credit: @docksuns instagram
The band from the North East are releasing some blissful, indie music that is such a delight to our ears. 'Lost With You' was their first release last year and the such assured debut was impressive but still feeling so fresh and new! Docksuns did not stop there and released another two singles last year, all really setting their 80's indie and 60's songwriting sound in stone; that obviously has some good guitar lines and lovely melodies. Now we have been gifted with another single in the name of 'Dancing On The Radio'! Another strong number by the band and a sign they are here to stay!
One of the beauties of this band is how they wear their home city, Sunderland, especially within their name! It was a real joy chatting to the band about what it's been like for them over the last year or so.
What was it like starting out as a band in the north east? Is your name anything to do the docks found around Wearside?
There’s a really good vibe to the North East music scene with some incredible acts breaking through at the moment. We’re excited to be part of it and we can’t wait to get back up on stage as soon as we can. Yes - all hailing from Sunderland, particularly from around the dock area, the name pays homage to that. Spelt Docksuns, the second part of our name is also an extra nod to Sunderland.
How was it writing at first for the band? Is it a collective effort or does someone come in with a specific idea and it goes from there?
We are very fortunate enough to have three main song writers in the band that all bring their own creative style to the table. Our front man James is our principal writer and lyricist who writes the most of our songs, but we all have our own collective input once they brought to the practice room.
‘Lost Without You’ is a great nod to Johnny Marr’s solo effort from the sounds of it, with its grace of a guitar part. Are him and The Smiths a big part in your musical journey?
As one of the greatest ever British indie-rock bands, The Smiths are an obvious influence. However this has not been intentional. We try and put our own stamp on all of our songs and if people think that our sound is similar to the Smiths then that’s a compliment that we’ll openly take!
I have to say, the b-side ’Take Me Away’, stood out for me. How did that song come about?
Take Me Away was one of the first songs we ever put together as a band. It was written by guitarist Steve and it’s always a really good crowd pleaser. One particular gig we didn’t include it in our set and we ended up playing an impromptu encore after fan pressure and played that song. Good memories.
Whats the music scene like in Sunderland? How have you guys felt starting out there and what’s been a highlight so far performing in the city?
Sunderland’s music scene is really strong at the moment. There’s a whole showcase of bands catering for all sorts of musical varieties at the moment. If you haven’t been to a gig in Sunderland yet we’d really recommend checking it out. Our personal highlight was performing at the Sunderland International Airshow in July 2019. Having only played our first gig in June, to be asked to play such a notable event so soon after our inception was crazy!
There were a lot of releases during 2019! I presume you guys have had a lot of time building up to being able to get these songs out, hows it been writing since those first bunch of releases?
As a band, our three guitarists are always coming up with new ideas. Since our first bunch of releases we feel like we’re really discovered our own sound, but always try to make sure that no two recordings are the same. We like to keep our own stamp on our songs but we think it’s important to have variety in our recordings.
It must be so frustrating that lockdown has stopped some momentum after last year, how have the band been doing during this time?
Incredibly frustrating but all bands are in the same position. We were due to play our first gig down in London but it got cancelled and we can’t wait to rearrange when the time’s right. During lockdown we’ve been keeping busy writing new material and our weekly Clap for Cares lockdown videos have had some great responses. The sooner we get back to normal the better as we can’t wait to do what we do best, and that’s play live music. But for now, people can check us out on Spotify and all of our social media platforms.