Packed shows, indie bangers and limitless ambition - there’s more to Inhaler than simply the obvious...
Pubs on a Monday night are an odd place. The weekend is over, those looking for the party to end all parties have returned to the everyday rhythms of modern life, and the smell of 'what on earth happened last night?' is beginning to subside, if only slightly.
In the heart of East London, this Monday night is somewhat different. There are no pub quizzes here, only a distinctive rumbling sound. Careering down tight steps and sticky floors, it's a noise that gets louder and louder as a long line of people shuffle in their shoes, trying to peer down the corridor ahead at a packed room.
As you move closer, you're hit with something else: the sort of stadium-sized hooks and effortless swagger that'd come from a band set to be fronting magazine covers and taking on the world. Thing is, Dublin newcomers Inhaler are already doing that.
The sweaty basement soon becomes the sort of feverish release of energy that any act would trade their nan for; chorus after chorus of hands-in-the-air frenzy. When it's all said and done, they've stolen the show. They were only meant to be the second band on.
Inhaler's first London headline show, held a couple of weeks earlier, sold out months in advance. To contain the sheer size of the moment going on, they had to move the show across Camden to a bigger venue. There were icons of music past gathered, streams of adoring fans and enough cans of Red Stripe to go round to make a supermarket blush.
Singer Elijah "Eli" Hewson led guitarist Josh Jenkinson, bassist Rob Keating and drummer Ryan McMahon through a thrilling set packed with points and flicks of a band full of confidence, with singalong refrains galore.
This sort of takeover isn't your usual bang-for-bucks band on the rise. It's the whole package.
It's the afternoon after their Monday night turn in an East London basement, and the band are taking a moment for a quick lager in an empty brewery bar. It's a perfect time to pause, if only for a second.
In just under a week, Inhaler will be off to America for a string of shows with Blossoms. Then there's a festival show in Mexico, another trio of UK headline shows in December, a headline show in Tokyo in the new year and plenty more to come. For most of the morning, they've been stuck at embassies making sure they can travel. The world well and truly awaits.
From the hype lists, the talk of their early years and whatever's been written about their journey so far, one thing is definitively clear: if you think you know what Inhaler are all about, then think again.
There's an immediacy and urgency to everything Inhaler serve up. A straight to the jugular kick of mammoth pop hooks drenched in the raining darkness of a leather jacket on a night in the city. From 'It Won't Always Be Like This' and its skyscraper refrain, to the adrenaline rush of 'My Honest Face', and the lush warmth of 'Ice Cream Sundae', there's a constant push of sounds that always feel different. Yet, underneath there's one consistent statement: this is your next favourite band.
Rob continues: "There's definitely music that each of us listens to that none of the others like, which is a really good thing. There have been many situations where I've played something to Eli, and he's been like, 'nah, that's not good'. Then, two days later, he's like, 'yeah, man!" And vice-versa. It pushes us all. You like to say we're a rock band, but we're experimenting with rap beats and loads of different bits and bobs at the moment, and that comes from all of our own tastes."
With music always on in each of their households - you may be familiar with Eli's dad's band too, give him a Google - it wasn't until Eli was 12 or 13 that he really took notice, when he listened to a copy of 'Ziggy Stardust' given to him by his godfather. "When I told him that I wasn't really into music, he looked at me with a face of disgust," Eli laughs.
Going along with guitar lessons, it was a surprising source that got him into performing. "Weirdly enough, it was Guitar Hero!" he admits. "It's odd. If you talk to a lot of different musicians our age and in bands - they were into it. It all just grew from there."
Bonding over a shared love of music, and a camaraderie that practically rings off them today, finishing each other's sentences and rolling with everything life is throwing at them, their path was set.
Josh raises a beer in acknowledgement. "The reason I joined was that I was at a party with Eli, and he played 'I Wanna Be Adored' by The Stone Roses on the speaker, and I was like - I've heard this before, but I don't know where from. It just sparked interest from there."
Eli cracks a smile. "I made sure to be at that party because I knew Josh was going to be there," he laughs. "I'd heard the band he was in had split up and was trying to woo him!"
The woo-ing worked. With Josh firmly in the band, a newfound focus kicked into gear. Other career options never stood a chance.
A myriad of influences and styles left their mark on the band as they found their feet, from the punchy rock of Royal Blood ("we saw them and were just blown away," remembers Eli), to the shining pop charm of 80s-90s Manchester bands like The Stone Roses, The Smiths and Oasis, to the more visceral energy of Shame. Each has played a part in the Inhaler melting pot.
They're the first to admit that they needed time and experience to become who they wanted to be. That step of playing live and learning from it, morphing into the band that now it seems only play to sold-out rooms.
"I remember during one song, might have been a Kings Of Leon cover," continues Eli. "The kick-drum and the drums started to fall apart, and they were going all over the place. We had to find some Sellotape, tape it all up, and then just get right back into it.
Ryan recognises just how important those nights in pubs and bars were.
"It took us doing those gigs for us to realise just how much we loved doing this, and that we did want to take this somewhere.
The live space is where Inhaler thrive. Before releasing any songs, they knew they needed to play and play and play. As Eli admits, "it's all well and good to cook up a demo at home on your laptop, but you could play it live, and people just go, what the fuck?"
The countless nights and shows carved out new tracks, new ways to approach being in a band and new avenues that finds them on the cusp of the big leagues.
It's all part of the defiance and passion that's led Inhaler to where they find themselves today: a gang ready to make a mark on the world, and with the sort of universal anthems in their back-pocket to back it up.
"I don't think there are any limits to what we want to achieve or what we can achieve either," Eli states.
In that spirit, attention is beginning to turn to that debut album and a chance to firmly capture 2020 as their own.
"When you put a debut album out there, that's what people are going to label you by," explains Eli. "So you just want to make sure it's perfect, and it fits all those needs. We've got all the tunes, but it's just about getting them recorded and getting them recorded right. We have a message, and something to say.
"People want something that all fits together as one thing. The biggest bands are focused on the aesthetics too, and we love that. Some bands will just go on in a t-shirt, and it's cool if it's a good t-shirt!
"I remember Paul Weller said that back in his day if you were into a band, you were into the way they looked as well and it all goes hand-in-hand. I think that's really important.
Looking beyond simply being another band, Inhaler are better placed than most to lead the charge.
They're all fully aware of the age they find themselves in, tuned into 2020 in a way that pulls in the influences that laid the path before them but with a knowing nod to being a young person in a time full of so much change and uncertainty.
Ryan notes: "Someone said to us recently that because of the influence of social media and the availability of music today, music is now seen as a sugar hit of sorts. There needs to be that buzz and then it's on to the next song. For us, it's all about putting out the best content possible regularly. With the album, there's not a pressure to get it done, but a pressure to get it right."
If the reaction they've been getting live so far is anything to go by, then it seems Inhaler are right on course. Unreleased tracks that fill their set continue that vein of uncompromising hit after uncompromising hit - whether it's synth-laden post-punk drives or swooning all-encompassing raptures that jump between Joy Division and The Killers at the touch of a dime. There's simply no stopping them now.
Catch Inhaler while you can, or you'll be stuck in the queue wishing you were there.
Words: Jamie Muir
It's Dublin where things all began. Teenagers knocking around and trying to work out what they wanted to do with their lives, music drew them together and helped to form their sense of being.
With music always on in each of their households - you may be familiar with Eli's dad's band too, give him a Google - it wasn't until Eli was 12 or 13 that he really took notice, when he listened to a copy of 'Ziggy Stardust' given to him by his godfather. "When I told him that I wasn't really into music, he looked at me with a face of disgust," Eli laughs.
Going along with guitar lessons, it was a surprising source that got him into performing. "Weirdly enough, it was Guitar Hero!" he admits. "It's odd. If you talk to a lot of different musicians our age and in bands - they were into it. It all just grew from there."
Bonding over a shared love of music, and a camaraderie that practically rings off them today, finishing each other's sentences and rolling with everything life is throwing at them, their path was set.
Josh raises a beer in acknowledgement. "The reason I joined was that I was at a party with Eli, and he played 'I Wanna Be Adored' by The Stone Roses on the speaker, and I was like - I've heard this before, but I don't know where from. It just sparked interest from there."
Eli cracks a smile. "I made sure to be at that party because I knew Josh was going to be there," he laughs. "I'd heard the band he was in had split up and was trying to woo him!"
The woo-ing worked. With Josh firmly in the band, a newfound focus kicked into gear. Other career options never stood a chance.
A myriad of influences and styles left their mark on the band as they found their feet, from the punchy rock of Royal Blood ("we saw them and were just blown away," remembers Eli), to the shining pop charm of 80s-90s Manchester bands like The Stone Roses, The Smiths and Oasis, to the more visceral energy of Shame. Each has played a part in the Inhaler melting pot.
