Izzy Hunter
Roy Stride, from indie-pop hit-makers Scouting For Girls who have captivated the hearts of millions across the globe, talks lockdown hobbies, new albums, and touring after a year of Zooms and drive-through shows.
“It’s fun, and a bit stupid, which is pretty much Scouting For Girls all over.” Stride describes their brand-new album Easy Cover (a fantastic play-on-words from the classic 80’s hit Easy Lover) as a “tonic to last year, a form of escapism for 2020” while flashing the eccentric neon pink vinyl cover, glowing amongst the keyboards in the background. He explains the thought process behind the album as a “stupid idea” while on tour, then as lockdown hit back in 2020, they found themselves recording the sensational versions of classic songs we all know and love, like Girls Just Want to Have Fun and I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
2020 hit hard for the band, as Stride talks about the ninety-eight shows they had booked for the year, whilst only going ahead with four. It’s clear a tinge of sadness hits him with the talk of lockdown and what it means for the music industry. “It’s been really hard for everyone in the live music industry, I just hope everyone gets out there and supports.” But, in true Scouting For Girls fashion, Stride sits up, laughing along as he excitedly talks about people in his life and what they’ve been up to in lockdown. “My monitor guy is now a milkman. My front-of-house guy is now a farmer, and my tour manager is now in charge of a vaccination centre. It’s not just the bands, it’s everything.”
“If anything, I want to get more humanity and life into my music, I want it to be real and rawer.”
A huge tour across the UK plans to go ahead from September to November 2021 for the band, Stride exclaims “I’ve never been so excited for a tour in my life. Literally more excited than our first tour, I’ve been at home for too long! I’ve done more washing up than I’ve ever done in my life.”
When asked about how he spent his lockdown, it came as a shock that he had in fact learned to fly, while upgrading the studio for a new era of music. “If anything, I want to get more humanity and life into my music, I want it to be real and rawer.” He continues “I had a transformation with my relationship with music over lockdown, I got really into vinyl, turntables, and autobiographies of musicians.”
Stride goes on to add a touching remark that he’s “fallen in love with music for a second time” continuing with “it’s like I’m having an affair or something!” Whilst the past year has changed everyone’s perspectives on how they view the world, it’s clear that time has been spent to reflect and build on their music, ready to launch their exhilarating new music into the world.
Social media has impacted the music industry extraordinarily over the last year. From doing live shows to livestreams, Stride talks about their experience with pub quizzes and Zoom. “When we first started we ran some quizzes, with a couple of thousand viewers, we were just making it up as we went along. By the end we had a theme tune, guests coming in, but I don’t think anybody wanted to use Zoom again!” The band are engaging in Facebook livestreams, including Q+A’s with fans and acoustic sessions, to see us all through until live music can make its long-awaited return.
“We go between [Butterflies] and She’s So Lovely, and that’s the Scouting For Girls spectrum.”
From their debut album over ten years ago, we’ve witnessed huge hits such as She’s So Lovely and Elvis Ain’t Dead, Stride describes the creative process the band has been through over the years. “There’s a level of maturity and depth, we can produce songs which are more heartfelt [such as] Butterflies which is one of our most streamed songs. We go between [Butterflies] and She’s So Lovely, and that’s the Scouting For Girls spectrum.”
With Easy Cover already hitting the charts, we cannot wait to see where the band are planning on heading next. Whether that’s more festivals or pub quizzes, we’re all here for it!
Izzy Hunter
Featured image courtesy of Scouting For Girls via Sonic PR. Images granted to Impact by their owners. In-article image courtesy of Scouting For Girls via Facebook. Image use license found here. No changes made to these images.
For more content including news, reviews, entertainment, lifestyle, features and so much more, follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and like our Facebook page for more articles and information on how to get involved.
