1.Who is ‘ Southern Heights ’
We are a 5 piece band originating from Essex and have been playing now for just around a year. We have: two lead vocalists/Rhythm guitarists Cameron Doran & Liam Conway, Lead guitarist Charlie Branch, Bass player George Wells and our Drummer Ben Hasler. As a band we first met in September 2023 whilst all studying on the same music course at South Essex College Southend on Sea. So far we have been gigging regularly and have pulled together a modest following on social media of just over 400 followers @southern_heightsss on Instagram.
2. For someone that is yet to discover you, how would you describe your music?
We’d describe our music as indie/Alternative rock with a raw and authentic sound that can resonate with our audiences and our fans. When writing our songs, we make sure that they have meaning and a purpose so that when they are played, our listeners feel the emotion and creativity we are trying to convey. We don’t make music just because we can, we make music because we need to share our views with the world.
3. What inspired you as an artist?
As individuals we all listen to different genres of music which helps us take inspiration and influence from a wide variety of artists and musical backgrounds when making our own. Seeing our favourite bands/artists create music that we hold close to ourselves aspires us to do the same and give that feeling of comfort, escapism and relatability to others. The way we look at it is if others are able to reach out to so many people, who’s to say we can’t either?
4. What is your process for preparing to perform live? Do you have any Diva demands?
In preparation for gigs, we rehearse in studios playing the music that we want to. When it comes to gigging, we don’t have any requests; we just get on, play and enjoy the music because that what it’s all about.
5. Where do you feel you fit into the music ?
When it comes to ‘fitting in’ to music, we’d prefer to stand out and leave an obvious mark on the music scene.
6: What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
We all have our own individual tastes when it comes to musical genres completely dissimilar to each other. Ben enjoys a large variety of music but is heavily involved in metalcore and its surrounding subgenres. George enjoys genres such as jungle and music originating in the time of the ‘British invasion’ in the 60’s. Charlie enjoys genres including 70’s Rock and Blues. Liam’s most listened to genres are pop punk and country. Cameron preferred genres are music from the Brit-pop era and the 90s American Hip-Hop scene. However as a band all together we share a passion for mainly indie rock.
7.Is There A Story Behind The New Single
The story behind our new single is about the situation of feeling like you need and deserve someone however the feeling in not reciprocated. In this case, there is a girl who treated poorly by her partner, but no matter how badly he treats her, she stays with him. The person telling the story is confused how she could want to be with someone so undeserving and carless when he would treat her so much better.
8. What Would You Say Is Your Greatest Strength As An Artist?
Our biggest strength as a band is that we are all so similar yet different from each other at same time. We all come from the same sort of background which makes us closer as friends rather than peers. We view ourselves as mates who just share the same agenda to make something of ourselves and get our music out there.
9. What Would You Say Is Your Greatest Weakness As An Artist?
Our biggest weakness Is our age and our inability to promote ourselves as effectively as we’d like to. Due to us being a young group of lads, many people underestimate our musical ability without even giving us a chance. We find that when these people do eventually get around to listening to us, they are often surprised by what we have to offer.
10. What can fans expect from your new single
When it comes to our new single fans can expect a fat new explosive sound combined with some wicked joint vocals.
11. What music artist would you say have influenced your work?
Some artists who have influenced our music include: Wunderhorse, Arctic Monkeys, Architects, The Beatles, Oasis, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
12. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
An artist we would love to collaborate with is Wunderhorse purely because of the strong influence they have had on us as people as well as musicians.
13. What was your worst performance?
Our worst performance was a college performance at Chinnery’s in Southend due to sound complications and a short set of 15 minutes.
14: What was the most difficult obstacle you have ever faced and how did you overcome it?
Our most difficult hurdle so far was starting out as we didn’t have a following or anything to show for ourselves. This made it hard to find venues that would give us a chance to perform, making the start a very slow process. You’ve got to start somewhere though
15: What is your creative process when making music. Do you work with others or is there just you?
To start the process of writing, I (Cameron) take inspiration from Noel Gallagher as he says “Writing songs is like going fishing, you have to sit, wait and hope you get one”. After I am happy with what I have written and put basic music to the words I play it to the band as a foundation and from there we build the song.
16: Where do you see your musical career in 10 years?
In ten years we want to be selling out major events in huge venues playing our music to the masses.
17:Your Top 3 Overrated Musicians, who when you hear them you think ‘ How The Fk………….. ?
One overrated band we all collectively think is overrated is ‘BILK’. We think most of their music is the same regurgitated stuff, either copied from other artists or very similar to other artists. Aside from that, it is hard to separate ‘overrated’ from ‘disliked’ bands as everyone has their own opinions and musical taste.
