Interview and Live Review

Eagulls @ Southampton's Lennons. Live Review and Interview, 15th October

2014
BY OSCAR NICHOLAS

"We don't really have influences, we try not to get influenced by anything. We want the music to be our own.” This is what George Mitchell of Eagulls told me in the basement of Southampton’s Lennon’s whilst eating cut up carrots. 

I arrived at the venue in the pouring rain, as the band were doing sound checks. George had a plastic bag on his head and they played Tough Luck with the supporting act Bad Breeding watching.

Southampton was the seventh date of Eagulls’ first headline tour. “We like to think of ourselves as a live band” explained George, “we’ll be playing a new song tonight, it’s untitled. We like to play a track live before we name it.” 

Before the show George and Eagulls’ drummer Henry Ruddler duck taped two milk crates to a wooden stool along with a projector and DVD player. During the show this lit up the stage with black and white images of soldiers marching.

They have a raw feel to them which is emphasised by their make shift lighting system. “We don't use a set list”, George mentioned in a discussion about their performances. Henery interputed the discussion “I am the set list”. They have simple methods to create their chaotic sound and performances. For example mid show guitarist Mark Goldsworthy used a hand held fan to tremolo his strings. 

The set was a hectic. There were no barriers and if there were they said they would tare them down. They started with Nerve Endings, from their debut, self-titled album. The stage was small and the mixture of Eagulls’ punk style and abstract lighting created juxtaposition between how they presented themselves and the brutal sound. George’s vocals howled, cracked and blended with the reverbed fuzz of guitars. 

The band were on top form. George was bent over with his elbow in the air and mic to mouth as he sung. They continued and played tracks from their debut LP such as Hollow Visions, Opaque and Amber Veins. In the punk style the set was reassembly short. They played for just over an hour finishing with Possessed. The song was elongated and shouts of “I’m, possessed” resonated through the venue. When their set was over they just walked off stage into the crowd.

“Guitar music is always going to be there, people always go back to it how can it be dead?” 

“Guitar music is always going to be there, people always go back to it. How can it be dead?” - George Mitchell