Scouting For Girls Interview

POP trio Scouting For Girls, famous for their contagious pop tunes (She’s So Lovely, Elvis Isn’t Dead and Heartbeat) are back with their second album, ‘Everybody Wants To Be On TV’, out on 12th April. Their self-titled debut number one album sold a whopping 900,000 copies and in 2008 the band were nominated for three Brit Awards, (British Breakthrough Act, British Single, for Heartbeat, and British Live Act). After such a hugely successful year, Roy Stride (lead vocals, guitar and keyboard), Greg Churchouse (bass and backing vocals) and Pete Ellard (drums) spent most of 2009 in the studio working on new material and are now excited to be heading on a 22-date UK and Irish Spring tour, including Newcastle City Hall, 2nd May. Greg took some time out to speak with Murie about their forthcoming tour and album.

2008 was a pretty big year for you guys. What have you been up to since then?

Yeah, 2008 was absolutely mentally crazy, we finished our last tour in December 2008 and literally from January onwards we spent three months writing songs and demos and then spent the next three to four months in the studio. We were hiding away in Kent for most of 2009.

Was it hardwork or fun to be in the studio?

It was really nice to get back in the studio, after the first time we were in there we spent the next couple of years touring, so it was nice to get back and do something really creative.

Your new single ‘This Ain’t A Love Song’ is out. What’s the feedback been like so far?

It was released digitally on Sunday and has gone straight to number one on the iTunes download chart. The feedback has been absolutely awesome. Pete’s just got in the car next to me and reminded me that we’re going for the Easter number one this year.

Well fingers crossed. Your second album ‘Everybody Wants To Be On TV’, is out 12th April. How does it compare to your debut?

It’s a bit weird, we spent a lot of time working on our song writing and production, trying to craft an album that is bigger and better than the first. It’s got all those familiar elements like the big catchy pop tunes. We’ve written a few ballads, it’s a nice mix that we’re really proud of.

A lot of artists feel pressured when making their second album? Did you feel under pressure to make this album bigger than your debut?

We didn’t really kind of feel any pressure to rush the album. That’s probably why we spent such a long time making sure everything was perfect. We wanted to do justice to all the people who went out and bought the first album, by coming back with something bigger and better. We’re very proud of it and hope the public love it as much as we do.

What influences have you drawn on when making the album?

For the first album we’d had some of the songs for ten years, so we had a real idea what we wanted to do with them when we got in the studio. But this time round we just sat down with Andy and worked on the production, trying to advance the sound and make it bigger, we put strings in there and tried to make it a bit more epic.

Out of the new material, what’s your favourite track on the album?

‘This Ain’t A Love Song’. The first time we started playing this I felt, wow this song is amazing. We all thought it was a really strong song, so have released it as our first single. We thought we should come back with our A-game.

What artists to do you rate at the minute?

My personal favourite is Florence and The Machine, I think she is absolutely amazing.

Definitely, she’s brilliant, have you seen her live?

No I havent yet, I’m gutted. I’m hoping to see her at one of the festivals. It would be a lovely place to see her.

Are you playing any festivals?

Yeah we’re confirmed to V Festival and T in the Park and are just waiting for a few more to trickle in.

Cool, you’ll get to see Florence then.

Yeah, if we haven’t got to go anywhere, then we like to mingle and see what’s going on.

Are there any artists that you’d like to collabrate with?

I’ve just asked Pete and he says N-Dubz.

What about you Greg?

It’s a tricky one, there’s so many great artists out there. May be Kate Nash because she comes from the same town as us. I saw her new video for which is really cool.

Your heading out on a 22-date UK and Irish Spring tour. How are you feeling about that?

Yeah we’ll be back out on the road having fun soon. We cant wait, it’s been far too long since we were stuck on a smelly tour bus touring the country.

Is touring your favourite part of being in the band?

I think you get into a band to play live, so that’s always going to be your first love.

What should fans expect from the show?

It’s going to be a bigger and better show than last time. We’ve invested a lot of time and energy into it, trying to put the production together and we’ve got another guy who’s coming on stage with us, Matt, who’s going to play some keys with us. It’ll be a much bigger sound, it’s going to be a rocking time.

Out of all the places you’ve played so far, what’s been the most memorable?

We just enjoy playing full stop.We are very lucky to have amazing crowds. It’s a joy stepping out on stage. We like to play anywhere.

Is there anything unusual on the bands rider?

The only unusual thing is a coconut, (laughs). Pete always demands one.

Coconuts? What’s that all about?

I don’t know, he never eats them or does anything with them. We just end up with a tour bus with 40 coconuts in the back. I think we’re going to have to start some sort of coconut show next tour. The power just goes to his head, (laughs).

On your website you refer to fans as ‘Wolfcubs’, how did that come about?

Before we got signed we created a fan club where we gave fans a little membership card, badges and a free CD. Obviously when we got signed giving away the free CD had to stop as the label didn’t like the idea of that (laughs). We were all members of Dennis the Menace club when we were little, so we wanted to do something like that and try and give something back to fans.

Talking for gifts and fans. Have you ever had any crazy gifts from fans?

Nothing too crazy. People like to give us nice cup cakes. In Japan they like to give us little bags with pens and crazy little Japansee things. Our fans our too lovely to be crazy.

You’ve got a lot of television appearances coming up. Is there one particular show that’d like to appear on?

I really would have loved to get on Top of the Pops back in the day. I’m really hoping that we get to play one of the Christmas or New Year’s Eve ones. It’s the ultimate dream. It was a travesty the day they cancelled that show.

Is there anything you dislike about being in the band?

Absolutely nothing. This is possibly the greatest job a boy could ever do. It’s so much fun to hang out with your mates and do what you love. We’re very lucky boys.

What would you like to achieve this year?

Urm, we just want to go out and play the best live that we can. Just carrying on doing what we know we can do.