We interviewed 5 piece pop-punk band from Nottingham/Derby, High Tides to discuss their new mini-album I’m Not Giving Up, I’m Just Starting Over, their headline tour in March and their influences in pop-punk.

Interview by Jane Howkins. 

You’re about to release a mini-album called I’m Not Giving Up, I’m Just Starting Over. What can you tell us about that?

Well we released our 4 track E.P. Home Truths last year and that was to get our foot in the door and let people see what we were about and test the waters (which we got an incredible response to). But I’m not giving up, I’m just starting over is our way of saying look what we can do, we think it really shows progression in our song writing and Chris’ lyric writing. The record definitely has a split personality, the first half is very upbeat and positive sounding with the following half drawing from more of our emo influences as it’s more serious and emotional. We think the balance of the two really works together to make a dynamic and different listening experience. It was produced, mixed and mastered by Myroslav Boris of Jigsaw Audio and recorded at Artifex studios in Derby, he did an outstanding job and we love working with with him not only as a producer, but also as a friend. He manages to make an already great song go up to that next level with helpful tweaks and suggestions, and brings a great new look to the track you’re working on. It’s really refreshing to work with someone who really cares about that track and doesn’t just slap it together with no attention to detail. There has been a lot of blood, sweat, and emotion go into it and we hope that comes across and people enjoy it.

Why did you decide to release a mini-album instead of a full release? Do you have any plans to release a full album in the near future?

We didn’t really make a decision to write a “mini album”. We were just having fun writing songs, coming up with ideas, and experimenting with different things. I think we originally decided to just do a 4/5 track E.P. But we just kept writing songs and also came up with the idea of including an intro and an interlude and what we finally settled on just flowed well for us.

Your lead single is called 52. What can you tell us about that, and why did you decide to release that song as the lead single from the E.P.?

52 was actually one of the last songs we wrote and recorded. But we all instantly loved it. We decided to lead with it just because it has a fair bit of impact straight away, coming in with the fast verse and leading into a bouncy chorus.

The single also features Miles Kent from Catch Fire. Why did you decide to have Miles join you on the song, and were you already fans of his band before recording?

We decided to include Miles on the release because we are all real good friends with Catch Fire. We’re in the same scene, we’re from the same city, and we’ve always supported each other from the get go so it just made sense to have him on the release. And he did a damn good job we think.

Who would you say you are most influenced by, and what have you been listening to recently?

It’s hard to say who mutually we are most influenced by. We each have such different tastes and musical backgrounds, ranging from EDM to Hip Hop, through to the obvious pop-punk and punk, to heavier hardcore and thrash.

In terms of what we’ve been listening to recently – abit of an eclectic mix of both new and older releases from Can’t Swim, Casey, Panic! At The Disco, Architects, Turnstile, Turnover, Future House and Selected, and Issues. Just to name a few…

There’s been a pop-punk revival of sorts recently. What do you think of that, and do you think that has helped with the band at all?

We love it! There’s so much great talent appearing and it’s amazing to be a part of the U.K. pop punk scene. It’s definitely helped the band, as there are more opportunities to play and tour with bands from the same genre, and the whole view towards pop punk is a positive one so people aren’t ashamed to say they like it.

You’re embarking on a headline tour of the U.K. in March, what can you tell us about that? Are you excited?

We’re so excited! It’s been a hard process putting it together, and we’re still putting the final arrangements in place. But we’ve had a massive help from our Label Scylla Records, and the boys in Where There’s Life. We definitely couldn’t have made it what it is without them.

There’s some incredible line ups on some of the dates and we can’t wait to get out and play new cities.

You’re taking band Where There’s Life out on the road. Are you fans of theirs, and how do you think touring with them will be?

We love Where There’s Life. We actually played together at the start of last year at one of our first ever shows. and they’re so so good, and just the nicest dudes.

So and being on the same release Label we all saw it as a great opportunity to tour together.

Why do you think people should come and see you perform live, and what can people expect from a High Tides gig?

We just want people to have fun. If you’ve not heard us before, come check us out, see if you dig it. We put everything into our sets, it’s high energy, lots of movement, and usually a few of Chris’ crap jokes…

Any last words for the fans?

We’ve actually had a couple of people reach out to us and say how they can connect with the lyrics of new song 52, and how much they like it because it says something they can’t quite word together themselves. Even though it’s a personal song to us everything is relatable. And also thank you to the fans that have been there from the start and the new ones we gain from day to day, this may be the second release from us but we have lots more to say through music and lots more to write so thanks to the fans and we hope to meet every single one of you on tour.