I’m very excited to be putting the Questions for the Band to one of my favourite lockdown discoveries, the fabulous In Earnest. I managed to catch up with them just before the release of their self titled EP which comes out tomorrow, Wednesday 7 October.

Anyway over to the band to take it from here.

A gentle start, for those that don't know the band that well, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves ?

Hello! We're 'in earnest', a sad indie band from Southend-on-Sea, consisting of Tom (vocals, electric guitar), Sarah (vocals & keys) and Toby (violin, acoustic guitar). Tom and Sarah write the bulk of the songs and Toby makes them pretty! We mostly write around personal topics such as mental illness, nostalgia and identity, with a view to inspiring people to talk openly about these difficult topics.

Which artists/bands do you draw your music inspiration from ?

Tom: We'd say that the main influences on us as a starting point are Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker, Big Thief, Dodie, Noah Gundersen. Individually, we listen to a huge range of stuff, from folk to pop to black metal and rather than letting this divide us, we welcome all influences in our songwriting.

What is your writing process ? is it music or lyrics first ?

Tom: For as long as I can remember, I've usually started with both at the same time. I'll sit with the guitar, noodle around and always stumble on things that I like or little sparks of the beginning of a song to work on. Having said that, during lockdown I've amassed around 70 voice memos of guitar-based ideas for songs! However it comes about, usually one of us will write the bulk of a song first and then present it to the other two members in order to make it an 'in earnest' piece of work.

Sarah: Normally I'll write the lyrics to an entire song before I even start putting music to it! I find that I have something to say so urgently that I need to get it all down on paper quickly before I forget it - and then work on some chords and a structure from there. 

You have released three singles whilst we have been living in a global pandemic, so would you say in a strange way that lockdown has helped you out creatively ?

Tom: It's definitely given us more time to be creative. We dreamt up and created a music video for each of the three singles, and that was something we definitely would have found difficult to achieve had things been business as usual. We've also written lots of new material and a few weeks ago recorded EP #2, so it feels like we've done a lot!

Not long now until your self titled EP is released, how are you feeling? I can imagine you’re pretty excited to finally get it out there ?

Sarah: We recorded the EP in summer 2019, so it's a great feeling to know that it'll be out very soon. I think it'll feel like a weight has been lifted and that we can enjoy organising the next body of work and all the things that come with promoting a release. We're looking forward to seeing the response to the full EP and we hope that everyone enjoys it as much as we did writing it!

Can you give us a little insight into the tracks on the EP ? What are the tracks about and what do they mean to you ?

'29' is a bunch of Tom's childhood memories, 'Put Me Under' takes you on a journey inside Sarah's brain as she copes with depression. Then 'Come Upstairs' is a response to the previous song, detailing how difficult it can be to look after someone with a mental illness. 'Fables' harks back to feelings of worthlessness and not feeling like you've achieved anything in life, while 'In Between' is a song about not being able to live without music. Lastly, 'The House' is a slow-burning ballad inspired by gratitude.

What plans do you have in place for promoting the EP given the restrictions we currently live under ?

Sarah: The most we can do to celebrate the EP is to do a livestream! Which will be happening on our Facebook and Instagram pages on Friday 9 October at 8pm. We'll be playing the entire EP in order, probably with some of Toby's bad jokes in between. And all our tips are being donated to the charity My Black Dog, who we are ambassadors for. 

Has lockdown had an impact on the goals you’ve set for yourselves ? What are some of your biggest ambitions as a band ?

Tom: At the moment, our biggest goal is just to play a live show! haha. But more seriously, lockdown seems to have only strengthened our belief in what 'in earnest' is and what we stand for. Our goal for this year was to start releasing music, which we chose to go ahead with despite the difficulties of not being able to support the releases with live shows and we still feel on track with what we had intended to achieve. Our mission is to raise awareness of sensitive subjects through singing about our personal experiences with them and we hope that we can reach listeners in an organic way via this method and have the art that we create make a difference to somebody.

And finally, if you could only choose one album to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be ? And Why ?

Sarah: 'Abbey Road' by The Beatles, because it makes me laugh and cry and want to jump around and rock out all at the same time.

Tom: 'Born To Run' by Bruce Springsteen. I never skip a single song and it has loads of great instrumental moments. In my head it's a cinematic world of its own.

Toby: 'Tomorrow Is My Turn' by Rhiannon Giddens - it's one of the most diverse albums. So many different genres and styles of songs, sung by one of the most soulful voices.

Thanks to Tom, Sarah and Toby for their time and giving us a great little insight into their debut EP, their musical inspirations, what they have been doing in lockdown and what’s next on the horizon.

In Earnest can be followed on Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify:

https://www.inearnest.co.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/inearnestband

https://instagram.com/inearnestband?igshid=syhwu3z09oyw

https://twitter.com/InEarnestBand

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7v3jiSa5MoEtcDnstOiNaE?si=x1kd1kCWSyKJqMhmlkJrHA