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Quirks Behind the Music - CULT LUST's Sam and Owen



For those readers who aren't familiar with you and  your sound, tell us a little about yourself and your music?
We’re Cult Lust! We’re a scuzzy garage trio from  Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, we like to think we’re loud as fuck but probably not to the point where it becomes obnoxious, which is sort of a disappointment. We use a collaboration of horrible old fuzz pedals tied to ropey old vintage guitars, topped off with clean technical riffs and a heavy driving percussion force to produce a louder than life sound.

Which artists have inspired both your music and your personal tastes?
Owen – I started listening to Led Zeppelin when I was seven and I started playing drums because John Bonham’s drums sounded so good to me and I just wanted to be like him instantly. I grew my hair and got my first drum kit at 7 and it’s led me to where I am today. I’ve picked up a lot from other drummers because I’m self taught so there’s probably a bit of jazz influence in my drumming too .
Sam – A lot of the obvious ones, your standardgrunge scene starter pack, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Pixies of course but mostly more Noise Rock, bands like Flipper and Fang have been a big inspiration. Also lots of like modern Psych Rock stuff, it varies really.




You're a fairly new band. Has there been anything that you've struggled with or particularly enjoyed doing?
We’ve definitely struggled with money, you don’t realise how expensive it is but like we get by and we love it to death so we don’t mind. Gigging is definitely our highlight, we live for the gigs like it starts to get dull without them, we get bored when we’re not doing gigs.



Why did you decide to start a band? Did you have a set idea for what you wanted to sound like?
Not really, like we weren’t even super close mates when we had the idea, like we we’re bored and thought it’d be fun. Think we all sort of had an idea in mind in terms of genre, sort of crashed into the middle of all of our perceptions of what kind of band we could be COULD be but it was never really a question of wanting to sound a particular way, Sam had his noisy ass pedals, Josh is quite a technical guitarist, and Owen just goes for it, like we all just did what we do at the same time and it happened.




 Name your top three albums - try to make them by three different artists/bands and no 'Greatest Hits'.
Owen – Fat White Family – 'Champagne Holocaust' , Fat White Family – 'Songs for our Mothers' , The Libertines – 'The Libertines'
Sam - Probably my favourite album of all time would be 'Experimental Jet Set', Trash and 'No Star' by Sonic Youth, its hard to pick from their discography which album I like most but I’d have to settle for this one, I’ve had it on cassette since I was 9 and I love it just as much as I did then. Think in 2nd place I’d have to choose The Wytches’ first album, 'Annabelle Dream Reader', fully fell for them after that album came out. And last at the moment I’ve got 'Beware The Limits' by The Shitty Limits living on my turntable at the moment.

 Imagine you have missed calls from all three of the artists/bands you just mentioned, saying they want to work with you. However, you can only call one back, text one back and the other you have to ignore. Who would you call, text and ignore?
O – haha text The Libertines and call Fat Whites, win – win!
Sam - I’d probably call Sonic Youth, I’d be a puddle by the end but it’d be worth it. I’d text The Wytches and probably have to ignore The Shitty Limits unfortunately.

 So you've recently launched your debut E.P. with a wild gig at Ouseburn's 'Little Buildings'. What was that experience like? Any interesting stories from the night or the making of the E.P.?
It was a lot more crowded than we’d expected, really wasn’t expecting that big of a crowd, especially not one with so much energy it was amazing. I’m not sure about funny stories, there was just a lot of carrying that day. Actually when Owen was having a nap at mine before the gig I had to use a trumpet to wake him up, that was pretty funny.




Do any of you have a favourite track off the E.P.?
Owen – 'Sore', definitely.
Sam - I’d have to pick 'Sore', purely because every time we play it live I get to jump in the pit for like half a verse when I don’t have to sing, am really proud of the production on 'Monitor' though, really put a lot of work into it.





Which local bands have caught your eye recently? Who would you recommend seeing?
We LOVE LOVELOVE Nettles, played with them twice now, honestly can see huge things for them, they’re incredible to watch. They’re all incredible musicians, and we love them to death. We’re lucky enough to share a practice room with Mongeese too, they’re mint.

 Any final words? What's on the horizon for Cult Lust?
Think after 2 months of experimentation we’ve started have a more definitive sound, no more messing about, were knuckling down with writing and perfecting ourselves as a band. We’ve just got a bassist, Aaron, and I think adding that extra layer to our music has beefed up our sound. Think we’ve got a long way to go but it’s only up from here! 

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