Caramel, the new album from Isle of Wight quartet Coach Party, is appropriately-named: it’s sweet, it’s messy and it sticks. Still, arriving two years on from their debut, 2023’s KILLJOY, and dripping with striking guitar tones, heart-on-the-sleeve lyrics and some haunting ’80s synth, it’s also a little like a 30-minute exorcism.
The band’s melting pot of ’90s influences – among them grunge, Britpop and shoe gaze – has won some notable hearts and minds, resulting in tours with near neighbours Wet Leg and rock icons Queens of the Stone Age.
“They were most hospitable and really enthusiastic,” reflects guitarist Steph Norris. “But you totally have imposter syndrome when you play with a band like QOTSA, because we’re not good enough. We were amateurs compared to them.”
That’s an overly humble assessment of their talents, as our exclusive live clip of new track Still Hurts [below] attests.
Norris is accompanied in the band by guitarist Joe Perry (not that one), bassist and vocalist Jess Eastwood and drummer/producer Guy Page. We checked in with precisely 75% of them to talk Tokais, touring woes, and their annual consumption of budget tremolo pedals...
Why Caramel?
Page: “It means something different to everyone at different times. A gift, a regret, a nice texture, or an annoying sticky substance. It’s a metaphor.”
Norris: “It’s quite a depressing album, actually – there’s a lot of deep-cut feelings behind each song, pulled from each member.”
Perry: “Medicate Yourself was the first song presented, and it set the personal tone. Its lyrics made the rest of us feel comfortable writing from experience. It’s about doing things to appease the people around you, but not wanting to, and not wanting to get better.”
Did anyone find it challenging to open up those emotions in your writing?
Perry: “If I’ve written it myself, presenting it can be scary. You feel really exposed – but once that barrier goes, it’s a weird form of therapy for all of us. We talk about songs in terms of structure, but we don’t dig into each others’ feelings.”
Norris: “Listening back, you feel like you’re saying something even your closest friends don’t know about you. But we find it easier being honest through music rather than through conversation.”
What influences are in the guitar playing?
Perry: “I admire players, but I don’t have obvious idols. When we played with QOTSA, I saw up close what gear they use. I saw one of their pedals and thought, ‘That’s the sound I’ve been thinking about for 10 years.’ So I bought one.
“They’re really secretive about their pedals, but I think most people now know it anyway – the PDF-1 by Stone Deaf. It’s a filter pedal, so you can boost certain frequencies with distortion as well. Subtle, but cool to pair with other pedals.”
What about the rest of your gear?
Norris: “I play a modern Japanese Tokai Breezysound through two Fender Hot Rods, which gives me more bite than the Fender Telecaster I used to play. But the party piece on this album has actually been the Gretsch baritone.
“On my board, I’ve got four levels of distortion from light to heavy. A Boss SD-1, an Electro-Harmonix Op Amp Big Muff, an Electro-Harmonix J Mascis Ram’s Head Big Muff, then a Redbeard Hairy Squid, which goes crazy.”
Perry: “My go-to is a Fender Mustang 90, which I got for £500. It’s on every record and beat-up to shit, but I love it. A lot of my tone comes from that guitar.
“I also use a J Mascis Jazzmaster, which has more tona difference flicking between the bridge and neck pickup. I have a newer Fender Vibro Champ and a Roland Jazz Chorus 120, out of necessity because it adds more volume. I can’t listen to a Fender Champ or Jazzmaster on its own – they have to be together.
“In terms of pedals, I’ve got a DigiTech Bad Monkey Tube on 0.5, for more volume. We’re long-term users of RAT distortion pedals, EarthQuaker Devices Hoof Fuzz V2 and the Dispatch Master Reverb.
“The Joyo Tremolo is great for only £30, but we go through one a year as the tremolo becomes faint eventually. My go-to delay is the Mooer Reecho. I don’t use any reverbs on the amp; they’re clean. And a Boss tuner.”
You supported Queens of the Stone Age in 2023. What was that like?
Norris: “At Cardiff Castle the crowd got really into us and accepted us. A whole field of people paid good money to see one of the best bands in the world – and they had a good time when we played!”
Page: “It felt very strict: ‘don’t take photos, don’t film the band.’ We thought we wouldn’t meet them. I was tuning guitars in Halifax before our first show, and Steph ran up the stairs saying, ‘They’re in our dressing room!’
“They’d bought tequila with enough shot glasses for everyone – just 10 minutes before we were due to go on stage. They were really enthusiastic and lovely the whole tour. Joe lit a cigarette for Josh Homme in our dressing room… that’s as amazing as it gets!”
Perry: “We played the first gig thinking, ‘That was amazing.’ Then we watched Queens of the Stone Age and thought, ‘Wow, we’re shit!’ They’re just an absolute clinic in how it’s done.”
You’ve toured with Wet Leg, who are also from the Isle of Wight. Is it a close-knit scene?
Perry: “You’re aware of everyone who plays music on the island. I went to college with the Wet Leg drummer, Henry Holmes.”
Page: “The tour was unusual because we’d known them for years. I taught Rhian Teasdale music theory and drums – she lived round the corner. We hired a Citroën Saxo to cram our shit into, and followed them through rush-hour traffic while they slept in their expensive tour bus!”
Norris: “We’d drive seven hours, shovel food down your mouth, soundcheck then go on stage.”
Page: “It was pretty horrendous in a lot of ways – but most tours, in equal measure, are horrendous and great!”
- Coach Party’s new album Caramel is out now.
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