Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Volk Soup
There’s something about Leeds that produces stellar live bands. Maybe it’s the DIY venues dispersed across the city, many of which seem to double – or quadruple – up as practice spaces, recording studios, and general sites of community and creativity. Perhaps it’s the city’s rich but often overlooked music history or the presence of the dedicated music school, Leeds Conservatoire, and a whole host of community arts organisations. Whatever the reason, Leeds is consistently spitting out some of the most intriguing upcoming bands in the country, and Volk Soup are a prime example.
It’s difficult to put the experience of attending a Volk Soup live show into words. Whether they’re playing at old familiars like Mabgate Bleach or uncharted territory in new cities, vocalist Harry Jones always stalks around the stage as though he owns it. Often, he wanders off-stage too, forcing the audience to match his energy by joining them on the floor. If you’re squeamish about vocalists getting up in your face and instigating pits without warning, keep your distance from the front.
Jones seems to set the tone, but his bandmates are always more than willing to match it. Drummer Luc Gibbons refuses to stay put behind the drum kit, intermittently joining their frontman at the front of stage to deliver some truly majestic dance moves, while every member of the band seems willing to join in on backing vocals, which flit between shouts of the name ‘Rosemary’ and monkey-style screeches.
Sonically, the band harnesses a raw energy that seems to thrive in their home city, alternating between dance-worthy tracks and restless rhythms, love letters to Fat White Family and songs that couldn’t come from anywhere other than the collective mind of Volk Soup. Their shows feel claustrophobic and confrontational, not least because there are six band members looking back at you from the stage. Put most aptly, they’re like a slap in the face, in the most complimentary way possible.
While the band gear up to release new music, attempting to harness their inimitable on-stage energy in the studio, we caught up with the members about dream dinner party guests, opinions on the Beatles, and songwriting ideas that spawn from the toilet.
Quick-fire Questions with Volk Soup
1. Describe Volk Soup in three words.
Ryan: “Here’s three hyphenated compounds – Post-lobotomy skronk, Schizoid-disco, Yamaha contortionists.”
2. Where’s the best pub in the world?
Luc: “I’d have to say my local, The Bridge Inn in Armley. They got a newish beer garden on the river, and in the summer, if you’re lucky, you might get attacked by a swarm of angry midges.”
George: “Alexandra Tavern in Norwich.”
Geach: “Chemic Tavern in Woodhouse.”
Harry: “I concur with Geach. Perfect post-work pub.”
3. What’s the last movie you watched?
Luc: “I’m sure Harry and the others will have a more intellectual film rec, but I just saw Alien: Romulus and lost my shit. Binged the entire franchise in like four days leading up to it. I can’t go to the bathroom without my partner holding my hand now.”
George: “Starve Acre – worth it solely to hear Matt Smith talking in’t Yorkshire dialect.”
Geach: “Cabaret, for the first time, changed my world perspective.”
Harry: “The Substance, better as a gonzo B-movie than the whip-smart body-horror satire it wants to be.”
4. What are you reading at the moment?
George: “I know how to relax, so it’s a double whammy of Sara Masa’s Un Amor and Mad Men: The Complete Critical Companion.”
Geach: “Various Wikipedia articles and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series.”
Harry: “A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm. By no means the intention of the author, it has put me off the idea of working and living in Paris.”
Luc: “This interview.”
5. What was the first gig you ever attended?
Luc: “My dad took me to see Bombay Bicycle Club at The Pyramid in Portsmouth back on their ‘I Had the Blues but I Shook Them Loose’ tour. I remember my dad tore a poster off the wall to take home, and I thought it was really naughty.”
Geach: “Madness at the O2 in Newcastle in 2012 ish.”
Harry: “Embrace on Cannock Chase circa 2006. My music education has its origins in Dad Rock. I suspect it’ll end there, too.”
6. What song do you have on repeat right now?
Luc: “Lene Lovich’s cover of ‘The Night’ by Franki Valli – new wave meets Northern Soul? What’s not to like!”
George: “Jon McKiel – ‘Mourning Dove’.”
Geach: “Violent Femmes – ‘Blister in the Sun’.”
Harry: “Randy Newman – ‘Living Without You’ — the opening line has quickly become a favourite lyric. Quite a crushing song.”
7. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?
George: “My dad’s bestmate’s nephew’s friend babysat Phil Oakey from Human League’s rats.”
Harry: “I was once a mascot for Wolverhampton Wanderers. The 2002-2003 squad might not be full of star-studded names, but Paul Ince was a towering figure to nine-year-old me.”
Shaene: “Lily Fontaine.”
8. What’s on your rider?
Luc: “We’re not picky. Most of the time, we only get one or two things on it anyway. So long as there’s sufficient Guinness or even just chilled lager, you can colour me satisfied. I saw an artist had V-bucks on theirs a while ago, and it’s made me think we could be more creative. Perhaps a swing-ball set or novelty sunglasses.”
Geach: “Soju, preferably grapefruit flavour.”
Harry: “Once again, in concurrence with Geach.”
9. What album have you listened to most in your life?
Luc: “Aha Shake Heartbreak or Graceland.”
George: “Richard Hawley – Coles Corner.”
Geach: “The Drones – Feelin Kinda Free.”
Harry: “The Smiths – The Smiths.”
10. When are you at your most creative?
Luc: “I have most of my ideas in the 30 seconds before I fall asleep. My Voice Memos app is filled with me whisper-beatboxing into my phone while trying to not wake my partner up.”
Harry: “On the toilet. I don’t mean this disingenuously, either. Time to sit and think is vital.”
11. What’s the best album of 2024 so far?
Luc: “Gee Tee – Prehistoric Chrome.”
George: “Numero Group’s You’re Not From Round Here compilation or Panda Bear ft. Sonic Boom and Adrian Sherwood – Reset in Dub (technically 2023, but the physical release was this year…)”
Geach: “Charli XCX – Brat.”
Harry: “Sloyd Flenching – Crapola.”
12. Who are your dream dinner party guests?
Luc: “Bob Mortimer.”
Geach: “Geoff Marshall.”
Harry: “I imagine a cocktail of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Lou Reed and Michel Houellebecq would make for a good, bad time.”
Shaene: “Paddington Bear.”
13. Are The Beatles overrated?
Luc: “Nah, they’re decent, you know.”
George: “Definitely not! It’s an edgy opinion I refuse to endorse.”
Geach: “No.”
Harry: “I don’t think you can really underestimate the effect they had on the 20th Century, and so, life as we know it.”
Shaene: “100%.”
14. Where is the best venue in the world?
George: “Pizza Express Live.”
Luc: “Can’t pass up an opportunity to shout out our birthplace, Mabgate Bleach. It’s not much, but it is enough for us. Also, anywhere that charges an entry fee at the front door or pays the bands from the bar takings.”
Harry: “We played a tiny bar in Bordeaux called L’Avant Scene, and they ploughed us with booze and food and gave us our greatest payday, so they won hearts and minds.”
Geach: “I concur with Harry.”
15. When can we expect new music?
Luc: “Average sized things coming at some point!”
Harry: “Expect BIG things in 2025. Hopefully, we’ll have word on juicy details soon.”
