From The Beatles to Brit pop, we talk with Catching Mangoes
PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF FOR US WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOU AND YOUR MUSIC AND TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
Hello, we are Catching Mangoes, a five-piece rock band from Brighton. We have been together for around 6/7 years, formerly being just a three-piece, however, we have recently got a second guitarist and keyboard player to help us play music off our upcoming album. We’re heavily inspired by 60’s and 70’s rock, bands like The Doors and the Beatles, and try integrate a more bluesy sound into modern rock music.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM OR SINGLE?
On the 21st of May we are releasing the title track of our upcoming album Kevin’s Town. The album is a concept album about a young boy named Kevin who lives in a mysterious town whose Mayor has banned all travel in and out of the town. Kevin is unsatisfied with the unchanging nature of everyday life there and has the growing suspicion that he is being lied to. He dreams of adventure and finding his father who is rumored to have escaped the town before he was born. The album follows Kevin’s journey to find his father and escape the town, meeting friends and foes along the way. The title track that is being released on the 21st of May, explores the first chapter of this adventure where Kevin’s decides to escape.
Musically the song has almost a 90’s brit pop vibe to start off with but quickly surges in to more exciting and adventurous territory as Kevin makes the decision to leave his town. I think this is most modern-sounding track on the album, it combines a range of styles from brit pop, Queens of the Stone Age and even Pink Floyd.
WHAT INSPIRED THE ALBUM OR SINGLE?
I think part of the inspiration came from recognizing that a lot of modern rock music lacks a depth that can be heard in past generations of music while simultaneously taking itself very seriously. If you listen to albums from the Beatles, I think what makes it so special is that they are usually being quite silly. There is often a kind of naïve simplicity in the lyrics, yet you still get the impression that the arrangement of the songs is very intentional. Their music does a unique dance between jovial silliness, that can make you smile and put you in a good mood, and intentional sincerity, which lets you know that you are listening to something that has depth beyond its pleasantness to the ear. I guess subconsciously this sort of attitude toward music is what inspired us to write something obviously silly and not take ourselves too seriously. But, within the silliness, we tried to really challenge ourselves as song writers, writing good songs that can stand alone from the boisterousness of the story.
CAN YOU SUM UP THE ALBUM IN A FEW WORDS?
The album is a concept album about a young boy named Kevin who lives in a mysterious town whose Mayor has banned all travel in and out of it. Kevin is unsatisfied with the unchanging nature of everyday life there and has the growing suspicion that he is being lied to. He dreams of adventure and finding his father who is rumored to have escaped the town before he was born. The album follows Kevin’s journey to find his father and escape the town, meeting friends and foes along the way. The title track that is being released on the 21st of May, explores the first chapter of this adventure where Kevin’s decides to escape.
WHAT RECORD CHANGED YOUR LIFE AND WHY?
I can only speak for myself, but a life changing album for me was Strange Tourist by Gareth Liddiard. Gareth is an Australian singer song writer and Strange Tourist is just him and his guitar, recorded in a room with a fire crackling in the background. It gives the album a very dark but natural sound and this, accompanied by the story telling of Gareth’s lyrics, lends itself to an emotionally powerful listen. It was the first time I experienced being emotionally moved by an album to the point where I became addicted to how it made me feel. It used to make (and still does) all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I listened to passion in Gareth’s voice, and it made me look up all the lyrics to the songs so I could work out exactly what was being said. That album changed the way I listen to music, I no longer wanted to listen to songs that just sound pleasant, I wanted to find music that made me feel something.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEO FILMED BY YOUR BAND OR ANOTHER ARTIST?
We recently shot a video for our upcoming single, “Bloom Orlando”, where one of the characters of album accidentally starts a cult. This will hopefully be released in June and was a lot of fun to film. We also filmed a very low budget video for our song 1963, which was good fun and can be watched on our YouTube channel. In terms of another band’s music video, “Sabotage” by the Beasty boys stands out.
WHAT WOULD WE FIND YOU DOING WHEN YOU'RE NOT MAKING MUSIC?
Well 4 out of the 5 of us are either in university or have just graduated and we all have various part time jobs in bars and restaurants as well, so that takes up a lot of our time. Aside from work, we are all keen gardeners and mushroom foragers.
DO YOU GET NERVOUS PERFORMING LIVE, IF SO HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT?
I think nerves usually depend on how large the gig is and how well prepared we feel we are for it. There’s been plenty of gigs where we’ve been a bit unprepared through having learned new songs and limited practice time, and this has added to my nerves. Luckily, the easiest way to calm the nerves is to have nice pint of lager.
HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?
Me and Dan went to school together. I played drums and heard he played guitar so I asked him whether he would be up for starting a band. He was up for it and eventually we expanded and got George involved to play bass.
HOW DO YOU WRITE? - DO YOU HAVE A KEY SONGWRITER, OR DO YOU ALL WORK TOGETHER?
It is usually quite an organic process. Some one will come to practice with an idea or have a demo type thing recorded on their phone and then we will try flesh the idea out as a band. Often the original idea will have completely changed by the time we are finished because you never know what’s actually going to work before you try play it all together. But for me that is the most exciting part about being in a band, seeing what can create as a team.
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Watching live studio sets on YouTube usually gets me excited. YouTube channels like KEXP are really good for that. There’s also a channel called “Beat-Club” that has loads of performances from the 70’s that were originally aired on German tv which has definitely inspired.
WHAT IS NEXT?
We have two more singles for our upcoming album to release, first one drops on the 21st of May and then other will be around a month after that. Then, once they’re released, we’ll be releasing our album around August time. We’ve also got a few gigs coming up, one in London on the 17th of July and another in Brighton 13th of August, and then in October we’re planning a UK tour.
PLEASE TELL US ANY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS SO WE CAN SHARE.
Website: https://www.catchingmangoes.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialmangoes/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialmangoes/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzLsRO3i-wSHfNjQtIvPRgg
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2McKGYjLuYuPwU2kCz1ksx