Nottingham-born Amber Run have a big year in store for them - they’ll soon follow the recent release of their latest album, How To Be Human, with a country-spanning tour. Our Amrit Virdi catches up with frontman Joe to chat all things music and their loyalty to our lovely city…
Your new album is out! Do you feel like it has crept up on you quickly?
It has crept up, in a sense - just because we've been steadily unveiling the music to it. We released it in a series of EPs and chapters. It's been a long time in the making. It's both exciting and scary, because it’s pretty vulnerable to put music out into the world. So I do slightly dread release weeks, not for any other reason than you lose ownership of something.
What have been the influences behind this particular record?
None of us live in a bubble. The pandemic and lockdown does make you stop and engage. I wouldn't say that we overtly went out of our way to be inspired by that, but I think any artists would be lying if they said it didn't inform how they went about making music. More often than not, we really like being in the studio as much as we like being out on the road, so we wanted to spend more time doing that. Rather than getting together a collection of songs and going in for a month to make a record, we wanted to do more of a ‘one week here, one week there’ approach, just so that we could record and release the songs in the moment they were conceived. It was a new challenge for us on our fourth record. If I'm being ruthless, as well, it was just out of necessity, because I've become a father - and my time is 1,000 times more precious to me than it has ever been before. So, to be able to write, and then record, when we know exactly what's going on within each individual track, also meant that using our time felt a lot more fruitful and a lot more forgiving.
The tracks seem to have a more upbeat feel – was this a conscious decision?
The concept of the record was this midlife moment where you feel like you've learned a lot about how to just be yourself, but you're not old enough to quite lean into all those things, and you haven't learned everything yet. Amber Run has the tendency to fall on the more sombre side of things, but that's not the entirety of our character as people, and so we wanted to get that across.
We're really lucky. I looked at what our goals were when we first started the band, and we've done them all - apart from maybe Wembley
What was it like seeing your older, more sombre track, I Found, blow up on TikTok while you were releasing this new music?
I Found has a life of its own, it's crazy. I don't think any of us are angry about it. We're really proud of that song, and our back catalogue. We’re pleased that it's still able to find a home and people feel like they see a bit of themselves in it.
You’re off on tour, visiting Nottingham and playing Rock City again. Do you have any memorable gigs you went to while studying in Nottingham?
Coming back to Nottingham always feels great. We haven't run away from it because we think it's an amazing city filled with some people that are unbelievably talented, and are really passionate about music and being part of a collective, and I think that's incredible. It's a desperately underrated city. We've played Rock City now at least five times and they’re some of my favourite shows that we've done. We’ve seen the Maccabees at Rock City, we saw Bombay Bicycle Club. We've seen some incredible shows… and also some terrible ones!
Are there any up-and-coming artists from Nottingham that you've got your eye on?
Jerub is incredible. There's a guy called Mark Smith that went to university there, as well, who I think is quality.
Coming back to Nottingham always feels great. We haven't run away from it because we think it's an amazing city filled with people that are unbelievably talented
Have you got any plans for this tour which may be different from your previous tours?
Yeah, we're going to start with all interpretive dance! No, I wouldn't say there's anything massive that we're doing. We're going to come and play the songs properly and just really enjoy it, especially after COVID and the lockdowns. It's going to be all about just being back in the room with people - they're the ones paying to come and we're going to give absolutely everything. That collective group mentality of when you come into a room and you love the music, or you love particular songs, and there’s an energy in the conversation between band and crowd that takes over, that’s when you know you’ve got it right. That's what we're going to try and do - speak to people properly so that they feel like they can become a part of it. I'm really excited to start that conversation.
Have you got any dream venues or festivals that you'd love to play as part of the band?
Red Rocks in America. But apart from that, we're really lucky. I looked at what our goals were when we first started the band, and we've done them all. Apart from maybe Wembley. We can just twist the knife and continue to do these amazing things.
Have you got any advice for any future budding musicians? Maybe people who are in university and are wanting to break into the music scene?
Just start. People can't like things that they don't know. People can't love music they haven't heard. Then just be prepared to just pull up your socks and enjoy the process of it, because it's not all going to be great, but it’s all about continuity. Make things that you think are amazing because you're your own worst critic, so if you think it's good, it's probably got some merit.
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