love about our fan base is we have lots of people who keep coming back to see our shows, especially the Christmas ones. They'll go there, they go to the Christmas market in town, and then they go for drinks, all that fun stuff. I've met people and families who've done it for, God, nearly 15 years now. Yeah. It's a special thing, And we're actually writing a new record and we're recording that over the summer. So we might do some of that, some songs which from that first time we haven't played for years. So it's going to be quite different from the last couple of years.
I’LL HAVE TO TRY TO SCORE TICKETS! SINCE YOU’VE BEEN PERFORMING FOR 15 YEARS, HOW DO YOU INDIVIDUALLY, AND AS A BAND, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TO PREVENT/HEAL FROM CREATIVE BURNOUT?
I've never really had creative burnout because being on the road is quite an uncreative experience. I've always just been hungover, needing to sleep, and then the show comes and I'm buzzing for the show. So I've never really had creative burnout.
Usually, I find that when I come off the tour because I haven't written for two, three, four weeks, I've got loads of songs that build up. I find that creative burnout happens more when you have to do it every single day, especially with songwriting. Whereas I think, although I don't do a huge amount of creative stuff on the road, I find that coming off of it, suddenly I'm re-inspired.
Someone told me as a writer, you've got to take things in to put things out. On the road, I try and be a real tourist. I love just seeing stuff. Like, I like following the brown signs in the UK, with museums and tourist attractions. Then I write about it when I finish the tour.
I LOVE THAT SO MUCH! I CAN RELATE. I LIVE NEXT TO A CASTLE, SO I’M ALWAYS UP THERE.
We got like 600 castles in this country, and I just love history. So I wander around. I spend every day when I'm on tour, just seeing places and hanging out.
THAT’S THE WAY TO DO IT! YOU’VE GOT TO ENJOY THE CULTURE WHILE YOU CAN. SPEAKING OF HISTORY, WHEN AND WHY DID YOU GUYS BECOME A BAND? HOW DID IT ALL COME INTO PLACE?
So Pete, who's on the drums, I met him when I was five years old in the Cub Scouts. Then, Greg, I met when we were eleven on the first day of school, and we went to different schools with Pete. Pete, me, and Greg started playing in a band and we started playing the drums together at school.
We were about 13- it was really because we thought that probably the only chance ever we'd get a girlfriend was if we did something to do with music because we're so hopeless at sport or anything else. When brit pop happened, it was just everywhere. Being in a band was there. To me, it was like the absolute lottery-winning dream job of all jobs. We spent all our time and money going to see bands like Blur, Oasis, Suede, all those. I loved every single brit pop band, and so we formed a band when we were like 13/14. The moment we got kind of good enough, brit pop kind of ended, so we just carried on regardless for about another ten years unsigned.
When brit pop sort of came back round with the Arctic Monkeys and people start playing guitars again, we managed to score a record deal about 15 years after we first started. So it's our 15th anniversary, but actually, as a band, we've probably been playing for almost 30.