Summer Party Interview: Coves

Sam Carter spoke with John Ridgard, one half of Coves: the Leamington-based indie outfit who want to take this year’s Summer Party by storm…

 

Boar Music: How would you sum up your sound for anyone who’s not familiar with your music?

John Ridgard: It’s been described as psychedelic… it’s guitary.  I think it’s pop, but with a dark undertone – like a warm hug from a creepy uncle.

BM: You’ve had quite a rapid rise, releasing an EP just over a year ago before going on to wider success.  How have you found adjusting to this new-found fame?

JR: Very easily; nothing has changed.

BM: What did you think would come out of the EP at the time?

JR: There is no agenda, no plan.  That’s a question for the management.

BM: You’ve worked with James Endeacott, who has also had experience with The Libertines, The View, and The Strokes, if I’m not mistaken.  What was that like?

JR: He’s one of our managers, so we work with him every day.  He’s a lovely man.  No-one has a bad word to say about him, and his stories are brilliant.

BM: You’ve recorded your own version of Chris Isaak‘s ‘Wicked Game’.  Is that in line with your music taste as a whole?

JR: Not as such: we wanted to do a cover version, and it was just a song somebody mentioned.  We wanted to unearth the dark side of the song, though, which I think we managed.

BM: What made you decide to play the Summer Party?

JR: We were asked to do it.  It’s not the kind of event we would normally do – there’s too much sunshine.  But I have been a few times, to watch friends’ bands, and it’s always been an awesome day.  We have some friends on the bill this year, and we’re really looking forward to it.

BM: What do you think of the other headliners that you’ll be playing alongside?

JR: I can’t pretend to know much about Labrinth other than he is a big name.  Zane Lowe is a living legend: he gave us lots of air time on his show, so we can’t love him enough.  We love Cowboy; it looks like a good musical buffet.

BM: I hear you’ve recently added a live drummer to your ranks: does this mean you’ll be taking a different approach when it comes to performing live?

JR: Yeah, we’re stripping it back a bit and making the drums louder: we want to make it tribal.

BM: Do you see yourselves remaining a two-piece?

JR: Coves will always be just me and Beck [Wood], but I’m open to all kinds of ideas.  Twenty-piece ocarina orchestras?  Okay.

BM: What are you working on at the moment?  Any albums in the pipeline?

JR: Yeah, we’re working on the album at the moment.  We don’t have a due date yet, but we are aiming for later this year.

BM: According to your Facebook page, Leamington is still your hometown – is that right?  Is it somewhere you still have a connection to?

JR: Yeah, Beck still lives there.  Leamington is where our studio is, it’s where we rehearse; all our friends live there.

BM: This is a student newspaper, so I have to ask: what’s your favourite night out in Leam?

JR: Zephyr Lounge.  There’s loads of ace places in Leam, but I don’t like to go much further than the bridge.