Murderers Are Optimists: Old Friends with a New Sound
By Joshua Colgan
Blasting onto the local music scene in the past year – merging sounds of old school rock and punk – comes the disconcertingly named group, Murderers are Optimists. The creative core of the band consists of Joe Gonzo and Paul Sunshine. They have been on the scene for a number of years, but in May they released a brilliant debut track, Paint No Illusion. (This also featured local legend ‘The Fids’ on the singles’ artwork.) Their second single was the equally impressive Twisted Words. The track attracted a loud critical buzz of praise and increased anticipation of what’s to come. Their recent single, Time (it’s Mine) has only helped to build the sense that they have truly hit the ground rocking. The coming first live performance at the legendary Hastings venue, The Crypt, in December, with support from Blabbermouth and MONAKIS, should be quite something.
HIP: So we’ll start off with the new single Time. What can you say about the upcoming release and will it be in similar vein to the previous tracks put out, or something left-field?
Paul: Yeah, slightly different actually, we really had a lot of fun in the studio with this one and we laid it out pretty quick. It was originally written as a bit of a laugh and titled, Paul Sunshine’s big day out with the idea which I wrote during lockdown whilst missing the pub. It’s about going out with your mates, getting drunk and having a good time – so, yeah, we’re really happy with how it turned out and we wanted to get a song out that’s fun and people can sing along to.
Joe: Yeah, and to add authenticity, we got smashed in the studio before we started recording.
HIP: Is the current goal to release an EP or are you planning on continuing with singles and seeing where you guys head with it?
Paul: So, for now we’re gonna continue with singles. We’re back in the studio mid-November to record our next single which will be released early next year, hopefully around late January.
Joe: We’re always writing more songs and we’re starting to really find our sound. Anyone who’s interested can hear some of the new music at our show in December. I think people are gonna be quite surprised.
HIP: Exciting times ahead then. So, you’ve got your first gig coming up in December. Is everything planned and set for it, or have you still got a lot to do?
Paul: Yeah, we’ve been rehearsing, and working on more songs to play, but we’ve pretty much started playing around with stuff we’ve already got and we know what we’re opening and closing with. We’re working on a few in-between, but nearer the time we’ll start thinking about it more in the live aspect, adding a few breakdowns and little bits you do to get the crowd engaged and to add a new spin on the recorded stuff people have heard. But, at the moment, we’re just making sure everything is as tight and sounding good as it can be.
Joe: A lot of people are getting excited because me and Paul have been in bands before 10 years ago and we’re known for taking it to the next stage and losing our marbles a little bit, but we’ve never shared the stage before so people who know us from years ago are looking forward to seeing the carnage unfold. It’s good that The Crypt is back, after so many years, to its original roots as a local and even national venue, and we’re happy to be able to play there for our first gig with support from Blabbermouth and a Brighton band called MONAKIS. The Crypt will also be doing the after-party, playing music we love – it’s going to be a good one.
So are there any local bands you’ve both gotten really into?
Joe: There’s so much great local talent right now. We’re loving Snayx, Blabbermouth, MONAKIS and of course, Kid Kapichi, to name but a few, but they’re all absolutely killing it right now.
n You can listen to Murderers Are Optimists on Spotify and you can buy tickets to their debut gig on Friday, 3rd December, at The Crypt via their Instagram page or on Dice.
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