Getting to Know… Catching Mangoes | Interview 🎤

For our 188^th interview on The Musical Hype, we get some great insight from the awesomely named British band, Catching Mangoes.

“I don’t think I’ve come across a band who have done a concept album/fantasy story mashup like this before…” Context, please, Catching Mangoes, context. “Our new album is a concept album about a young lad called Kevin who is trying to escape his hometown in search of the truth surrounding his long-lost father and to save his town from the dictatorial Mayor who is taking over the island.” Wow! Responding to the English band’s (represented by George) assertion that they haven’t come across “a band who have done a concept/fantasy story mashup” (they expound upon the ‘story’ part as well), I’d have to say I agree.  And here’s the kicker.  That’s only an excerpt of the answer to our FIRST question of our 188^th Q&A interview, as we continue that push to 200!  So, if you find those quotes to be hella intriguing, you’ll definitely dig the totality of Getting to Know… Catching Mangoes: Interview No. 188!

Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with Catching Mangoes, what makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 Our new album is a concept album about a young lad called Kevin who is trying to escape his hometown in search of the truth surrounding his long-lost father and to save his town from the dictatorial Mayor who is taking over the island. We have also got a short book about the story coming out (part 1 is out now on our website). I don’t think I’ve come across a band who have done a concept album/fantasy story mashup like this before, and I’d say it’s a pretty good USP! We also love a highly energetic live show with our best tunes and sometimes a few classic covers thrown in which usually creates a great live show.

Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did Catching Mangoes form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

🎤 Myself (George) and Dan (guitarist) actually went to primary school together and started playing music in some sense then, obviously to an extremely poor standard. We then started doing some acoustic stuff as we got a bit older, then found Max in a ditch and created the Mangoes. We always wanted to write some whacky stuff and had the concept album idea when we were about 16, so I suppose it’s always been our calling to write stuff a bit weird and out there. But if you’re up for indulging, there’s some great experiences to be had there, and anyone’s welcome!

Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 I guess so. I think we are maybe a bit more realistic now, being as young and naïve as we were when we started probably gave us huge visions of the future, and that hasn’t changed one bit since. Bring on Glasto?

Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 When writing our newest album, we were all listening to a lot of classic rock n roll from the 70’s, namely The Doors and Beatles. I’m more of a fan of modern rock than the others and love a big of Arctic Monkeys, their new album inspired us, just by pushing boundaries and using techniques/instruments/melodies and concepts that may not be obvious to other bands. Also the charisma that all of these bands have is something we tried to convey through our tunes.

Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.  

🎤 There was once a band playing before us who’s keyboard player took a phone call halfway through, and just left the stage and didn’t come back for ages. That was pretty strange, the lead singer was also on her iPad most of the gig. I think it’s fair to say it probably wasn’t the best gig we’ve ever played.

🎤 Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?  

🎤 I am a massive fan of our latest single 🎵 “Kevin’s Town”. It’s the title track off the album and I love the recording we have of it. We let ourselves go a bit in the middle section, which I think perfectly recreates the emotions that Kevin is feeling and the turmoil he goes through with the idea of leaving town, which he then of course does. It then breaks back out into the beginning riff, and we got a good family friend of mine to play Sax which just takes the song to another level. We also wrote the beginning riff when we were about 16 and had this great idea of one day writing a concept album about a kid who lives in a little village (like we do) and goes on this great journey of self-discovery, so the nostalgia of that, and how far we’ve come makes it special.

Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?

🎤 Max grows these moustaches in his house which he often wears. If you look on our socials, he’s likely to be wearing one. He has a little farm in his house where he grows them. That’s pretty weird, I think? 

Closing things out, what is Catching Mangoes currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

🎤 We have just released the third single and title track from our debut album, 🎵 “Kevin’s Town,” which is out now everywhere. We’ve got one more to come along with a music video next month and then the full album will be unleashed in around August. We’ve also got some gigs coming up on 17^th July at the Hoxton Underbelly and 16^th August at the Hope and Ruin in Brighton if you are about and fancy it!!! Cheers xx

Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward.

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[📷: Brent Faulkner, Catching Mangoes, The Musical Hype]