Introducing Interview: BRIDGES

With their anthemic melodies and bellowing harmonies, Bristol four-piece – BRIDGES – have been making themselves heard of late by relentlessly touring the UK. Having played esteemed festivals such as Glastonbury, 2000 Trees and Beach Break Live, they have also supported a number of well known artists, including George Ezra, Bleech, Little Matador and Brothers And Bones. Gigslutz caught up with the band to talk influences, dance-floor antics and windscreen wipers…

When and why did you decide to form BRIDGES?

We became BRIDGES after playing Beach Break a few years back. Me, Joe and Henry had been playing together for a little while under a different alias and I don’t think we really took it to seriously. We were first on on the first day and assumed that no one was gonna come down to this huge stage we were playing on. We got on stage and the tent began to fill. Then it rained and the tent was over capacity. Then the rain stopped and no one left. I remember looking at Hen and thinking to myself “what is happening?” The next day we changed our name, recruited Josh shortly after and began working hard as BRIDGES.

Your sound has been described as ‘anthemic’ – is this deliberate?

I wouldn’t say it is intentional, but we will take it. We aim to write creative and memorable music, so it’s great to hear that people are describing it in such a way.

What indie ‘anthems’ have influenced your sound over the years?

We are big fans of so many bands, it’s crazy, and half of us probably don’t like the other half’s favourites at all. Bombay, Dry the River and Arctic Monkeys all have big tunes that are often on in the van as we trundle from venue to venue. ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ comes on a fair bit as well. For me at least, tracks like ‘Weights’ by Everything Everything are songs that really influence my songwriting.

From all your support slots so far, which band/artist has been the most fun to support and why?

We have supported Brother And Bones a few times as they have passed through Bristol, really nice bunch of guys. Last time we played with them we went out with them after and had a lot of fun. Did have to buy Richard a drink after knocking him over on the dance floor though, thats what I get for missing my dive at Ed who was doing our sound for us that night.

You’re going on tour soon – do you have any weird tour stories you’d like to share?

On our second tour, during the torrential rain, our windscreen wipers broke and we had only a few hours to get to Moles in Bath. After a while the breakdown repair guys turned up and offered to take us to the local services. Once there, we were told they couldn’t fix it. In a brief moment of genius and stupidity we bought some string from the local garage, released the wiper blades, attached the string and created a pulley method so we could clear the rain. After a lot of shouting down backroads, we arrived at the venue two minutes before we had to play. It was scary, but worth it.

It can be notoriously difficult being in a new band in the UK, would you say this is true and what do you think would help the creative arts in the UK?

I guess it’s difficult, but it’s probably just as hard anywhere else really. I would say that we have found getting on the road a lot easier once we have got in touch with bands in different cities for gig swaps. We have made a lot of cool friends who are in awesome bands this way, and it’s always a great night if you are playing with bands you love.

Tell us about your next single ‘BFF’, does it actually stand for ‘Best Friend Forever’?

‘BFF’ for a long time was just a working title but now it has stuck. The track is about remembering what and who is important, so ‘Best Friend Forever’ seemed only right.

Catch BRIDGES live:

FRI 20 FEBRUARY – Miles at the Riverside, Taunton

SAT 21 FEBRUARY – The Birdcage, Bristol

SUN 22 FEBRUARY – The Green Door Store, Brighton

TUE 24 FEBRUARY- Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, London

WED 25 FEBRUARY – Boileroom, Guildford

FRI 27 FEBRUARY – 2 Pigs, Cheltenham

SAT 28 FEBRUARY – Cavern Club, Exeter