Nottingham postpunk goths Hurtsfall have been making electro waves up and down the country the last couple of years with their unique sound that's been compared to Bowie, Depeche Mode and The Damned. Holly Surguy caught up with lead singer, Sam Harrisson Emm ahead of their debut INFL gig at the Grove on the 21st Feb supporting The DSM IV.
How did you all meet?
The other guys used to be in a band called The Death Notes. Their singer and drummer left so they started again as Hurtsfall. They got a new drummer, and then started looking for a new singer. They put an advert online, I auditioned, and the rest is history!
How do you translate the atmospheric quality of your recordings into your live performances?
There’s a few things at play here: so we have backing tracks, Jamie uses a couple of keyboards which have different sounds, and Mike plays a mix of bass, rhythm, and lead, on a six-string bass guitar. When you put all that together we sound a lot bigger than three people.
I’d say it’s more of a challenge for us to do the opposite. Most of our songs are written, then performed live for a while, then we have to work out how to get what we love about the song into a studio version.
Is there any particular message you try to get across with your lyrics?
Each song is different, I mean that lyrically and musically. We are quite eclectic and you’ll hear lots of different genres coming through. So that means lyrically each song is going to be quite different too. Every song has a meaning but not necessarily a message. What guides me is authenticity. It’s about serving the song, whatever fits best is what goes. I’m careful not to try and self-censor or interfere with my own creativity. I just trust that the common thread that holds the Hurtsfall lyrical style together is my commitment to expressing myself honestly. I know people connect to that without there being any one specific message.
How has your music evolved since your formation in 2018?
Our sound has definitely evolved. When we first started out we were much more post-punk, even a little shoegaze at times, now we’re more synth/pop. Since our guitarist left, and our drummer passed away, we considered replacing them, but instead went down a more electronic route with drum machines, and Mike’s creative use of a six-string bass. That’s something that has become a signature of ours and makes us stand out.
Are there any notable changes in your style or approach?
I think the biggest change in style and approach is being confident in our sound. We’ve really created our own sub-genre (Goth & Soul) that I don’t think is exactly like anyone else. You can compare the odd section or song to our influences, but as a band I like that we have made something unique.
How has the Nottingham music scene affected your audiences and rate at which you get new music out there?
Nottingham has a great music scene. Like everywhere there are challenges, but overall there’s still a decent amount of venues putting on a lot of good acts. The Nottingham music scene punches above its weight and is comparable to larger cities. I don’t think most of the country is aware of how good it is here. We’ve been able to build a small (and ever growing) local following. There’s a real community spirit here.
I wouldn’t say the Nottingham music scene has affected the rate at which we put music out as we made the decision early on to only release singles for a while. This was due to the industry climate, and based on research. It’s much easier to promote one song to radio, bloggers, playlisters and the like. An album can get lost in the shuffle. It’s been a few years now though, and we’ve had so many people ask where the album is. We reached a point where we felt it was time, so we’re working on that now.
Poster by Karlos Lehover
What’s coming up for you all and what would be your ideal support slot this year?
We hope to get the album out. We have a couple of singles that we are very excited to release soon. We have lots of gigs and festivals booked including: Corporation Sheffield, returning to Whitby in April, and the Infest Warm-Up in Manchester. They are all with great artists but our ideal support slot? We’re all agreed on The Chameleons. I’ve been listening to them a lot recently. They’ve just been so influential to so many artists, and I think our sound would compliment theirs. It would also feel so good to represent Nottingham as part of their tour. This is me putting that out into the universe. We’ve opened for some of our favourite acts already so it could happen. Dreams can come true!
Hurtsfall play The Grove in Sneinton market with Modern Coven and Joshua Todd supporting The DSM IV on Friday 21st Feb. Tickets are £10 advance and £12 on the day via Gigantic or Fatsoma Tickets
Poster by @ruzosk_design
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