Get prepared to meet Carnival Club. This Northern quartet are ready to burst with their fresh, raspy rock ‘n’ roll. In their short time as a band, they’ve toured with Liam Fray (frontman of The Courteeners), been billed on festival line-ups, gained a legion of dedicated fans, and are just gearing up to release their second EP in March. We caught up with Kai ahead of their Bodega show which is taking place on 12th March.
Hey Carnival Club! Looking forward to having you here but for those who haven’t seen you before, what can they expect?
HEY! Yes, our live show is everything. We’ve worked hard on our songs but we have put a shift in into making the performance the best it can be. We’re no acrobats but we play good and loud.
You’re heading on a headline tour to celebrate the release of your new EP ‘Nomads & Crooks’, how excited are you to get it out there?
We’ve sat on that EP since September 2017, so we’re really ready to get it out there! These songs are really being put out for the people that have come to every single show of ours and love the first songs we wrote. So this is for them.
We hear this EP is a progression from the first, what can you tell us about the new tunes?
This new EP has two sets of recordings: tracks 2 – 5 were recorded at Radium studios with Kev Carrol (who we worked on the first EP with), that are all quite melodic but still have the feel of them being untouched and raw. Then the first track (Sin City) was recorded at Oscillate studios and produced by Joe Cross of The Courteeners. That’s our banger, we know everyone will get behind it, it’s one to dance round your room to. We can’t wait for you to hear it!
The Manchester scene seems to be buzzing at the minute, is there pressure to live up to the reputation that Manchester bands have?
To be completely honest, even though I’m from Manchester (Kai) it would be a lie to call us a Manc band because all the other guys are spread out over the north, and I can say the same about a lot of other bands here. You are right, the scene in Manchester is insane, but we are by no means feeling the pressure, because what’s in the past isn’t what’s on our minds. You do find a lot of wannabees and blatant copies of old Manchester bands, but I’d say there isn’t much comparison with us and the old boys. So I can put my mind at rest with that one.
At the end of the last year, you played shows with Liam Fray. How was it going on the road with such a legend?
That was the best thing that could have happened to us. At the time we were going through a rough patch, as a lot of problems were occurring day after day. When we got the call to do the shows we lost our minds. Everyone sacked everything they were doing, work and uni got pushed aside. We learned a lot on that tour, it made us the band we are today. To go from playing to a couple hundred in Manchester and not many elsewhere, to sold out 1-2,000 capacity venues was insane. Liam was a gentleman also and helped us along the whole way. We just can’t wait to do it again.
What’s your favourite part of being in the road?
The best part of being on the road is that you never know what you’re in for. You wouldn’t believe what can go on… It’s all DIY and everything can go wrong in an instant, but as long as we’re travelling, playing shows, and meeting new people all the time then what more can you want? I feel as though when you’re in the tour bus around the country, you’re in your own world and you forget about any problems on your mind. A ‘stressful stress release’ is probably the best way to put it.
2017 was a huge year for you with releasing your debut EP, selling out your third hometown show and getting on the bill for some big festivals too, what are you hoping for in the next 12 months?
After the EP comes out, we plan to release a new single in summer (which we’re working with Joe Cross on) and to write as much as possible. We have loads of ideas and we can’t wait to show them to you. This year for us, we’re going to try and play to as many people as humanly possible to build the name and get as big as we know we can.
Carnival Club are playing The Bodega on 12th March with special guests Soft Girls & Boys Club and Brown Lion Zoo – TICKETS