Bouquet of Thorns play with Fire Lady Luck and Solstice on December 2nd at The Bunker!
Who are Bouquet Of Thorns?
We are a punk rock band based in the North East of England. We are constantly writing new material and are also working on recording our debut album. We started writing music in August 2022.
Members:
Keith – Lead Vocals and Guitar
Matthew – Guitar and Backing Vocals
Connor – Bass and Backing Vocals
Chris – Drums
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
Connor – For me it would have to be Green Day. Ever since I heard the American Idiot album in ’04 I was addicted. I used to watch their Bullet in a Bible concert on repeat and would constantly play along in my bedroom on my bass. When I got the game Green Day: Rockband, I knew I just had to be in a band. It’s always been part of my bucket list to play live shows, release songs and release and album, and there’s no time better than the present! I do have a rather large record collection which can shed some light on my wider inspirations. These range from The Everly Brothers to Doris Day, to Helloween, Husker Du, Little Richard etc. It really depends on how I’m feeling as to what I’ll put on but it’s very rare to see me NOT listening to music.
Keith – So many for me, if I had to narrow down to a top four, I would have to say Clutch, Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Queen. I know it’s an eclectic mix, but these artists are always my go to, no matter what style of music I’m currently enjoying, I always go back to them, there amazing sounds and creativity from all members of these bands blows my mind, and no matter how many times you listen to their albums you always hear something new.
Chris – Easy one for me, in terms of getting into music, Nirvana! Lots of Nirvana. First heard their music on Kerrang in my early teen years and was hooked both on the music and the devastating backstory of the band.
Matthew – musical inspiration for me is mainly bands like, Green Day, Blink 182, The Offspring and Less Than Jake I could name about 10 more, there’s something about the early stages of punk that I really enjoy and its mostly about how raw the music was it’s like you’re there listening to them, and I’m the same as Chris all I did was listen to Kerrang or Skuzz and that’s how I got into these bands. I started learning guitar when I was around 16/17 years old because I was so obsessed with the game Guitar Hero and I really wanted to learn how to play because I was left handed I just messed about with right-handed guitars until I learned how to restring and play properly, typical learner songs from bands like GNR, Nirvana, White Stripes and whatever I had the patience to learn at the time, I was obsessed with Avenged Sevenfold and seeing that they had a left handed guitarist really inspired me to play more.
How did you start making music?
Connor – I started making music when I was about 13 or 14. I was always creative whether through drawing or writing stories. Song writing was just a natural next step for me. I’m constantly writing songs and have 2 and a half notebooks full of lyrics. I believe there’s 180 sets of song lyrics waiting to be used…or in some cases forgotten which is for the best!
Keith – I wrote my first song at the age of about 6 or 7 I remember sitting round my nans house and writing a song. At the age of 10 I started learning the drums. By my early teens I had learned how to play (although not very well!) Guitar, Bass and Drums and have been playing in bands and writing music ever since.
Chris – As for my instrument of choice, the drums, I started out playing a bit of everything, Metallica Guns N Roses, etc, but really found my feet when a friend asked me to learn some Blink 182 songs, Travis’ drumming is crazy creative and outside the box and inspired me to really work at my drumming.
Matthew – I started making music when I joined the band, but I haven’t really written anything yet to be honest.
What have the band been up to recently?
Well, we’ve put out 4 singles, with a 5th and 6th on the way! They’re all done in a home studio but we will be re-recording them all for our debut album. We have also appeared on the Off The Stage Podcast which was an amazing experience, and played our debut gig at the Darlington Forum alongside the amazing Seventh Heaven!
What is your earliest musical memory?
Connor – For me it would probably be getting a 5 pack of Elvis CDs, I believe from Asda, I got home and played them on repeat…and of course attempted to impersonate his voice.
Keith – I was about 3 listening to Sam Cooke in my mum’s car.
Chris – My earliest musical memory is The Police playing in my dad’s car, I never really knew who they were, but the simple catchy songs always stuck in my head even from an early age and have remained a group I listen to regularly to this day.
Matthew – Earliest music memory is sitting in the passenger seat listening to John Denver in my grandad’s car, I don’t think it had an influence on me, but the songs were catchy.
What kind of people do you want to listen to your music? (fans of which artists)
We feel fans of bands like Green Day, Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Blink 182 and Sum 41 for example would like our style! As a band we have an eclectic music taste so when writing songs, we are pulling inspirations from all over the place, from heavy metal to the blues! So, we hope there’ll be something for everyone!
What is the bands dream gig line up and why?
We’ll pick one band each for our dream gig line up!
Connor – Of course it will have to be Green Day for me.
Keith – For me, it would have to be The Jam. The Jam’s early 80s sound and that attitude, that would be a great band to share a stage with.
Chris – Dream gig line up, wow, given no one said living or dead I reckon Nirvana could look a bit traumatic on stage, so my band of choice would be Billy Talent, not sure what the other guys picked so could make for an interesting line up but they’re just so good that they need to be there for me.
Matthew – My dream gig lineup would probably be Less Than Jake I’ve seen them live 3 times and each time gets better.
Where do you see yourself in 2 years?
Getting our music out there as much as possible for people to enjoy!
What have you got coming up in the future? (gigs and releases)
Well, for a bit of a “Gan On Exclusive”, we have a brand new unannounced single coming out December 1st! The song will be Blue Bird. It’s about a certain owner of a certain company which is about all we can say! We also have another two singles currently in the works though we won’t be giving away the release dates just yet…all we’ll say we’ve got a few surprises coming before the end of the year.
Who is your favourite local artist and why?
Connor – My favourite local artist has to be Fire Lady Luck. Their singles are always on point, and they put on a killer show. My favourite song of theirs has to be Wise Guy.
Keith – I think for me it would have to be Seventh Heaven. They put on an amazing show and their drummer is fantastic.
Chris – I’d have to go with Last Case Scenario. Love their song Devils.
Matthew – I’ll give a shout out to Solstice who we’ll be sharing a stage with alongside Fire Lady Luck at The Bunker on Saturday December 2nd!
