ENRG Music met lovelytheband ahead of their show at the O2 Academy in Glasgow last night.
The LA 3-piece are visiting the UK for the first time, supporting 5 Seconds of Summer on their ‘Meet You There’ tour.
We caught up with Mitchy, Jordan and Sam on their tour bus to discuss Buckfast, touring and their debut album.
This is your first time in the UK, is there anywhere you are really looking forward to going?
Sam: This whole thing! The whole of the UK… and we’re going to Europe.
Jordan: We’re going everywhere- we’re heading to 7 or 8 countries in Europe, which is pretty crazy. We’re so hyped!
How has your reception been here in Glasgow? Is everyone being nice?
Mitchy: Yeah, definitely!
Sam: We kept getting your version of Jäger bombs…
Bucky Bombs?
Sam: Yeah! I definitely took one without knowing what it was. I thought it was good!
Jordan: It wasn’t bad, it just hit me out of nowhere.
Sam: I had 6 of them, and that’s the last thing I remember.
Have you tried anything else Scottish?
Sam: I want to try some Scotch, I actually only learnt yesterday that Scotch Whisky is Scottish.
Mitchy: Yeah Scotch is Scottish and Bourbon is from the states.
Sam: I also tried Guinness, seen as this is the closest we will get to Ireland, and it tastes so much better here than at home.
Let’s talk music. You released your debut album finding it hard to smile in August. How does it feel?
Mitchy: It took 2 and a half years to make, putting it all together and shipping it out to the world. It’s been good though, pretty fun watching it grow. It got us over here – so that’s pretty cool.
How did you guys find each other and decide this could work?
Jordan: I don’t know if we decided this would work, I think we all just hoped! I met Mitchy through some mutual friends and we went out one night and had a very blurry evening. He asked me if I wanted to be in a band because he had a bunch of songs he’d written. He showed them to me and I was all in, because I loved the music and he’s an amazing dude. Then we needed a drummer a couple of months later so Mitchy slid into Sam’s DMs on Instagram.
Sam: Literally.
Jordan: Yeah, bought him some Chinese food… and now we’re here!
How would you describe the music you make?
Mitchy: That’s hard. I’ll leave that for everyone else to decide.
Jordan: We like to say we’re cinematic, emotional.
Sam: When people ask us in airports, we usually say we’re death metal.
We want each of you to choose your favourite song on the album.
Sam: Ooh that’s like picking your favourite child.
Mitchy: There is always a favourite though.
Sam: Yeah I’m my parents favourite… My favourite on the album, I really like the last track, everything I could never say… to you.
Mitchy: I like your whatever or maybe, i’m afraid.
Jordan: I love walk from here.
You all picked different songs, that’s interesting…
Sam: But of course collectively we all love broken!
What made you decide to release broken first?
Mitchy: It just made the most sense in the batch of songs we had. It’s a song that is all encompassing of what the band is.
How are you finding supporting 5SOS?
Mitchy: It’s good, the show was nuts last night.
Jordan: Yeah it was pretty wild.
Mitchy: We’re ready for night 2!
Did you get the typical Glasgow “Here we f****** go” chant?
Mitchy: That’s what that was!
Sam: What’s it from?!
Jordan: When I woke up I tweeted it because I remembered it. Is it just for when the crowd’s really hyped?
Sam: I didn’t know whether it was a sign that they liked us!
Jordan: They started chanting and we all looked at each other like “What are they saying?!”
Sam: Yeah, then Mitchy goes “Alright, y’all are awake now! Here we go!”
What are your plans after this tour?
Jordan: After tour we have 6 days off then we hop on another run of shows in the US before Christmas. I think after this one we’re gonna sleep for a couple days and block each other on our phones… and then I’ll go knock on their doors because I’ll miss them.
Is playing shows the best part of your job? It must be a good feeling to finally have the album out and be able to tour it?
Sam: We’re still new so all of this for me, this whole experience, is my favourite. I love playing shows, I love travelling, I love being in this bus, so there’s so many news things!
Jordan: You put out the music and you read some reactions online, but when you’re playing to people you see a tangible reaction on somebody’s face. You get a chant and you’re like got it, you like it, that’s cool.
lovelytheband are a sensational live band. Their anthemic, atmosphere dominating songs took over the O2 Academy in Glasgow.
The band are fairly young, they only formed in 2016, but their sound is so consistent, coherent and accomplished.
coachella was a particularly cool moment, as the ethereal bridge washed over the crowd. We could easily have been dancing in the desert!
Mitchy asked the crowd if they were hearing lovelytheband for the first time. He proceeded to say, “This is like a first date for all of us tonight. I don’t know about you, but I like to do karaoke on first dates.” This led to an impressive cover of The Killers’ Mr Brightside, which really got the crowd warmed up and excited.
The crowd were in the zone by the time they played these are my friends, the epic repetition of “These are my friends. These are my friends. I love them. I love them” echoing throughout the venue.
lovelytheband ended their set with their biggest hit, broken. Mitchy told the crowd “It’s okay not to be okay. If you’re having a bad day, this song is for you.” and the crowd screamed back in support of this message. broken is catchy and littered with complex lyrics, a perfect indication of what lovelytheband are capable of.
I was left longing for a full set, as their debut album finding it hard to smile is full of hidden gems. They have a talent for creating an atmosphere through their music; each song transports you to somewhere different so clearly through their honest, clever lyrics.
The band’s set on the Meet You There tour, is an exciting and promising introduction to them as a band, which will leave you wanting more.
By Luka Kenyon