Matty and the Bullsharks
e-mail interview, February 2016
by Rosey R*E*P*E*A*T

Straight out of the stresses and strains of Year 11 at a local Comprehensive, Matty and the Bullsharks energetic melody laden shambolic jigginess gained its first brush with near notoriety a R*E*P*E*A*T Young Performers' Gig. The boys' mix of diffidence, danceability and non deliberate equipment destruction was an instant hit with both the assembled kids and their parents. Pretty soon The Bullsharks were being courted by a gaggle of local Promoters, earning them shows with the likes of Slaves, Horse Party, JAWS, Mortal Tides and The Machismo's, as they begun ripping up dance floors across East Anglia. At the same time their recordings, made in the claustrophobic confines of R*E*P*E*A*T's Big Badger Music Shack, earned them more gigs further afield, including one at the O2 in Islington.

With interest increasing and the infectious effervescent exuberance of the live shows growing, R*E*P*E*A*T decided it was time for the Bullsharks to stretch their fins beyond the safe waters of the ubiquitous comfort zones of Soundclouds and Youtubes. Thus was born You Flexi Thing Volume 1, (This is Shark City), an ocean blue flexi disc designed to cast the net wider.

With their mixture of chaotic charisma, lyrical loopiness and sartorial suss, we decided it was time to ask Matty and the Bullsharks (now in year 12) to explain the delights of their Devil's Dance.


Lucy: Your band have been quite quiet for the last few months. Are you looking forward to playing gigs again?
Katie Jane Garside: I think I give very obtuse ans

Matty and the Bullsharks – who, what and why?
The band consists of five membwins, two Charlies, Mlu, Louis and a Ben. We wanted a fresh name and we thought bullsharks are pretty cool animals, and Matty, well – it was just a name we liked.
Actually it’s named after a bert at our old school called Mathew.


Who are your heroes, musical, cultural, sporting, political, other?
Some of us man are big fans of The Specials. We also find a lot of inspiration from bands such the Clash and the Libertines.


Describe your sound to a deaf alien.

Leng.
We've got our own pretty distinct style: we focus on big choruses with lots of guitar and a fast pace

People have talked of the death of guitar music; do you find an interest in what you're doing from those of a similar age to you? Do you find it hard to get an interest from younger people, and what has reaction in general to you been like?
Yeah but nah ye, we still find it easy enough to interest people our age with our music, a lot from our energy and style.


You are a defiantly guitar powered band, but the other night a saw a keyboard on stage, is that a direction you mean to pursue?
We are trying to use the synth in some of our new songs to add thickness to the texture on top of the guitars.


What can you tell us about Devil's Dance, the track on the flexi?
It’s a quick, lyrical and energetic song. Built on very basic chords and structure. It’s a flex(i). 'I quite liked the devils dance' said Isaac from Slaves when we played with them.


Be honest, had you ever heard of a flexi before being put on one? What do you hope it might achieve for you?
Nope. More exposure.

What is the Matty and the Bullsharks live experience like?

Lit…with spices ;)


On your day, the combination of guitars do make you very danceable, what has the reaction of fans been to you? Do they enjoy a bit of a Devil's Dance?
As Devils Dance has as much energy as it does, crowds often go in for the skank.


I saw you at Bury Sound last week and you were winningly shambolic with things breaking and going out of tune all over the place, yet you won – is this a persona you cultivate?
It’s accidental but it seems to work.


How do you think you stand out amongst the plethora of indie rock bands?

Not indie, our energy makes us stand out.


If you could support any band (past / present), who would it be and why?

Ian Dury because he’s the don.

 


How can our readers get hold of your music? Why should they bother?

Our main song base is our sound cloud which can be found on our facebook page. Uno.


What are your hopes for Matty and the Bullsharks?
Ideally we’d like to play at festivals this summer.


What's best, chips or cream buns?

Gardies chips with garlic mayo, the bang bang.

Devil's Dance is available on a 2 track flexi disc (also featuring Deep City) with free download and badge plus optional CDR from 16th April 2016. You can also download it here or from other usual digital stores.

 

https://www.facebook.com/mattyandthebullsharks/
https://soundcloud.com/matty-and-the-bullsharks

wers to questions...It's never about looking forward to it. Actually maybe I should change the
script, maybe we are looeir musicm the 3rd album?