Sad Sells Interview - Lion's Den Manchester, 23/11/2024

Our photographer Christina had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Manchester-based 6-piece band Sad Sells. Finishing their headline tour in their hometown at the Lion's Den, we got to find out all about their travels, new releases, and the exciting plans they have coming up for 2025.

First off - introduce yourselves and the kind of music you produce!

We’re Sad Sells, we have myself (Xav), Jamie, Rose, Alfie, Quentin and Zach. We met through going to open mics in Manchester, one of them being Scribbling Town and The Rose and Monkey, plus the TROF open mic night. A lot of us are singer-songwriters and met through that, as well as through mutual friends. Some of our influences are REM, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac…, and anything guitar-based really that is more nostalgic-themed. Singer-songwriter stuff mainly!

So it’s your final night of the tour, how are you guys feeling?

Tired! (everyone laughs)

How many days have you toured now?

This is the eighth I think on this tour. I’m not too sure - they’ve all blended in together. A lot of us are in different bands as well, so Quentin is in Getner, and then you’ve got Alfie in Fork as well. They've been playing in between our gigs so we've all been very busy.

You guys are balancing a lot!

Yeah, and we’re really excited to play tonight as it will be our last gig of the year. We've done two self-promoted tours through different ways - either through booking agencies around Manchester or by messaging other bands we know.

Cool! You’ve done a fair few gigs up and down the country. Where would you say is your favourite and is there anywhere else you'd like to perform perhaps next year?

Our favourite place to play would be Manchester because that's where we’re based. Favourite location that we played on this tour though, would definitely be Paris. We played there for the first time in September and it was class, that was really fun. We played at a place called Supersonic Bar with a great group of people who just go to see new bands that wasn't just there to see us, they wanted to discover new music so that was class.

You mentioned you played in Paris! How was that as your first international show?

Everyone was absolutely lovely yeah and everyone we spoke to was dead nice the band that we supported Bleeker were class, they were fantastic live everyone looked after us and we can't wait to go back. We're hoping to do so next year. Bloody Jenny were lovely too and were a great opener.

Zac: Other than that, it was all cheese and bread. And wine.

Sounds like a good time! Is there anywhere else in mainland Europe you’d like to perform?

It’s definitely something we've spoken about. We would definitely love to go and play in Berlin I think that'd be class I've (Xav) only been once myself.

Quentin: Kebabs and Techno (everyone laughs)

Xav: (jokes) That’s the first album actually. Kebabs and Techno.

Are there any bands that you've had your eye on that you do the like support or support you?

Yeah, there's a lot! What's really great at the moment in comparison to the past few years for guitar music is there's a lot more coming through, I for one I really like at the moment a band called Keo. I think they've only got two songs out on SoundCloud, but they're cool, they look class and are currently playing gigs. I'm not particularly running towards trying to support necessarily, I just wanted to go and see them to be honest, they're a really great band.

Larger than that, we'd like to support someone up and down the country that might be playing venues like the Apollo or you know your Blossoms of the World and stuff like that, but yeah in terms of guitar music at the moment loads going on - it’s just really exciting.

And you guys released some new music throughout the tour right?

We released two singles over the course of the past eight weeks - one was Words And Lies and the other one was called Sweet Lorraine Lorraine.

What’s the reception been like for them?

Good. Really good. We've got one more before the end of the year and then next year we’re putting together something larger, but there's been a really good and positive response to the tunes.

Are you allowed to tell us about what you've got coming up at the end of the year? And is there anything we should expect?

The song is called Vertigo - we're gonna release that song and then next year we'll basically moving more towards a larger EP or album. We've got the songs ready to go!

So album…And any other plans for 2025 that you're thinking of aiming towards that you can tell us at this point?

We're definitely hoping to go back to Europe that would be our main priorities. And festivals - please!

What festivals are you thinking?

Everyone: All of them!

Jamie: Anywhere with a stage, and if they’ve got a free bar, we’ll play for less.

Finally - where can people find you?

So on social media we’re @sadsellsmusic -  please give us a message or follow if you like our music. We'd love to hear what you think!