Southerlies release their new single ‘Words’

In the history of contemporary music, there are so many genres, sub-genres, and different approaches. Have you ever wondered why? Certainly it’s a matter of the individual band, the expression, the life experiences, but beyond anything we can imagine, contemporary music with all these styles is just the soundtrack to our lives. If we were to pin Southerlies to a time in our lives, it would be that of relaxation and tranquility.

Formed in 2015 in Portsmouth, the Southerlies have performed in a variety of venues big and small, attended important festivals and television spaces. Southerlies music makes a specific mood, a bit like the Lumineers do for example. If we had to find a band that resembles Southerlies it would definitely be the one just mentioned. Having said that, the members of the band are: Rob Shaw – Drums, Sam Cutbush – Bass, Jenny Ried – Vocals, Ross Murphy – Vocals/guitar, Steve Jay – Guitar, Faisal Sketty – Harmonica and finally Graeme Wallace – Piano. As you can see, it’s a large group of people, and within their songs they want to search for particular sounds, nuances that can make their pieces palatable but also original.

In their music, there’s a message of hope, love, and a desire not to take things too seriously. Reconnecting to what we were saying at the beginning of the writing, Southerlies is a band that will accompany you in your search of inner peace, and they want you to never stop dreaming because this is what keeps you alive.

LISTEN TO “WORDS” ON SPOTIFY

and see 5 Questions with Ross Murphy below.

What’s your favorite venue where you’ve performed live so far?

Ross Murphy: “I always have to revert to our favourite local venue, The Wedgwood rooms in Portsmouth. This is real traditional music venue and has the sound quality to complement it. We’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Ocean Colour Scene, Beth Rowley and even Roachford there, so it has some very good memories!
We all need to support these local live music venues because without them, the up and coming bands would not have that stepping stone to performing with the big names in the industry, which is an all so important experience.”

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve done in your life?

Ross Murphy: “What?! I don’t know… everything… Me and friend of mine used to just try anything that took our fancy. We’ve done mountain boarding, we’ve been moto-crossing, we even went surfing once and he didn’t realise his ankle was broken until he duck dived a wave and the board got tugged away. The leash was on that ankle. He knew it was sprained but didn’t think it was broken till he went white after that incident.
We’ve been to Barcelona and didn’t sleep for what felt like 3 days. I even wrote a song about it. Wow that place is insane… “Barcelona you did me good”!!”

What is your biggest goal this year?

Ross Murphy: “Release, release, release. With access to a fully functional music studio the plan for 2022 is to record all the tracks that we’ve never had a chance to before. We must have 20 plus songs, many of which are recent works so I’m really enjoying writing at the moment. It’s the age old challenge of making them sound as good on a recording as they do in your head! Fingers crossed!!!”

What is something you think should be illegal?

Ross Murphy: “Ha, good question… I guess social media to an extent. Now don’t get me wrong I’m a sucker for the infamous scroll as much as the next person but I can see that there is a correlation between the endless adds mental health. By this I mean that they tell you how you should look like this or act like that, or you can make this much money from doing this or that, and then we have this rise in anxiety and mental health. I’m sure it is related, and I think it could the public image that you see online which is not exactly reflective of anyone’s true life, unless you’re Rock of course (which we follow). Well that got deep quick, so I’ll leave it there.”

What always makes you laugh?

Ross Murphy: “Hmmm, well following on from my last rant about social media… you know when you’re scrolling through those little clips about people stacking it, whether in cars, on bikes, or attempting stupid stunts. Well that can induce a belly laugh like no other. Just out of no-where, like no other, comedy genius!”

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