We were invited along to catch indie rockers SEA GIRLS perform at The Fleece in the heart of Bristol. Before the show, Megan Barnett joined them for a chat about hw the tour is going and a look back over a busy summer of festivals, here’s how she got on….

Firstly, a very warm welcome to Bristol…..

Thank you very much

I’m really looking forward to tonight’s show, how was the opening show at Nottingham last night?

Nottingham was great. It was a good first show. Nothing went wrong which is nice. On the last tour, we messed up a few times on the first song we played but we didn’t mess up last night which was a good sign!

We played your latest single ‘Violet’ on our radio show recently and it went down really well. Is it about anyone in the band knows?

I think Henry tends to write about people he knows. He does know someone called Violet but I don’t think it’s about them. It’s one of those things like when you substitute a name, sometimes it’s what rhymes best in the song. But yeah, Henry always does write from personal experience. Well we all do. I think it’s more genuine that way.

You feel that you connect to it more that way?

Yeah, rather than try and make up some crazy story!

So this tour is nearly sold out. How’s that making you feel?

Great! I guess because we’ve only done one date so far, I always get there and think, “I know it’s sold out but what if no-one comes”. But yeah, obviously it feels great. It’s cool to know a couple months in advance that people are that excited that they buy tickets really early. Playing a full show is better than playing an empty show. It feels very special.

Why do you think people connect so much with your music?

I think it’s having catchy songs that does it, and like I said before, it’s relatable and hopefully, not everyone has loved someone called Violet but they have loved before. They’ve all fallen head over heels for someone and then there’s darker moments too which everyone experiences. Hopefully people can project themselves or see themselves in our songs which I think helps. It’s loud rock music which everyone loves as well, what’s not to like?

It’s the sort of music that get’s people up and dancing!

Exactly. Everyone loves a dance. A dance and a cry!

 So how was your performance at TRNSMT Festival this year?

That was great! Scottish crowds are always awesome. We’re really lucky that every time we go up there, we get a good reception. And it was good as it was televised so my mum could watch it! I sent it around the family ‘WhatsApp’ group. Looking back, all the festivals we did were great!

Is there a particular festival that stands out as your favourite?

Reading and Leeds was great. It was a festival we used to go to when we were 16 years old. Henry and Andrew and I went and we saw Arctic Monkeys and Kings of Leon and all these other great bands. We also did our first shows in Europe, we played in places like Norway which we’ve never visited before. All of them have been great. Not been a band one. Apart from Boardmasters, which was cancelled owing to bad weather!

So what song you most looking forward to playing tonight?

I’ve really enjoyed playing our latest track ‘Violet’. We play that one first and it’s like BAM, straight in there. We have some new songs to play as well which is fun. Two of the new songs are called ‘Ready for More’ and ‘Shake’ tonight is the first time we’re playing them. It’s nice to see people’s reactions to new material. I like that. And if you can get them dancing by the end, you know you’ve got something special! Our track ‘Closer’, which is the song we released before Violet, we played it for the whole of the last tour before we released it and it always got people dancing by the end which is a VERY good sign.

Well it’s been lovely speaking to you and I hope tonight goes well.

Thanks very much, great chatting to you!

You can read the live review of the show and check out some pictures from it by clicking HERE

Interview by Megan Barnett

Catch the band LIVE at the remaining dates on their debut UK headline tour;

OCTOBER

Thu 10TH LONDON, O2 Forum Kentish Town
Fri 11TH LEICESTER, O2 Academy 2
Wed 16TH HULL, The Welly
Thu 17TH MANCHESTER, Academy 2
Fri 18TH LIVERPOOL, O2 Academy 2
Sat 19TH STOKE, The Sugarmill