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Getting to know Soup!

Soup! are the newest kids on the post-punk block. Emerging from in and around south Manchester in 2020, they have created their own signature sound and have been off to a flying start touring around the country and playing festivals throughout the 2022 season. We wanted to know more about what makes these lovely lads tick, from first celebrity crushes to how they create their music. As the countdown to the release of their debut album, What It Say On The Tin commences, spend a little time getting to know the band Soup!

Who are you and where are you from?

Matthew Beswick (guitar / vocals), Connor Riley (guitar), and Ben Smith (drums) all grew up around South Manchester, Hayden Gouveia (bass) and Rob Jones (synth) are from Macclesfield. We now all live around Stretford, Chorlton, Timperley and Sale in South Manchester.

What encouraged you to start your own band?

Ben, Connor and myself have been playing together since we were 15, doing Stooges and Buzzcocks coversWe started playing because we had such an attuned musical taste and a frantic desire to discover new sounds, bands, scenes etc. Eventually, after all living away from Manchester until our early 20s and having met Hayden and Rob in 2020, we started writing our own music and trying to pool together the influences we had accrued during our time apart to create a sound which reflected our personalities, our relationships as a group and our influences in equal measure.

Do you have any non-musical hobbies?

Rob is a keen indoor skydiver, Ben is dedicated to turning himself into a master of hand-to-hand combat, Hayden plays Harry Potter video games, Connor eats scones daily and Matt hibernates like a polar bear whenever we aren’t doing music stuff.

How did you come up with the name Soup!?

The word “soup” was in a lyric of our first ever demo, around the time we were starting to think of names. We didn’t want to think too much about it and like a lot of bands with simple, one word names of inanimate objects; Magazine, Television etc. It’s open-ended and also who doesn’t like at least one soup?

Is there any new music from 2022 you have been enjoying?

We have all been listening to Henry Carlyle’s new single, the new Opus Kink EP and Harpen’s Kraft new single Canal Side Running which comes out at the end of this month.

Who is your guilty pleasure artist?

It would definitely have to be a bit of Kylie.

What was the last song you listened to?

Song About Love by English Teacher.

Do you feel like your parents influenced your personal music style or not at all?

Certainly myself, Ben, and Connor were heavily influenced by our parents and by each other’s parents growing up. Ska, soul, punk, post-punk, reggae, jazz, and new wave were pretty heavy staples in all of our households growing up.

What’s your greatest achievement?

We played at Blue Dot festival and it was by far the largest crowd / stage we’d played. We really took it in our stride, enjoyed the occasion and everyone had a great time. It was good to cement ourselves as an act that can perform in such an extensive setting, not only to audiences but to ourselves.

And finally, who was your first celebrity crush?

Weird one but Fabien Barthez.

Soup!’s debut album, What It Says On The Tin is out on April 22nd 2023

For more information visit:https://www.facebook.com/itsthebandSoup/