Will Chats With Emergency Break

I had the chance to interview one of London’s most exciting up-and-coming bands Emergency Break after the release of their second single PYRO and the turn of new year, discussing their success as a young group and their aspirations for the band.

Q. Describe Emergency Break in 5 words or less

A.Exciting, Fresh, Innovative, Young, Seismic  

Q. You guys released your first 2 singles last year - IT’S OVER and PYRO - what were your first recording experiences like as a band?

A.When we made ITS OVER it was prior to Camden Assembly and we wanted at least one EB song out that the audience could sing back. “IT'S OVER” was made quite honestly on a MacBook Pro I owned with logic on it. And as funny as it all sounds it paid off massively - if you see the clips from Camden Assembly everyone is chanting that riff and belting them lyrics. Also if you keep an eye out in 2024 a studio version is on the way. 

PYRO was completely different. We recorded in a studio in London, and although our in-house producer Fin finished the track off everything was done professionally this time and not on some laptop. 

Q. Throughout both your recorded music and your live shows, it’s clear you’re heavily influenced by bands like Arctic Monkeys and Fontaines D.C. with their high-energy, punk-infused indie rock. Are there any other artists you’d like to cite as being inspirations for your sound, either individually or as a band?

A. In terms of my music it spans all over the place; some amazing recent artists that have had a huge influence on not just me but also the band style are artists like “The Last Dinner Party” , “Yard Act” , “STONE” , “BNCR” , “SHAME” & “Chappaqua Wrestling” - but i'm quite a classic man when it comes to my music taste - I love anything “Oasis” & “The Stone Roses” but a lot of the band draw influences everywhere. We are a huge hybrid mess of all sorts. 

Q. If you could play any venue in any city with any artists tomorrow, where would it be and with who?

A. There's genuinely so many. We would love to support a band like “Sports Team” but if we really are dreaming, “Catfish and the Bottlemen” would be the one I would die for. We are also really gassed up to do festivals; “Reading & Leeds” is the one that we’re all dreaming of playing.

Q. You’ve grown a lot through 2023 alone, playing some historic venues and getting thousands of streams on Spotify. Where do you see Emergency Break this time next year?

A. Hopefully even bigger and better and growing. Whether that's 50 more fans or 5000, it's all about growth over here and the more people, the more ambitious the ideas and bigger the stages. We love everything we’ve done so far and have pushed the envelope time after time with how ambitious we can be, and we’re not planning on stopping doing that. 

Q. Where do you see Emergency Break’s music sitting in terms of genre and style? Do you have a niche you’re looking to fill?

A. As it stands we are really closing in on our demographic but we are slowly touching on the theatre aspect of our shows more and more each time, and the more of that the more the crowd will hopefully start to buy into it.

Q. Individually, what are your go-to pre-gig food and drink fixes?

A. We are a very basic band when it comes to that. A few of us might have a Cider or something just before we get on but otherwise we are a very safe band, nothing heavy at all - we usually all get a Tescos meal deal as lush as it sounds, but it does the job and you won't get food poisoning.

Q. So far you’ve played a number of one-off gigs across the south of the UK, but would touring be a future ambition for Emergency Break and, if so, where is on your bucket list to play a show?

A. We can't wait to touch the North - there's almost too many places we want to go. All of us would love to play the cavern club in Liverpool especially Ewan and Oran since they’re “Beatles” crazy, but one ridiculous show we would love to do is anything like TRNSMT festival or like a huge northern outside show. Would be a blast and hopefully we wouldn't get booed off lol.

Q. What is the writing process like for you guys as a band, and has it changed at all since you started releasing music?

A. It changes by song; sometimes one of us will walk in with a complete song and it takes off and sometimes it's just a riff or a chorus we have written, but what's so great is nobody really has a trademark on any of our songs. Everyone really dedicates their own bit to each track - especially if they make the setlist - it makes it so much more magical.

Q. What have been the highlights of your journey so far as a band?

A. I think the whole band would agree that the biggest highlight was going from unknowns to selling out “Camden Assembly” in just 4 months. All of us have great memories of that gig, but besides that our first radio play or even our first gig - which at the time we thought was amazing but it really was just in a basement in London, but you gotta start somewhere.

Q. As a very young group, what are the biggest challenges/benefits presented by your age when it comes to succeeding as a band?

A. Without giving the whole “nobody believed we could do it” statement, it boils down to nobody giving you chances. We’re all 18 and we carry every move we make as a band with such care due to that, but on the flip side when you do put on a show, 90% of that crowd are 17/18 year olds throwing themselves everywhere to our songs and suddenly it pays off to have such a youthful following. 

Q. Is there a debut album or EP in the works for any time soon?

A. I can't say too much but I'll say one thing: it's coming and you’ll 100% have it before our big summer show - but we have on more single for you first so keep an eye out 

Q. What’s next for Emergency Break?

A. Short term, we’re playing “Old Blue Last” this saturday, celebrating our one year anniversary as a band, but long term we are just laying the blueprints for our huge summer show which we'll announce in the coming weeks. We’re also looking at putting on our very own one-day festival this year if all goes well, so stay tuned for that.

Q. Any closing remarks or anyone you’d like to shout out?

A. Thank you to everyone who streams our songs, sings them loud in the car, buys our merch and comes to our shows. Without any of you WE COULD NOT DO IT. Also a massive shout out to a band that's also taken the leap and worked with us especially in the earlier days we love you.