Having recently signed their very first record deal with C3 Records, known for managing superstars such as The Strokes, Nottingham-based band Blondes are fast becoming ones to watch on the indie scene. Their meteoric rise to fame was prompted when their single ‘Coming of Age’ went viral on TikTok, with over 219.1K videos using the sound. As guitarist Alex Davison put it, the song captures “that universal feeling of nostalgia, almost euphoria”. This nu-nostalgia is taking over TikTok and ‘Coming of Age’ struck a chord with listeners across the globe, making it an instant hit. The band released the highly anticipated music video for the single in early March of this year. Members Will Potter (vocals), Alex Davison (guitar), Daniel Stroud a.k.a. Stroudy (guitar and drums) and Tom Herbert (bass) took the time to talk to me about everything from their biggest inspirations and the challenges posed by lockdown, to their future aspirations for the band.

How did you all come to form the band and how did you decide on the name?

Will: We met in 2017 at the University of Nottingham, all studying completely different courses. We had no real reason to meet each other apart from a mutual love of the same kind of music, which we discovered through the university band society whilst all individually looking to start a band. The line-up was originally completely different. At one point our then-guitarist moved away to Germany, and our then-drummer broke his arm. We ended up completely rearranging the line-up and drafting in our friend and semi-manager Tom (bass and keys) to play bass.

Alex: The story behind the name is far less eventful, it was just the first idea that we all agreed on unanimously. It was short, punchy, and ironic given that none of us were blonde. For me it was also very obviously reminiscent of Frank Ocean’s ‘Blond’, so I was sold on it instantly.

Does a passion for music run in your families? Did any of you ever consider the idea of having a career in music before you formed the band?

Will: I think it was always something I wanted, even when I was really young. I guess I never really thought that it was possible until I formed this band. I was always told that my great-great-Grandad invented music but somehow I don’t think that’s true.

Stroudy: I always wanted a career in music. My Dad raised me on The Beatles, and he was very musical. He and I actually played in a band together for years, and I’ve been in a few bands since.

Alex: I’ve always known I wanted to do something creative, I think when I picked up my first guitar as a teenager I knew then that was what I wanted to do. I’ve been in bands since I was 16, and so it was great to meet a group of lads who were as serious as I was about doing it.

Tom: I wanted to be a diplomat. I don’t know what I’m doing here.

Congratulations on the release of the new music video for your single Coming of Age! What was your favourite part of filming the music video?

Tom: I think it was great working with such a fantastic director because he really understoodhow to capture the mood and aesthetic of the song. It was amazing watching the ‘coming of age’ movie homage that’s become so closely associated with the track really come to life. Also, our manager bringing us a freshly made cottage pie at the end. That was great.

Stroudy: Yeah all the food was amazing! Spiced carrot soup for lunch as well. I want to do more videos just for the food.

The guitar riff and drums at the start of the song are really catchy and nostalgia-inducing. What does this sound mean to you, and would you say there’s a particular memory or feeling you associate with it?

Alex: It’s funny actually, because I wrote that main guitar riff around 5 years ago. I knew, instantly, that there was incredible potential in that riff. I think it’s that indescribable nostalgia that it evokes. Someone commented on our music video that it feels like the song has been around forever, and that was exactly it. Sometimes a sound, or a riff, or a song is so intimately connected with a feeling, and with Coming of Age, it was that universal feeling of nostalgia, almost euphoria. Everyone knows what that feeling is like without being able to describe it, so you hear the riff and it’s like this innate connection to that feeling. That’s what I love about it.

 

I must admit that I discovered Blondes when Coming of Age went viral on TikTok. What was your experience of this and what do you think it is about the song that made it so popular?

Alex: I kind of touched on this in the previous question, but I guess that feeling our song evokes, it’s why songs like those end up in ‘coming of age’ movies. People noticed that our song was almost perfect for it, that kind of moment when John Bender punches the air in The Breakfast Club, or the drive through the tunnel in Perks of Being a Wallflower. And so, people were making these amazing parodies, ‘If (insert random interaction) was scripted like a coming of age film’, using our song as a soundtrack, and it just snowballed from there.

Tom: For us, it was insane. We’d never played a show outside our hometown and suddenly thousands of people across the world were hearing our music. We suddenly had more fans in the United States than we did in our own backyard. We were incredibly lucky to have something so extraordinary happen to us.

What do you think the TikTok platform means for the future of the music industry and how artists interact with their fanbase?

Stroudy: I think a lot of older songs are finding new popularity again which is great to see, like how a TikTok trend ended up putting Dreams by Fleetwood Mac back in the charts for the first time in years.

Tom: Because of how TikTok works, your music can suddenly access a much wider demographic who might never have heard your music. The instantaneous nature of the app also means that you can interact with your fans in a very new and personal way.

Has the pandemic influenced your writing process? And in what ways has it positively or negatively affected how you make and perform music?

Stroudy: It’s definitely given us a lot more time to write music together. We’re also all effectively unemployed at the moment with our day jobs being closed. It’s been a bit of a challenge to pay the bills actually. One of us is on benefits.

Alex: Yeah we also schedule in a daily group scream where we get together and let out all our frustrations. We like to think it helps keep us grounded. In terms of writing, being locked indoors can be very demotivating for sure, but it kind of forces you to focus on the only musical thing you can do at the moment, which is just write and record as many ideas as possible. So there are very few distractions from that. There’s also been a lot of focus on practicing together and tightening up our live performances in anticipation of the gig industry re-opening.

Who is someone that each of you admire in the music industry? Do you feel like there are any artists that inspire your music?

Tom: I think we all agree it’s gotta be Will’s great-great-Grandad, who famously invented music.

Stroudy: We’re big fans of Easy Life, I think we take a lot of inspiration from their music and definitely look up to them as a (semi) local band who have broken through in a big way recently.

Alex: Yeah, and I also think the way they release their music in a changing music industry has helped shape our approach. There seems to be a decline in the importance of albums as a form of art, and much more emphasis on singles and EPs due to the rise of streaming and playlisting, and Easy Life have adapted to that very successfully. I think they’ve shown what you can achieve even with shorter releases.

Will: I’d say Mac DeMarco, he’s such a DIY kind of guy and I really love that about him. And I think we take a lot of inspiration from bands like DMAs. We obviously share a lot of the same influences and they’ve revived the Britpop sound in such a refreshing way.

What are your future aspirations for the band? Who would be a dream to collaborate with? And if you could pick a gig to headline in the future what would it be?

Stroudy: Glastonbury! And collaborating with Damon Albarn or Frank Ocean would be amazing.

Tom: Also probably move out of our student house, and find somewhere to live where it doesn’t rain through the ceiling and door handles don’t fall off. I’d also like to collaborate with Win Butler from Arcade Fire. Or Will. Either one of the Butlers.

What are your favourite or funniest memories from a gig or with the band?

Alex: On the way to our first show, which was a very unfortunate Battle of the Bands on a farm, our Uber driver ran over a chicken.

Stroudy: We played a pretty shocking gig at our student union bar, and at the end of the set I had to sprint off because I had the shits and had been desperately trying to keep it together.

Finally, have you plans to release any new music soon? And what else is on the horizon for the band in 2021?

Will: We’ve got our next single lined up which we’re super excited about, and there’s an EP on the way in the not too distant future. We’ve got plans to do another video too, and we’re really excited to already be booking shows and festivals for the summer and beyond.

Alex: There’s a lot of uncertainty around so we’ve had to be very flexible but if all goes to plan we feel like we’ve got a really exciting year ahead of us.

You can listen to Blondes ‘Coming of Age’ below: