DIRTY THRILLS press photo
Raunchy, bluesy London band Dirty Thrills may not have hit this side of the pond, yet, but don’t wait to check out their music. Featuring strong, signature vocals ala the Small Faces Steve Marriott or any other old-school rocker, the songs are catchy, full of swagger and high-energy.
Since forming in 2013, the charismatic and fun-loving quartet have released several EP’s, and a couple of albums including 2017’s Heavy Living not to mention over 100 shows including both headline tours and arena support tours.
Concert Guide Live reached out to the band who shared tales of getting banned from venues and hotels, their latest album and so much more.
CONCERT GUIDE LIVE: Your band name is quite evocative, how was it chosen?
DIRTY THRILLS: After many names were thrown about, we had a long list of names many of which were song titles from particular artists. We couldn’t find any common ground so after a long debate, Louis (James/vocals) suddenly came out with Dirty Thrills.
CGL: When/where was the first Dirty Thrills concert? How did it go?
DT: Well, amazingly our first ever show was at the world famous 100 Club in London. We were real excited about this and it was a dream come true to play there. It went better than ever, and we won over many fans that night, and realized we had a good thing going here. We did however have a dispute with the venue which went onto us apparently being banned from playing there again. Not sure if that still stands ha! If so then 100 club… water under the bridge guys, we love ya.
CGL: What do you like to do right before you go onstage?
DT: We are quite the energetic bunch of lads on stage, that takes a bit of preparation beforehand. A lot of mental preparation, we each warm up our instrument (wink). ? Then maybe a beer or whiskey to wet the whistle. We leave everything out there on that stage so no matter how much we prepare, we rarely come off alive. Ha!
CGL: Tell us about an interesting/unexpected/funny or surprising situation that has occurred on the road.
DT: While touring with Europe, which was real exciting for us and it was our first taste of a big tour in several countries and staying in various hotels. We got a little too sassy on the last night of the tour, didn’t end up doing the cliché ‘trash the hotel room’, don’t worry. But Louis did end up very drunk walking around the lobby in search of his and his girls room, totally naked with a kettle full of whiskey in hand. He must have knocked on about 20 different rooms that night, greeted with shocked customers at every door. Haha. Needless to say, we aren’t allowed back there anymore.
CGL: How long did you work on the latest album Heavy Living from writing to recording the songs?
DT: About seven months, give or take. We had a couple songs already that we wanted to add to the album as we felt they needed to be on it. As far as the rest, they kinda wrote themselves really. We recorded it at the famous Monnow Valley which was amazing! And we did the entire thing pretty quick actually. All in all, it took about a year to write, book studio time and pre-production to finally cutting the record.
CGL: Which song was the most challenging and why? Did any of the songs seem to write itself?
DT: Ha! As said before, many songs wrote themselves. Once in the flow, we seem to get shit done pretty quickly. There were no real challenges as such, some songs are harder to perform due to their lyrical content and meaning, but apart from that, we are a well-oiled machine.
CGL: Is there a primary songwriter or does everyone contribute?
DT: Lyrics and melody are usually Louis and Jack (Fawdry/guitar), as with riffs, then we go into the studio and put all our heads together, work on the arrangements and tweak any parts we feel need a little TLC.
CGL: What inspires your songwriting?
DT: Anything really. Can be a drunk jam, to hearing a song you dig, even from hearing a tv advert jingle. A lot of the time I (Louis) will just hum or whistle a tune and something will come out of it. There’s never really any regular process.
CGL: How did the four of you meet and was there a specific moment when you realized you wanted to do music?
DT: Louis, Steve (Corrigan/drums) and Jack all met at uni [university]. Louis dropped out and immediately wanted to form a rock band. He called up Steve, who was up for it. Steve then contacted Jack and that was that. Aaron (Plows/bass) came along about a year later after our original bassist had other plans. DT was complete after that.
CGL: Do you all have similar tastes in music? What’s the last “record” anyone bought?
DT: We do, and we don’t. I can’t stand some of the stuff the guys dig, as I’m sure the same goes for them. We have a love of rock and whether that be metal, hard or classic, it’ll find its way, and the eclectic mix bodes well for us when writing interesting tunes. The last Record I (Louis) bought, was Rival Sons Great Western Valkyrie.
CGL: What is on the horizon? Are there plans to tour the U.S.?
DT: The Horizon is forever changing, we can never know, but we are constantly heading toward it, at great speed. We are excited about the future and we can’t fucking wait to tour across the Pond! We love you guys and I’m sure you will dig us too!
CGL: Is there anything you’d like to add?
DT: Check out our album Heavy Living – OUT NOW – if ya dig that classic rock vibe with a modern bite!