EXCLUSIVE
Hyped to death. Not living up to their own PR. Same old same old billed as the next big thing. Yawn-inducing live.
Writing cheques based on over-inflated egos that their talent cannot cash sums up many, many new bands being pitched almost on a daily basis to this magazine and to the UK music media in general.
Now along come young London hopefuls Stereo Cupid. Cute name. Good looking lads with a stylish image. Labelled “Camden’s new rock royalty” by one source. OTT?
Maybe, but these chaps really do have something. They may not have the crown they are aiming for and the right to sit on that rock and roll throne just yet – after forming only nine months ago – but trust me/us when I/we say; Stereo Cupid’s swagger and heady claims of shooting for the stars are more than backed up by their blistering live show and their three superb singles so far.
Major label A&Rs read on. May we introduce you to the five guys in the band and give you the skinny on what they’ve done so far, which is pretty impressive for an outfit in existence for such a short time.
WARNING: Flashing lights/strobing effects in this video may adversely affect some people…
This young five-piece indie rock band is based in London. Ralph Schofield, who we speak to in this feature, is the frontman/lead singer (23). Match Montana on lead guitar (22) is his partner in crime.
Then we have Luca Arshad also on guitar (22), Eddie Knighton on bass (23) and Jaime Noonan on drums (21). Ralph and Match hail from Manchester, Luca from Colorado, Eddie from Brighton and Jaime from London. All five now based in the big smoke.
Ralph and Match were previously in a band called Broke Casino for several years in Manchester, and they met Luca working in a famed music pub in London, the Hawley Arms. Eddie went to university with Match and Jaime knew Luca.
While the aim is to make it to the big time and travel the globe with Stereo Cupid becoming a mega-band, the rent and leccie bills need to be paid at this time by day jobs. Ralph works for Meta, who own Facebook. Match works for the business side of Uber, and the other lads are in hospitality roles.
The band formed in June 2023 and have released three singles so far. “Feel Alive” is the most recent, “Kid” the debut and the brilliant “Who You Are” was second up.
Check out the video to the banger of an earworm “Who You Are” – the band calling in favours to make it for circa £100. Cool job. [The drummer on that video was a stand-in.]
They have recently dropped the video to the current single, “Feel Alive”. and the boys have just begun recording towards an EP. They have a 12-song live set selected from 15 originals. A second EP will follow the debut, and then they want to focus on an album, maybe for 2025 release.
The band have kept busy with a slew of live gigs since they started nine months ago; with half a dozen shows in Manchester and a bunch in London. Most sold out, so the word is getting out organically.
They gained early exposure via a collaboration with/for Manchester United – all five are Reds’ supporters. Ralph grew up at Old Trafford, a 10 minute walk from MUFC.
Their song “Kid” was used as the soundtrack to a montage of footage to promote the Derby Day game between Man Utd and Man City women’s teams.
Before that they were asked to take part in a big campaign for Adidas, and legendary designer Peter Saville; a tie-up with MUFC. The focus was on up and coming players, and they wanted a young band with big potential who also support Manchester United.
That was some coup and a PR dream for a new band formed less than a year before. Ralph admits after the initial excitement and “pinch me” moment of being asked to be in the campaign, he nervously half expected the project not to happen.
“I spent the next few days waiting for a phone a call to tell me they were taking it off us! Being a Red, it was complete ecstasy for me. It’s always been at the top of my ambitions to do something with United and our music, and to get a go at that so early was wonderful.
“I was in A&E with my ‘missus’ [she’d hurt herself on her bike] when they called to tell me. I ran out of A&E, and she said she heard me on the way out on the phone. I was overwhelmed. They called Monday after work and needed us there Thursday at 5.30am at Old Trafford.
“All of us had to phone in sick to work to go do it! We drove down Wednesday night about 11pm, got to Manchester about 2.30am, slept round mine on the floor and couch, got two hours kip and straight to the shoot. It was amazing”.
The band have also provided the soundtrack to a short film “Vanity”, which has since been nominated for several awards.
How do you guys describe the style of music you write and perform? “Being asked to describe our music is tough. The fundamental elements are rock and indie rock.
“I grew up on The Smiths and lean towards that for my melodies maybe. Our drumbeats are close to house, and dance music adds a different spine to the songs. Our bass lines are grungy…”
The band recorded in Johnny Marr’s studio in Manchester via their mate, the in-house engineer. “Who You Are” is very commercial and radio friendly: sounds like a hit waiting to happen, to me. Wee nods to The 1975 maybe. Their track “Kid” is quite different to “Who You Are.”
“Kid” and “Who You Are” were written by Ralph and Match, and then they naturally progressed to becoming a full band and all writing together.
“If you look at ‘Feel Alive’, and ‘Stargazing’ – which will be our next single – they are our sound, and it sits between ‘Kid’ and ‘Who You Are’.
“They are good markers of the slightly poppier side and dancier side, and fun elements that we have”.
So, have you nailed your own sound yet after only a few months as a band? “We absolutely have it now. ‘Feel Alive’ is a good introduction to our sound….”
Ralph explains the band’s initial ‘Mission Statement’, as regards the sound they were seeking.
“We spent a lot of time in Camden going out to gigs and what was quite apparent in my opinion, is that the usual energy of Camden, the rock and roll they harness; the excitement and the buzz felt completely flat at a lot of these gigs.
“It felt there wasn’t much personality, and it was basically regurgitated bedroom pop being played by a full band.
“We want to revive that scene. Which is why we are working with directors, with actors, with as many aspects of the creative scene as we can to bring a scene together, not just a crowd, but a fanbase.”
The band’s styling and image is very important to all five of them. “Match and Luca are really into The Kinks, The Doors, The Rolling Stones, that side and era of rock. They are a bit more glam rocky.
“Me and Eddie are more into our neo-rock; and the exciting ballads you get from bands like Nothing But Thieves. Then there’s grunge; who doesn’t love Fontaines DC? We are combining those styles quite nicely”.
Stereo Cupid has something of The Struts about them, for me. The Struts are one of the best live bands I have ever seen. Ralph and his merry men have that cocky swagger, that controlled arrogance. They know they are effing good and they’ll do what they do as good as they can, and you’ll either love ‘em or you won’t. A real Marmite moment. They LOOK like a band too; one that is going places.
“My ethos; 70% of this business is visual. People have come to SEE you. That was my issue in Camden and London gigs; the element of a show I felt had been lost.
“People are paying to be in that room and you better fucking entertain them. That’s what we are there to do.”
We caught the band in action at a trendy and packed Islington venue, their most recent gig, and as the fab photographs we grabbed on the night will show, they lived up to their reputation to deliver an incendiary, sweaty and powerful live performance.
It felt like the start of something big. Like those special nights where those in attendance one day tell their family and friends watching a big name band on TV: “I saw them before they were famous.”
All five of the Stereo Cupid boys will tell you from day one, the band’s goals matched their individual and collective ambitions. Ambitious is an understatement. Listening to Ralph’s passion though, I get that they mean every word and have the goods to back it up.
“Me and Match have been like this for as long as we’ve known each other. We will not sit around and rest on our laurels until we are right at the top of what we can do. I mean that with so much intent.”
Go on then Ralph, spell out those special goals for me. Brace yourselves: “Headlining festivals like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds. Playing Eventim Apollo Hammersmith to a sold-out crowd for a couple of nights. Playing Old Trafford.” Go for it lads.
Why is this band special and why does he think they will make it? “We come from backgrounds such as drama and acting, fashion, theatre… where we can bring these things together to create not just a band…
“We want to be icons, not just a band.”
Ralph thinks back to how he first got hooked by live music back in Manchester. “As a younger teen, being in a live music space going to gigs completely drowns out all the noise from your personal life, in your home life and what you may be going through.
“It gives people a space where they feel safe, valued and also lost in what they are doing in the most beautiful sense.”
The first band Ralph saw live was UK rock band Alt-J when he was 14, and the flame to perform on stage was lit.
“The best live band I’ve seen are Pulp and The Foo Fighters. I take a lot of inspiration from Jarvis Cocker and his ability to hold a crowd in the palm of his hand. The Foo Fighters; I was at their Glastonbury show which was absolutely mind boggling.”
Ralph has been to five Glastos, working on the erection of the scaffolding. He always has dreams of being on the big stages every time he is there, he admits. Maybe one day Ralph. One day…
The band’s look: “The styling for the band is primarily from Match and he based it on that era of The Kinks and The Doors. Glamour is a key word which used to be in rock and roll before it changed to neo-indie, after The Smiths and Oasis and that stuff. We are bringing it back…”
Ralph feels their live shows and their on-stage energy sets them apart from most other bands trying to make it. “We are a group who perform for you; we are not a front man and a backing band. It is about the chemistry as a unit and our own identity.”
Is Stereo Cupid the next big thing then? Ralph doesn’t piss about with a well-worn stock answer or cheesy PR patter; neither is he shy to speak his mind. The answer is succinct. “Yes.” Nuff said!
It is important to Ralph that his band write their songs live and all of them in the room. “Because we are going to be playing live, so all of the band contribute to the writing. I am sick of hearing a spectacular recording, then when you go to a gig, it doesn’t translate live, and you can tell it was not written live.”
That often churned out phrase: “Ones To Watch” about a band or artist could not be more appropriate here. Stereo Cupid is a sizzling live act, penning on-trend radio-ready prospective big tunes and could well be seeing their ambitious dreams come true in the future – with the right wind behind them and a big dollop of luck.
• Stereo Cupid join hotly tipped teen sibling trio The Molotovs [and Room Service] on Saturday 30th March 2024 at Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush, London – for a special “Save Bush Hall” benefit night.
Words: Steve Best
Photos: Kev O’Sullivan
