You started life as a band at uni, didn't you?
Yeah, we all met in Brighton, and that's where we started playing together, but the band wasn't really what we are today. We used to run a night at a jazz bar, and it was mainly kind of post-rock instrumental jazz music. But then, Louis and I moved to London, and then I think all the bands there rubbed off on us, and we started shouting and getting a bit angrier.
It feels like you stand alone by yourselves at the minute, there's lots of post-punk around and even a bit of a Britpop revival. How do you see yourselves amongst your peers?
I'm not saying anything bad about the whole post-punk thing, but we like to have fun with it, and I think that comes across a bit more with our music sometimes. I don't think we think about it too much, we just get our heads down and do what we think is right. We liken ourselves to XTC, a bit tongue-in-cheek. We like to have fun.
Where did Squid come from?
We were obsessed with BEAK> at uni, and we wanted to have a memorable monosyllabic band name. I think we were walking through town in Brighton after a few beers or something and saw a sign that just said SQUID. And I think that's where it started, I can't quite remember.
So the big question… There are lots of single-word band names around right now, so we were obviously wondering who would win in a fight. It comes down to you and FEET, so what do you reckon? Would you rather fight a squid or lots of feet?
It would depend on how you use the feet I think, how muscly they are. And it depends if you're thinking of a human that has two feet, because a squid has up to ten. I reckon a squid would win. But we're not violent people, so maybe we can come to some sort of agreement with the feet.
Excellent thought process. That's the level of in-depth analysis Dork brings to an interview. What's next for Squid this year?
May brings loads of festivals; we're seemingly playing every festival under the sun which is fun. And then we are on the road with Viagra Boys - it's our first ever tour! Musically, we're gonna go together great.
Any more new music to come?
We are starting to think about an album, but it might be a while yet. We've been bled dry; we're working on a few ideas but nothing that can be called a song yet. With this EP, we've now done and dusted all the songs that we've been playing for two years now. So we're kind of ready to put all that behind us and make a big, bold, coherent move forwards.
Taken from the June issue of Dork. Squid’s single ‘Houseplants’ is out now.