Squid

^{Photo by Matilda Hill-Jenkins} 

Name, where are you from?
Ollie, Louis, Arthur, Laurie and Anton. Formed in Brighton and based all over the shop.

Describe your style in three words?
Borrowed from Dad.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Omar Souleyman at End Of The Road Festival last year was pretty great. He’s a master of crowd commandment. We were also really sloshed on rum which helped. Or any of the 1000 times we’ve seen DUDS.

If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
XTC because we’re starting to realise that they’ve been quite influential on our music, it would be cool just to watch them and see how they played live, plus they’re from Swindon which is near where Louis and I grew up.. Then probably Kraftwerk, but when Ralf and Florian were playing with the guys from NEU! It still sounds fresh today.

Which subcultures have influenced you?
The Krautrock movement in West Germany has always been something that has influenced us. The disregard for genre and conformity felt un-forced in this scene which is really inspiring. It felt like what they were doing was fuelled by curiosity and genuine passion.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Brian Limmond (Limmy) or Bob Mortimer. As a group, I think we’d get on quite well with both of them. It seems like they haven’t quite grown up, and that’s amazing. Bob Mortimer's character Barry Homeowner has been a source of great laughter recently.

Of all the venues you’ve played, which is your favourite?
The Windmill, Brixton. We’ve never had a bad gig there and it’s fostered some of the best talent coming out of the UK. It’s mental how well known it is across the globe. We were in Slovenia and some guy came up to us and said “Oh my god. You guys have played The Windmill?! What’s it like there?”

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Simple Kid from Ireland. My parents and uncle introduced me to him ages ago. He released two albums and just disappeared, he’s a bit of an enigma. Lyrically, he can be heart-wrenching and hilariously sardonic all in one song. He’s written some absolute belters that I wish had done better commercially, they deserve to be heard!

Squid have announced details for their EP 'Town Center', it will be released digitally 06/09/19 and physically 15/11/19 via Speedy Wunderground. Pre-order it at smarturl.it/squid_town_centre.