Interview: Scouting For Girls
- Mar 06, 2009
There's no arguing that Scouting For Girls have had a fantastic year. Their steady stream of catchy upbeat pop songs have been a constant feature of the singles charts, their debut album went to number one and their gigs sold out - mostly to screaming girls. So yah-boo to the stuffy critics who have been beside themselves in snotty cynicism over the unashamedly joyful jangles pouring out of the ever-chipper threesome in a year that has otherwise been overshadowed with doom and economic gloom. So bring on the sunshine, and we know just the man - lovely Scouting strummer (and harmonizer) Greg Churchouse. I gave Greg a bell for a nice chat with great certainty that he would cheer me up with news of free downloads, new songs and a big long holidays. He's even happy they didn't win a Brit award coz it meant he won a £40 bet...
Bob Fear: You've got a new EP available to download for free from your website from 9 March called Keep On Walking. Hurrah! Behold the joy! You're giving your music away free!
Greg Churchouse: We used to give our music away for free before we got signed actually. When we first started we used to give away a free 2 track CD, a badge & membership card. So it's a step back to days gone past â“ we haven't changed that much!
The new single is to say thank you to our fans â“ and we'll be back soon. It's always nice to give a little something back to people who put the effort in to coming to see you and buy your records.
Keep On Walking is actually the first song that Roy wrote at the inception of Scouting For Girls. It was the first track we ever played and demoed - we always thought it was an absolute winner.
BF: The video is full of footage from your some of your sell out gigs last year, such as Isle Of Wight...
GC: We had Paul the cameraman join us on our tour bus for a while so he filmed us at a few gigs - Isle Of Wight, V Festival, Nottingham Arena... This video is the cheapest and my favourite one we've done!
BF: Do any of your live dates stand out as your favourite?
GC: It's hard to choose one particular gig - playing large arenas of 7,000 people is magic. I particularly enjoyed going back and playing towns we've played 3 or 4 times before. At first we were playing small venues and it's fantastic being able to go back again and play bigger and bigger venues each time.
The festivals were great as well. It's lovely playing in the sunshine - it's good to be able to hang out with people you never normally get to hang out with during the day.
BF: The Brits nominations rounded off a fantastically successful year for you where you had a number one album and a succession of hit singles â“ were you disappointed not to win, or - looking on the bright side of course- was it the taking part that counted?
GC: I made £40 from betting against us! I bet a few people in our immediate vicinity that we wouldn't win anything. We honestly didn't expect to. We're still the new boys and were up against some stiff competition. But I enjoyed it nonetheless ⓠparticularly as I'd been consuming lots of alcohol. Being 3 tables from the front was brilliant.
I thought Girls Aloud were awesome. Am I allowed to say that? The Tings Tings were also great but we got dragged out to do interviews so we missed Kings Of Leon and Coldplay.
BF: The stuffier British critics seem to enjoy giving you hard time. Is this coz you're an unfashionably happy band?
GC: I just find it funny. We make music for the heart not the head so we're just not cool enough for the critics. They have to make their money writing for their big newspapers or whatever so it's fair enough. We're an upbeat band and I think you need a bit of sunshine when the country's in a recession.
BF: Well, despite the critics, you have a very loyal following â“ lots of girls...
GC: Yeah â“ goddammit! Our success is totally down to our fans. We get some nice, genuine guys and gals coming to our gigs. From a live point of view we like to put on a party as opposed to a gig. You come along and you join in - you sing, dance, clap your hands and by the end of it you're knackered. The crowd have as much fun as we do on stage whether we're playing to 2 or 2,000 people.
BF: There are loads of new 'ones to watch' acts coming out right now. Who are you keeping your eye on?
GC: I'm the wrong one to ask! My music collection is full of 60s, 70s and 80s stuff. We've had some awesome support bands on our tours though, Attic Lights, The Days and Go:Audio â“ who are my personal favourites.
It's an exciting time for new bands - you can do so much from publishing your music on MySpace to burning your own CDs. Having said that it's a challenging time for the industry.
BF: Your support act from last year The Days are now signed to a major label and have just released their new single, do you feel like big brothers to them?
(watch our interview with The Days)
GC: I don't feel like that towards anyone! I don't consider ourselves veterans at all. When we started out we didn't have a clue and we still don't have clue now. We haven't changed! The best piece of advice I always give to people is not to take my advice.
BF: So what does 2009 hold for Scouring or Girls?
GC: Lots of recording. We're going to start work on the next album and we're back to Heliotrope in Kent where we recorded the first album. Playing live is always great but it's a different experience going in to the studio and indulging in the creative process â“ it's very exciting.
But right now I'm looking for somewhere to live! The lease is up on my flat so I've got to go to the estate agents in a minute.
We've got some time of at moment, so my days consist of getting up and giving my girlfriend a lift to the station, coming home, doing the washing up â“ it's a rock n roll lifestyle...
Hopefully we'll be back on the road around November time â“ depending on how the recording goes!
Cheers Greg â“ and good luck in finding somewhere to live... if there's anyone who can score some luck in this dodgy property matket right now it's someone from Scouting For Girls... we look forward to having you back at the end of the year...
- MySpace
- get your free download of Keep On Walking from www.scoutingforgirls.com from 9 March
