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Saint Clair's debut EP 'Something To Be Said' has been a long time coming. The four members all grew up on various styles of music (guitarist Lawrence Bordean came up on 80s hair metal, vocalist Toby Bardsley's first gig was Frankie Valli), but they came into this project with a shared love of great rock acts and a hunger to add to that legacy. "There's just something life-affirming about it," metal-loving drummer Beth Diana tells Dork shortly before a ferocious set at The Great Escape.
All four of them have been in bands before. Toby had a string of projects throughout school and college that he now refuses to name, before he teamed up with Adam Anderson at uni, who'd recently bought a bass after a boozy night out. Together with a few mates, they performed covers and the occasional original track, but that fizzled out as other members' priorities shifted. "It's just the natural progression of things," says Toby. "Things have to break down before you can break through and find a different way to grow."
They started over with Lawrence and a rotating line-up of session drummers before Beth accidentally walked into them rehearsing. Everything fell into place soon after. At the time, she was a session drummer ("It felt like the most realistic way to have a career in music") but quickly fell in love with the idea of being part of something permanent. "It was obvious that all three of these boys were so determined, and I needed to be around people that wanted it as much as I do," she says of quitting a steady job to join a group with only a handful of song ideas to their name. "There was just a certainty about it - this is going to go somewhere." She wasn't wrong.
With a shared understanding of how much Saint Clair meant to each of them, the band spoke about how far they wanted to take things – and worked backwards from there. You can hear that ambition across debut EP 'Something To Be Said'. "It took a lot of time to understand the writing relationship," says Toby, with the four-piece spending the past 18 months really working out Saint Clair's sonic identity. "We nurtured the ability to say yes to trying things," says Lawrence, with the band pulling from post-punk, shoegaze, indie sleaze and beyond. "It feels like it's got direction now and we're really looking forward to scaling it up." The debut EP represents "the four corners" of Saint Clair. "It's who we are at this moment in time. We just want to write great songs together, and right now, that includes a fuzz pedal, a heavy drummer and being the loudest fuckers around."
"We nurtured the ability to say yes to trying things"
— Lawrence Bordean
From the celebratory grunge of 'Too Young To Notice' to the aching longing of 'Gretchen', it's a record of youthful expression that deals with romance, friendships and biting self-reflection. "We like the simplicity of asking questions. It's a great way for us to either get a point across or leave the door open for the listener," says Toby. "We've tried writing lyrics because we wanted the song to sound cool, but that got boring quick," Lawrence says. Instead, Saint Clair have tapped into the emotions behind real stories and experiences. "In every track, there's a character being discussed – whether that's Toby, the listener or somebody else. You won't have to search very hard to find the truth, though. People who get it, get it. The people who don't? I'm not sure they exist."
Even in the very early days of Saint Clair, they found people who were connecting deeply with the fractured, vulnerable truths at the heart of each song. "Now I want to build on that world," says Lawrence. "From the music and the lyrics to the merch and the gigs, I want everything we do to add something to someone's life. I believe there's a bit of Saint Clair in everyone, so I can't wait for that to bloom."
"You don't have to be a virtuoso to make songs with your friends"
— Lawrence Bordean
Saint Clair are part of a wave of exciting new bands who aren't afraid of searing guitar riffs or revealing lyrics. "There's a lot of uncertainty about the future for our generation. But you can look around at this movement, and there's a real sense of community there," says Beth. "Everyone is coming together to get sweaty and sing songs that mean something to them. It's an escape, and people need that right now."
"Also, when you grow up with social media, you see a version of life that is so filtered. Everything is perfected, and that can be quite alienating, but there's something about this wave of guitar bands that is just so real," she continues. "The lyrics, the attitude – it's just so tangible. It feels like people coming together."
"Rock music is more accessible than a lot of other things," adds Lawrence. "Almost everyone has got a crappy guitar lying around, and you don't have to be a virtuoso to make songs with your friends." Seeing other people do it gives you this "hope", says Toby. "It's a cultural movement. It might be small right now, but it's real."
"Yeah, I want this band to create art that can transport people somewhere else," says Beth. "When I go and see a gig, I'm not thinking about anything else. There's nothing but this sense of euphoria. I would love Saint Clair to help other people just feel really good."
Saint Clair's EP 'Something To Be Said' is out 17th July. Truck Festival takes place from 23rd-26th July, visit truckfestival.com for more information.
