Get Inuit: "We’re going to be universally loved by February. Then we’ll probably break up by March!"

Jamie Glass is sipping on a glass of Coke. It's been a busy day, month and well, year for the Get Inuit frontman. If it hasn't been spent working on their frantic blend of scuzzy-pop in the studio, it's been spent bursting around the globe - playing shows all over the place and introducing Get Inuit as a band not only packed full of bangers but with the good times to boot. So you can forgive him for kicking back a bit, well - as much as possible when you're sitting in the very venue that they'll smash into 2017 with.

“It’s really exciting,” declares Jamie, as he gazes across The Lexington on a chilly winter night. “It’s one of my favourite small venues in London, so we’re all really looking forward to it.”

In the space of twelve months, Get Inuit have gone from hard-working locals driving around on weekends to play shows all over South-East England to indisputable new music thrivers, injecting a much-needed booster of energy and dreaming wherever they go. Drenched in scuzz-flavoured glory, their summer anthem ‘Teriyaki’ shows exactly what they do best - blistering nuggets of pop-hooked grunge that sound like The Beach Boys biting into a king-sized bar of Snickers.

[sc name="pull" text="I’d never have thought we’d do so much in a year."]

“It felt like this year the band went from living in Kent and every now and again pretending to be a proper band, to actually now doing this as our full-time jobs,” remembers Jamie. “I think one of the moments that stood out was from our tour with Spring King, and we were selling merch after the show - and people were actually coming up and talking to us, buying our stuff and getting us to sign it too.

“There was a young girl - who definitely regretted it in the morning - who got us to sign her actual iPhone. As I finished doing it I thought, ‘Ahh wow, this has progressed - people actually want us to damage their property!’

“I’m just so used to shaking people to say, ‘We’re a good band!’ and now people are just listening without us asking - no blackmail involved, they just listened and liked it! There’s been a transition with people actually wanting to hear our songs, the songs that we’d written in our bedrooms, which is incredible.

“If you’d asked me last year about the next 12 months, I’d never have thought we’d do so much in a year.”

Much has certainly been done, but that’s been born and engrained in Get Inuit from day one. Forming over two years ago after meeting at school in Kent, they’ve bonded over a mutual love for loud pop music, keeping that core sensibility while grabbing every opportunity they can to rehearse, record and grow into the sort of band they’d want to listen to back in the bedrooms where it all began. Alongside Jamie, brothers Rob and James Simpson and bassist Oliver Nun, Get Inuit have managed to capture something deemed so simple but yet falls away from many - the idea of having a bloody great time and not being shamed away from it.

Working away during the week, and dedicating themselves to the band in any free time - Get Inuit’s knack for adventure lives through everything they do. From sneaking into the recording studio where James’ worked to record demos in any time spare, to country-spanning tours and relentless live shows, if there’s ever a band more dedicated to getting their music out there then Get Inuit will give them a run for their money. For a band used to playing the odd gig here and there, the past 12 months has certainly been a game-changer.

“To be fair, this year has been the real jump,” explains Jamie. “Last year we did the odd show here and there, but this year we've been out with Spring King twice, toured with VANT and also played a summer full of festivals. I feel like, and I know it's a cliche - but there's no better way to get better as a band than just to play and play. I never thought it would be possible, but over this year we've really enjoyed being a good live band. With James having a studio we've always seen ourselves as a recording band, as we enjoy creating and making music, but it's been really fun touring the songs.

“Plus, there’s a lot more dancing now.”

[sc name="pull" text="My Dad always says we're getting tighter and tighter, so we must have got better!"]

There’s something undeniable about Get Inuit live. Some bands never seem to truly capture the magic of what they’re all about when they hit a stage, but for Get Inuit it’s well and truly their home. It’s a relationship that they’ve nestled into through 2016, and one that’s now an integral part of who they are, and what they represent.

“Yeah, we've been adding layer after layer to what we do. I mean, my Dad at the end of a tour is always a pretty good judge. He shows up, which is all that I can ask for - though I'm sure he's waiting for my balls to drop - but he always says how we're getting tighter and tighter, so we must have got better through the year.”

It's in those moments where the sounds they all grew up on shine through. Get Inuit aren't afraid to show the world what they've got, not afraid to appear ‘uncool' but ready to kick off with an arsenal of tectonic bangers. The type that make a NOW compilation disc seem like a collection of B-sides and rarities. It flows through the bands they love and admire, and is there every time they step out to play.

“If I'm perfectly honest, I'm a fan-boy,” declares Jamie. It's something you catch on to very quickly in his presence, chatting about the bands he's recently seen (The Big Moon at Scala a particular highlight, and Black Honey during the summer another one). “I love indie bands, and even if I'm meant to be this cool guy I'll try my best to go out of my way to see new, upcoming bands.

“There are some bands that I don’t even listen to now, but when we’re playing we naturally seem to play like them. Bands like General Fiasco - who we reference to even now, and The Beach Boys of course who have made us want to make our harmonies sound as god-like as possible. Musically then there’s Weezer, where you can see the very obvious pop core but it’s heavy and loud, and I love that.

“I don’t see why a pop song has to be soft. It can be powerful and I think that’s what we always go for.”

And those pop songs are going to cause something far greater. For a year that has seen them establish themselves as the band they’ve always dreamed of being, it seems that now Get Inuit have the title in their sites. 2017 is already starting with that soon-to-be pivotal night at The Lexington and from there the stage is well and truly theirs.

“It feels like we did a lot of learning this year, and I think we’re going to hit 2017 so hard - right from the start, it feels like we’re not warming up anymore - we’re ready to hit it,” enthuses Jamie. “I think we’re going to be universally loved by the world by February - maybe not the end of January like I think that’s too much but maybe February. Looking around Valentines Day - and then we’ll probably break up by March!”

Get Into it, there's only one band with the good times ready - one that'll take them well beyond March, that's for certain. [sc name="stopper" ]