Himalayas are rocking out and having a blast along the way; the band consist of Mike Griffiths, Joe Williams, Louis Heaps and James Goulbourn, who mostly all met at school. What I love about their sound is that they are are not afraid to be as rock'n'roll as they want and catchy as hell, which is a great combination that really makes these guys a fun listen.
Started in 2015, the band from Cardiff gained attention from alternative radio stations and most notably, BBC Introducing. This led to performances at the Reading and Leeds Festival back in 2018, and Im sure everyone who heard their most successful single to date, 'Thank God I'm Not You' (which has over 20 million streams on Spotify now) went absolutely nuts at the Introducing Stage. It was great talking to Joe, the rhythm guitarist, and asking him plenty about Himalayas and their story so far.
You guys all met in school, right? What got you guys together as a band and what was it like first playing and writing in those early stages?
Yeah, three of us met in school and then we met Louis later on and have been stuck with each other ever since. I think it was our love of music as individuals that brought us together. We just wanted to make music that we wanted to listen to and were proud of. We always hoped that it would do well but never expected to be able to do anything that we have so far.
Individually, what musicians inspired you to get into your instruments and eventually your playing/writing style?
Bands like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Green Day, The Beatles and loads more to be honest. I think as individuals our music taste is fairly similar but we each bring something new to the table.
Did you guys feel like you wanted to represent something, an ethos to embody live and within your music, to inspire to or connect with people? Even if that is simply, wanting to make music and have fun.
We originally just wanted to make music that we were proud of and that we as individuals would enjoy. We all dreamt of achieving certain things when we were young and that’s always a drive. To be the biggest and best band that we can be. I think that since then, our reasons have maybe evolved. We want to write and perform for others as well as ourselves now!!
Your first EP ‘Ecstasy’ came out in 2016! After sometime on Sound Cloud, what was it like releasing a body of work after a year of being together?
I think that was a big moment for us as a band. We spent a while playing live and making sure that we were in a really good place before releasing any music. I think that without the EP, we wouldn’t sound the way that we do now!!
‘Thank God Im Not You’ got a lot of attention and is such a strong tune! How did that song come about? The riff is both so cool and fun, it must be a lot of fun to play!
Thank you, I think that once we had taken that song into the studio it really came alive. It’s always one that we love to play live because of the reaction at every show from fans.
You guys played on the BBC Introducing Stage at Reading and Leeds, how was that experience and how beneficial has BBC Introducing been for you guys?
We’ve loved playing Reading and Leeds, both on the BBC Introducing stage and The Festival Republic stage too. But I think the BBC introducing stage was pretty surreal. It’s a show that we’ll never forget and we will always be really grateful to BBC introducing, Reading and Leeds festival and everyone that turned up to the shows. We have always had such amazing reactions at Reading and Leeds and we can’t believe the support. BBC introducing support so many new bands and we have been lucky enough to have been one of those bands. We will always be really grateful.
As a band, your blend of heavy riffs and a catchy melody is awesome. ‘Sign on a Hurricane’ makes me want to mosh but unashamedly boogie on the dance floor! Do you think it's important to be able to be loud and thrash it out, while having a catchy and accessible hook?
Yeah I think we’ve always wanted to write and play music that is singable and catchy. If it doesn’t get stuck in our heads whilst we are writing then it doesn’t really make the cut. I think that when it comes to being loud and thrash, we love music with energy and music that’s self assured.
Do you feel like your approach has changed since the beginning, has anything you have go to since 2016, impacted on your songwriting?
I think our ideology as a band has pretty much stayed the same. We try to make music that we want to listen to and that we enjoy playing. Hopefully other people enjoy it too!!
When listening to ‘The Masquerade’ I heard Arctic Monkeys (the verse and backing vocals) and Queens of The Stone Age? Is that a fair reflection?
Yeah, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve been influenced by both bands massively. It’s always nice to have people think we are like bands that we love.
How do guys feel how the guitar scene has changed in recent years? The likes of IDLES, Wolf Alice, Royal Blood The 1975, Foals and many others have been been very successful. Do you think there has been a slight shift in rock music again?
I think there’s definitely a slight shift in terms of Rock music within the last couple of years. To reference Alex Turner’s Brits speech, I think that Rock music is always fairly constant and it’s exciting to see who will be part of the next step of Rock Music.
As reviewed recently;) I loved the new single ‘We Love to Hate’! How did the track come about and is the song a lead up to an EP or something bigger?
I think the song is an observation on today’s society. We are often inspired by a number of things but often we like to write about what we see in between the cracks and share them to hopefully contribute to the conversation in the most positive way.
What was it like releasing a song during this tough and weird time?
It’s been a strange time for us all and we are lucky enough to have the opportunity and facilities to still make and release music. So we are really grateful. However, we normally would be touring and playing shows to as many people as possible. We miss having the opportunity to play the new release with our fans and share that moment. But it won’t be long and we’ll be re-united!!
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