Interview, Superfood

On the third floor of the old Kensington Park Hotel is Superfood, or three out of the four members of Superfood. Later on speaking to Dom (frontman) he has been “in some park all day really hungover” while Emily (bass), Ryan (guitar) and Carl (drums) have been in their home city of Birmingham.

And it’s Birmingham that have almost defined the band. In the past couple of years there has been a Birmingham take over of the UK indie scene which drummer Carl explained that ‘there has been a scene for so long’ there but ‘the time is now’ for the whole of the country to listen. This Brummy revolution was mainly due to Superfood’s mates Peace, who have taken the country by storm and put ‘a lot of focus on another band to come through’ according to Emily.

Despite being a self confessed part of the ‘second wave’ of Birmingham bands, the four are nothing but exciting. Their first release, MAM EP was instantly loveable. Four sing-along tunes that had the feel of 90s Britpop with the energy of a 12 year old after a bowl of Lucky Charms. Being labelled with an almost redundant genre is a bit of ‘weird one’ according to towering guitarist Ryan as he claims that Superfood never ‘set out to have a certain sound, it was just writing songs that we thought were cool’.

Accidently sounding like bands that they have never heard of does not faze them and nor does playing the KPH that night either. Tonight is the first of a set of free shows supporting their new song ‘Right On Satellite’ . Part of an all day festival with them headlining seems daunting but Emily reassures that ‘It’s pretty cool playing here, because it is all bands that we know and the venue is really small and relaxed’. Relaxed is certainly the word for the day, the lower ground is a pub in which all acts set up shop, and chatted to excited fans. The atmosphere before Superfood is electric and Ryan admits that ‘they are really excited to just be playing shows’ and after trying the set in Amsterdam they are really ‘chuffed’.

Without much pressure the three excitedly tell me that their debut album is done. After a lot of focus writing and completing the album it is all finished, for the minute they are excited to be back on the road again. They may have an issue with naming the LP coming up with ideas on the spot like ‘Power To The People’ (or shortening it to Power).  I was even pulled into the short brainstorming- suggesting ‘Blueberries’ as that is ‘all that comes up when you Google Superfood anyway’.

Footage from the residency (I'm in the crowd about 20 seconds in)