Getting to Know…The Sourheads | Interview

The Sourheads, Snooty Fox Wakefield – © SD Photography 2016

Want to get to know the eclectic, English rock band The Sourheads? Brent Faulkner (The Musical Hype) interviews the versatile, multi-talented guitarist, Mik Crone.

Sigh, you always remember your first time.  That is indeed the case with the inaugural interview to appear on The Musical Hype.  ‘Cutting the ribbon’ the right way, the first band to ‘bear their souls’ with a grueling, totally intimidating set of questions (said on one ever) are The Sourheads.  Via the colorful interview, we found out a number of interesting tidbits about the English rock band, including various stylistic influences (don’t pigeonhole them!), ‘demon possession’ while performing, and delivering a record they liken to their own “Stairway to Heaven” to close out shows. I was so fortunate to tap the band’s incredibly versatile guitarist, Mik Crone, to answer some questions about the band.

Brent Faulkner (The Musical Hype): Let’s get this started off right. For those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes you/your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?  

Mik Crone (The Sourheads): We play a distinctive kind of hybrid Rock and Roll. We are equal parts punk, classic rock, garage rock, stoner rock. By fusing styles, we feel like we have created a unique sound. We want to be able to play with every genre of music. It’s a shame to pigeon hole bands into one form of music. Let’s rock out with whoever we can. We like The Rolling Stones and we also like Slayer. Let’s try and blow off the doors on convention.

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

MK: The band was formed by Jake [Coxon] our singer and Sid his brother. I joined much later when Sid decided to leave and concentrate on boats and sailing. Before I joined, the band was much more indie influenced. I felt that there was an underlined rock power that needed to be tapped into. Jake is a ferocious front man and rives and gyrates like a mad man. We needed to build on this. I added a shed load of overdrive to the guitars and cranked the Marshall amp. Like Iggy and the Stooges mixed with The Ramones and Alice Cooper.  The early goals were to take our multi influences and mix them into a new vision but at the same time, stay true to who we are.

BF: 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?

MK: The first goal was to record the album outside of our own circle. I usually produce the band demos but we decided to go to someone else. The result was a live sounding recording that captured the essence of the band. We used an old BBC mixing desk from the seventies and used some old valve amps. Our producer, Matt Knee, has a very good ear for classic sounding rock music so we pretty much left him to it him. The mastering was done by Pete Maher who has worked with everyone like Katy Perry, The Rolling Stones and U2 and Linkin Park. Having him attached certainly got us interest from labels.  The second goal was to get a record deal and we did that with Oak Island Records who have released it on Vinyl CD and digitally.

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

MK: This is what makes us sound like we do. We are all into completely different music. Jake loves The Doors and Black Sabbath, Ben [Taylor] likes Radiohead, Lamb [Chris Lambert] likes The Charlatans and I like Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, early Mötley Crüe and White Zombie. When we fuse that all together, we get The Sourheads.

BF: 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.

MK: Many things have happened. Jake gets possessed by a demon live. He claims it enters his body through his spine and comes out through his mouth. We have had pints thrown, tripped over, done gigs in dresses. We always have fun at service stations at 2 in the morning trying to get to the toilets inebriated. It’s the same old rock n roll stories. It never dies.

The Sourheads’ debut album, Care Plan for the Soul, was released in 2017. [Photo Credit: Oak Island]

MK: We have a number of songs from the first album Care Plan for the Soul that resonate with our fans and audience. They are all slightly different. We finish the show with “Mad Dog.” That is our “Stairway to Heaven.” Every emotion and dynamic is in that song. You have raging rock and roll and subtle almost gentle parts going off. The whole song crescendos into a giant frenzy! It certainly gets the crowd going.

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

MK: Jake is a great cook. He won a certain UK TB show. Ben is the brother of InMe drummer Simon Taylor. I spend a month of every year living on Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills. Lamb our drummer is secretive. We don’t know much about him. Our roadie, Andy, sang backing vocals on some of the album and guest vocals on Mad Dog live. 

BF: Closing this thing out, what is you/your band currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

MK: We are finishing off a run of UK dates promoting our debut album and then, when I get back from California, we will start the pre-production of our next album. We have already written 5 songs and we have some ideas kicking around. We would love to get to the USA and central Europe at some point. Touring is great and we really do try and give the best performances we can. We have made a lot of friends and even though it sounds cliché we always have a big party.

Make sure to check out and follow The Sourheads:

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Photo Credits: Oak Island, SD Photography