South Arcade are an alt-pop-rock outfit from Oxford and they’ve quickly caught attention with their nostalgic sound, harking back to early 2000s pop-punk days. Having amassed millions of views and streams after DANGER cut through on TikTok, they’re about to head off on a short UK tour, starting today in Nottingham.
Before they hit the road, I sat down with South Arcade who were keen to tell us how they feel about tour, what influences their music and what they want their crowd to feel.
When our video call opens up, I find South Arcade sat in their rehearsal room, having been deep in preparation for the upcoming tour. They’re a bright and engaging group right from the off.
The band formed as university friends, initially through lead singer Harmony Cavelle and guitarist Harry Winks getting demos down before recruiting the rest of the band.
“Me and Harry go way back” explains Harmony, “from being in bands when we were younger. But then we got to uni and we were like ‘let’s just make the band we always wanted to be in.’ We hadn’t found any other members, so we just sat and wrote loads of tracks, loads and loads of demos. Then, we had the tunes…now we need to get some members that make this a full thing.”
Joined by Cody Jones on drums and Ollie Green on bass, the ads searching for members to join the “Royal Blood meets Charlie XCX” band were enticing enough to pull in the rhythm section to bring the whole thing together.
They draw influences from further back to create that sound though. Harmony continues: “Our favourite sort of music, not with regards to genre, was just the music from 1995 to 2005, like across pop and rock really.” “When rock was sort of pop” adds Ollie.
You can hear that clearly in the music. There are elements of Paramore, a bit of early 2000s Avril Lavigne but also, the band tell me, they’re influenced by the likes of No Doubt, Linkin’ Park and Limp Bizkit. These are the sounds that drive their breakout song DANGER – which took on a new life a year after release, blowing up on TikTok – and more recent releases Nepo Baby and Riptide and the latest single How To Get Away With Murder.
The delayed success of DANGER brought the band back to their roots. “When it starts to blow up, retrospectively, you go ‘OK, so there is some sort of demand for this, people DO like it’” Ollie says. “So, we went back to that genre”
Harry adds: “Seeing what other people like, it actually gives us a perspective on what we like. We love that genre, so let’s do more of that. That’s so much fun, you know?”
Their sound taps into the vibrant energy of the 2000s era, but coupling it with modern production to keep moving seamlessly around the genre. Harry explains “We’re jumping around like different sub-genres of the 2000s. Each song is a different world, or has different production. That’s what we love, being inspired by different bands.” The goal here is to create a feeling, driven by the nostalgia of the resurgence of the late 90s/early 00s sounds rather than be bound by a specific genre.
“Somehow our music makes people feel old but young at the same time, and that’s really cool” says Harmony. “I love that it does that because then it appeals to everyone.”
There’s a bigger purpose that the band is aiming for here. They are among a generation who have discovered the music of ‘95-’05 and connected with it. While it’s good to see the music living on, they’re also trying to create something that this generation can own, but is still underpinned by the rich alt-rock musical heritage. “They might discover Korn or Deftones on TikTok”, says Harry. “But now, it’s cool for these kids to have a band of their own to support”
I want to dig into the new song – How To Get Away With Murder – to understand where this comes from, and what informed the lyrics.
“I remember when Harry showed me the music for it.” Harmony begins. “We always like to paint a kind of picture with it, if that makes sense. “And I think what came to me first of all was – I’d just finished watching some series from 2007 called Dexter. I couldn’t stop watching that series, and I was like, oh, wouldn’t it be cool to have a song that makes me feel like that as well.”
The band brings its sense of humour into play here too. On the face of it, some might say a song about getting away with murder, inspired by a show about vigilante killer sounds, well, a little dark. But they’ve tried to take the edge off it.
“The art work is like a water pistol. It’s a dark sounding song, but it’s not very serious. More like slapstick” says Harry. “It’s just fun isn’t it”, Ollie elaborates. “The video is sort of like Scott Pilgrim. It’s not like a metal band would do How to Get Away With Murder – it’s just fun, like how to get out of trouble.”
To the tour, and they’re excited to be back out on the road with the chance to connect with their fans. Ollie is especially excited about their upcoming London show, which not only lands on his birthday but also marks their biggest performance in the city to date. Adding to the excitement, they’ll be headlining in Nottingham and Newcastle for the first time, along with shows in Leeds and their hometown, Oxford.
There’s a genuine excitement among the band to be back on the road, delivering this new material with the energy that they’re becoming known for. Make sure you catch them on tour. With that turn-of-the century sound and the likeability of this group, the crowd will party like it’s 1999.
South Arcade Tour Dates
24 September: Bodega, Nottingham
25 September: The Cluny, Newcastle
26 September: The Bullingdon, Oxford
28 September: Boom, Leeds
2 October: The Dome, London
