Start Listening To: SOUP!

Soup! is a South Manchester-based band that draws inspiration from Postcard, Fast Product, Factory, and Zoo's funked-up angularities.

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and where you grew up?

Matthew (guitar / vocals), Connor (guitar), and Ben all grew up around South Manchester, Hayden (bass) and Rob (synth) are from Macclesfield. We now all live around Stretford, Chorlton, Timperley and Sale in South Manchester.

What encouraged you to start your own band?

Me, Ben, and Connor having been playing together since we were 15, doing Stooges and Buzzcocks covers. We started playing because we had such attuned musical taste and a frantic desire to discover new sounds, bands, scenes etc. Eventually, after all living away from Manchester until our early 20s and having met Hayden and Rob in 2020, we started writing our own music and trying to pool together the influences we had accrued during our time apart to create a sound which reflected our personalities, our relationships as a group and our influences in equal measure.

What is the relationship with soup and the band, how often do you guys eat soup and what is your favourite soup? Tell us please a bit about the background story of your band name!

The word “soup” was in a lyric of our first ever demo, around the time we were starting to think of names. We didn’t want to think too much about it and like a lot of bands with simple, one word names of inanimate objects; Magazine, Television etc. It’s open-ended and also who doesn’t like at least one soup?

If you were to describe your sound to someone who’d never heard you before, what would you say?

If drawing on influences / references we would say a mix of Orange Juice, Josef K, OMD, The Specials and Sandinista-era Clash. The funkiness of the rhythm sections, simple and pop-leaning guitar lines, atmospheric synth and insightful and interesting (we hope) lyricism and delivery.

We love your new Single “Only Time”. What inspired you to write your new Single “Only Time”?

With most of our songs someone comes with a crumb of an idea to the rehearsal space, in this instance it was Connor and the guitar line. Once the synth was down The song had a certain hurriedness and urgency about it but was still quite light and energetic. This leant itself really well to the lyrics which were almost already finished in the form of a poem about the passing of time and an ability to stop and take note of the moment. Often Matthew will have something written which matches the mood of an instrumental part we have developed and this was the case here.

What was your favourite & least favourite part of making the Single?

For everyone in the band writing and recording is our favourite part of making any song. The formation of something complete from that initial idea, the time and collaboration involved is a really wonderful thing to be part of. Also sharing that process between five people that happen to be friends with is brilliant. In terms of least favourite parts, waiting from finishing the song at the rehearsal space, to eventually being able to release it as a full package was frustrating but definitely worth it. Playing songs live and hearing a positive reaction is brilliant but it drives that excitement to get it out even further.

Can you tell us more about how you produce your music?

We write, rehearse, and record basic demos at our North Manchester rehearsal space. We then take instrumental demos and overdub synth and vocals at home before sending finalised demos to Seadna McPhail at Airtight Studios. Seadna is a long-suffering collaborator and has recorded and produced our last 2 singles. Once we have decided on a track to record and a direction in terms of references and influences for certain sounds throughout it, we get in the studio and try to get a live instrumental take in as fewer takes as possible. Seadna likes us to put in as much energy as possible and knows that with stringent prep before the recording sessions we will be able to get a solid, tight, and atmospheric take within those first few. Once we have that take ready to go we overdub the vocals and synths and begin mixing / adding extra percussion.

Will there be soon new music released or are you guys working on something new right now?

We have a new single coming out next month and the beginnings of an EP which we are very excited to release as our first fuller body of work.

What advice would you give for anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to your music?

Being tight, rehearsing to a click track and demanding a lot of each other are the ways in which we have formed our sound. Knowing when to finish a song and move on is also something we have had to learn pretty quickly. We are quite attuned to our sound but aren’t scared of taking on new ideas and advice also.

Is there any new music from 2022 you have been enjoying?

We have all been listening to Henry Carlyle’s new single, the new Opus Kink EP and Harpen’s Kraft new single Canal Side Running which comes out the end of this month.

I read the band started in South Manchester how did the city and the music scene over there impact the band (if it did at all) and how did it influence your music?

The appreciation and presence of art and music as well as world culture in Manchester influenced us more as individuals and as a band than the music scene. We love The Fall, Joy Division, and especially New Order but the vibrancy of the city and an acceptance and intrigue in things external to the city are key to what goes on within it. The new music scene at the moment is a great place to be, bands like Harpen’s Kraft and DEAFDEAFDEAF are not just bands we love to see live but also lovely people, it makes for a nice scene all round.

Do you feel like your parents influenced your personal music style or not at all?

Certainly myself, Ben, and Connor were heavily influenced by our parents and by each others’ parents growing up. Ska, soul, punk, post-punk, reggae, jazz, and new wave were pretty heavy staples in all of our households growing up.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s important to you?

London Calling has never really left the rotation. It reminds me of long, boredom-filled car journeys as a kid, locking into the narrative of the lyrics and trying to apply my imagination, eventually asking question and beginning to understand the references and enjoy the lyrics more and more.

What was the best gig you guys ever played and why?

We headlined Club Academy in January, that was probably our biggest and best. The room was packed and all our friends and family were there which was lovely. Playing with Dehd at YES was cool because that was our first show supporting a band we really look up to. I’m not sure because they’ve all been great for different reasons, we’ve definitely got the best to come though.

Where do you see your band one year from now?  

With the upcoming releases and some really exciting festival and venue bookings, hopefully we will have played some really cool shows, met some great people, and released our best work. Whatever happens we’ll definitely still be meeting up every week to talk rubbish and play.

What do you love right now? 

HBO’s Succession

What do you hate right now? 

Waiting for the next series of Succession

Where do you find comfort?

On the grass, in the shade

What are your plans with the band in near future?

We are playing at Blue Dot festival in July, then we have a live date booked supporting Holiday Ghosts on September 1st at Gulliver’s in Manchester, Live at Leeds and Left of the Dial in Rotterdam in October and a new single coming out in a month’s time (EP also incoming).

Is there anything you would like to share with us?

Thanks for having us, hope you enjoy the tunes and look forward to seeing you at a gig soon!