Getting To Know: Poppyshow

Poppyshow introduced their track "Needed Ur Bed" to their social media in early December 2023, sparking instant support from their hometown and garnering attention from playlist editors and Spotify. Within just 24 hours, the song received over 250 streams and numerous pre-saves from fans in Exeter alone, showcasing the band's strong and dedicated local following. Since its release, "Needed Ur Bed" has soared to over 20k streams on Spotify playlists, propelling the band to 10k monthly listeners within the first month. The track has also received heavy rotation on radio stations such as BBC 1 Introducing and 365 Radio. With a music video set to debut in early May, the band remains active on social media, leveraging the buzz surrounding the song to secure more gig opportunities with like-minded bands.

"Needed Ur Bed," penned by Jacob in 2021, originated in a small university studio, serving as a confessional piece about navigating a loveless relationship. Featuring guitar and bass-driven melodies reminiscent of MCR and Radiohead, the song showcases Greg Kerti's dynamic bass playing, complementing Jacob's soulful and emotive vocals. Recorded live with minimal overdubs at Mark Tucker's 'The Green Room' Studios in Devon, the track was expertly produced, recorded, and mixed by Tucker, who has collaborated with iconic acts like Jethro Tull and Portishead. As part of an EP capturing the band's first two years, "Needed Ur Bed" marks the beginning of an exciting musical journey, with more tracks set to follow.

1. Your music has been described as a blend of rock, punk, and sweet beats, with a distinctive energy that captures both soulful depth and explosive power. How do you balance these diverse elements in your songwriting and production process to create a sound that's uniquely POPPYSHOW?

JACOB –. When writing a song I don’t really think too hard on balancing anything. I grew up listening to the Beatles, Al Green, Zepplin and Meatloaf, then on the bus ride to school hearing Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Girls Aloud on the radio, then later in my life bands like Black Flag, The Stooges, Queens, Nirvana and Audioslave. All of the above have soul and explosive energy in some kind of way. I never try to make a particular thing, just write what I’m feeling at that time and then sing. I’m a soul singer at heart. In terms of production our producer Mark Tucker really put us through our paces when recording this EP, we’d never been ‘produced’ before and he brought out the best in us, he was super honest and helped push us in a way we just couldn’t have done on our own. 

JAKE - I suppose it's however we feel on the day. I'm a big fan of Mr. Bungle and Twelve Foot Ninja, i really enjoy bands whose songs can differ immensely while still sounding like the same band. So i guess our approach is if it sounds good, and it feels good, we do it and try not to get hung up on genre labels.

GREG - As a band, Jacob has the song idea and the rest of us kind of just build off of these foundations and add our influence to them. This results in the unique style of our songs. My influences range from 70s bands like Cream, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix Experience to 90s grunge  such as Alice in Chains, Sound garden and Audioslave. Just to name a few.

2. With over 5,000 streams in its first week, your debut single "needed ur bed" has clearly resonated with listeners. What was the inspiration behind this track, and how does it reflect the overall direction you want to take POPPYSHOW's music?

JACOB –. Yeah its crazy, I wrote that tune when I was in this mental point of my life where Uni was about to finish, covid was almost over and I just needed to write 5 songs for a uni project. I was reaching deep to find stuff to right about, I locked myself in our old colleges studio for 4 days and just wrote and recorded 5 tracks and this was one of them. Then when i brought it to the band it suddenly had a whole new life. It’s funny because I hadn’t really thought of a particular topic when I wrote it, and I like that some songs can be taken in 100s of ways. And this is definitely one of them. But one day Greg our bass player randomly came up to me and was like ‘Jacob, is this song about that one girl from….’ and I was like, actually man, yeah it could be. So now it really feels like i’m talking about a situation where i was madly in love with this slightly older girl as a teen, then years later us getting together and me not really feeling what i once felt and feeling utter shit about it. Musically ‘Needed Ur Bed’ reflects that I want to write songs that can resonate with people, and apparently it does because people have really been seeming to like it, so that’s sick.

GREG - Needed your bed's success was a massive surprise, as I never expected it to do so well when we wrote it. I think that the knowledge and experience of our producer really brought the song to life as the dynamics between the verses and choruses are really impactful sonically. 

3. Being featured on BBC Introducing in the South West and drawing comparisons to bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Jeff Buckley, and Radiohead is no small feat. How do you feel these influences shape your music, and what aspects of POPPYSHOW do you think stand out to earn such prestigious recognition?

JACOB – Yeah that was great, love Daniel Pascoe and Franderson, they really care about the scene down here and that’s great. I have been to a load of studios in the south west and we have been lucky enough to hang out and play with some incredible people, there's something in the water down here and always has been, I’m glad that Fran and Dan are the ones to find them and give them a slot to say what they need to say. And those bands are such great bands for us to be compared to, because we don’t know what the hell we sound like or what we want to sound like, we just play and write; but those guys, I mean Jeff and his voice, Radiohead’s songs and depth and The Pumpkins grit are all things on their own to aspire to be similar to. So to get all 3? Not a bad hatric If you ask me. And I guess people will have to come and see us and tell us, I think and hope we just write some decent songs. If they can resonate with people, what more can i ask for.

4. With a rigorous schedule of over 50 shows last year and a strong focus on live performances, how do you prepare for your gigs to maintain that "balls to the wall energy and charisma" your live shows are known for? Are there any memorable moments from your tours that encapsulate the essence of POPPYSHOW on stage?

2022 we played loads, it was mental.

We rehearse loads, twice a week in our studio, play as much as we can, but that's for making sure we know the tunes. You can’t rehearse energy, it’s found through living, through experiencing things both good and bad. You have to have had a lot of dinner at a lot of peoples houses to have any kind of energy in music haha. You can’t rehearse that stuff i don’t think. Who would want to hahah? We’re also together all the time as well. hanging out, cooking, recording, playing music, messing around, in the van for hours driving to gigs, and that chemistry we have as a foursome can only come from that.

And holy shit there are loads, we played a show in Bristol a little while ago, we were put on with these hardcore bands in this tiny room, the bands were badass but no one knew or cared who we were hahah. And this fire alarm just was going off the whole time, all through soundcheck and we were thinking dam is this gonna be able to go ahead?? Paying that fuel for nothing haha. It was about to be called off and here we were up on the stage and ready to go with people staring us in the eyes and all we could hear was this fire alarm, when we see the sound man put a thumb up and all of a sudden my mic was on and so we went for it. After the show and after playing this dude with a mohawk came up to me and told me that one of our songs made him tear up, so that felt great.

5. As you continue to focus your sound and gear up for a busy year with the release of your debut EP, followed by recording your next EP, what themes or messages are you eager to explore in your upcoming work? How does the creative atmosphere in your self-built rehearsal studio, "stiff crowd hq," contribute to your artistic development?

JACOB - We have a whole mix of tunes, and a lot of them about sensitive subjects, my depression and adhd make me feel happiness in a huge way and then sadness in a huge way, one after another, its exhausting, so tunes often range from stuff I’ve seen people go through to things I've gone through myself, the classic songwriter thing hahaha. I think i see things other people don’t sometimes haha, see people for who they really are, and I try to be honest about myself with that too. Future songs go into all sorts, recently i have written a tune about the hypocrisy in the music scene, posh punks pretending they struggle with the cost of living like it’s a badge you can pin on and then take off whenever you want. 

I’ve written a song called ‘out of your head’ around the romanticization of drug and alcohol abuse in pop culture, media and the music scene too. That one means alot to me as i’ve seen abuse destroy the lives of people who had so much potential and for what? Its heartbreaking ? Songwriting for me is about what i feel and how i feel about what i see in the world.

Stiff Crowd is great, it has so quickly become this incredible space filled with important songs people have written, it has mad soul. I go out to gigs and see imcredible bands that rehearse in the studio we built sing incredible songs that have been written there. So when we go in you can feel it in the walls, it’s so inspiring for me. It means i’m in there all the time, working on new songs, figuring out sets, and listening and recording music, it sounds great in there you should come and check it out sometime x