Lo-fi punk outfit Mouses have quickly become one of our favourite new bands of the year. Their distinctive sound and tenacity has been warming the stereos at Mystic Sons for the last few months. So we had a quick chat with the band's frontman Stephen Bardgett to find out more about them and discuss their recently released debut album.
Hi Mouses, how are you today?
We're very well thank you!
You are a two-piece from Billingham. Can you tell how you met and what made you start a band together?
We are. We met in secondary school and have been friends ever since. We started our first ever band together when we were 14 - Nath played guitar and I played bass - and when I started writing the first bunch of Mouses songs, Nath had just started learning drums and it just fell into place really.
And for those who haven’t heard you yet, how would you best describe your sound?
We're a lo-fi punk rock duo. We play fuzzy distorted garage pop songs about vampires and religion and stuff.
You’ve just released your debut album ‘The Mouses Album’. What was it like producing a full-length release rather than smaller EPs you have done in the past?
It felt totally different for a few reasons. We self-produced our first two EPs and this was the first time either of us had been in a studio properly. We knew we were releasing the album on vinyl from the start and that definitely changed our initial outlook. It felt a lot more like we were making a statement with this with it being a debut album. We treat it almost like a story - the way we put it together it always felt like a complete package whereas the EPs were just a few songs put together.
And what would you say is the main objective for this album? Did you look into trying new things this time around?
The main objective was always to try and capture the energy of our live show. We wanted it to be fuzzy and noisy and really rough around the edges. We didn't use a click track and basically just played the album in full as if it was a live show. We overdubbed a bunch of things and re-recorded vocals and that was that.
Now that it is out, what are you planning for the rest of this year and next?
We're playing a few special shows in the next couple of months and starting on writing some new material. There'll be new music next year and we're in the middle of planning a European tour - before it's too late!!
And finally, standard interview question, but where do you see yourselves in five years?
We've actually never been asked that before I don't think haha. We haven't planned that far ahead though, we just take each day as it comes and as long as we're still loving what we're doing then that's all we can ask for really.
Mouses' debut album 'The Mouses Album' is available now.