“Wait, how has she collaborated with Bob Marley?” A confused Palm Honey frontman, Joseph Mumford, asks with regards to Katy Perry’s new track ‘Chained to the Rhythm’. “No, not Bob Marley, his grandson!” drummer Ayden Spiller smugly replies. How does a global popstar come up in conversation with a four piece “not guitar band” from Reading? “We bonded over our love for Katy Perry” Spiller jokes before confessing he hasn’t even heard her new track.
Fresh from their first headline tour, Mumford, Spiller and band mates Harrison Clark and Sebastian Bowden welcome an eager crowd to their gig in the South London district of Peckham. Playing at the Montague Arms on Queens Road, bassist Bowden suggests it might be his favourite venue, before quickly being put down byMumford: “We haven’t even played yet!”. Personally, the singer and guitarist’sfavourite venue is the Victoria in Dalston – “it has a really good sound”. He would sayThe Shacklewell Arms, but it got a bit rowdy – “people started to pull shit over”. DoPalm Honey get in a lot of trouble then? “Nah, we’re usually alright – it was just acase of Joe going through a wine phase” Spiller explains, referring to an earlieranecdote in which Mumford got naked on the tour bus. He still proclaims his innocence though: “We all got naked”.
Despite the “wine phase” and Mumford stating he’s currently “too drunk” to think of answers, the foursome never go on stage drunk. “You think you’re playing great, but then you listen back and it’s not.” Bowden explains, with fellow bandmates agreeing:“I can’t sing drunk” Mumford admits, with Spiller adding “I can’t even speak drunk”.Meeting at college in hometown Reading, Mumford and Spiller were in bands previous, but refused to name names: “ahh, leave that out”. Bowden and Clark were also in bands before, but the four came together thanks to their open-mindedness.They draw upon various influences to create their ‘contemporary psychedelia’ sound, from Krautrock bands such as Neu! to free jazz greats like Miles Davis. “We aren’t a jazz band, but we take the philosophy from free jazz of anything goes” Mumford clarifies, before adding “to us, psychedelia is just a way of experimenting and making music that emulates a sort of trance, not what people think of psychedelia normally: wah wah guitars and reverb.”One thing that is made clear is that they are not a ‘guitar band’. Mumford: “What is a guitar band? A lot of people call us a guitar band – but half the stuff they think is aguitar isn’t, and half the stuff they think is a synth is a guitar”.
How would they classify themselves? Spiller: “Band, music band.” Crowds start to gather around 9 pm, just as support act Hotel Lux take to the stage. Clearly a band who like to moan, the frontman shouts at the audience about ‘Daddy Issues’ and the struggles of being a teen in the modern world. Palm Honey picked the support acts themselves for tonight’s gig: “they are all just good bands from the area… we wanted to make sure we play with good bands”. When the time comes, as promised the band have “sobered up” for theirperformance. Setting up their own instruments, they begin their set at around 10.30 pm. Opening with the track ‘Palace’ from new EP Tucked into the Electronic Wave,the psychedelic resemblance is apparent immediately. Feedback heavy, the music is accompanied by flashing visuals, red curtains and an array of questionable plants on stage.
The first song blends perfectly into the next: new single ‘Stick the Knife In’.More indie-rock than the previous, Mumford explains: “it’s the kind of music we like.It’s heavier, darker”. With unique vocals and catchy guitar riffs, Palm Honey can be likened to early Two Door Cinema Club at the beginning of their set, but this comparison soon disappears. Listing Tame Impala as an influence to their earlymusic, Palm Honey have evolved from their first single ‘You Stole My Blackout’.Funk sounds are created with the use of synthesizers and their experimental side is shown with tracks ‘I Can Try’ and ‘Bewitched’, which involves Mumford using vocals to create rather dubious sounds. The gig builds, until the finale is just a blend of music-like noises and feedback. Abruptly cutting off, the crowd are left longing for more. Palm Honey are a band still in the works of discovering their sound. What they have discovered though, is the art of showmanship. Frontman Mumford throws his guitar offstage, promptly followed by taking a swig of beer.
After the gig and pleased with their performance, a rather sweaty Palm Honey agree:“the sound on stage was great which meant we could jam and improvise together – our favourite part of the show”. What happened to the no drink on stage rule? “Shit happens”.
Comments