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Them Bloody Kids are a rebellious alt-rock/groove metal trio based in London. Debut album ‘Radical Animals’ is set to explode through speakers everywhere on April 23rd and band members Seb (guitars/vocals), Darren (drums), and Vein (bass) were on hand to talk us through the background of the band, as well as sharing their own personal musical memories. Connect with Them Bloody Kids, below.
What are the origins of Them Bloody Kids? How long have you been playing together?
(Seb & Darren) Darren was actually my boss at the time at the O2 Forum Kentish Town and to cut a long story short, we basically got talking about System of a Down and found out we loved the same music and both wanted to find a band to work with and write stuff we loved so we formed Them Bloody Kids, and here we are 3 years later!
(Vein) I met Seb at ICMP while we were both University students. A friend told me there was a very cool band looking for a bass player so I decided to give it a try. I have to admit I was amazed by their music and after playing together during an audition, Seb told me I was the perfect candidate to join the band. In a matter of a few days, I felt immediately part of this family, and the rest is history.
How did you feel performing your first gig as a band? And how was it?!
We performed at the Black Heart in Camden for SJC Promotions supporting Joe Asteroid. It was a great night, loads of our friends turned up from Uni and elsewhere – I think we had nearly 100 people through the door. Was a great feeling to finally showcase the band to an audience.
There are many different tastes and flavours to the Them Bloody Kids sound, but what should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe Them Bloody Kids?
I guess they should expect energetic, danceable grooves and catchy lyrics. Old school vibes with a modern twist.
You will be sick of being asked about the band’s name, but it is pretty special, why did you settle on Them Bloody Kids?
It came about through me (Seb) and Darren, two naughty badly-behaved Northern boys – let’s just say we’ve been described that way enough to take ownership of the name.
Debut album ‘Radical Animals’ is due on 23rd April, what was the gestation period of the album like? How long had the songs been brewing for?
We finished the writing of the songs in the summer of 2019 and got them polished and recorded by November 2019, so we’ve been sitting on them a while as Covid has really done us one. Plenty more stuff “gestating” as we speak.
What goes through your head in the run-up to releasing new music, especially your debut album?! Are you excited? Nervous? – Both?!
To be honest, we are just so busy with, social media, music videos, digital marketing, creating content, etc.. we don’t have time to think about it much. But we are excited for sure, the feeling will be better once we can get back on stage and see the fans reactions to the new songs.
In terms of lyrical subject matter, the last few years have provided so much material for songwriters; what are some of the subjects that the band tackles on the album?
Mental health/suicide, disdain for the system, political unrest, and of course, the sesh.
The UK is so splintered at the minute, staggering from one clusterfuck to another, but the flipside of that is that so many young people are now getting more involved and making their voices heard, that’s a good thing, right?
Yeah, social media gives people more of a voice now than ever before, which is fantastic, with its obvious drawbacks, this gives a chance for our generation to make a change within our society. Together we are stronger and now connectivity between people is at an all-time high we need to be using this to make a positive change.
‘Molly’ is just edging it over ‘System Corrupted’ as our favourite track on the album, what are the stories behind these two?
Well to start with, ‘Molly’ is a concept song that takes the listener on a journey through a night with MDMA, from the highest highs to the lowest lows, it encapsulates the experience as best I could describe. ‘System Corrupted’ is a song that encapsulates the rage most of us have for the system we live in and the corrupt people who run it.
Listening back to the album from start to finish, for the first time, what moment gave you the biggest goosebumps?
For me it was the very start, hearing these songs, the work we had slaved over, come together after much anticipation it was very rewarding and I’m personally really chuffed with the album.
The cover artwork for ‘Radical Animals’ is really cool, who designed it?
He was a newspaper cartoonist, Mike Mosedale – I think he’s worked with all sorts of big newspapers over the last decade or so. We decided we wanted to use a newspaper cartoon style within the artwork as it showed our jokey yet political vibe, so we sent him this brief and this is what he came back with. We love it.
The video for the last single ‘Do What You Do’ is immense, who created it, and what is the narrative behind it?
We wrote and directed this video ourselves from scratch with the help of our trusted cameraman Loki Films (Shawn Hodgeson) and a drone pilot to film it. To be blunt the storyline was in essence a daydream fantasising about suicide due to the stress of living through the pandemic. We wanted to make the character as general as we could so that it would resonate with the masses.
You have a few more videos in the pipeline, ‘The Demon’, and ‘Radical Animals’, what can you tell us about both of them?
The ‘Demon’ music video is going to be cinematic, we’ve put blood sweat, and tears into this one for you guys, the last day we worked for 28 hours on 3 hours sleep and I shaved my head at the end of it on camera for the video, make sure you check out my new trim. ‘Radical Animals’ is essentially the album art cover brought to life in an animated video which is set in London during a dystopian doomsday scenario.
In what ways has the band grown over the last few years?
We’ve really found our feet in terms of our sound and using social media to our advantage, we’ve added Vein to the band which has significantly increased the variety of skills the band has to offer in terms of production and video editing.
In terms of a similar audience: who would be the ideal act for Them Bloody Kids to support?
System of a Down.
What are your first musical memories? And what was the lightbulb moment that made you go “I want to do that”?
(Darren) I used to hit the pots and pans non-stop when I was a child, pretty much from then.
(Seb) My parents have always been massively into music and wanted me to play music from a young age, so I was always surrounded by music and instruments and performing in general so yeah I’d say from a very young age I knew music was the life for me. I guess when I got my first guitar and started writing that was it I was hooked.
(Vein) I was always surrounded by Classical music, but I identify my baptism into rock music the moment I found, abandoned in the streets in front of my school, a CD booklet with “In Utero” from Nirvana. I literally consumed that CD, listening and playing those songs over and over again on my guitar.
Personally, who has been the biggest influence on you becoming a musician? Would it be a teacher? A family member? A fellow musician?
(Darren) My older brother was a DJ so I looked up to him and wanted to also do music in some capacity.
(Vein) My whole family is composed of musicians or music lovers, playing an instrument for me was just a part of my natural development.
(Seb) As I mentioned before my parents had a huge influence on me becoming involved with music from a young age.
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
(Seb) It will have been one of the local bands in London as I was always out watching gigs before the lockdown started.
(Vein) Lacuna Coil at the O2. I had the chance to enjoy the concert and then meet them and it was amazing how down to earth they all are.
What album do you have in your collection/Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
(Darren) Nero
(Seb) The Monsters Inc. soundtrack
(Vein) Hollow Knight soundtrack
Who would you class as an underrated songwriter?
(Seb) Stefan Florea his band October Grey, sadly not performing currently but it’s fantastic if you’re looking for some ghouly metal vibes check them out on Spotify.
What are your plans for 2021 should COVID ever disappear?!
Touring touring touring and writing some new material.
How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
We’re super active on social media, posting to Instagram and Facebook almost daily. We are planning on growing our TikTok soon too, so expect some more content on there including some exclusive behind the scenes from The Demon video shoot. Also, go check out our official website for gig updates and merch! If you want to get in touch feel free to drop us a message on any of our socials and we’ll always get back to you.
Pre-order ‘Radical Animals’ here.
