Having already established their place on the scene with a flurry of impactful offerings over the years, London-based outfit Car Boot Sale are back on the grind once again to deliver their infectious new single 'Feet Tappin'.
Bringing back more of that fun and lively indie-rock aesthetic they have earned a solid reputation for, 'Feet Tappin' makes for a bold and catchy addition to their ever-growing catalogue. With its driven textures, breezy atmosphere, and killer hooks layered throughout, they are certainly looking to get us up and out of our seats with this one.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their background and what has inspired them most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Jim (Guitar): Unsurprisingly it was the guitar at around age 13, I still haven’t managed to get over it after all these years haha.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Jim: Shoutout to my parents, they gave me a huge education into all things guitar music (Thin Lizzy, Neil Young, Stranglers, Blondie). There was also a lot of amazing music around when I was growing up, my fave band from the time was Cage The Elephant. I remember seeing them at Reading, the energy was so high and the whole band had so much swagger (as well as amazing tunes). At the time I remember thinking that this is what people must have felt like watching the stones in the 70s, saw them a couple of years ago and still felt the same.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Jim: I remember being in HMV with a mate, it was 2 for £10 on albums and we had a fiver each. He chose The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks, I chose Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones (Mainly because it had Wild Horses on it). That album still has a massive influence on my playing, Can’t you hear me knocking is one of the tunes CBS puts on whenever we need to pick up the energy!
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Jim: American Girl by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, we snuck it into the set for a couple of the headline shows in August and it absolutely went off. It’s a perfectly written song and Mike Campbell's playing on the outro is incredible, wish it was ours.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Jim: I don't have any wild superstitions tbh, personally I find it hard to write when there’s a lot going on so I try to carve out pockets of time where I can turn my brain off and just be left alone with the guitar.
I think it’s the same with the band, we struggle to write whilst we’re playing shows, finishing off releases, shooting videos etc, because there’s just too much outside noise around. We definitely write our best stuff when we’re just hanging and playing music for the sake of it, so we try to make space for that as much as possible!
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Jim: In terms of newer stuff I’ve been enjoying DIIV and Wunderhorse’s latest albums, looking forward to seeing them both live later on this year. Also really enjoying Been Stellar (Passing Judgement), Amyl and The Sniffers (You should not be doing that is the biggest mix I’ve heard in ages) and the new Clairo album (Especially Add Up My Love).
In terms of the classics I’ve been on a big Velvet Underground/Lou Reed kick. I love the directness of his songwriting and the stripped back production is refreshing even now. (I’ll be your mirror, oh sweet nuthin, vicious are some of my highlights)
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Jim: At this moment in time it seems like there’s only one obvious answer (So if LG or NG are reading they should give us a shot)
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Jim: - Writing a really good song with other people. (And somehow you just know that it’s a good one)
- Playing a show where the crowd is on the same level as you
- Locking in as a band and feeling bold enough to make it up as you go along
And what is the most frustrating part?
Jim: Everything else.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Jim: About a year ago we started working at a studio in Dalston owned by a guy called Davide. The minute we turned up we started over analysing mic positions, headphone mixes, potential bleed, etc. He’s a very laid back dude and he asked us to ‘just play first’ without headphones and without worrying about anything else other than playing the song well as a group. He recorded us doing this and we stuck with it, now we just approach the recording as if it’s a live setting. These days it can be too easy to over-complicate the simple things.
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Car Boot Sale's new single 'Feet Tappin' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.