SALT’s intoxicating blend of high-energy, narrative-driven rock’n’roll began to take shape in the summer of 2014 as the five-piece came together to “drink milk and play music”. Milk swiftly drunk, the band turned their attention to the music, forging an exhilarating take on alternative rock, melding elements of Kings of Leon, My Morning Jacket, The Killers and Pearl Jam into a standalone, stadium-ready sound. The youthful outfit’s rapid ascent belies their short lifespan, as they’ve accumulated an avid fan-base to pack out sweaty gigs in their home town of High Wycombe and beyond, as well as having recorded live sessions for BBC radio, enjoyed prime billing at a number of summer festivals and even cut tracks at Abbey Road Studios after emerging triumphant from an online competition. “If The Beatles were bigger than Jesus, then we might just about be on a par with Ant-Man,” says singer Frankie with tongue-in-cheek modesty. SALT may be temporarily under-the-radar but it won’t be that way for long — like the miniature Marvel hero, they pack an almighty punch.
SALT are: Frankie Lord, vocals; Jack Reynolds, guitar and backing vocals; Ryan Morritt, guitar and backing vocals; Sam Brookland, bass; Dean Ward, drums
In this interview, we chat with the band discussing influences, the newest project and more.
Q&A as well as links and streams can be found below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
To be honest I’m not sure that we were aware that we were attracted to the genre. We knew that we had five guys who all wanted to be in a band and write music. I suppose very early on we started to learn some covers. Maybe something by Pixie’s, maybe something by Arcade Fire. I guess that helped steer us towards the sound that we’ve devolved and still trying to develop. You’re always trying out new things and new sounds though.
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
Well… Really there’s a deep longing. I think most people would relate but maybe nobody likes to talk about it. You want your music to be recognised; and enjoyed. That feeling you get when you watch your favourite band on stage and just think ‘Wow, what I wouldn’t do to be up there, in front of this audience.’ That’s definitely a huge part of it.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
As a band we really do take influences from all over. It’s amazing when you’ve got five people together all trying to come together and write a song; you see the influences draw from so many different places. We seem to talk a lot about The Beatles but then again what band doesn’t? Overall we really do try as much as possible to come forward with our own sound. If we have a song that sounds to similar to another artist it usually ends up putting us off in the long run.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
Well this was our first ever music video so that was massively exciting. I think we were trying to come forward with a product that comes across as professional as possible, yet keep a lot of the creative control. We were incredibly lucky in that we have some good friend who are filmmakers so we collaborated to come up with the video. We’re hugely proud with what we did manage to achieve in the end though.
What was the last song you listened to?
Ha, the last song I listened to was ‘A day in the life’ but it wasn’t really my choice. It was the final song in ‘Eight days a week” documentary we all just watched together. Just happens to be one of our favourite songs also.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
The obvious choice is Vinyl, there’s such a comforting warmth to it. I love to imagine a time before MP3 and CD’s and even tape, when people would have to make an actual conscious choice to stand up and pick out a record. And listen to it the whole way through, in the order the artist intended.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
It’s difficult; isn’t it? Aren’t they the same really. Absolutely brilliant for listening and discovering new music. Just no soul, but it does seem that they are almost vital for any band today. ‘Exposure’.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
Well if we knew the answer to that question then I guess we’d have it all sorted. We really feel though that if you get a chance to come along to a live show it completely changes everything. All of the sudden you can feel the intent behind the music, and maybe even get to know is a little better.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
At the moment we do still mainly operate through the social medias, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We use a handle ‘salt uk band’ to make us a little easier to find. We’re on all of the streaming services we talked about earlier. We’d be more than happy to send out physical copies of our E.P. If you send us a message also. Might even be signed.
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
Thank you so much. It’s always great when somebody is interested in what you’ve got going on. Hopefully talk again in the future.
