Arcadian are an upcoming Indie band bursting out of St Albans. With an ever-growing localised fan base, they are set to release their debut EP, ‘This Is Not Ultraviolet’ on the 30th of July. The band has a promising future considering they’re only 18-years-old and have already supported the likes of Indie-Idols Vitamin and Magic Gang. We arranged a chat with them to see what the fuss is all about.
Stephen McMahon: Talk us through the making of the EP and what the message is.
Arcadian: We started the EP as a few individual ideas that we could gig with. But we started to develop a similar theme amongst the songs. That theme being Britain. We talk about Britain and our perspective. It’s a huge place and every has a perspective, so the EP represents ours. ‘Lion’s heart’ is about the patriotism of Britain but it highlights how Britain isn’t a nationality. In our opinion its so multicultural, that’s what makes it great. Its this idea that everyone is welcome. This state of mind of being a British person and that we are all in this together. We remember seeing an England vs Scotland rugby game when were younger and the sense of chanting has been brought in the song. It’s so relevant to the Brexit but, politics aside, we wanted the song to be welcoming to all people and look at the good aspects of Britain.
Stephen McMahon: Give us an insight into the other two songs on the EP.
Arcadian: ‘Fashion statement’ is the main single and we describe it as indie-groove. That’s how we can describe it best, its quite rocky but with a groovy undertone with the baselines in the verses. ‘Fashion statement’ is about some of the people that we have met in Britain and gives an insight into the different personalities. ‘Subtlety’ is the groovier side to the genre and is an idea that our guitarist Greg came up with, with his love for The 1975. It was always going to be funky from the start, we all got the vibe of the lyrics with it being about a night out in St Albans. If you’ve ever been to St Albans on a night out. We basically wanted to make a song about Club Batchwood.
Stephen McMahon: You describe yourselves as Brit-Pop. Do you think you have what it takes to continue the legacy of the iconic genre?
Arcadian: Looking at a lot of new British bands, Brit-Pop has changed. In terms of Blur, we want to bring back a side of that music. I went to Glastonbury Festival when I was younger and they inspired me to make music. We want to make music that allows British people to relate to it and also give an insight to others about what Britain is about. Brit-Pop will be back in 10 years’ time but in a completely different way and that’s what we want to be a part of. The message is still the same but the concept of the music and the way it is delivered is now very different.
Stephen McMahon: You have an increasing popularity in your hometown of St Albans, but we understand that you want to increase your fan base. What gigs have you got coming up?
Arcadian: We want to keep it fairly local for now so our current fans can still see us. We have a string of dates from the 18th august to the 23rd august. There’s a few that we can’t announce yet but we wanted 6 days in a row! It’s a great new step for us as a new band.
Stephen McMahon: Where can people find our more on the gigs and possibly buy tickets?
Arcadian: Check us out on our website – Arcadian.Band. That has links to all our Spotify, Soundcloud, merchandise and social media accounts. Just search ‘Arcadian’ into Facebook and Twitter too.
Stephen McMahon: You’ve recently supported Vitamin and Magic Gang. What was like to support your idols?
Arcadian: It was a great warm-up really, enjoyed it. We wanted to see magic gang at reading festival, so to also be on the same stage and perform was a dream come true. What really showed was how much kit they had. They had so much equipment that we would love to have, but it just shows how invested they are in their music.
Stephen McMahon: Overall as a band, is there an action plan set in stone?
Arcadian: We laid out a plan in our heads but nothing down on paper. We all want to go to University but we want to keep playing music to build a fan base and then after University just give it everything and go for it and give it our all. We want to build a huge fan base before an album comes about.
This Is Not Ultraviolet
Stephen McMahon: Lastly, why should people check out your music?
Arcadian: People should listen to the album because it is different and allows people to listen to something interesting. To those in Britain, it will relate to people and will help us all to share a similar aspect of Britain. Also, If they aren’t from Britain it gives and insight into the place and highlights the best parts. Also hopefully good music. Some good indie-groove.
The Debut EP, ‘This Is Not Ultraviolet’ Is set to release on the 30th of July. With a follow up of live dates from the 18th of August until the 23rd of August.
