Description
PRE-ORDER NOW. RELEASE DATE IS 2nd MAY.
Scott Hepple And The Sun Band are one of the most exciting young rock n roll bands to emerge out of the UK in years, if not decades!
English Mustard was recorded at London’s Tilehouse Studios and was produced by analogue master Liam Watson (Toerag, White Stripes, Electric Wizard etc). The vinyl edition is a 100% analogue pressing , cut direct from tape to lacquer. Don’t miss out on this ‘genuinely’ cool release!
All vinyl editions come with photo insert.
First pressing:
x100 Clear vinyl diehard
x200 Black Vinyl
SCOTT HEPPLE & THE SUN BAND
English Mustard
Popclaw / Rise Above
A lot’s happened since 2021. Back then Newcastle native Scott Hepple recorded a pile of his songs solo with musical assistance from friends. When asked to play a show two years later, a band was put together that evolved and then settled around Scott Hepple (vocals, guitar, Mellotron, keys), Thomas Keith (guitars), Sophie Keith (bass, backing vocals) and Luc Hindmarch (drums, percussion). The lo-fi self-released LP, ‘Ashes To Wildflowers’, was released in 2023. It was followed 2024’s eight-track mini-album ‘Lammas’, both of which were well-received, even if only a few in the know were aware of this exciting new band. As a result, the Sun Band played various shows across Europe and the UK, including a support for the legendary Johnny Echols & Love, as headliners at Third Man Records in London and Shindig! Magazine’s ‘Happening!’ night, where the band impressed Rise Above’s Lee Dorrian enough for him to sign them on the spot. The ‘Smoke And Frown’ single debuted on the label last August.
So, how would one describe Scott Hepple & The Sun Band? Let Scott explain. “I hate it when bands feel stuck to one sound or genre. Sometimes I want to make a loud doomy song, or a folk song, or a love song or a crazy fast garage-rock song. Sometimes all of that ends up being in the same song! I think I’ve soaked up ‘writing for a genre’ from previous bands I’ve been in, so all of the elements of my songwriting now feel pretty natural, which I feel lucky for.” The Sun Band swerve from early ’70s heaviness into ’60s psych, mellow folk to coruscating guitar noise, and whilst influences can be heard, these all get mangled and pulped through a liquidiser, sounding unlike anyone else past or present. This is the Scott Hepple sound.
English Mustard is a massive step forward for the band. The previous two self-released albums were decidedly primitive. “Working with Liam Watson was amazing,” says Scott of their legendary producer, and now Rise Above house producer. Watson, famed for making a wealth of amazing records at his East London Toe Rag studios, including The White Stripes’ ‘Elephant’, is an expert of how to capture musicians’ unique sensibilities. None of the sludge that makes the Sun Band the Sun Band was finessed or removed. Absolutely nothing is too produced or overdone. “Recording with dream equipment we’d normally never get to use felt surreal,” concludes Scott of the experience. “I got the chance to focus on my performance instead of jumping between the mixing desk and the band space.”
Laid down over a period of six days at Mike Oldfield’s Tilehouse Studios, on the outer edges of West London, the all-analogue affair expands the Sun Band’s mix of loud and quiet, ferocious and thoughtful music. From the gentle acoustic guitar / mellotron / piano based ‘The Gooseberry’ to the clattering feedback laden ‘Fake A Smile’ and forays into the psychedelic and progressive, the title track and ‘Sweet Sugar High’, English Mustard is not bound by one approach. The dynamics and light and shade that define Scott Hepple & The Sun Band are clearly on display.
Catch ’em live, buy the album. Scott Hepple & The Sun Band are special.
Jon ‘Mojo’ Mills,
Shindig! Magazine
Side One
Stadt/Klavier
Smoke And Frown
Velvet Divorce
Lead On Sonny Brown
Dreaming
English Mustard
Fake A Smile
Ohrwurm
Side Two
Gone
Blue Door Jimmy
A Brief Advertisement
Jekyll And Hyde
The Gooseberry
Sun Lion
Sweet Sugar Sigh
Better Run
