SuperGlu is a local band from Manningtree consisting of four friends with a strong bond – two Bens (Ward and Brown from Dingus Khan), Krista Lynch (Ben Brown’s lady friend) and Ben’s brother, Alex Brown. IP1 chatted to band dog and drummer, Ben Ward, to find out a little more about their music

SuperGlu has an amazing sound. Diving Bell sounds lovely. How would you describe your style and where do you get your inspiration from?
I guess the overall feel of the band is really defined by the people in it; all of our voices together and what each person brings in terms of their parts and the way they play their instrument.

When me and Ben (Brown) started playing together there was not any objective or reason behind what we wanted to sound like because we were just messing about. It was insanely heavy a lot of the time but then we happened to make a few songs that sounded quite ‘pop’ and I guess that kind of became the idea of the band. It is really enjoyable and satisfying to write with that in mind; when we have those weirder heavy elements I think it’s something we always return to that grounds the sound of the band melodically and in the way stuff is structured.

I think our style could maybe be described as ‘garage-pop’ – but that is a genre that may or may not actually exist…

How did you meet the other members in the band?
I met Ben in 2006 when we both attended Colchester Sixth Form. He played in a band called Elfred and the Uber Peas and I played in a band called It’s A Trap. We became friends and played some (probably really shit) shows. We always talked about playing music together and then about a year ago we actually did; I guess this is the result.

I met Krista when we were both living in Brighton; her and Ben had just become acquainted. They came over to my house and were both really weird.

Alex is Ben’s brother. I’ve known him for a while but it’s only since starting this band that we have become bros – he’s probably the coolest, most handsome guy ever. If I was a girl I would love it if he was my boyfriend.

It feels a bit like a family that became a band – ultimately I play the part of the dog.

Are there any embarrassing or funny stories to tell us? (Go on don’t be shy!)
Everything is always fairly embarrassing.

None of us can drive so we have to get public transport everywhere with all our equipment. That is actually genuinely embarrassing and probably not very funny.

Oh, and a few weeks ago we played our first show in London. Krista ate too much and then threw up a lot. She smelt of sick, it was disgusting.

That is embarrassing, yuck! So, I’ve seen that one of your first shows was in Colchester. Exciting! Where did you play and how did it go?
We played at Colchester Arts Centre – that was a brilliant, if not nerve-wracking show. We played with a band called Animal Noise. Our gig was sold out – I think that was our sixth live gig so that really was something special as the Arts Centre is one of my favourite venues of all time.

Our very first show was back in November in Ipswich at a place called St Jude’s Brewery – it was a little thing for a friend’s birthday. It just felt great to be up on stage together for the first time.

That’s amazing! Colchester Arts Centre is such a lovely venue, I agree… Finally, if there was one gig or festival you could play at, what would it be?
All of them. All the gigs.

SuperGlu are releasing their first single Diving Bell with Antigen Records as a limited edition white 7” vinyl and download this April. Check it out first, before everyone else does!

Words: Katy Lagden
Photography: Geoff Lawrence