We spoke to A Night In November regarding their new EP, where they plan to take it on the road and what inspires the tracks for the release.
You guys released your “Bear Force One” EP back in October. How do you feel that has been received?
Costa: It’s been a while since we released any music, in part due to covid interrupting the run we were on, then family and work commitments, so we were all really excited and more than ready to get new songs out there. We're getting really positive feedback from lots of people across the UK and even other countries. I think the top locations for streams of our music this last month is Milan, beautifully crazy.
Luis: It's been incredible! It feels like we've reached a wider audience and had lots of people say some genuinely heartfelt, lovely things. And we recently had Jaret Reddick from Bowling For Soup add We Got This to his driving playlist, which was wild.
“We Got This” is a beautiful track both melodically and lyrically. What inspired this single?
Gareth: Live music is something so special to us and we wanted to bottle that feeling of being in a crowd and singing along. Human connections, hope, and most of all … having a good time.
Luis: I've always loved acoustic pop punk songs that have a clean guitar part and some group vocals (songs like Man Overboard - Love Your Friends, Die Laughing). So I was definitely motivated to make something in that vein, while adding a guitar solo and screamed vocals that you don't normally find in cleaner punk songs.
What is your favourite track from the EP? Ours is a tight call between we got this and sunny mornings.
Costa: Whilst Sunny Mornings is everything we wanted from a pop punk anthem, and it really challenged me from a drumming perspective with the variety of fills and beats, ‘We Got This’ is my favourite. It really hits me deeper, especially with the sing along hooks at the end.
Gareth: I'm very proud of all the tracks and how different they all are. We always say we are a pop punk band but I think we cross a few alternative genres in these songs so my favourite can be whatever mood I'm in.
Luis: I think there's something in all of them that I'm proud of - Aviation has the most intricate guitar and screaming I've done, We Got This and Sunny Mornings are exactly what we wanted them to be, but I have to go with Paradise. Because every time we play it in our tiny practice room, it makes me laugh and jump around like I'm a kid in my bedroom listening to Sum 41.
Can you give us an interesting/funny fact about the record?
Gareth: I wrote all the songs on acoustic guitar at home this time and got a bit carried away. I was writing two a day sometimes. It was tough to cut them down to the four you can hear on BF1 but it was nice to pick our favorites out of the pile so the lads could really get behind the songs from the start.
Luis: We recorded Bear Force One with Innersound in York. The producers there are amazing, both in terms of their skills and just as a couple of nice people! They've worked with bands like Asking Alexandria, and really helped bring the polish and quality to the EP that we wanted. Plus they have 2 cute-as dogs which I spent more time cuddling than I did playing guitar!
The EP came just under 4 years after your “Mop on a Segway” album. How do you feel your writing process differed and how have you grown between the 2 releases?
Gareth: I think the difference between this EP and our older stuff is night and day. We do this for fun but we constantly try to learn and improve.
Luis: Gareth mentioned earlier that he writes the lyrics to chords on an acoustic and then we shape the song from there, which is big change from previous EPs where we'd start with riffs mostly. I much prefer having a vocal melody to build off of, even if it changes later.
What is the plan for the next 12 months?
Gareth: We've already booked lots of live shows and started writing new music. So more of that!
Luis: A UK tour is a goal, and then we'll be pushing to get festival slots, and release new music as soon as it's ready. We just want to put on gigs where everyone feels welcome, and has fun!
You’ll be playing lending room Leeds next month. How excited are you to get back and to do a hometown show?
Costa: We try to limit the number of local shows we do to only a couple each year, because we want to make the Leeds shows really special and different. At our last Key Club show in October 2023, we managed to persuade Tom Rosenthal (of Plebs/Friday Night Dinner fame) to be our Bear mascot for the night - and the show will be mentioned in his upcoming book, ‘Around the world in 80 favours’! We need to work out how to top that now! Actually, the thing we’re most excited about is playing with Ninebanks and Stay Safe. They are two bands we connected with via Tik Tok and they are both on the path to blowing up.
Will you be taking the EP onto a full tour?
Costa: We are absolutely taking this out of Yorkshire on a few select dates. We’re working to set up some shows across September and October, culminating in a big party at the end of it….remember remember….A Night in November.
Luis: As well as bringing the party to some different cities across the UK, we're playing Jess2val, which is a wonderful festival in St Helens on the 4th and 5th May raising money for the Owen McVeigh Foundation (helping children affected by cancer) and the Jade Roberts Project (supporting mental health issues and suicide intervention in all ages) so we're really honoured to be part of that.
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