Sarpa Salpa - INTERVIEW

"An EP for dancing away your feelings"

The electro infused Indie of Northampton's Sarpa Salpa is hard not to appeal to the ears of anyone craving the euphoria of live music. It was great to see Zuzu leading the line with The Lathums and Blossoms in the country's first non-socially distanced gig since lockdown in Sefton Park. We are extremely jealous of those who attended. Yet, if you, like the majority, are yet to head back to any gigs then the latest EP from these guys is one of the best replicants of that dancefloor feeling. We caught up with George to chat through their experience of releasing their new EP during lockdown.

What is the concept behind the EP and its title?

"'A Feeling You Can’t Replace' is a lot of things. It’s not conceptually about one thing but more our lives as a band and the experiences we have gone through during the pandemic. Whether that be the loss of opportunities and momentum, several breakups or missing doing what we do best, playing live".

When is the best time to listen to the EP?

"Haha that’s an interesting question. Musically most of these tracks are pretty upbeat but the lyrics are often darker so I guess this is an EP for dancing away your feelings".

How do you feel you have developed as a band since your first single?

"So much has changed since we released our first single, I think largely our songwriting has gotten a lot better. When we first started we were very much fumbling around and of the first 10-15 songs we wrote 'She Never Lies' was the track that marked the direction we wanted to take this band. Ever since then we’ve been trying to find new ways to make people want to dance, experimenting with new sounds and rhythms that we find interesting".

What brought about the vestian remix and what do you think it brings to the EP?

"We love Vestian (Jay Russell)’s production skills both as a producer and a solo artist and we were really excited to hear where he would go with a remix. I personally am a huge fan of dance music and I think his remix really pushes the existing elements of 'Forwards Backwards' to a more synth driven place".

With your trademark euphoric synth sound - how do you go about trying to convey less upbeat lyrics like in ‘As Good as it Gets’?

"I think that’s the thing we enjoy the most, we love trying to create as fun and upbeat instrumentals as possible but layering in sad lyrics that on the first listen you might not even realise are that sad".

How do you feel lockdown has held artist back/ helped them develop?

"I think lockdown has had a really polarising impact for artists. For solo artists this has been a really incredible time to push themselves on social media since everyone has been spending so much more time on Instagram, Twitter or TikTok. However I think it has been a much harder time for bands. With most studios being closed, trying to record new music has been difficult and also it has been harder than ever to reach new people with the closure of venues. The only bands who have been able to thrive through lockdown are those who have been able to make the jump from live performers to social media gurus".

What new artists are you listening to right now?

"One of my favourite new bands are Low Island, they just released their debut album and it really is something special. Some of our friends have been putting out great new music too, I’d definitely recommend Low Girl, Nailbreaker, bloody/bath and Ellie Dixon".

LISTEN TO OUR FAVOURITE NEW TRACKS INCLUDING A FEW OFF SARPA'S EP ON OUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST!!