British indie rock band The Struts performed at The Southern in Charlottesville last night, with The Karma Killers opening. The band, founded in 2010 in Derby, England, recently released their EP, “Have You Heard,” which has become hugely popular on alternative stations and found a large fanbase in the United States. Describing their music as a combination of indie rock and glam rock, the four-man band consists of lead vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, Jed Elliott on bass and Gethin Davies on drums.
The Cavalier Daily had the opportunity to speak to frontman Luke Spiller in advance of the Charlottesville concert.
Arts & Entertainment: The band was formed in 2010, and you've just recently been gaining popularity. Has it been a long journey to get to where you are today?
Luke Spiller: Yeah, definitely, you know, me and Adam have been writing for the best part of six years now. So, the two of us have had quite a long journey, and the band itself has had a long hard road. I've just woken up on our very first tour bus we've ever had. We're currently driving through America, so it's really cool.
A&E: The "Have You Heard" EP was just recently released, and you're already here on tour. What's it like to be on tour and to be experiencing so much progress so quickly?
LS: It's just amazing, you know. I mean touring is one thing, you know that's fun in itself, but to be playing every night to pretty much sold out crowds, every show, it makes it that much sweeter and that much more enjoyable. It keeps you going, and everyone's excited every night [and] … waiting to have a really good time. Yeah, it makes every day a great day.
A&E: From the songs on "Have You Heard,” is there a personal favorite of yours?
LS: I'd probably say "Where Did She Go," personally. It's traveled with me, like I wrote that when I was fifteen, so it's been with me now for over ten years. Right through all the way up to now. It's absolutely f---ing crazy when I think about it, when it was written and then where I am now. It's really bizarre, so that one on a personal level is always my favorite.
A&E: So you've performed a couple of concerts on the U.S. tour so far, do you feel that you have a strong fan base here, as well as in England? Have you gotten the same type of response at shows?
LS: Yeah, I mean it's been crazy. It's been more than just a couple, this is actually our second leg of the tour, so we're going into over 30 shows all in all, since December now. And yeah, the radio support here on all the alternative stations throughout the USA has been amazing, so the reach has been far more great than anything we've ever experienced in the U.K. or France. So it's crazy, we can feel it.
A&E: The band won the Best Live Artist/Group Award at the Sound of Brit Awards this year. Can you talk a little about that and what it means for the band?
LS: Wow, yeah, that was a French award I believe, and that was — I’m gonna speak for the band — kind of like the cherry on the cake in terms of our French connection that we had. We toured there extensively for like two years. We opened for the Rolling Stones there and went to Paris. To have that little bit of recognition within the musical community was just the cherry on the cake.
A&E: The award was for your live performances, so do you think there's anything about your live performances that sets the band apart, anything we should look forward to in your Charlottesville performance?
LS: Yeah, I really do feel like we're the only ones who can deliver that level of intensity of our performance within current music. I haven't come across anyone who's at our level, young and upcoming, who's even close to our showmanship and level of entertainment. We were at a live show the other day, and you've got some great older bands like P.O.D., but not a lot of other bands are on our level, coming up. The most exciting f---ing thing about their [P.O.D.’s] set is when the bass player turns around and says, "Thank you very much guys, we'll see you next time," and then they play their last song. It's like, why save your best level of energy for when you're about to leave? I mean, we'll come straight on, and we'll kick you straight in the face musically. That's just the way we like to do it.
The Struts will continue rocking on tour this Fall, and will hopefully return to Charlottesville in the near future.
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