Music
Interview: We chat to Scouting For Girls ahead of their UK tour
British pop-rock band Scouting for Girls talk touring, debut album and more.
With a decade since the release of their self-titled debut album (and a deluxe release coming out soon), Scouting For Girls have announced a huge UK tour for November and December alongside playing this year’s Virgin V Festival and Isle Of Wight Festival.
Scouting For Girls was first released in September 2007 and propelled the three boys from London into the mainstream overnight. With catchy tunes like She’s So Lovely and It’s Not About You the band cemented their cult status early on and has since celebrated a dedicated following.
We caught up with Peter Ellard, Scouting For Girls drummer. Read the full interview below:
How excited are you for the upcoming UK tour?
Yeah, it’s amazing. It’s probably the longest tour we’re actually going to do so that’s great, can’t wait!
It’s a pretty extensive tour, what are you looking forward to the most?
All of it! Some of the places we’ve played before, some of them are new. It’s going to be great, good fun!
How does touring now compare to when you first started out?
It’s not really changed. We all still act like we’re about 15. Not that we were 15 when we first started touring but it’s great. It’s the thing we love doing the most, playing live. It’s such good fun, such a good time and we have such a great team around us as well.
It’s been 10 years since your self-titled debut album, what does the album means to you?
Well it seems like it still means we can tour. It’s been everything. It’s given me a career, it’s given me festivals every year, it’s given me a tour every other year and without it I’d be doing something else. I don’t know what but I’d be doing something else.
What are you favourite memories from back then?
It’s so hard to pick memories because it’s such a blur for us. I mean we were literally signed on a Tuesday and quit working on a Friday and the week after we were recording the album everyone bought. The early days are just sort of a blur but you know doing the big festivals, doing the V’s and the Isle of Wight’s and the Glastonbury’s as well for the first time. They were amazing, we met a lot of people. And the reaction we used to get was something else. It was just amazing.
What have you learned from making that first record?
In terms of songs, we just had them you know. We had been writing songs for years and years, so we just recorded them. So the real takeaway was just that we wanted to stay true to ourselves. We wanted it to sound like the three of us.
You’ve sold so many records and been on the road as a band quite a long time, seeing both sides of success. What keeps you going as a band and as artists?
We’re friends and that’s really what keeps us going, you know. Making music together, we enjoy it so much. We’re doing this for the fun and it’s great.
What do you think makes an “ultimate Scouting For Girls gig”?
The perfect gig, outside, sunshine and a beer. Glastonbury-type atmosphere, people enjoying themselves.
What can we expect after the tour?
I’ve been trying to convince the guys to go to Eurovision but you know… No, new music definitely. We always write new music so we’ll be working on that.
Tickets for Scouting For Girls’ UK tour this autumn are on sale from 09:00 on Friday 28 April 2017 via Ticketmaster.co.uk.
