A Day with Drug Store Romeos
With only a handful of singles out so far, Drug Store Romeos have built up a swathe of loyal fans and bucketloads of well-deserved hype.
Their debut album ‘The world within our bedrooms’ is set to be released on 25th June via Fiction Records and to say that we’re excited would be an understatement. We’ve been drooling over each of their singles for the last couple of years, especially over lockdown, so the thought of having a complete body of DSR work is a very exciting one.
The Fleet-fleeing trio (Charlie, Jonny, and Sarah) recorded the album at London’s Eastcote Studios with regular producer George Murphy and is “a testament to youth and adventure; an escape from mundanity and proof that art will always open a door for those looking to escape.” (Pre-order the record here).
We met up with the brilliant band in Victoria Park to mount some climbing frames, climb some trees and pick some acorns, whilst occasionally talking about their upcoming record…
PHOTOS BY EVA PENTEL
LAST BUS: What was the music scene like in Fleet growing up? Do you remember your first gig?
Charlie: Sadly there isn’t a music scene in Fleet. There’s no venues. There’s a few venues in the surrounding areas. My 1st band played at the Alton lounge bar quite a lot. They held a battle of the bands. It was mostly 28 year old dudes who were really into Pearl Jam. However everyone was pretty nice and they supported us (14 year olds making songs about soggy cereal). My first gig was seeing Foo
Fighters at Wembley stadium with my mum when I was 8. Jimmy Page & John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin joined them for a few songs. Not bad. That definitely catalysed my love for rock n rolllllll…
Can you briefly summarise how you three came together? We know there was a Facebook ad involved…
C: Jonny and I met in year 9 on the threshold between the upper & lower school playground during break time. There was a low metal fence that he used to hang out with about 15 other people. Initially I became friends with a guy called Joe and we formed a band together. He brought me to the threshold and introduced me to his friends. We had a punk band for 3 years. After that amount of time Jonny & I decided we no longer wanted to play to old pot bellied folk. We quit with the intention of starting a new band that took influence from the current scene of garage rock (in 2016). I posted on the college Facebook freshers group page looking for a bassist and Sarah replied.
Sarah: I had been replying to various ads on various forums in hope of starting up a band, though after some close calls far away towns in desperation to play with people I saw a post on our college page looking for a bassist. I’d never played bass before but desperate as I was I said I did. That lie didn’t last long but Charlie taught me bass and I started to edge my way closer to the mic in their rehearsal room.
You released your debut single in March 2018, so you had a good year of live music pre-pandemic. What’s been your favourite show you’ve played?
S: The year leading up to that single release was probably my most favourite year of our journey together so far. We just played and played, traveling the 2 hour journey through rush hour with all our gear sometimes 3 times a week. We grew so organically by just playing every single show we were offered even if we all couldn’t play it. For some reason this little show we had at the Finsbury was one of my most beloved, the stage there is beautiful and I felt so at one with the audience there.
Your songs have acted as wonderful nuggets of escapism for us, especially over the past year. Who do you listen to when you want to escape?
S: I find most escapism in music pre 2000s and especially so by composers Piero Picciono and Piero Umiliano. I spent a whole summer just slowly going through the discography not even getting close to half way. Every time I hear those organs and vocals I’m in every rivera on every Italian stretch of shore.
Creativity seemed to peak for you all over lockdown as you made a whole album! How did you find going through this process in lockdown?
S: Lockdown was a rather familiar position to find myself in as most of my early writing was in a form of isolation in my home town. It wasn’t spent in Fleet but the most half was spent in my dads Flat in Winchester. I’m really good in my own company and tend to happily satiate into myself. I spent most of my time on this private hill I found that looks over all of Winchester and the surrounding foothills, watching ant size people and dogs running up the adjacent public hill like a little microcosm of the world. When I got there I was suddenly very fearful as I didn’t bring my instruments with me but before the country closed its doors I managed to swipe a Casio that I used to write some songs for the album.
The title is ‘The world within our bedrooms’. What do yours look like?
C: I just put up a bunch of the organza fabric we used for the album photoshoot. It curves around my bed. There are fairy lights behind it. I feel kinda like a princess.
What is something, if anything, you learnt about yourself through lockdown?
S: Coming back to London was pretty sensory overload, especially as I couldn’t afford my own room and so ended up sharing a room with my friend Hannah. I learnt that even though solitude was not always happily received in lockdown it’s something I need to honour in good measure.
C: That I’m happier when I wake earlier in the morning. I’ve fallen out of that sleep schedule but I’m going to try and return to it.
The release date for your debut album is 4 days after the last of the lockdown measures will be lifted, so either will be the soundtrack to everyone’s summer of love or their nursing-a-hangover album. Either way, it’s a great time to be releasing. Once the final measure is lifted, where’s the first place you’re running to and what are you doing?
S: I’ll be jumping right on airbnb and getting a hopefully next to nothing flight to Italy somewhere, anywhere. Alone for under a week, with friends for another.
Sarah, given you love of foraging and flora/fauna, if the album were a plant, what would it be and why?
S: Hahaha wow, I feel ashamed of how tricky this question is. When I came to my Dads at the beginning of Lockdown I’d write where I slept in his study and with the window open I could smell the wisteria which I had started to come into bloom. So when I think of some of those songs I feel the smell of those flowers, does that work?
Visually, you seem to have a really strong idea of who you are as a band, we especially loved the MV’s you made during lockdown. Where do you draw visual inspiration from?
S: I take a monthly pilgrimage to Notting Hill book exchange to load up on art books and magazines. That and keeping my eyes peeled for anything around that might tickle my fancy.
What’s your favourite music video?
S: If we’re talking recent it would be a crime to not mention Scratchcard Lanyard - Dry Cleaning directed by Rottingdean Bizzare. Jerkcurb - Air Con Eden video is an under appreciated sensation and if we’re going way back and if it classifies as a music video Kenneth Angers - Blue Moon.
We just read that you're playing SCALA in November which is wild. How do you feel about it?
C: So wild! It’s wonderfully terrifying. Exquisitely mad. We will play the album in full so hopefully it will be a satisfying culmination of all our hard work over the years in the city we fell in love with and made our home.
What have you done with the acorns that Jonny picked on our shoot day?
S: The acorn that Jonny sacrificed himself so heroically for is sitting proudly on my coffee table after my housemate took it to Uni to use in her plastering class.
Picture this: you’ve just had your first post-COVID night out and are on the Last Bus home. What are you plugging your headphones into?
S: Maybe for old times sake I’ll put on Arc of a Journey - Broadcast which used to soundtrack those early morning drives in the olden days.
Drug Store Romeos also just announced their biggest headline show to date at London’s Scala on 17 November.