TALKING TO THE SONGBIRD …….BLUE RIVER

Blue River are an energetic and punchy 4-piece indie surf punk band from Cornwall, consisting of members Perran Nicholls on lead vocals/rhythm guitar, Marc Willoughby on lead guitar/vocals, Adam Knuckey on bass guitar /vocals and Brett Buddy on drums/percussion.

Blue River have played several West Country festivals including Boardmasters, Leopallooza, Tunes In The Dunes and The Little Orchard Festival.

The Band are also now regulars on the London indie scene playing venues such as The Fiddler’s Elbow, The Spice of Life, Dublin Castle and The Monarch.

2019 saw the release The Band’s single, ‘LUCY’ , which quickly picked up radio support from the likes of Tom Robinson’s BBC 6 Music show describing it as “energetic, up beat, lo-fi fun” and an “absolute belter” , as well as scoring plays from John Kennedy on Radio X and Amazing Radio.

Sarah Gosling, BBC Introducing Cornwall & Devon described it as “This is HUGE”

RGM MAGAZINE commented “Lucy is short, snappy and classic anthemic indie rock … the energy and length of of the track leave you wanting more as if this was only a taster.”

September 2019 saw the release of the Band’s follow up single, ‘SUGAR WHITE SAND‘ , which has already picked up a play by Huw Stephen’s Radio 1 BBC Introducing show stating “it’s powerful stuff”.

Janice Long – BBC Radio Wales said “You can’t help but drum to that”

Amazing Radio commented …a fantastic band, definitely ones to keep an eye on as 2019 continues to unravel”

Blue River played a headline show at The Monarch in Camden in August 2019 and next up is a show at The Water Rats with This Feeling in December 2019

The Songbird recently caught up with Perran from the band for a quick chat.

Hello and welcome! Please tell us a little bit about yourselves. Who are you, what’s your role within the band and how did you all meet/form?

HELLO, I’m Perran and I’m the singer of Blue River. I formed the band back at school with a close mate, soon after I went to college and gathered some more musicians, since then a few people came and left, but we now have a solid line up and were ready to take on the world!

Who/What are your musical influences? What sort of genre would you consider your music to be?

Oasis, The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Cast, Catfish And The Bottle Men, The Smiths, Miles Kane and believe it or not, Motown.. The Supremes. Most definitely Indie, but recently we got dubbed “Indie Surf Punk” so we’ve gone with it. Think the “surf” bit is because we are from “Surfy” Cornwall

What’s your favourite song of yours and why?

I would have to say, Sugar White Sand, because it’s the song that’s got us massive recognition on a national scale, R1 picked it up and we haven’t looked back really.

What do you consider the best lyric you’ve ever written to be?

Probably again on Sugar White Sand, on the chorus it has two meanings where you can hear one thing or you can hear another, the actual line goes….. “can we have more of the, of the morbid Morrisey, I know? Do you wanna feel sorry for yourself!” Going for let’s all get depressed and Listen to the beautiful word smith of a genius that is Morrisey, OR you can hear “can we have more of the… oh the morbid more I see.. I know, do you wanna feel sorry for yourself” You kinda need to hear it to understand, so go and listen to the chorus right here and make your own mind up. Ether way it’s a tune.

also the opening lines of the song are very pleasing. “I’m searching rivers in the mind, waiting for my tide, to pick me up in time, so I can float down gently, into rapid flows, it’s where my body goes, where my body goes.”

I have one other I love and it’s on a song called “Curiosity Killed The Twat”, it’s a old tune that we probably should record one day, here’s the line that I love. “ you pray in the night as you let go, but the sins in your life well they might show, you can’t see what you don’t know, but it’s a dark tail, and it may show.” Pretty powerful if I do say so myself !

What’s your favourite song of all time by any other band/artist and why?

Live Forever by Oasis is one for sure, that line “we see things you’ll never see” is amazing, sums up a friendship or girlfriend / boyfriend where you see things no one else gets, that being a private joke, a look you give each other, or the way you view something and you’re that close to that person only you and them get it, it’s ridiculously powerful and instantly makes you feel it’s about you. Noel Gallagher you genius.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Liam Gallagher’s new album on repeat, he’s smashed it out the park again.

What’s going on with you at the moment? Do you have any gigs planed or upcoming events?

Just released a single called Sugar White Sand, it’s been played and dubbed “powerful stuff” by Radio 1s Huw Stephens, we also recently got the single in our local HMV, we did a signing a few days ago, we were overwhelmed by the love and support we received, it’s been mega!

Next up is our 3rd single of this year and it’s called “Lie Next To Me” BBC Introducing have just picked it up, calling it our song that will “thrive us to that Cornish Indie Thrown” so we are buzzing to see out the year with that tune and then play a mega “This Feeling” date at the Water Rats on Dec 6th.

What’s been the best gig you’ve played so far and what would be your dream gig to play?

Boardmasters was pretty mega, The Old Bakery in Truro has been good, and The Monarch in London has always been kind to us. Dream gig? Gotta be Wembley Stadium.

Who would you most like to share a stage with (past or present)?

Easy, John Lennon.

What’s the best thing and worst thing about being in a band?

It’s the best thing in the world to be in a band with your mates, it’s odd, I see more of these guys more than anyone, they become your brothers very fast, but then, brothers can be annoying sometime still. Bad? To be honest I can’t think of any bad things, sounds a bit cliche I know but I’m struggling to find any.

What three words best sum you up as a band?

Never Give Up.