Meet Scowl, a 3 piece punk outfit, comprised of Jack Parker, Sadie Lewcock and Dom Vian, that brings a wall of noise our way. Those ones were high on my list of bands to book for one of the Play It Loud gigs but due to Covid and gigs rarely happening we will have to try to make it happen in 2021. In the meantime I had a virtual chat with Jack about the latest release, the band and life in general.....
Please give us a little intro about your band. How are things at the Scowl camp?
We're good at the moment, we're a 3 piece chaotic punk group from the lovely gardens of Tunbridge Wells. We started gigging our local venue 'The Tunbridge Wells Forum' roughly 2 years ago. When we started nobody really knew who we were or had any time to care so our aim was to get every head in the room turned on us. Whether there's 20 people or 200 we still go on stage with the same mindset.
How would you describe your style to people who aren't familiar with you?
Drenge were one of our main influences when we started writing as a group so you could definitely point us towards the grunge/punk direction. Bands don't feel the pressure to stay dedicated to one genre as much as they used to tho, so who knows what we'll end up sounding like in a year or two.
What first got you into music?
Jimi Hendrix's was one of my first big influences into playing guitar (Jack). His playing style was so unique, he could create this huge aggressive sound with his guitar whilst still sounding smooth and seamless. How that 3 piece created such a sound still baffles me to this day and I still take influences from that when we write.
'Scowl' as a band name – can you please elaborate on that one?
Choosing a band name is by far the hardest part about being in a band, everyone can agree on this. Scowl does have some sort of connotation towards the atmosphere our music points towards, a moody heavy touch to a beat you can move about to. But it may as well have come out of a hat for all we know.
Let's talk about your latest single “The Virgin” - What's it about? What was the process for writing and producing it?
The Virgin was a bit of an insight to the way sex is perceived in society and how bigoted you can be about to the whole situation, especially from a male perspective. There's this sort of pressure that starts building as you come up through the teenage years where people start feeling the need to have sex for the wrong reason, I definitely went through it. It becomes more of a social status than an enjoyable intimate experience and this can have a huge backlash on people. Confidence can so easily slide into light forceful pressure and a lot of girls can be put in uncomfortable situations that they've never been in before. I think it's just a note to check yourself and the other person before you dive head first into a world of shit.
Is there a place you dream of performing and why?
Sadie would love to play in front of Peter Andre and I'd love to play Glastonbury, maybe we can kick out Dom and get something going there.
What can we expect from a Scowl live show??
Our gigs almost always end up being hot, sweaty and messy. you can expect a fair good bit of male cleavage and some questionable playing and dancing. Polish that off with a few pints of Camden Ale and you'll be in for an alright night.
The dreaded subject of Corona – how are you coping with all the madness of lockdown and restrictions to your daily life??
Covid is what it is to be honest, In some ways it was really nice to put more focus on yourself. I definitely managed to move into a happier and more productive mindset and it put a half decent perspective on what really matters in life.
What’s the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Last summer jack crashed his car drunk without a licence that was pretty nasty, Sadie forgot her bass notes once so we made her sit on the naughty step for 3 hours. She hasn't done it since.
What are your plans for 2021?
Hopefully 2021 can look like something normal again, all we can do for now is keep writing/recording and see where we end up. Hopefully it involves a decent quality pint and kebab.
