In a small candle lit bar in Stoke Newington, I sat down with Irish band The Academic to talk about their newly found success, formation and song lyrics.
The guys rocked their signature boyband look at their sold out show in London. In recent years, there’s been a huge surge of inspiring young bands and The Academic are no exception.
As we relaxed into the interview, the guys were very excited and pumped to be here. Niall Horan is a massive fan and showed his support at their London show, the guys were very excited to have Niall attend. Seeing The Academic perform was unreal, raw and exciting. The talent in one small room was astonishing and shouldn’t be forgotten. It was nice to see them have such a different age range of fans, which we don’t normally see.
So I took a deep breath and jumped into the first question…
How did you guys first get started in music?
Craig- we were all in school together! Me, Matt and Dean were all in the same class and then Stephen is Matt’s brother and he was two years below us! We started jamming together when we were in our early teens. When we finished school, we decided to start this band. We started writing songs and started doing gigs round our hometown and put a bit of our music online. It’s kind of kicked off since then.
Who influenced you whilst growing up?
Stephen – Oasis at the start!
Craig – Yeah Oasis and maybe a bit of Blur and the Artic Monkeys.
Can you tell me about your EP?
Matt- it’s called loose friends and most of the songs are about stories about people we knew growing up and mistakes that they made and maybe some of the mistakes some of us made. That’s what most of the songs are about!
Your currently touring at the moment, do you have any pre-show rituals?
Craig- we actually have no yet got any!
Stephen- I just listen to a lot of Frank Ocean
What’s your favourite song to play on stage?
M- it changes, I love playing new songs! We have a new song on the set called Permanent Vacation
Have had any embarrassing moments on stage?
Stephen- I had a full beer thrown at me on stage, I haven’t yet fallen over.
Craig – I’ve like nearly fallen over 95 times
If you could perform anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Craig- Madison Square Gardens would be cool.
If you could you collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Craig- Brandon Flowers
Are you currently working on new music?
Craig- All the time!
Matt – we’re hoping to have one more single out before the end of the year!
What’s next for the academic?
Craig- we have a couple of tour dates in Europe! We will probably be in the studio for a little while.
Stephen- we have an Irish tour in December!
Follow @TheAcademic on twitter
