Strider

Finding bands and artists to interview can be such a gruelling and daunting task, especially when you don’t know where to start looking. For me, I was stuck for weeks. Had a band who said they would be willing, and the next thing I know they flake out. Thank the Gods I had someone to help point me in the right direction and get me in contact with someone, that someone being bass player Archie Jackson from the band Strider.

Imagine getting in contact with someone from a band and asking them when their next show is, only for them to say it was the next day. That was the exact situation I was in. That meant 24 hours worth of time to research and prepare a few points for questions. Also imagine being put on the guestlist for their gig, not just any gig but one organised by BBC Introducing. As a kid, I would have considered that a once-in-a-lifetime experience, now that is just a part of the job.

So there I was on March 26, finalising my notes while travelling on the train to Liverpool in order to watch Strider live in the Cavern Club. When writing up my notes I got curious as to what the origin was for the bands name. After looking through social media and not finding an answer, I took to the web. That’s when I came across another band sharing the same name. This version of Strider was around in the 70s and featured Gary Grainger (known for working with Rod Stewart). Even though both bands were unrelated, the discovery was quite interesting.

The gig in the Cavern Club went excellently, all three bands did such a great job. Each put in their all and provided a high-energy night for everyone in attendance. After Strider finished their set and packed up their equipment, clearing the stage for the next band, I met up with Archie and had a brief discussion as to how we wanted this interview to go. We made the decision that we would conduct it outside and have the drummer, Ethan Elliott, join us as part of the Q&A.

The street outside the Cavern Club had a lot of hustle and bustle. People were walking by quickly, as well as entering and exiting surrounding buildings. There was so much I wanted to discuss when it came to the band and what I found. One thing I discovered which I didn’t have much information about was the Jacaranda Baltic; Battle of the Bands. “We've been playing a gig in the Jacaranda basement in town, which is like a really historic venue. And we were stood outside after the gig and we saw a poster for this competition and we thought ‘fuck it, we might as well enter. It'll be a few gigs that we can play’.”

When questioned more about the topic, specifically about them winning the event, Archie responded with “Yeah, we got crowned champions, which was amazing for us really cause we've only been going as a band for less than a year” Archie said that winning the competition allowed them to worth with a music producer who worked on some of Coldplay's stuff. “We also got handed £2000 in cash which for any starting off band was just like a God send. It just meant we can invest in stuff that we needed like in-ear monitors and studio time and recording.” When asked if they believed that another band deserved the win they answered with “I'm not gonna name names, but there were other bands in that final that we really don't like. So, we're happy that we beat them in it.”