East Anglian foursome Among The Citizens, purveyors of addictive indie-electronica, take inspiration from a range of artists from new-wave luminaries The Cure and Echo & The Bunnymen, to the distilled atmospheric indie-pop of more contemporaries such JAWS and Hunny, which they channel into their own definitively dreamy sound; infusing lush synthesisers, infectious chorus-washed guitar lines and impassioned vocals. New single 'In Your Car', produced Jon Hucks (Spring King, Years & Years) and mastered by Mike Cave (Lewis Capaldi, The Charlatans), is out today, October 11.
Who are you?
I am Christy Hoyles, I'm the lead guitarist for Among The Citizens, a four-piece indie band. I have the pleasure of playing with John Gooding (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), Ollie Green (bass) and James McGonigle (drums).
Tell us something about yourself and how you came to be where you are today.
We're based in Peterborough, Cambs., not an area where music is a large scale part of city life so for us it was quite difficult starting out. I personally came to be in the band mainly because of the other three members who had previously formed Among The Citizens before I joined. I'd just started learning guitar when we were all in school together and John kept telling me how the band had to use a backing track for lead guitar and how he felt it would have more of an impact having a live guitarist join. I hinted for a month or so and then got invited to a practice and since then we've always had the same line up. Ever since then, our four individual lives have all revolved around the band.
Give us an idea of your musical style and influences.
From a young age we've all always enjoyed live music and bands rather than DJs and electronic music, however, as the years have gone by - I make it sound like we're really old, we're only 19! - we all have diversified into our own personal tastes. John enjoys Jazz and R&B featuring artists such as Oscar Jerome, Brockhampton and Liss in his playlist. Ollie prefers DMAs, Liam Gallagher and a bit more of a 90s/00s Indie influence. I am into a more heavier persuasion of music including bands like Shame, Foals and The Pale White while James enjoys 80s acts such as Billy Idol and The Cure.
Explain the production and writing process behind your songs.
The writing process usually starts with a demo in one of our bedrooms that then gets sent to another bedroom and then another and so on and so forth. We each add our individual elements separately and then put them together in practice. It's a bit of a weird way round of doing it but it's sometimes our only option while being in full time work. John and Ollie will usually start by putting rhythm and bass down then James will add drums and I'll have the full picture of an instrumental song to look at to put a melody over the top.
The production process has varied over the years, studying the Music Tech course at college, we used to record everything ourselves, mix it and then get it mastered with Jake Day at North Acre Studios however for our latest single 'In Your Car' we used engineers for all of it and I think the quality in the final product has shown. It was our first time going into a studio to record and this as an experience was probably one of the best things we could have done. Jon Hucks who has worked on tracks with the likes of Valeras made this track sound better than we could have ever expected surpassing all expectations. Recording in a studio with him helped to refine this track and from now on we will be using engineers solely on tracks. It definitely helped having an extra set of impartial ears to listen.
Tell us a little about your new single.
'In Your Car' is a track that we've had for a while now, even before 'Next Time' was released. It came to be when myself and John revisited it one night. It was the first time we were recording my lead onto the track and since I had last heard the track John had edited some of the drums as he'd added a heavier strumming pattern. He didn't tell me this had been done so I was sat there playing my lead over it and when the chorus hit we both just looked at each other in shock of how good it sounded all in. It was one of those real euphoria moments where we realised we were onto something. In the coming months we improved this song further and further even while recording it parts changed.
I think the reason we all love this song so much is because of that felling we first got when hearing it and that's stayed with us to this day playing it live.
Can we catch up with you at any forthcoming live shows?
We've got a tour planned in association with This Feeling for the end of the year. It kicks off with a run of 3 consecutive dates starting in Nottingham at the Chameleon Arts Cafe on October 17th then travelling to Birmingham to play at Muthers Studio on October 18th and finally Manchester at Jimmys on October 19th.
We'll then get a little breather - and hopefully a good night's sleep! - before playing London on the 24th of October in Camden at The Monarch and finally returning home (or near to it) to Cambridge at the Portland Arms on November 2nd.
We also have a couple of big support shows planned. We're playing with Larkins on November 11th at the Norwich Arts Centre and there is another one in London that I can't announce just quite yet.
How's the remainder of the year looking, plans-wise?
We're hoping to see out the year with our This Feeling tour and a few big support slots as mentioned above. From there we'll start planning for next year and see where that take us.
Where can we hear more of your music?
Our music is across all major streaming platforms you'll find it on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Deezer, Soundcloyd, the lot - just search 'Among The Citizens'.
What social media platforms can we find you on?
Facebook // Instagram // Twitter
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