Quickfire Questions: Sugar Rush! & Me Rex
The DIY music scene in the UK can be an incredible place. From my experience it is filled with incredibly supportive and inspirational people and is a community that cares about safe spaces just as much as great music.
This brings me on to two individuals, Ankles & Myles McCabe. Both feature in their respective bands/projects - Sugar Rush! & Me Rex. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing both live and excitingly they released a split tape called Sugar Rex recently with the incredible Rosecoloured Records. I caught up with them both to for some Quickfire Questions to get to know them both and their bands/projects as well as the split tape that brought two of this scenes most talented artists together. (This interview took place at the end of 2018.)
Me Rex
Who are you?
Myles McCabe, I often collaborate as with different people on Me Rex projects, Flood was recorded by Rich from Happy Accidents and Phoebe plays the drums on it.
What influences your music?
There are certain acts that have an influence on pretty much everything I write, namely WHY?, the Sunset Rubdown, Joanna Newsom and the Mountain Goats. Touring with Kermes is what made me want to add the guitar solo into this song, they may well be my favourite live act ever.
Favourite movies?
I mostly enjoy cartoon tv series like Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Avatar (ATLAB and LOK), the new She-Ra was good too! But a few films I like are Jurassic park (obviously), Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Empire Records and A Simple Plan.
4 essential items you have to take on tour...
1) For me it helps an enormous amount to bring some running gear. I'm not overly concerned about physical results and I don't really run when I'm at home but running on tour is a great way to avoid mental and physical stagnation and you get to actually see the places you visit.
2) It's not a physical object but a good selection of podcasts is a great thing to have with you on tour. They're really useful for retreating into for a bit of alone time, for getting to sleep.
3) A towel, I'm not going to be all Ford Prefect about it but honestly please just bring a towel.
4) All of your sunny vibes
What do we have to look forward to from you?
At the moment I'm trying to write something in a longer form than a traditional pop song, kind of inspired by some of Joanna Newsom and Sufjan Stevens' longer pieces. It's still taking shape, I've got a lot of material for it but I'm still working out where everything goes. I've always been very anxious to get things finished but I'm allowing myself some time on this one, I'm interested to see where it goes
The new split single cassette is being released with Rosecoloured Records. How did the idea come about?
I first met Andy from RoseColoured Records at a show Let's Stop Hanging Out put on in Aldershot last year, I played a Me Rex set and a Fresh set. RCR put out Hora Douse as well, Tom (from HD) and I have toured together quite a lot with his solo project Tea Leaf and he liked working with RCR so it made sense to contact Andy about doing this release.
You're heading out on tour again with Fresh & Tea Leaf, the former of which you're also a member of. What are you excited about with this next run of shows?
Myself, Tom and Kathryn (Fresh) are headed out on an acoustic tour this February/March. We did a similar tour last year, initially we planned to each play a few bits in each other's sets but once we got into the swing of rehearsals we ended up having everyone onstage for all 3 sets doing something in almost every song. It makes for a pretty intense run of shows but it's great fun, they're both very talented, it's a pleasure to play their songs and have them on mine.
Sugar Rush!
Who are you? (Small self-summary of band & members)
Sugar Rush! is a poppy emo power trio comprised of Marcemellow (he/him), Luce (they/them) and myself, Ankles (she/they)!
Where are you from?
We're based in LDN but only Luce is a lifelong Londoner. M is from Sao Paulo and I'm originally an East Anglian bumpkin.
What influences your music?
Sound-wise, we listen to a lot between us but we came together through a shared appreciation for emo and pop punk. Lyrically, we tend to write quite personal stuff, so there I guess it's more just drawing from our day to day experiences.
Do you or any of your band members have any other talents? (cooking, skateboarding, juggling, magic etc.)
I think we're all pretty nifty cooks! I dream of Marcemellow's feijoada on the daily. Luce is sick at flute as well as bass. I'm quite good at getting Pokémon to level 100.
Favourite movies?
I saw THE Favourite the other week. I hated every single character in it passionately, so I'd say I enjoyed it overall.
4 essential items you have to take on tour...
I'm literally on a train to Germany to tour as I'm writing this so I'm in the right frame of mind here! Always bring a water bottle, something to pass time that isn't your phone (I've got a 3DS and a book here) and, Hitchhiker's favourite, a towel. I've just realised I've forgotten #4 which is a Tupperware - if you get given band food before playing but don't wanna eat yet you can save yourself a portion for later without worrying about it running out.
When not writing music or performing, how do you spend your free time?
I love trying to find new weird free or cheap shit to do in London (and finding how I can travel there for a pound). I'm also trying to get into drawing and illustrating - I've done the art for our upcoming EP actually so you can tell me if I should allow it or not soon haha.
If you were curating a festival, who would your three headliners be?
I still haven't seen Noname so she gets a slot, Carly Rae Jepsen (no explanation needed) and Fugees can reunite too. That's not a big ask right?
What new band would you recommend we listen to?
My mate Faith from Suggested Friends had got a new band called Athabaska which literally only has one demo online, but obviously it's brilliant and we can expect further great things.
What do we have to look forward to from you?
Our EP! Hopefully more shows in new places/ a tour too!
How were you made aware of each other's music?
I first saw Myles in his old band Matagot when my band ¡Ay Carmela! was on the same bill and caught him playing solo a couple of weeks after that. Both performances really struck a nerve with me and that was that really!
You also play in a few other bands. What makes Sugar Rush so special to you Laura?
Sugar Rush! is where I put the majority of my songwriting so it's really quite personal to me in that way. Plus it's like the only one where I have to put a lot more energy into making stuff happen - which is probably why the EP still hasn't come out!!