Blue Bendy are shaping up to be the hot new pioneer of pop-experimentalism - here they promise an up-coming album that’s entirely ‘schizophrenic, arrogant, and cripplingly insecure’.

London-based experimentalists Blue Bendy are on the run-up to their highly anticipated debut album ‘So Medieval’, out April 12th. With expansive songs pin-balling nonsensical half-thoughts with genres facing obsolescence faster than a flailing situationship runs dry, here Blue Bendy shine the light on their tiresome creative process, the 2023 tour with Squid, and why they’ve become a ‘different beast’ from their post-punk origins. The fragmentary world they create, inspired both by the likes of Pavement and Werner Herzog and the ludicrous ‘over-zealous throbathon internet magic appeal’, is as painstakingly meticulous as it is, in their own words, ‘just cheeksters being cheeky’.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

Oliver: We’re Blue Bendy, a 6 piece based in London but from all over the country. 3 of the band grew up in Scunthorpe - Oliver (bass) and Arthur (vocals) are brothers, with Joe (electric guitar) being a lifelong friend of both. Olivia (synths) is from Plymouth, Oscar (drums) is from Ipswich with Harrison (acoustic guitar) from Surrey. The music we make is grounded in pop but with lots of experimental weirdness thrown in.

Congrats on the release of your latest single ‘The Day I Said You Died (He Lives)’ - I’m sure there’s a great story behind that. I wanted to talk about the previous single you released, ‘Come on Baby, Dig!’. Can you explain what this song means and why you chose to release it as a single?

Oliver: “…Dig!” is dedicated to an old flame and a city break. Arthur was on a jaunt around Italy, digging around for some culture post breakup, and quickly became banned from ever returning to Bologna. This single is a kind of departure from the previous singles we’ve released in terms of mood and tone, and was a good opportunity for us to be sad for a change.

The accompanying music video is directed by Michael Julings and stars Marina Abramović collaborator Laura Schuller – can you tell us more about this experience?

Harrison: We did it on a bowls green full of mulled wine and deli sandwiches. We consumed them while watching people bracing the elements and slamming their bodies on the floor. It was all about the band using this black box (fridge freezer) as some kind of magnetic monolith to entropy. Seemed to fit with the general self destruct buttons the music is on the verge of pressing.

As a six-piece project, how do you navigate the creative process within the band?

Harrison: The creative process is about going through every available option on every detail of every second of every song. Takes ages.

Your first full-length album ‘So Medieval’ comes out on April 12th . Often your music obfuscates meaning as much as it spins pithy narratives to poke holes in the modern condition; in light of this, is there any way you can tell us what we can expect to hear on release day?

Harrison: Extremes, nothing in the middle. Schizophrenic - it’s arrogant, it’s cripplingly insecure. It’s dense with the desperation of making something that’s going to last. It’s as if we’re writing in a desperate attempt to stay alive. You don’t know how long this lasts for, so it’s maximalist gestures stretching every bit of our capabilities. Also, some of it is just cheeksters being cheeky.

You went on tour with Squid last year and finished in London’s iconic venue ‘Troxy’. How was that experience for you guys?

Oscar: Wild. We had a blast. The band could get very used to playing those size venues every night. Squid were great and we were delighted when they asked us to support. The tour marked our first gigs in Ireland as well which was fun. Hope we can get back over there soon. Troxy itself was a huge one for us - weird to think of London as our 'home crowd' but I guess it is. Something changed for the band under all those lights. We've grown in belief and feel more ready than ever to take everything on. The main takeaways from the tour for the band were that we can actually do it: We've got the discipline and the desire. We enjoy it. And we can can live with each other for extended periods. Alot of lessons learned touring with Squid for sure. We're itching to get back in the Van for our headline tour in May.

You’ve been making music together since 2019 – is there a sense of that journey in your new sound?

Oscar: Night and day. There's a pretty stark contrast between So Medieval to our early singles. However it's probably Live that the gulf is most obvious which is kind of funny as most people will be oblivious to that. Only Five Bells gig goers going back 4 or so years will truly know what we mean by that. We've definitely undergone a maturing of the sound and a marked change in arrangements and style. The addition of Olivia on synths was the first major change and step forward for our sound. Harrison playing electric guitar (standing) to taking a seat and weilding his electro acoustic another big sonic change. Things I guess started in relatively firmly in the post punk realm but departed pretty quickly. We had all the ideas and influences but not the execution (certainly live) or the clarity. A 'different beast' now people who haven't seen us in years often say.

You’re going on tour in April, kicking off in hometown Scunthorpe (for three of you, at least). Through Rough Trade, you say ‘often we seem shy or gawky on stage while performing. This is all in jest’… is it finally time we see a little more from behind this mask on your upcoming tour?

Oscar: I've often wondered what the hell people must think when they see us perform. It has been remarked that we all look like we belong to different bands. We certainly embrace such comments and like the fact we dont look like some off the shelf band unit. I know for members like myself the appearance of shyness was more a sort of head down terror at barely knowing what I was doing! Just focus on your drums. It'll all be over soon. We've always had belief in what we're doing but we've never been ones to be or feel cocky up on stage. We like having a bit of fun and when you feel like people aren't getting it then we naturally lean into enjoying it for ourselves in a sense. What else are you doing to do!? The past few years we've totally found our feet live, as a result we've all relaxed on stage. The fun has increased, the gawkyness has probably disappeared a bit as we all know what we're doing now in tandem with crowds being receptive. Arthur coming over to have a little chat to me during sets and all our other quirks are firmly established.

What do you love right now?

Arthur: Gilmore girls, crying in the vocal booth and Ugly (the band).

What do you hate right now?

Arthur: Getting drunk on hinge dates, crying in the job centre and large canines.

In single ‘Mr Bubblegum’ one of your lyrics reads ‘I can handle being the third best guitar band in London’: who, pray tell, take first and second spot for you guys?

Joe: We couldn't possibly say. We’ll write back in whenever there’s a tour support slot on the horizon.

Grab your tickets to Blue Bendy’s UK tour here.

Start Listening To: Blue Bendy