Interview with SUDS, 2000trees
SUDS by Danny Payne
Like us, the Norwich-based SUDS made their 2000trees debut this year, bringing their emo / folk blend to the Forest Stage for what seemed like a tailor-made afternoon. Hidden under a canopy of evergreen trees, a captivated audience swayed in time with the timber to SUDS’ chill tunes for a half hour of otherworldly refuge from the scorching sun.
Arriving at “Trees” after a whirlwind couple of months, SUDS have been busy, signing with Big Scary Monsters, releasing their debut EP In The Undergrowth and touring the UK in support of label-mates, Pool Kids.
We had the opportunity to meet up with Maisie-Mae Cater (vocals/guitar) and Jack Ames (drums/vocals) of SUDS - one half of the four-piece which also includes Dan Godfrey (guitar/vocals) and Harry Mitchell (bass/vocals) - to chat all about their first festival experience, creating relatable music and what to expect from their upcoming debut album.
Jack and Masie-Mae thanks so much for talking to us today. Tell us a bit about SUDS, your origin and story.
SUDS by Danny Payne
Maisie-Mae Cater (MC): SUDS started when I was in college back around 2015. And I was drying my hair, getting ready to go see Wolf Alice, and I thought “suds” like shampoo suds. And I said that we'll do. We'll stick with that. And it's just stuck. It’s a bit of a strange one. It doesn't have any meaning but we love it, so it’s ours now.
Jack Ames (JA): There's been a few lineups for SUDS and then Harry and I joined Dan and Mae around two years ago. We’d met because Harry and I were playing in a different band and did a mini weekender tour with SUDS. And we loved SUDS and were big fans. Then about two years ago I got a call asking if I wanted to play drums for these guys. And at the same time the bassist had left which worked because Harry and I feel like a bit of a package deal, we’d been playing in bands together since we were kids, and there were two spots in SUDS which we took and it’s been that way since.
With two new people coming in, did that change the sound and the vibe of what the band was creating?
MC: Oh completely. But it was a very natural progression. We didn't really talk about what kind of band we wanted to be and what our direction was at the start. But we just started writing and the magic happened straight away I think.
SUDS by Danny Payne
JA: Me and Harry had come from quite a different background musically. We were in a punk band together growing up, and we were both into emo music, especially the emo that was coming out of the midwest at the time. But we realised there were a lot of crossovers in genres that Mae and I both like.
We’d also both never written with someone else. It was always a solitary thing for each of us, we both had always written on our own. This is the first time that we've written with someone else. So we ended up with this mixture of genres and interests that we both had that worked really well. And those songs that we wrote together at the start became essentially our first EP.
What other artists would you say are some of your biggest influences?
MC: I grew up listening to a lot of folk stuff. So I really look up to the likes of Joni Mitchell. I used to listen to a ton of Marika Hackman, and a lot of other women in folk music. Then Jack brings in the emo inspiration.
JA: I think the folk thing was interesting, because that was one of those crossover things. We both really like Americana Folk stuff from the early 60s. I'm a big fan of Townes Van Zandt, Dave Van Ronk,Jean Ritchie, and all those people. We spoke a lot about those kinds of acts when we were writing. So that style of music and the emo thing are the two main influences we would talk about a lot.
So for me it’s a lot of 2010s emo records, and the real old Dave Van Ronk, Townes Van Zandt, and Virgil Anderson kind of Americana Folk stuff. I’ve also been listening to a ton of Johnny Cash recently, and that's doing real bad things to my smoking habit.
SUDS by Danny Payne
We’ve heard that you describe your sound as sad music for nice people.
MC: Yes, sad music for nice people. There's a lot of feelings behind it. Mostly rooted in navigating your way through your 20s because none of us know what we're doing, or where we're going.
JA: I think it fits with the kind of music we are writing, it's quite melancholic. The stuff we were really influenced by, I always thought kind of sounded like sad music that really nice people like. All of my favourite bands kind of have that same vibe about them. As we've continued to write, we've always kept the mantra of sad music for nice people.
Though there is some newer stuff that isn't too sad. There's sad parts. Don't worry, if you're worried if there's gonna be any sad parts in the new stuff, there is.
What do you want people to take away from hearing your band?
JA: There's a continuous conversation we have about how we hope that people will listen to the EP and feel it's relatable. Like Mae was saying, so much of the EP is about navigating your 20s and navigating the world we live in, the society we live in and how scary it can be. And we’re all quite shy, anxious people for the most part. But it’s really nice that we get to have conversations with people that have listened to the record, or come and seen us live, and hear how they felt a particular song explained how they were feeling about something.
That’s what I hope people take away from it. Both the EP and whatever's coming next, that it’s all relatable and can explain difficult things. That’s a nice thing to give people I think, to help them feel like they’re not alone. I think that’s what we all want and is definitely an aim for the record.
Your EP came out on Big Scary Monsters (BSM). That’s a pretty big league. How does it feel to be looped into that roster?
MC: Very overwhelming for you Jack.
JA: Yeah, they’ve been my favourite label for years. It came out of nowhere, as well. Two bands that are friends on our are on that label. Other Half, they’re my favourite band on the planet even if I’m biassed because we’re friends, and Lakes who we’re played with too. And we’ve played with a few other bands on the label but we’d never spoken to anyone actually from BSM.
It just came out really out of the blue. We'd put out two singles and they had asked to hear the whole EP. Within like a week, we'd had the conversation with them and signed up. How'd it feel for you Mae?
MC: It was very overwhelming. We'd always said if we could be signed to any label, at any stage of our musical career, it would be BSM. So when we got that email, we were just in shock, weren't we?
JA: Oh yeah. And we were thinking originally more for the future. Like in three years time maybe we'd speak to them. But, it just came about real quickly. I feel like when we got together as a four-piece, there was a continuous conversation between us both taking inspiration from the writing that was going on and the lyrical writing that was going on, but also talking about how amazing it would be to have that opportunity to be a part of something like that.
You look at that roster…BSM tends to really nurture great songwriters. We feel very lucky. And still a little bit bewildered. Snd overwhelmed and scared. Even though we know them all now, I still get very nervous. But they're such incredibly nice people. And they've been so kind.
SUDS by Danny Payne
You have an LP coming out later this year. How is it going to be different from the EP or is it going to be more of a continuation?
MC: It's a little bit of a continuation from the EP in terms of themes.
JA: With the EP In The Undergrowth, we had a concept of using nature as a way to describe how you're feeling. Something we talked about a lot was like this concept of being stuck in the weed, like the grass being very long and feeling stuck and not able to get out. And we wanted to use that as a way to describe what it’s like living in your 20s in today's world.
The next project is a continuation of that theme; using nature again to symbolise how you're feeling. But now, it’s a much bigger story and feels much more conceptual because it’s part of the narrative from the start so will be a bit more on the nose.
We can’t wait to hear it. But before that, you’re playing tomorrow on the Forest Stage for 2000trees! How are you feeling?
MC: Really good. I'm really looking forward to it. How are you feeling Jack?
JA: Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. Though it’s kind of odd. Harry and I were saying that because we're camping and we've been here since last night, it doesn't feel like we’re playing. It just feels like we're here. Then at 1:30 tomorrow someone's gonna turn around and be like, “go on stage right now”. And we'll play for half an hour and it’ll be like a fever dream. And then we'll carry on our day as normal.
2000trees Forest Stage by Jez Pennington
We’ve never played a big festival at all, so we don’t really know how it works or what to expect. We’re asking a lot of questions, floating off and then asking the same thing again. We’re new to it and we’re here with other band friends so it feels like a big holiday with all our mates that we just also happened to have to play a show at. It's really weird.
What’s next for SUDS after 2000trees?
MC: We’ve got Truck Fest and at the end of July, that should be really good. Then we have a hometown show on 29th July. After that not too much until the album comes out.
JA: There's some stuff in the works, we’ve been looking at some tours but nothing's to announce yet. That hometown show is us, Other Half, Kulk who are an amazing local band, Kitty Perrin a soloist from Norwich, and Hello Pedro, which is Chris Sellars aka Chris The Drive, our friend who drives for Other Half. He's doing acoustic sets in the bar at the Art Centre. So that'd be really cool. It’s also the same day as Norwich pride, so we're all going to be celebrating all day.
Anyone you’re looking forward to seeing at 2000trees?
MC: The Wonder Years are definitely up there.
JA: Yeah, The Wonder Years. I want to see Microwave. I have a list, can I get my list up? Dinosaur Pile Up, Joyce Manor, Zulu, Microwave, High Vis, and obviously American Football.
The idea that American Football are here makes me want to cry. I don't know what I'm going to do when I see them. Me and Harry bonded over American Football when we were kids. They’re a huge, huge inspiration for us and for me.
What’s that like, being your first festival and getting to play the same festival as your idols?
JA: I cried in the van when we found out. We knew we were on the lineup, and then I got an email about another Trees announcement. Harry and I were driving back to my house and I checked my email on the phone, and there it was – American Football added to the bill. I went real quiet, he looked at me and I was l crying my eyes out. He asked, "Big thing, right?" I nodded and said, "yeah man, this is a big thing". It's going to be really special, I love that band so much.
