'I was playing pool with Pete Doherty at the weekend, after supporting The Libertines. That's kind of mad," says Tom Ogden, lead singer of Stockport band Blossoms. "There are moments like that where you think if you could have had an insight a couple of years ago that you'd be doing this now, you'd be like, f***, that's mad."
The guitar-pop five-piece formed in 2013, having each come from other bands. Since then, they have toured up and down the UK, supported the likes of the Charlatans and the Courteeners and made it on to the BBC’s Sound of 2016 list.
“That was a massive thing. We didn’t realise the importance around that,” says Ogden. “It’s given us such a confidence boost going into this year with the album. It’s set us up for what’s looking like it’s going to be a great year, but we don’t dwell on it too much. It’s just a list, at the end of the day, but it’s amazing to be on it.”
Big ambitions
In 2013 they launched with a declaration: "We want to be as mainstream as Will Smith, as great as the Smiths and as uplifting as Mr Smith Goes to Washington." That barefaced ambition to hit the big time has not gone away; they have no desire to be a modestly successful indie band.
“We’re not shy. We want people singing our songs and that euphoria when people know all the words. It’s an experience, and if you can touch people like that I think it’s the best thing you can do. That statement was a bit tongue-in-cheek; we wanted to say something a bit cheeky. Other bands don’t really say stuff like that, but we mean it when we say it as well.”
A bit tongue-in-cheek is their style. Blossoms began by describing their music as “ethereal nostalgic sonance”, which many translated as psychedelic. They have spent the time since trying to shift that label.
“Charlie [Salt, bass player] put it on as like a laugh at first, because people always asked [about] our genre and we didn’t know what to put. Looking back it’s a bit cringey, but it was just a bit different at the time. Lately we’ve been going with guitar-synth-pop. There’s nothing psych about us any more. We’ve always been into pop music and catchy songs, and that’s what we do now.”
James Skelly of the Coral was the one who first advised them to steer clear of the psychedelic label. "James posted on Facebook saying he liked our stuff, and then ended up producing all of our singles and our debut album. He's just a dead normal, humble guy and he's just got such a good ear. He was very keen for us to sound as modern as we could, even though we have some older influences. He saw potential in us being a great pop band and being on the radio, and he was keen to push that to the forefront."
As well as Ogden and Salt, Josh Dewhurst on lead guitar, Joe Donovan on drums and Myles Kellock on keyboard complete the line-up. Kellock was largely responsible for the psychedelic sound, according to Ogden ("The keyboard sound we were using at the time was associated more with the Doors and that sort of more pyschy stuff," he says), but Kellock couldn't even play keyboard when he came on board.
“We used to go to parties in Myles’s flat above a curry house in Stockport, and one night, after a few drinks, he overheard me say we needed a keyboard player and he nominated himself. He couldn’t play keyboard at the time, he could just play a C chord, and he had a broken wrist.”
Ogden is just as honest about his own skills. “I started writing songs when I was 15 and probably only got decent at it three years ago. Being 15 you don’t have much to write about, and then you get a girlfriend and you break up, and then you get another girlfriend and you break up, and you write loads of songs.”
Break-ups
With three EPs under their belt – the last, At Most a Kiss, is released later this month – they have started putting the finishing touches to their debut album, which is due for release this summer. The album has indeed been largely inspired by Ogden's break-ups.
"I was watching the Amy Winehouse documentary, and when all the lyrics come up I saw her in a different light and I really understood her as a songwriter . . . I basically went through a break-up and then thought I was going to be more honest with the second half of the album," he says.
They have rehearsed since day one in a space in Salt’s grandfather’s scaffolding yard in Stockport, somewhere they could make as much noise as the wanted, but they are beginning to find themselves outgrowing it.
“We’re still there now but we’ve kind of acquired so much gear that . . . we’ll have to upgrade soon. If we do have to move, I think we’ll always keep some stuff there and go back there whenever we can. You don’t want to lose your roots, do you?”
- Blossoms play the Green Room at the Academy in Dublin on February 5th. Tickets are €12
