Frontman Connor Spray answers our questions about the band's recent release as well as their appearance at this Sunday's fundraiser for homelessness charity Framework...
How did the band got together?
We started as a band in Jan 2015, forming from my solo act as a acoustic singer/songwriter. My brother Tyler Spray is on drums, Blaine Monk on Bass and Sam Walker on lead guitar.
How are you feeling about playing Beat The Streets this weekend?
Buzzing for it. It’s gonna be bit similar to Dot to Dot fest I think, but obviously just Notts acts instead of outsiders as well, so I think it’s gonna be a banger. Its crazy value for money at only a fiver for a ticket and you've got bands like Sleaford Mods and Kagoule playing Rock City. Plus us of course...
What can we expect from your set at the festival?
This is our first show of 2018 and we have a new set for a new year. We are sat on a massive pile of tunes that are ready to go, so we are gonna be dropping these new tunes in our sets from now onwards and start drip feeding the good people brand new bangers each gig we play over the next few months.
Is there anyone else on the line-up you are looking forward to checking out or can recommend to us?
Yeah the ‘Mods and Kagoule, Slumb Party and if you want an absolute experience you'll never forget then there's this red hot band called The Ruffs...
I have seen you compared to Jake Bugg, but how do you think that you sound?
Yeah, I don't really know where that has come from to be honest. Maybe being a one man solo acoustic act a few years back might of made people think that way, strangely... But we are about as country as we are Latvian, so I don't think the comparison could be made these days. Our sound is all based around that live experience: loud, real, meaningful, energy on another level...We are filling that void that’s been there for some time now of a band that you can either stand there and take in the awesome wall of sound or the lyrics on their own and get lost in it.
What have been your favourite shows to play in Nottingham?
Rock City main stage in 2016 was madness! When you get a taste of playing a big boy stage and venue like that you see people taking you a lot more seriously and you get to see where the geezers in these top bands party and have it out. We will be looking to get back there this year hopefully.
Can you tell me about about your most recent EP?
Our most recent EP is actually our debut EP, New Obsessions, which was released last October. It’s gone down really well, it’s getting eaten up on Spotify. It’s a record of four tracks with two of our biggest tunes on there, Alligator and MST. It’s had an exclusive BBC Introducing feature as well as dozens of features and picks of the week from source's such as Gigslutz, Northern Exposure and This Feeling. We are working on our next EP at the minute and I can't wait till our next release ‘cos everything really moves forward progression wise when your releasing new material.
How can we check out your music?
You wanna be getting Spotify up on your phones right now and following us on there. We've got all other platforms and our music can be found on all the other major online sources. I run our Twitter account which I keep nice and active daily, so come follow us on there and say hello. Our YouTube has got some decent stuff on it as well, with some solo stuff on there as well that is bit different to the band stuff, which people might find interesting.
What are your plans for the rest of 2018?
Grow grow grow! We are booked to record now every month until April, so we are gonna be releasing tons of new material over the next six months and just gigging the life out of it. We will play anywhere anytime to anyone, it’s just what we love doing. You gotta keep a look out and catch us at some point this year, ‘cos next year could be a whole different story....
Any final words for the LeftLion readers?
Yeah, cheers for reading this hope ya enjoyed and you know who we are now. Get down to Beat The Streets this Sunday, we are playing at Rough Trade at 7:45. If you miss us there then we are playing a BIG show at The Chameleon on 15th March...
New Obsessions by The Ruffs is out now. The band appear at Beat The Streets on Sunday 28 January 2018.
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