RUBBERNECKING
When you hear Sykes, Warped Tour is certainly not the tour you think of. The trio from London have been turning heads of the festival goers all summer long, quickly becoming the surprise stand out act. Their latest EP Younger Mind came out on July 15th gaining lots of buzz. Don’t be the last to know about this band!
SYKES INTERVIEW
SONIC HIGHLARK: I just interviewed The Interrupters and they mentioned you guys are awesome bus-mates. How does the music selection on the bus work?
WILL BROWN (DRUMS // SYKES): We got an iPod that doesn’t go back. We put it in shuffle mode. And the rule is you can’t touch it.
SONIC: I interviewed another UK band earlier and they told me there is a one day Warped Tour that happens in the UK?
KRISTIAN TAYLOR (GUITAR // SYKES): Yes! We played it, but it’s like 2 days.
WILL: It’s in the Winter time.
KRISTIAN: Around November I think.
JULIA SYKES (VOCALS, KEYS // SYKES): It’s different obviously because it’s not the summer so the whole thing is indoor at Alexander Palace in London. We do it there for 2 days. It’s like a little pinch of what Warped Tour is and it’s not quite the “real” one. So this is amazing to come and actually feel the whole Warped Tour, yeah, the real thing.
SONIC: You guys obviously don’t have the typical Warped Tour sound, were you worried that the crowd won’t like you guys?
JULIA: Yeah, for sure.
SONIC: But everybody loves you turns out!
JULIA: I know! It’s been amazing. We knew this and we’re more from the pop-synth and guitars, that kind of region, so obviously when we started with the tour we kind of weren’t sure how it’ll go down. But the fans that come to Warped Tour are open minded for all types of music. It’s been great. If anything I think it’s been lovely poking out because fans appreciate that it’s quite different from the other bands.
SONIC: Yeah, awesome!
JULIA: It’s been good.
KRISTIAN: We’ve been picking up fans from them just walking by the stage. So it seems to be a good thing. It is a good thing.
SONIC: One of my writers got to catch your show. She said you guys were great.
JULIA: That’s great. Awesome!
SONIC: What are some music you guys listen to that people may not expect?
JULIA: I love Eminem.
SONIC: Yeah, that’s definitely something that people might not think you’re into.
JULIA: I liked Alanis Morisette.
SONIC: Who didn’t? Don’t be shy!
JULIA: That might be expected since that’s not too far from us but yeah, Eminem and I like Backstreet Boys when I was younger.
KRISTIAN: I still love the Backstreet Boys. I love Destiny’s Child and TLC.
SONIC: Anything like older? Or maybe heavier?
WILL: I think yeah, me and Kris (Kristian) certainly liked all the Warped Tour sort of bands growing up. We listened to Sum 41.
SONIC: It was crazy to see them on the roster this year.
WILL: Yeah, it’s mental. I used to wait for that “In Too Deep” video to come up on MTV.
KRISTIAN: The one with the pool?
WILL: Yeah, so it’s crazy to be on tour with them.
SONIC: You all live in the same area in London?
KRISTIAN: In London yeah. South London.
SONIC: South London. You guys watch Soccer?
SYKES: Of course!
SONIC: We might have to fight, but my team is Arsenal.
[Laughter]
WILL: Ohhh!
KRISTIAN: That’s North London. We’re Chelsea fans!
SONIC: Yup. That’s what I figured since you said South London.
WILL: We play football every night.
SONIC: Who was just telling me that? Young Guns?
WILL: Yeah. The English bands are the only ones that play football.
SONIC: You play too?
JULIA: I dabble.
SONIC: So now I’m going to let you guys ask me a question.
KRISTIAN: Oh nice! Okay.
JULIA: What’s your favorite band that you’ve interviewed?
WILL: Ever.
SONIC: Ever?
KRISTIAN: I mean, apart from us.
[laughter]
SONIC: The best interview just in general, I like the band a lot too, this band called Death Valley Girls. It was at SXSW we just ended up in their van and they were just funny. I don’t usually go in with interview questions prepared, we started with a somewhat traditional interview but then they were kind of just pulling the interview in whatever direction and I just kind of went with the flow. So I let them kind of lead it and it was really fun. This is my last one tonight but you guys and The Interrupters are the favorites on this tour.
JULIA: Oh. Stop it.
SONIC: No, I swear! I said that to them. I said they were my favorite and next is you guys!
[laughter]
JULIA: We’re going to tell them “We were Sonic’s favorite band.”
SONIC: What’s coming up for you guys after this tour?
JULIA: So we just released a single called “Younger Mind”, that was few weeks ago. We have our EP out so you can get it, it came out July 15th. Warped Tour is kind of revolving around this release and we’re supporting the release after we get off Warped, certainly back at home in London and yeah, stay put for maybe few shows.
SONIC: Awesome. Oh, real quick, what’s going on in London music wise? Is there a lot of cool stuff going on there?
JULIA: Yeah, always.
KRISTIAN: It’s a very diverse scene, it’s sort of like a family.
WILL: So it’s nice to be a part of it, it’s really inspiring especially when it comes to writing.
SONIC: What’s a dream venue you want to play at?
SYKES: Brixton Academy.
WILL: It’s pretty big but, one day.
KRISTIAN: Roundhouse. That’ll be amazing too.
SONIC: You guys will play there definitely! Awesome. Thank you so much!
WILL AND KRISTIAN: Thanks!
JULIA: Thanks for having us!
[+] SYKES
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