I caught up with King Purple’s Luke, Callum and Fraser at their recent gig at the Roadmender on 20th September. King Purple, hailing from Corby, have been an established name throughout the county for a while now, often seen supporting the likes of The Barratts, Sarpa Salpa and MONARCHS, and playing local festivals such as Twinfest and The King of Hearts Festival, held at the Black Prince. Since gigging earlier in the year the band have been busy recording and writing new material and are back, in celebration of new member Jacob, and their new single Warning Signs.
I meet the boys backstage and it’s as casual as if they’d just invited me into their sitting room. Always the good host they offer me a beer and I take a seat on one of the sofas, the only soft furnishings to break up the hard austerity of the grey painted brick walls. The atmosphere is far from cold though as we discuss the night so far. “We had a saxophone in here earlier that was crazy!”, bassist Luke says, referring to Baby Lung, who had opened the night just moments before.
“We like to write new material to keep it fresh. Now we’re back and we’ve released a song. Warning Signs, out on 13th September”
Callum Connachie
Speaking of the events of the past year Callum says, “We had a lot of time playing at the start of the year, then we’ve been busy just writing, recording”. “You’re kind of forced to take time off from gigging as consistently. You’ve got two things to focus on not just straight gigging,” says Luke. “We like to write new material to keep it fresh. Now we’re back and we’ve released a song. Warning Signs, out on 13th September,” says Callum. So the night’s gig at the Roadmender is in a sense like a single release night, in celebration of the bands latest release. “We thought we’d give it a week, let it brew” says Luke. “Let people learn it!” Fraser added.
“Sometimes you just play in front of the bass players mum!”
Callum Connachie
Next up for the band, is more gigging, taking King Purple out of town to build their fanbase. Callum says, “We’ve booked up Oct, Nov and Dec with gigs. Coming up all about, Warrington, Bedford, Milton Keynes and London”. “We’re putting the feelers out and getting out of town a bit” added Fraser. In speaking of the crowds and people who attend their gigs in other towns, Callum says, “I think it’s the same for every band on our level. It’s hit and miss, if you go to a town where people watch live music and the scene’s quite vibrant, you’re in luck. Sometimes you just play in front of the bass players mum!”. “Saint Albans for example we went down there at the start of this year and we got a really good response,” says Fraser. “It ended up being our best gig, we went back again and there was a guy wearing a t-shirt,” says Luke.
The band are not only celebrating their new single but a new addition to the band as well. In the form of Jacob, a second guitarist making them a quartet. “We made the leap. I think it’s a thing we had to do. We were writing music that was fitting for a four piece. It didn’t match,” Callum says. In reference to Callum, Luke says, “It’s like you were trying to play two bits at once”. And you don’t sing an easy melody” joked Fraser. With their psychedelic, velvet-laced sound with lots of shapes and textures, it gives the band more creative opportunity and Callum a bit of time off! Luke says, “It gives you [Callum] more of a chance to focus on the singing and”, “and rocking out!”, interjected Callum with a demonstration of his air guitar finesse.
The nights gig was certainly is a big one for the band, it being their first time in the main room at The Roadmender. “It’s probably one of our biggest gigs. We’ve waited such a long time” Callum says. “It’s like sitting on your hands” Luke added. “Now we’re here and we’ll wake up tomorrow and it will all be over. All the build up for 50 minutes. All the arguing about stupid things,” Callum says. “Have you brushed your hair today?”, quipped Fraser, nudging Callum. “Are you really wearing them socks. And now I’m here and wearing those socks” says Callum. What fine purple socks they are, and in keeping with the band’s name too. With some killer support on the bill, with the likes of Baby Lung what can go wrong? “With the added saxophone you can’t go wrong. It pulls you in” Callum says. “You lose yourself and forget you’re 20 minutes in” says Luke. “They’re good guys as well we’ve played a few gigs with them” Fraser adds. But it’s King Purple’s turn to fire up the beast of a PA system on the Roadmender main stage. “I wish we were watching us. To hear how we sound up there” Fraser says. “We’ll never know. It’s pretty isolated up there” says Luke. “We only have the monitors so we can hear what we’re doing” added Fraser.
After the boy’s phenomenal performance at Twinfest, sandwiched between german bands, Bazouka Groove Club and headliners, Cressy Jaw. They have been invited to go and play in France at the Les Expressifs festival in Poitiers, Northampton’s twin town. In speaking of Full Fiction, Callum says, “they were great I tried to tell them we had a similar sound but the language barrier was a problem. I just sort of smiled at them”. “A smile’s universal mate” Fraser imparted. Callum says, “we go over in 2 weeks with another local band, Deaf Trap. We’ll just turn up and do our thing”. An interesting point of trivia for you, there are two Tom Wright’s in Deaf Trap, and Matt. “No way really” says Callum. “That’s just Tom Wrong if you ask me” Fraser jokes. “I bet they hit it off first time they met!” Callum added.
King Purple will be travelling out of town for a bit, but in the meantime follow them on your social platform of choice to keep up with news from the band.
