Such Gold’s bassist / vocalist, Jon Markson, shuffles back from having a smoke with his bandmates to continue our interview under the orange haze of a street lamp. As young women walk past to the trendy bar next-door, Jon stares at the pavement as he tries to remember what he was saying.
He’s a little worse for wear. Half an hour ago he was onstage and the sweat on his forehead is starting to go cold as the evening drags on. There’s been some post-gig celebrations and he’s clearly mellowed out. Earlier, he was one of the most enthusiastic interviewees I’ve ever had and was so pleased to chat. He has a lot to say.
Such Gold straddle genre lines, blending hardcore, metal, groove and pop punk sounds. Their last album, ‘The New Sidewalk’, came out in 2014 and I ask him how the band decides what ingredients to throw into the mix.
“We don’t think about that. As we’re writing we might think that a song has a crazy vibe to it or it sounds like Rush or Descendents. We just go with what comes naturally for the band. I think we’re trying to set up the precedent that we can throw a lot of ideas at the wall and turn them into something that appeases us,” Jon explains.
Currently, Such Gold are putting together new songs and it’s likely that they’ll go about the process in the same way. He says: “We’re working on a couple of new things at the moment. A lot of new vibes, a lot of new tones. We’re not sure if it’s gonna be an EP, a couple of EPs or an LP but we’re working on a lot of new stuff that will take shape in the new year.”
How does it sound? Jon thinks it’s going even further out than the last album. “It’s crazier but catchier,” he starts; “With ‘The New Sidewalk’ we threw a lot of stuff at the wall. We needed to go out as far out as we could go, to decide what we’re doing next. About 60 percent of that stuff came about in a two month span.”
“I feel like we’re gonna about it a similar way. We work best if we do a lot of sculpting in a shorter period of time and then go reflect on it,” he tells me.
On ‘The New Sidewalk’, Such Gold veered further down the hardcore path while keeping the pop-punk melodies. I wonder if it’s caused some fans and casual observers at gigs, who aren’t familiar with the more aggressive sound, to question it.
“That’s definitely happening more now with our newer material,” Jon begins, “We just toured with Shai Hulud and one of the things they tried to nail home was remembering going to shows and hearing things they didn’t think were possible with guitar music. Something that pushed the boundaries of what people heard as guitar music.
“If we can have that reaction with anyone, that would be great. I don’t want to label ourselves as some kind of band that’s inspiring but we just love that feeling,” he beams.
Like any hardcore band worth their salt, Such Gold are avid skaters. As part of their recent tours, they’ve been promoting the Skate-Aid charity. Jon turns all serious when I ask him about it.
“Skate-Aid is a non-profit, charitable organisation based in Munster, Germany; the skating capital of Europe. They build skateparks in developing countries and ones that are in conflict,” he professionally and calmly explains.
“Skateboarding is just so important to us. It’s good to see that spreading around the world. It’s the one thing I can do completely in solitude and get into a certain zen. We’ve had so much fun skateboarding and it’s brought so much positivity to our lives. One of our favourite things about touring is being able to skate all over the world,” he chuckles.
“When you skate with someone, even if they don’t speak your language, you totally have a communication with that person.”
Such Gold just wrapped their UK tour and will be getting to work on the new material next year. You can find out more about Skate-Aid’s wonderful work here.