It’s just a ride - interview with Deal's The Young Hearts
In dispelling the fear of losing, The Young Hearts have already won…
Taking a step backwards to move forward, The Young Hearts (@theyoungheartsofficial) have just released their second album with a new line-up and new direction.
Upbeat pop-punk piled high with catchy lyrics and anthemic riffs, the Deal four-piece have done some soul-searching, with more than a year and a half of studio sessions going into the creation of Somewhere Through The Night. But it almost didn’t happen at all. After the 2021 album The Modern State achieved official play-listings on Spotify, Apple and Amazon, as well as play across international radio stations, Covid put everything on hold, causing concern that it could be the end of The Young Hearts despite their positive first foray.
But now, four years on, with the new line-up and a fresh impetus, they’re back with Craig Lawrence (vocals/guitar), Connor Maguire (guitar/vocals), Stewart Thorpe (bass) and Joe Price (drums) heading across the UK and into Europe to tour the new album. Having been played out on the likes of Radio X and BBC Six Music, their listenership is clocking up. We got in touch to find out more.
‘Cene: Hey guys, we’ve been following you for a while, but for anyone who hasn’t heard your stuff, how would you describe it?
Craig: I think we like immediate labels that get thrown around as sort of pop-rock, pop-punk or just straight melodic rock. I think we get a lot of comparisons to bands like The Gaslight Anthem. It’s a very kind of Americana heartland rock sort of sound: The Menzingers, that sort of vibe with a bit of The Killers and Frank Turner - a whole mix of that scene, really.
‘Cene: The track Hit The Ground Running had a big Green Day vibe about it.
Craig: Yeah, a couple of the tracks on the album, people have referenced Green Day, but I think it’s just the sort of music we’ve grown up to, it’s been ingrained in our subconscious. When we’re writing songs, we’re just trying to sound like all our favourite bands. So there’s gonna be elements of everything that people will pick up on.
‘Cene: How did The Young Hearts start?
Craig: It started in 2013 and we had a couple of different members. After we’d released the first album, we went on a hiatus because two members left and we kind of weren’t sure whether we were going to continue.
When we decided to continue, Connor and our drummer Joe were the choices to carry it on. Connor was always an avid supporter of the band anyway and a really close friend. We actually met each other back in the day, playing in punk bands in little village halls. His band would play with my band and we’d see each other around. And then as the years go on, you just realise your mutual interests and have a beer down the pub and start chatting about stuff.
‘Cene: And I suppose that helps with writing music if you’ve got the same interests.
Craig: Yeah, 100%, it is always nice to have someone you can bounce ideas off who has the same mindset as you.
‘Cene: Your first album was kind of about reaching 30 and not perhaps being where you thought you might be. Do you have an overarching theme for the new album?
Craig: Yeah, I think so. The Modern State was very much about turning 30 and maybe thinking that pursuing music the way we had been wasn’t completely working out. Maybe that it was the end of that phase, like how long can you keep doing something with little reward? When do you have to start focusing on other aspects of your life?
The new album is a more positive outlook. There’s an acceptance that, yeah, this is your dream but the chances are it’s never going to happen so you might as well just enjoy the journey - there’s a reason you do it in the first place. You need to sort of go back to the enjoyment and those initial feelings and just run with it.
Conor: Like Craig says, The Modern State was before my time, but it felt like a real push to get somewhere bigger with the band and Covid really sort of put a halt to that.
But I think this record is the realisation that the pressure doesn’t exist. It’s quite freeing and I think it comes across that there wasn’t that pressure to sound a certain way or write songs that people were expecting. I think we pushed some different stuff on this record and took our time.
‘Cene: It definitely sounds lighter and more jovial.
Craig: Yeah, I agree with you there. We embraced some of our other influences on this record. Springsteen for me, probably my all-time favourite artist. Sometimes when you’re writing and in a band you want to fit into a specific genre so you can go on tour and be on the same bills as the right bands. But with this we got to the point where we were just writing music for ourselves, not expecting anything, with no pressure.
Conor: I think the perfect example of that is the title track. It was the last one that was written and it really has a different vibe. There’s a whole bunch of cool stuff on that track, you know, sax solos and pianos and gang vocals. It’s got a real positive party vibe to it, but it’s probably slightly more progressive than some of the stuff the band were doing earlier on.
‘Cene: That’s interesting. I suppose most people start out wanting to ‘make it’, whatever that is these days. It must be so freeing to then just have fun and enjoy the ride?
Craig: Yeah, at the end of the day, that’s why you do it. You’re in a band to release music and go and play shows with your friends. I think we got ground down over the years by trying to reach certain goals all the time and constantly being disappointed, so we just wanted to release an album that we could sit and listen to and be completely proud of.
‘Cene: What’s the reaction been like?
Craig: Some of the reactions we’ve had have been incredible. And the fact we’ve managed to get this Germany tour - heading out to Europe for our first time off the back of these songs is amazing. We also got played on Radio X the other day and we got played on BBC Six Music, too.
Conor: Yeah, John Kennedy played it, and BBC Introducing in Kent. We get these notifications, so a radio station in Brazil played it and someone in Canada. I’m not quite sure what level that is, but it’s always fun to see.
‘Cene: And the numbers that you’re doing on Spotify are no mean feat, either (19k monthly listeners)...
Conor: Obviously, it’s awesome and it’s amazing so many people are checking it out. But you can quickly become obsessed with how many streams we had today or that this new single hasn’t done as well as the last one. So, again, we’re just kind of reminding ourselves that it’s not the be-all and end-all. What is great is the kind of opportunities that have come from that - being able to go out to Europe and there being an audience for us out there. That’s the real reward.
‘Cene: And so, on to the tour… why Germany?
Craig: It’s a German band called Final Stair we’re playing with. Our management has been trying to work our way into that scene because they’re a lot more supportive of bands, especially on the live circuit. People just love coming to shows out in Europe.
Venues get a bit of funding from local councils to put stuff on. Every band we’ve played shows with over here always rave about how good Germany is. This support slot on a 10-date tour came up and we jumped at the opportunity.
Conor: We do have a lot of support from people in Germany, particularly on social media, Spotify streams and that kind of stuff. They are very receptive to this kind of music and we’re looking forward to going out and experiencing it.
‘Cene: Cool. So what’s the state of play at the moment?
Craig: We released the first album through Year Of The Rat Records and we were still in touch with James, the guy who runs it. When we started recording a couple of new tracks for the new one, we sent them to him. We knew what he could do. So we signed up and did the next album with him as well.
‘Cene: Presumably, you guys have still got your day jobs at the minute, then?
Craig: Yeah, unfortunately.
Conor: Yeah, I’m a social-care commissioner. Which in the current climate is interesting… it’s difficult.
Craig: For the last 10 months, I’ve been just doing highway maintenance but training as a carpenter in my evenings.
‘Cene: Wow, with the band as well, you’re busy boys!
Craig: Busy and broke. But it’s fun.
