Brighton teens,┬áHigh Tyde,┬áare turning heads in the music industry, and are gaining much deserved, national recognition. The indie quartet have been making their mark on the music scene, from touring with Peace and Little Comets to releasing their well received EP ÔÇÿFuzzÔÇÖ in April. QuenchÔÇÖs Chloe Stevens chatted with their lead vocalist, Cody Thomas-Matthews, about their upcoming tour, their new EP ÔÇÿGlowÔÇÖ and finding out what they got up to on tour with Peace.

Quench Music (QM): Cody, tell us how you individually got into music? 

Cody: Personally, I fell in love with music at a very young age. I was around 7 when my dad introduced me to bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and many more iconic artists. Seriously, you should see his bloody CD collection! From showing an interest in my dadÔÇÖs music, my parents decided to get me an acoustic guitar, and from that moment on I was hooked! Realistically, it was the only thing I was good at. My parents have really influenced me when it comes to music. They were the ones that first took me to see concerts and the ones who made me adore the live musical environment. Music, from the age of 7, became a must have in my life.

QM: At quite a young age, have you found it hard to focus so much of your time on building your music career? Has it affected your social life regarding girlfriends/education or anything?

Cody: Initially when we first started the band it was just for a bit of fun alongside our studies. Us four friends could all play instruments and were all massively into the same sorts of bands like Two Door Cinema Club and Bombay Bicycle Club. But even though it has become a lot more serious, we still consider it as our social life really! I mean we all have time for friends outside the band, as that is still very important to us all. Despite things being much busier now, we all love every minute of it and our daily life is focussed on making High Tyde the best it can be.

QM: Your musical style has been likened to that of Years and Years and Two Door Cinema Club, would you agree with this statement? If not, which artists have been your main influences in music? 

Cody: I do agree! Individually we all enjoy a wide range of music, but our main influence all comes from the same sort of bands. However, when we write our music we donÔÇÖt try to sound like anyone else at all, weÔÇÖre never like ÔÇÿoh lets write a song like this or thatÔÇÖÔǪ we simply just let our minds explore when jamming. We take inspiration more from the every day experiences we encounter.

QM: YouÔÇÖve been keeping yourself very busy over the past year ÔÇô touring with bands such as Little Comets and Peace, tell me a bit more about that?

Cody: We had some really good times all round! Its not every day you get to go on tour with your favourite bands, especially this early on in our career! We had some amazing nights just hanging with Little Comets and Peace, all of us just laughing non-stop but maybe some of these things shouldnt be written in interviews.

QM: Your new EP ÔÇÿGlowÔÇÖ is being released on November 23rd! Do you guys write your own material and if so, what has influenced the writing of this EP?┬á

Cody: Buzzing! Yeah we write all of our material, I wouldnÔÇÖt feel comfortable playing it if it had come from someone else. I think personally, facing a new chapter in my life was very influential to me lyrically. The end of a long relationship meant that I was a lot freer to do what I want. The EP, though very short, has a few different┬ámeanings throughout. From partying, to aspiration, to getting fucked over ÔÇô we wanted to write about what we have been doing for the past year.

QM: November 23rd is a big day for you, as it also marks the start of your tour in Birmingham. Are you nervous at all in doing your first headline tour? Any plan to add a Cardiff date?

Cody: ItÔÇÖs definitely a lot more pressure than usual because obviously its our headline and weÔÇÖll have a lot more eyes on us. But weÔÇÖre all so excited to get back on the road and showcase some of our new songs, as for some people it will be the first time hearing them. With regards to Cardiff ÔÇô possibly very soon, perhaps in the first quarter of next year?

QM: Finally, as we can see youÔÇÖre working extremely hard to make your mark in the music industry. Where would you hope to see yourselves by the end of 2016?┬á

Cody: Playing bigger shows to more people that dig our music! Every year we want to step up the bar even more, with our song writing and our live shows 2016 is going to be a good year, watch this space!