Larkins

Following the release of their latest single Something Beautiful, Manchester based band Larkins have been embracing their final weeks of 2018 travelling the UK as part of their headline tour, and one which has left many new fans especially hungry for more. Having heard the single myself as well as some of their other material, which is quite refreshing, edgy and offers such energy and fun, it is quite evident why given time that music fans will be adding Larkins to their playlists.

While on the road, we caught up with frontman Josh Noble to tell us more about the music and vision through the eyes of this fantastic band.

Couple of days into your UK tour, how is it going so far?

It has been really good, the shows have been pretty surreal, and it is crazy to know that some of the shows have even sold out. Hopefully this is truly the start for us and we cannot thank people enough for coming out and dancing with us.

Are you happy with the vibe you are already getting from the shows?

It has been unreal. People have danced, sang and given us everything. Someone even threw flowers on stage in Birmingham, that was definitely a first for us! Fans have really been engaging with the music and hopefully we have created an atmosphere that people can get behind and will on grow from here.

What have you enjoyed most about 2018 as a band?

The reaction to ‘Something Beautiful’ has been wicked and we have probably enjoyed touring more than ever before. The team around us now from Light and Noise Productions and those from Good Soldier who have joined us on tour have created such a family atmosphere that we are now all inseparable. We are having the time of our lives!

Congratulations on your latest single Something Beautiful. What was it about that track that really gave you those feelings of having butterflies in your stomach?

With this song we just wanted to push ourselves more and experiment. We tried to incorporate a kind of atmospheric feel to the melodies while keeping the rhythm really punchy and focused. The thing about making any music I guess though it you have the concept in your head, so trying to make it a reality which doesn’t always work. Its been the first time where we managed to get what was in our heads on to the record.

What was it like having Chris Zane and Mike Crossey on board as you were writing and producing the track?

Originally we recorded the track with the amazing guys at Sugar House and I think even from those foundations we knew that the track could be really fresh and different. Chris was someone we had always wanted to work with. His work with Friendly Fires has been an inspiration to us and some of the production elements he brought to this track in particular were like nothing we had heard before. Mike then took the track to another level and really got on board with what we were trying to achieve. He’s a wizard!

The four of you have been together since school, do you feel that it has become one of those special bonds where you don’t just share the same vision but also you regard each other as brothers from another mother?

The band is our family. We are with each other every day – and that includes when we are not on tour as well. Myself and our guitarist, Dom live together in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. I have known him since I was about 12 years old. We eventually met Henry and Joe when we took the band a little further and they made us what we are today. I think we all share a common goal of staying as far away from what many consider to be reality as possible. We’re living in this alternate universe we call Larkins and its something we are all striving to keep for as long as possible.

You will of course be playing a special home town show at the Manchester Albert Hall. How does it make it feel that you are playing in such an iconic venue?

It’s such an incredible venue with so much history, and in past we have been there to see some of our favourite bands. To have the chance to play such a iconic place is such a special and big moment for us. I was given the opportunity to go in recently while it was empty and it was such a special moment looking out from the stage. We cannot wait!!

The artwork for Something Beautiful is pretty damn cool. Where did the inspiration come from?

Well we did an acoustic show in Leeds and on the walls of the venue was this pretty cool artwork by a guy called Joel Galvin who goes by the name of Ventral is Golden. It sounds strange but I actually saw the artwork first before deciding what the song would become. He totally inspired us with his modern graphic/collage work and his stuff is so cool! I hope we can keep working together.

Speaking of art you also took a little trip to Ferens Art Gallery on your recent visit to Hull, what was that like?

Well see the thing is we had some time off during the day and it was bucketing it down outside so we went to the Art Gallery to look around. Once we got there on the spur of the moment we just thought be cool to do a show somewhere like Ferens, so we spoke to the Gallery Manager, who closed off a section for us so we could do a little acoustic set. The acoustics were beautiful!

Would it be fair to say that there is more than Larkins than meets the eye, especially at this exciting next chapter of your evolution?

I hope so. We are not a straight up indie-pop band and I really hope that come across whenever people come to any of our shows.

A pleasure to speak to Josh, and I hope the rest of the tour goes well. What would you like to say to the new fans out there who are about to join the Larkins family?

We absolutely live for this band and the music we create. We give everything and hopefully that’s enough for people. I guess just come and see for yourself and hopefully we can see you at a show soon x

If you haven’t already make sure to check out the latest single Something Beautiful and stay tuned to www.larkinsband.com for all the latest news. This is such a brilliant band, so as a fellow music fan I say to you; don’t miss out on your chance to be part of what is no doubt going to be such a beautiful evolution for one of Manchester’s exciting bands around.