In preparation for the release of their upcoming EP, The Sum of Our Fears, I sat down for a phone call with frontman Adam for a chat about the EP, the band, and the British music landscape.

By Mark Wright

Can you tell me a little about the upcoming EP?

It’s a little bit of a departure from what we were before, without inflating our egos too much it’s the best stuff we’ve ever written and it was born out of some horrible stuff we went through last year, so we’re really proud of it and just waiting for it to come out. We’ve gone back more to our West Coast influences. Taking a step back and putting things on hold for a long time with the pandemic gave us some clarity and we just ripped everything up and started again.

What are some of the inspirations for the EP?

We take a lot of influence from the sixties and seventies sound and even some fifties B-roll stuff. One of the things we gravitated towards was this natural sound that gets born out of a desolate place like a lot of the music in California which is born out of the desert. When you see the iconography in spaghetti westerns like Monument Valley you think wow look at that and that’s the sort of thing we’re trying to go for in our music; that massive sound that hopefully impresses people.

Will there be any more singles before the EP?

We’re going to drip-feed it. There will be another two singles from the EP released and a secret track on the physical release. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people to get some vinyls out. The singles get progressively better.

Where do you hope to see the band go after the release of the EP?

We do this because we enjoy it and we’re fortunate enough to have people around us who support us to keep doing it. It’s a cathartic tool for us and we really appreciate it when people dig it. So long as we keep connecting with people and giving people that bit of escape then that’s good enough for us. Of course, everyone has dreams of grandeur, but the reality is that its all about taking each little goal as it comes.

So, you’ve got Leeds dates booked for November, how do you as a London based band see the music scene of the North?

We talk about this a lot as a band. I’ve been in that music scene and I see how collective it is and everybody knows each other. I’ve seen how easy it is to play all these different cities and the South doesn’t have that same mentality. I’ve always said the North has this comradery and unbelievable support for grassroots music.

How do you feel about your rave reviews from Radio 6 Music and KEXP?

Everyone always likes getting touted by big names and we’re thankful for the support; we wouldn’t be here without it. It is nice but at the same time we think ‘that’s great but what’s next?’ We’ve always been lucky with radio and it is nice, but blogs and zines mean a lot more to us since that’s someone’s passion.

Any final thoughts for the fans?

We can’t put across enough that we’re forever grateful for everyone who’s supported us. We’re looking forwards to seeing everyone at venues. If people come to our tour just say hello we’re more than happy to meet everyone. Feel free to join us at the bar after the show, we don’t run off.

Make sure to check out The Howlers on streaming services or via their SoundCloud linked below.