The Gurus Interview and Photos

Hey!

On Saturday at the Sugarmill, I had the opportunity to catch up with The Gurus for a quick interview before they played their set – the 4 lads, from Stoke, are a great group of mates with humorous personalities, which really shines through in the interview – so here’s how it went:

Who are you?

The Gurus, we are The Gurus

How did you all meet?

Jimmy: I met Jamie through football, Stubbsy at school and Jonny through school and work

What made you decide to start a band?

Jack: me and Jimmy when we were drunk one night just thought it’d be a good idea to start a band. We’ve been into indie music for as long as we can remember but yeah we were drunk and we just decided to

Jimmy: [Jonny’s] a little slag

Jonny: yeah, I’m a band slag

Jimmy: Jonny’s never not been in a band

Jonny: yeah, If anyone needs a bassist I’ll go do it

Jimmy: since the age of 13 [Jonny’s] never not been in a band

Where did the name The Gurus come from?

Jamie: ‘cos Jack’s the Love Guru

Jack: no, well, er, yeah… go on then, we’ll go with that one

Jimmy: we were just that sick of pitching names, like really kind of processed names that when we came to The Gurus we just thought it was that simple

Jamie: what was that other name?

Jonny: Skidmark?

Jamie: no, not Skidmark

Jimmy: but yeah there were loads of like, funky ones but The Gurus was simple – everyones thrying to do something a bit different

How would you describe your sound?

Jimmy: fuckin terrible

Jack: it’s quite raw isn’t it

Jimmy: yeah, I’d say like raw indie. Better to see us live a lot of people have said so – we’re just that kinda band, we don’t know that much about the equipment, we just plug it in and go. Indie though, we’ve been compared to Arctic Monkeys, Fratellis, Catfish – that kind of vibe

Who are your major influences?

Jimmy: Stubbsy’s mother

Jack: the Libertines, maybe?

Jonny: no

Jack: well, for me – Arctic Monkeys for Jim

Jimmy: I like Arctic Monkeys, I like Catfish as well – me and Jamie like a lot of old stuff as well like Johnny Cash is a big one for us

Jamie: Bob Dylan

Jimmy: Jonny likes anything, Foo Fighters

Jonny: yeah, literally anything, Foo Fighters is just the top one

What would you say are the highlights of being in a band?

Jack: getting to spend time with one another

Jamie, Jimmy & Jonny: *laughing*

Jack: no, err

Jimmy: no mate, don’t pretend that was a joke

Jack: I like seeing everyone’s reaction when we put a new tune out like and seeing everyone have a good time at a gig

Jimmy: I like the travelling as well – like travelling to a place

Jamie: yeah, going away with all your mates

Jimmy: listening to people with an awkward accent that we struggle to understand

What would you say is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Jimmy: erm, Trinity Street?

Jamie: yeah, I like Trinity Street

So, you released Flashing Lights on Tuesday – What’s the meaning behind the track?

Jimmy: it’s just about being up town really, when you’ve got moody girls walking around thinking, like, thinking they’re the bomb yeah

So have you got any future plans/gigs coming up that people can try and get down to?

Jimmy: Hotel Football in Manchester on Tuesday, we’ve got loads! Got the Sherlocks [at the Sugarmill] on the 22^nd February

Jack: we’re playing in my garden in summer at a BBQ as well, that’ll be a good one

Jimmy: yeah, they’re gonna ask me to do an acoustic set *laughs* but yeah we’ve got the band page where we post updates

Thanks boys!