Peggy Sue return to Brighton this month and take the stage at the annual Willkommen Foxtrot festival at Stanmer House.
The post-folk trio from London launch their second LP, Acrobats, in September and with an extensive tour on the way they’re out to showcase a new sound which sees them shedding their acoustic styles of old for a harder and edgier feel.  
With rich harmonies over their dual guitar playing, Katy Young and Rosa Slade are backed by accomplished drummer Olly Joyce who adds his own depth to the outfit. Chris Alex Thom caught up with Katy a few weeks ago and talked about the band’s history, what’s coming up, and how to upset your dad...   

So how did Peggy Sue come to be? I understand the band has its roots in Brighton.
Well Rosa and I were actually at school together in London so it goes way back for us, but yes, we both found ourselves at university together in Brighton.
My very first gig was a support slot upstairs at Komedia. I felt I needed some back up so asked Rosa to accompany me on stage and we just took it all from there really.

Not bad for your first gig, one of Brighton’s top venues...
Yes and we were reviewed in the Argus as well so it really set us on our way and gave us the encouragement to keep it up. We kicked around as a two piece for years, swapping guitar duties between us, and that’s how it stayed until we got Olly in on the drums. Everything, from our sound to how we approach the music and the songs themselves, have all changed dramatically since those early days.

And touring once more. How’s it going on the road again?
We’re not actually on tour just yet, that kicks off in a few weeks. But we have played a couple of festivals in the last month, one of which was in Hamburg so that was a lot of fun going out there and we’ve spent most of the last year on the road supporting the band Two Gallants.
Recent shows have seen us dish out the new material and I find that rather nerve jangling if I’m honest. For one you don’t know how it’ll be received, but mostly for me it’s about getting comfortable and familiar with the new stuff, you know? Getting to that point where it just rolls out naturally. That’s where I like to be on stage and I’m definitely getting there with this new material.

The band has pretty much reinvented itself it seems, adopting a heavier sound following the decision to go electric. Has this caused a ruckus among any fans? Any shouts of “Judas!” a la Dylan in the 60’s?
It’s funny you should say that, someone did do it! It was a friend though, so it wasn’t serious. It was our first electric gig and although it was not arranged, it was commonly thought that someone would shout it for a laugh.
I’d have to say though that the transition has been very smooth throughout the band because it was something we were very sure about. I think it makes sense to change things. I want to make each album we do sound different from previous ones. Some people may miss the old sound perhaps but that’s too bad I guess. My dad misses it, he’s a bit of an old folkie.


Did you have set ideas of how you wanted to sound or did it take a period of experimenting?
I think we just wanted to make a racket really haha..!! But yeah, there are certain bands that we really admire and have influenced us. The Breeders, Sonic Youth... But lyrics remain really important to us so there’s still the same amount of focus on those.
Since going electric I’d say we’ve improved our playing ability, and it’s a thrill to have new toys to play on!

The new album Acrobats has quite a dark edge to it that comes across straight away with the first track Cut My Teeth. Was this a conscious decision to set the precedent for rest of the album?
Well I don’t think it was a conscious decision to start writing darker stuff because songs just come along as and when they come along really. But that first track, Cut my teeth...  yeah, once it was out there I knew it had to go at the beginning. It is a dark song and we’re pretty proud of it. It gives the listener a little warning. “You’re gonna have to pay attention here and it might take a little work... but you’ll get there!”
There are happier songs on the album. There’s definitely some moodiness going on but we hope there’s enough positivity too. Some will probably think we’re full of misery and all heartbroken and such but really we’re not.

You worked with producer John Parish for Acrobats, who has handled the likes of PJ Harvey. How was that and did the band choose him personally?
We had a number of different producers on the last album so we were determined to have just one this time. The head of our label suggested him. We love PJ Harvey so we thought, great! His production is always interesting and he knows when and where to leave enough space if it’s necessary. I think when he’s involved on an album he always plays a key role and with us he really helped to translate our new sounds into songs.

Finally, what are you and the band listening to these days when you’re on the road? Are there any favourite CD’s or ipod selections doing the rounds?
It can become obsessive. Hours on end just turn into endless choices of CD’s! I guess we like to mix it up, and we like to have stuff on that reflects our mood at the time. Recently, if we need something upbeat, I’ve been playing a band we know called Slow Club. I managed to grab a promo copy of their new album after we did a support for them. And for relaxing times?... We’ve been enjoying a lot of Townes Van Zandt actually, so it’s quite varied. Personally I just like it if we can all agree on something as it doesn’t happen too often.

Foxtrot at Stanmer House (including Peggy Sue) - Sunday 11th September