Kent trio Lady Bird are going like the clappers: they’ve released their debut ‘Social Portions’ EP, signed to their near-lifelong friends’ label in Slaves’ Girl Fight Records, and played some great shows at the likes of London’s Alexandra Palace. A headline tour of their very own is coming in March, and they’ve music ready and waiting to be unleashed.
Stealing him away from his ‘other’ job at a theatre company – something he describes as “bit of a different side of life,” but one that he “thoroughly enjoys” – frontman Sam Cox says it hasn’t always been so. Looking back on their early days, he reveals it took them a while to find their footing.
“I couldn’t sing, so Alex [Deadman, guitar] was doing all the singing,” he laughs. “We had strength in our resolve regardless; we powered on through.”
Their relationship with their new label-bosses Slaves, becoming the first signings to Girl Fight Records, kickstarted something special.
“The whole journey that we’ve had, both in 2018 and from when we first started, it reached a point of wholesome reflection. When we were playing at Ally Pally with Slaves, that was a real moment of gratitude.”
Members of Lady Bird and Slaves pretty much grew up together. “We were playing in bands throughout our teens for many years,” Sam reflects. They’d watched Slaves go from strength to strength, catching up with them when they would pass through their hometown, Tunbridge Wells. When the duo caught wind that Sam and co. had created something new, they were keen to scope them out.
“Isaac [Holman, drums] particularly, at first,” Sam recalls. “They started coming to our gigs. Isaac came to so many at one time when he had six weeks off, he came to every single gig, travelling far and wide to watch us, by which point, Laurie [Vincent, guitar] came, watched us and was loving it. Then they asked us to support them on a couple of shows in the summer.”
It was at their July 2017 show at the Forum where Laurie put forward his idea of starting a record label.
“Laurie is quite a visionary in that respect. He just makes things happen, which takes a great deal of courage and persistence. He talked us through his plan and then soon had the infrastructure in place to make it a reality.
“We’re happy with the creative environment that we’ve created with those boys, and obviously, there’s trust, which is really, really important.”
Live shows have played an important role in their story so far. “We hope to capture the energy that you get with our live show in our recorded material,” Sam explains.
“I’m noticing a shift, and I feel like there’s a great sense of consciousness within artists and the response in the youth. We’ve had a lot of people sending demos over to us; people are really responding to live music which is great to see.”
He’s particularly a fan of London group Girls In Synthesis, Brighton’s Guru and, “beautiful bunch of lads” UGLY, who recently signed to Sports Team’s new label, Holm Front.
With their headline tour quickly approaching, Sam is keeping their plans close to his chest, but says there’s going to be “exciting content, news and art.”
“We’ve got enough material to put out a few singles or an EP, and we have a big summer of festivals after the tour, right through til September,” he adds. “Then we’ll get ourselves back into work mode and put out some more stuff.”
Hoping to play as many shows as possible, they’re keen to explore new territories and create music that can help people love themselves.
“The most important thing that can be taken from any music is to engage with a certain feeling,” Sam concludes. “Something that gives you the energy and the desire to do more.”
Taken from the March issue of Dork, out now. Lady Bird tour the UK from 27th March.
Words: Samantha Daly
