“A lot of our songs are influenced by literature”. Alex Hill talks music and The Great Escape

Sometimes you interview a band and they only have to say one thing and you’re hooked. “We’re all big Big Patti Smith fans” said Kate from The New Eves, one of the brightest sparks to be playing The Great Escape. Patti Smith. That’s us sold. It gets better. “We’d have to write a book listing all our influences, but Talking Heads are a big inspiration…”. And it gets more interesting. “… as well as more unique inspirations such as Bulgarian choir music”. Wasn’t expecting that.

If you’re even a little tired of the regular ‘guitar-bass-drums-vocals’ set up, The New Eves should make you smile. The Brighton based band feature Nina Winder-Lind (cello, guitar, vocals), Ella Oona Russell (drums, flute, vocals), Kate Mager (bass, vocals), and Violet Farrer (violin, guitar, vocals, dance) and it’s a little more arty – and can we say darker – than your average band. 

“A lot of our songs are influenced by literature”, says Kate and there’s a lot of the unexpeced here. Their new single, “Highway Man” is a darkly-energised, female-first retelling of Alfred Noyes’ classic 1906 romantic poem that, as they put it, flips the lens. “In the original version it’s this dude, who’s being the dude, and the girl doesn’t do anything and then dies,” says Nina. “So I was like, ‘We can’t have that…’” 

If all that sounds a bit too much, there’s still a bit of guitar solo rock’n’roll. “It was when I first started to find my guitar style, which is basically just weird noises and bashing” said Violet. And it is. Kinda cool though. The distorted guitar turns into adistorted cello – which is also kinda cool. 

“It’s really good to play The Great Esacpe but it can be a bit overwhelming. We’re also playing The Alternative Esacpe because more of our friends can come and there’s more of a local buzz.”

The New Eves are playing Chalk on Friday May 16 at 6.15pm