Big year for Sarpa Salpa to end with Roadmender gig

Sarpa Salpa will round off a successful 2019 with a headline gig at the Roadmender this month to also celebrate the release of their debut EP.
Sarpa SalpaSarpa Salpa
Sarpa Salpa

This year has seen the indie outfit gig around the UK, play numerous festivals and receive support by BBC Radio 1 while also welcoming a new member into the fold.

Looking back over the last 12 months, guitarist George Neath said: “This year has been so much fun.

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“We've been up to a lot of cool stuff but one of my personal highlights would have to be being made BBC Introducing Radio 1 Track of the Week with our single Casanova in March.

“Having seen so many of my favourite bands been given this in the past, it was very cool to join them.

“Gig wise, our Roadmender main room headline in April was definitely a highlight.

“It’s still very surreal writing songs on a damp Tuesday night at rehearsal then playing a packed-out show in somewhere like Liverpool and having them sung back to you.”

Sarpa Salpa release the EP Say Something next month.

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This year as well as Casanova, they released Before It Goes Dark which will feature on the forthcoming EP.

Neath is joined in Sarpa Salpa by singer and guitarist Marcus Marooth, bassist Ethan Whitby, drummer Charlie Doe and latest member Meg Amirghiasvand on keys.

“Meg has brought a whole new dynamic to the band and has allowed us to play the songs the way they were designed to be played,” explains Neath.

“She’s also given Marcus a lot more freedom as a frontman.”

Say Something is released on January 3 and features the title track alongside Lost Time, Paralysed, Before It Gets Dark and an acoustic version of Casanova.

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It was recorded with producer Ben Farestvedt in Bedford and will be getting a limited physical release.

“Lyrically the majority of the tracks are based on observations and things I feel,” explains Marooth.

“I usually write sentences or paragraphs on these feelings and then we will develop them into the song.

“I think by keeping it to the emotion rather than always telling a story, the listener can apply their own meaning and hopefully find something in that.

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“The exception would be Lost Time. This is the story of how I was planning to meet my girlfriend at a house party for New Year’s Eve, the address of which I realised was on my phone I had forgotten to take with me.

“I got stuck in between heading back home to get the address or continuing in my pursuit to the party.

“I decided to choose the latter and I ended up totally lost in the back streets of Northampton on my own while fireworks exploded above me.

“Meanwhile, she was at the party crying with her friends wondering why I didn't care and didn't even message to say I wasn't coming.”

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Say Something follows five singles, with Neath explaining the band thought it was time to concentrate on a more coherent, full release.

“It’s been so much fun putting this together and I can't wait for people to hear it.”

Following the release of the EP, Sarpa Salpa will be touring across the UK in January and February before returning to the studio ahead of next Summer’s festival season.

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