Five Minutes With...Slow Husky

"One of the reasons we formed this band was so that we could play together again."

Forming a band is great isn’t it? Art Brut sang about it in 2004 and reached #52 in the UK charts for their troubles. According to the boffins at New Sounds Union towers, approximately 283 further bands have formed since then, it’s an epidemic.

One of those bands is Slow Husky, who bring dark indie to the table that would see Robert Smith gluttonously reaching for the cutlery. In January, they released their debut ‘Slow Husky EP’ and even secured radio play from the great uncle of indie rock Steve Lamacq.

This week, we speak to Jim Sanders (JS) and Charlie Brown (CB) from the band to learn more about their creative endeavours and marketing a band in 2025. Let’s Go!

Q: Describe your music in three words…

JS: Jangly, noir, indie.

Q: What's your musical ethos and your reasons for making music?

JS: I find the creative process rewarding, songwriting can be very cathartic.

CB: We’re all close friends, so that makes everything easy and enjoyable. One of the reasons we formed this band was so that we could play together again.

Q: Who are your main musical inspirations?

JS: The Smiths, The Cure, Radiohead.

Q: You’ve recently released your debut EP, what was the process of writing and recording the EP?

JS: I tend to come up with a rough idea for a song, chords, hooks etc, and then work on it with various band members to hone the arrangement and feel. Charlie will usually write the lyrics and melody once there's a rough demo she can take away and live with for a while. We recorded the EP DIY and produced it ourselves. I'm really proud at what we've achieved. John's drums were recorded at his house and the rest at mine. Spending a couple of days tracking and then doing it DIY allows you the luxury to take your time over the creative production choices rather than being against the clock in an expensive studio.

Q: How have you approached marketing and promoting the record?

CB: Not that well really! We’re on a shoestring budget and we're not great with social media so that's a bit of a challenge.

JS: Steve Lamacq played ‘Oleander & Nightshade’ on his BBC 6Music show which was amazing, but I just emailed his BBC email address, we've not used a plugger or PR company.

Q: How important is playing live to help rising artists build their audience?

JS: Very important, but what’s slightly unusual with Slow Husky is that we've gone about things in a different order to most bands. We approached the debut EP as a home studio project to get the songs, arrangements and sound perfected first. We released it and received national radio play before playing a single show. This doesn't mean we don't value playing live though. We played our first gig recently in Colchester and it was exciting that the first time people saw us we had a really solid set with an EP to promote that we're all really proud of.

Q: How do you balance your music with the rest of your life?

JS: It's time consuming but if you're doing it for the right reasons then it's never a chore.

CB: There’s a big music scene in Colchester and a lot of our friends are in bands, so there's no escaping it!

Q: What song/record by another artist we may not have heard of can’t you stop playing at the moment?

JS: Big big Sky, who we played our first gig with, is such a talent. We’ve known the singer Josh for years and loved his previous band, but this is his solo project. Check out ‘Lost At Sea’.

CB: Our Bass player Abbas also plays in The Lamplight Club who are brilliant.

Q: If you could change one thing about the music industry what would it be?

JS: To rewind to a time before Instagram and TikTok. Right now it feels like people who are good at social media have more chance of success than those with great artistry.

Q: What else is next for you in the months ahead?

JS: Booking some more gigs and writing some new material. We’d like to push the EP as much as possible though. The reaction so far has been amazing, and hopefully the songs will reach more and more people interested in dark indie, goth, and shoegaze sounds.

Thanks Slow Husky!

Listen to the ‘Slow Husky EP’ on your streaming service of choice here or purchase on Bandcamp here.