Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Hutch
There must be something in the salty sea water over in Brighton. Churning out one great band after another, the city’s scene has some magic in it at the moment. There is no doubt that Hutch is amongst them.
The scene is busy with action, producing the likes of Lime Garden, Welly, The New Eves, Moon Idle and more. Providing the nostalgic energy that we love so much is Hutch, Brighton’s answer to 1980s psychedelia.
After a run of stellar singles, each one spiralling deeper into their distinctive sound than the last, the four-piece have announced their debut EP, Smile and Wave. Sharing the lead track ‘Ice On The Lake’, it’s a rolling trip complete with jangle-pop guitars and soaring details. There is even a harp thrown in there for good measure.
Giving you a chance to get to know the outfit before they blow up so you can brag about it later, we caught up with the boys to fire some questions their way. Delivering all the need-to-know information on the group, such as their views on the Muppets and their thought on pesto pasta, allow us to introduce Hutch.
Quick-fire Questions with Hutch:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Ripple’ by the Grateful Dead. A song about a life well lived. Charlie says ‘Always and Forever’ – Heatwave (what a song).”
2. If you had to give your friendship a theme tune, what would it be?
“It’s got to be ‘Concerning Hobbits’ or ‘The Shire’ from Lord of the Rings. We will always find a way to justify a rewatch.”
3. What was your first impression of each other, honestly?
“Dan here, my first impression of JP was ‘troublemaker’. We were in year four, and I had just moved to a new school. He was moved to a table on his own for some forgotten mischief. I vowed never to never have anything to do with him. Mission unsuccessful. Charlie was in a band that I thought were amazing called the Villas, and I’d just go to all his shows. He must have thought something of me because he took me under his wing (as Charlie likes to do). I have two early memories of meeting Owen. One was him being described as ‘sexy sexy Owen’ before I’d met him, and the second is sexy sexy Owen biting into an onion like it was an apple. I thought, ‘Yeah, this guy is gonna be around for a while.'”
Charlie adds simply, “These guys got something; I better take them under my wing and make sure they stay out of trouble.”
4. What do you love most about Brighton?
“The community is probably the best thing about Brighton. We like that everyone is first and foremost your friend and says hi to you. Everyone wants to chat.”
5. What do you hate most about Brighton?
“The gulls. Although we have brokered an uneasy peace treaty recently whereby the gulls only take food off of unsuspecting tourists and tend to leave Brighteners alone. However, it only takes one brazen bird to undo years of negotiation.”
6. If you could wipe one song off the face of the earth, what would it be?
“JP has a thing about the Muppets’ theme song. The rest of us are apathetic”.
JP adds, “I hate hate hate the muppets, no disrespect to them”.
7. Which of your songs is criminally underrated, and why?
”The songs we have lost to time in the rehearsal room from years ago. We had songs about Honesty Shops, winter swims, and one where JP just read out the plot of Being John Malkovich over an improvised jam. We’re the only ones who rate our own songs (highly or lowly), I think, and I think we ought to go back and revisit some of these…”
8. What would be on your rider if you were the most famous band in the world?
“One jar of pesto, a pack of fusilli pasta, a small packet of grated cheddar cheese, four cracks of black pepper, four basil leaves and a bottle of red wine. Maybe some fresh socks, too.”
9. What makes a good pub?
“A great soundtrack that’s not too loud so you can hear someone talking right at you, friendly bar staff, a good smoking area with heaters that last for a long time so you don’t have to keep pressing the buttons.”
10. Use this space to shout out a friend’s band – who are you saying hi to?
JP: “There’s way too many to pick from. We’re so lucky in Brighton to all be great friends with so many artists. I’d like to say hi to those Trip Westerns cowboys. I love you, I love your moustaches!!”
Dan: “Hello to the Ideal Living legends, it’s me, Dan. I am speaking to you from inside this interview! Easily one of the best live bands around, go see ’em!”
Charlie: “I’d like to shout out Eva Lunny, forever in the twang and whose album “Sonics & Meditations” came out last year!”
11. What is out for 2024?
“We are kind of hoping for Betelgeuse to go supernova and light up the sky like the sun for weeks on end. So fingers crossed waiting for that is out in 2024.”
12. If you could jam with one other band, dead or alive, who would it be?
“Jerry Garcia would be pretty epic, or maybe one of the guys from King Giz.”
13. What is a song that sounds like a Hutch song but isn’t?
“I think we do a good job of cleverly concealing our influences, and if I mentioned them here, we’d be in for some fun lawsuits…”
14. Are you having fun?
“Yeah, it’s always a hoot. Except when people start talking about contracts, large documents = scary.”
15. Are the Beatles overrated?
“Who?”
