Q&A: The Zangwills

Despite the long shadow of the Arctic Monkeys, the UK does not stop producing bands that immediately make us fall in love. For example The Zangwills, an indie-rock four-piece band coming from Northwich, not far from Liverpool and Manchester that at a very young age has gained a reputation for their strong live sets and distinctive sound instantly recognizable. Formed by Jake Vickers (vocals, guitar and keyboards), Ed Dowling (bass), Sam Davies (guitar) and Adam Spence (drums), they released their debut single 'New Heights' in December 2017 and have released music steadily up until now. Coinciding with the release of their latest single ‘Could I’, the group have had a few moments to answer some questions.

To be honest, I thought about starting this questionnaire with something like ‘Hello, are you OK?’ (opening line of their recently released new single ‘Could I’) but I decided not to embarrass myself with a question like that and instead I will ask you about the coronavirus (yay!). Covid-19 has paralyzed the live music industry but how have you dealt with it and what plans got cancelled because of it?

The Zangwills: “Hey, not an embarrassing question at all, we are advocating that everyone asks it as often as they can in these weird times.”

“Pretty much everything was cancelled from March onwards. We were due in the studio the week after the first lockdown started to record Could I and our next release Call which is out in December and, in the end, it was July before we could reschedule. Obviously, all the live and festival dates we had booked for the year couldn’t go ahead. However, we were incredibly lucky to have played a Manchester Academy headline date on 8th February which sold out. We then travelled to the south coast to play The Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth on 27th February so we feel we went out on a high and are pleased that we managed to get those dates squeezed into 2020 before Covid-19 took hold.”

At this point no one knows what’s gonna happen and when things will change. In your opinion, when we wake up from this nightmare what scenario are we going to find? Do you think the music industry is going to change in some way, or everything will go back to the way it was before?

The Zangwills: “It's really hard to predict this one, there’s so much uncertainty and we think the industry will make a slow, cautious return. There’s also the factor of getting the confidence back among audiences, even once gigs return, it may take a while longer before people feel secure enough for a crowded mosh to make a comeback but we reckon it will. When we look back at the footage from Academy, Jake was up on the barriers face to face with the crowd all singing into each other's faces, it seems unimaginable now but we’ll get back there one day.”

Having a name that no one knows what it means it's actually smart because it appears first on every search or it's a pain in the ass because everyone asks about its meaning?

The Zangwills: “The name came about when Jake’s sister lived in London close to a road with that name, he wasn’t even in a band but just liked the way it looked and sounded so he stored it away for the future. Years later, when the band got together, he had it ready, as you say, it’s really unusual and great for searches but we weren’t thinking about that at the time, it was just part of Jake’s vision that we all thought was great and were happy to adopt.”

You say that each member brings very different influences to the band, which are your musical backgrounds and how do you combine them when making music?

The Zangwills: “We always, always have a lot of debate over this question as we each have very different influences – the ones we can agree on are – The Cure, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths and Pearl Jam.”

“We all like rock and indie but, beyond that, our individual influences vary massively. Adam likes heavy stuff and is a big Metallica fan, he’s also into rap. Ed has funkier tastes and also likes folk. Sam loves everything indie. Jake loves 80’s sounds, along with artists like Bob Dylan. We definitely see those contrasts coming out as we develop our songs but when the likes of Metallica, Bob Dylan, Foals, The Clash, Sister Sledge, Band of Horses, Nile Rogers and The Cure collide in a mix of ideas, we hope it leads to us having our own distinctive sound. Could I was originally written as a summery acoustic song but then, after we’d played it through a few times as a full band, it quickly settled into being grittier and we believe the final version is as it was always meant to be - a scruffy serenade.”

The Zangwills. Photo by Trust A Fox Photography

Just a few days ago, on October 23rd you released the single ‘Could I’. How is it to release music that you can’t play live? Specially for you, a band that has gained a reputation thanks to your strong live sets.

The Zangwills: “Honestly, it’s tough. We really love playing live and have a fantastic crowd of followers who’ve backed us up with their support, they’re like our wider family and will happily travel to see us. We had one group fly in from France to see our show in Edinburgh last year and that blew our minds a bit.”

“We were able to play Could I for the first time live at the Manchester gig in February so we knew it had gone down well but we would usually be doing some live shows to coincide with the release so we’re a bit sad about that.“

With the streaming platforms and YouTube, it seems like the way people consume music has changed. In your opinion how important is it today to release an EP vs releasing every now and then singles?

The Zangwills: “Interesting question - there’s no doubt that the way people consume music has changed and is still evolving, we think the jury’s out on this one. We’ve released two EP’s and there were a few tracks that we felt got a bit lost without having an individual release so we’re planning to release singles in the short term but we’re also working longer term towards an album. “

Any plans to release more singles, an EP or music videos?

The Zangwills: “Yes, absolutely - we have another single out in December and we’ve been back in the studio this week to record two more tracks which are in the pipeline for 2021.”

“We had an incredibly exciting video project which we’d been due to shoot in May that had to be postponed. We’re not allowed to say too much about it other than it’ll be awesome, it’s bubbling away in the background and we’re hoping to be able to reschedule it soon. It’s for our song Judas on the Dancefloor which is about the issue of groping and harassment on a night out, hopefully that’s one thing that’ll get left in the past once we can all go on nights out again.”

“We have other video plans too, and we’re just waiting for windows of opportunity to get them finished.”

In case there is someone reading this willing to make a career in music, according to your experience how can someone go from rehearsing at home, having no fan base at all to being booked for a solo tour, what kind of external help in terms of team support is needed today?

The Zangwills: “We met at college and at first we practiced there and also in Jake’s Shed, he recently posted a video tour of the shed on our socials as he still uses it as a writing space, it’s much tidier and better smelling now than it was when we were all using it. The artwork for The Horrors of Sobriety is a photograph of a doodle on the wall in there that one of our mates did which we just took a picture of then recolored. Initially, you have to work with what you’ve got and build from there.”

“In terms of support, we do have management that fell into place very early on for us, our manager Jackie saw us the first time we ever played live together when we were all just seventeen. Our advice to anyone starting out is to be true to your own vision, keep on doing what you do and do it to the best of your ability. Always be professional and when you’re ready for the next level, the chances are the right people will find you. Another tip for anyone working independently would be to do your research, especially when it comes to trading partners, whether that’s distributors for your music or which venues and promoters to work with. Look online, speak to others who’ve used them, go to music conferences and check that it feels like a good fit for you, trust your gut instinct but back it up with knowledge.”

festnoise is about music but especially music festivals so the question is a must, which are your favorite festivals as music fans and in which ones do you dream of playing, both in England and abroad?

The Zangwills: “We’ve missed festivals SO much this year, there’s nothing quite like being part of that community and we’ve met some great people playing festivals. Last year, we had a Saturday main stage slot at Wychwood festival which was brilliant. In January this year, we played DPP Festival, not knowing at the time that it’d be our only festival appearance of 2020. Two of our favorites, both as music lovers and performers are the showcase festivals fairly local to us, Focus Wales and Sound City as they’re both voyages of discovery with so much new music and industry panels.”

“We’ve never had the chance to play a festival outside the UK so that’s a big ambition for us, we’d love to play Germany as, along with the US & Sweden, it’s where we have our largest following outside the UK. As music fans, we love Truck Festival and Kendal Calling and obviously Glastonbury. There are so many brilliant festivals, it’s impossible to choose a few to aspire to play and we wish them all well in the current crisis. Hopefully, they’ll come through it and we can look forward to being able to discover and play festivals again in the post Covid-19 world.”

Find out more about The Zangwills by visiting their official website and listen to them on Spotify

Cover photograph by Trust A Fox Photography