Next Wave #724: Black Honey

In Association With Olympus...

The unintentional mystery shrouding Black Honey in their infantile stage has arguably worked to the band’s advantage. “It wasn’t a conscious thing, we just didn’t have a Facebook page for the first few months and didn’t have any pictures of us,” explains bassist Tommy Taylor. “We wanted to put music out and for people to listen to it not thinking about anything else.” Drummer Tom Dewhurst interjects: “It was fun!”

More recently, the quartet have gone from strength to strength with sell-out headline shows, successful festival sets and an impressive, irrepressible visual package that goes hand in hand with their sonic offerings.

Based in Brighton, the seaside town’s appearance couldn’t be any further from the striking Western cinema aesthetic often associated with the four-piece – just take a peek at their tour posters, the musical equivalent of Tarantino movie artwork. So is aesthetic important to their narrative? “So important,” offers singer and guitarist Izzy B Phillips. “When we listen to music we all see things in our heads. That’s where the blueprint comes from. Using visuals to reinforce the narrative of the song makes us stronger.”

From the stirring cinematic sonic pleasure of ‘Spinning Wheel’ to the Cadillac cruising soundtrack potential in ‘Hello Today’, there’s a quintessential Black Honey essence running through every song they’ve released so far.

Their strength, however, lies in their fearlessness and exuberant passion for pursuing new and rousing genre pathways. Describing the band’s sound as “cherry picked,” Izzy continues: “We have so many different influences. We went through a year where we just played krautrock and then another year we just did pop songs. All these different tangents from all these eras emulsified into being Black Honey.” They all agree this outlook is a definite advantage to their venture. “We’ve left the door open for a lot of freedom, it’s great,” guitarist Chris Ostler confirms.

Looking to the future, we ask if the band’s reception is changing. Izzy replies: “People are very supportive at this stage. When we start getting real hate we’ll know that we’ve made it!”

– – –

– – –

WHERE: Brighton
WHAT: Tarantino-esque indie rock with grunge tinges and a bluesy bite
GET 3 SONGS: ‘Hello Today’, ‘Spinning Wheel’, ‘Madonna’

FACT: The band’s flamingo figurine mascot, Jerry, recently disappeared after a wild gig at Butlins in Bognor Regis. “He’s going to be in the hot tub drinking cocktails,” predicts Izzy.

Words: Shannon Cotton
Photography: Sophie Mayanne

Buy Clash Magazine

 

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.