The Sunset Beach Hut is an up and coming band from Shropshire. They have an amazing indie-pop sound, so we caught up with them to see what they are up to.
Tell us about what it was like when you first started writing?
Ben and Matty wrote the first ever (unreleased) The Sunset Beach Hut song for Ben’s GCSE music piece. We both fancied writing a real Indie Pop tune, as we both are into that style but previously had only written Pop Punk. We were amazed how it came out when we were only using a 2006 MacBook with old Garage band and a £30 USB microphone and so decided to start a band!
Even when Aphra joined it all came weirdly easy. We are all really good friends who all enjoy writing music. The process is always good fun, so the songs tend to just fall into place. We do so much writing though and so sadly very few actually make the cut.
What’s the music scene like in Shrewsbury at the moment? Any band recommendations?
There isn’t a lot in Shrewsbury as live music goes which is why we gig mostly in Birmingham. There are a few places in Shrewsbury that do have live music including Albert Shed and Dough and Oil. We have played Albert Shed a few times and it is always a great laugh but we so far haven’t played Dough and Oil… Hopefully soon though.
As for bands, Echo Beach! are a band from Shrewsbury making huge waves in the Birmingham music scene right now. They’re good friends of ours through gigging and are well worth a listen.
Tell us about your recent performances?
We recently supported Stereo Honey, at the Sunflower Lounge. It was a great Gig with lots of energy and a great crowd. Over the last few months, we have also supported Grafton Ash at the Actress and Bishop, and SPINN. Over the Summer we were also on the line up for Rivfest and Indie Tracks, it was really fun playing a few festivals over the summer and playing outside of Birmingham was a welcome change.
Who influences you musically?
There are so many bands we share a love for, such as Bad Sounds, COIN and Bombay Bicycle Club so these are our strongest influences. Even though we all share a reasonably similar music taste we also have some bands that we individually draw inspiration from such as Tash Saltana and Slender Bodies for Ben, The Japanese House and lovelytheband for Matty and The 1975, Foster The People, Arcade Fire, old 90s tunes and folk artists like Laura Marling and Villagers for Aphra.
Describe your songwriting process?
Matty and Ben meet up and jam all the time and so we start a lot of songs then. We just start off playing around and then eventually start to form a song. We then either send Aphra an audio file or wait and show it her the next time we see her and it just forms from there. We then take it into our practice space to piece it all together and come out with a new track.
Although you are in a band, do you still have to work day jobs in-between live shows?
Yes all three of us are busy people outside the band. Matty works as an Aeronautical Engineer, Ben works in a Bar in Shrewsbury and Aphra is at Coventry University studying economics and works part-time behind a hotel bar. We all live pretty hectic lives but always manage to make time for writing music and gigging.
How would you like people to respond to your music? Do you wish to connect emotionally with the audience or is it just about having a party?
Our priority will always be that our audience has a good time, whether that’s an emotional release or an escape from daily lives. Like all bands we do and will have songs that are kind of emotional and we want the audience to have that connection, however we also want our shows to be kind of a release for us as a band and for our audience, which is why we like to keep the energy high. So a bit of both really.
Do you ever see your sound changing from the type of genre you write?
For sure, being in a band is like a journey, we don’t limit ourselves at all when we write and create music, so we chop and change style all the time during the writing process. As we grow as a band and gain more experience, who knows where we will go.
