Culturally diverse indie band Superorganism on seeing the world and how Whatsapp gave their self-titled album its unique look
The members of up-and-coming indie band Superorganism on their glow-in-the-dark debut record, touring the world, and the challenges they face
Psychedelic art-pop eight-piece Superorganism has been described by many music publications as the most exciting new indie band in 2017 and 2018. Young Post called guitarist Christopher Young (more commonly known as Harry) while the band was touring the US, to talk about their critically acclaimed, self-titled debut record.
“We’ve been on the road for a while now,” said Young, talking about their current US tour. “It’s been crazy – big, sold out shows, and great crowds everywhere.”
This is just the start of a hectic schedule planned for the year, Young reveals. “We’re going all over the place. We’re in America now, then we’re off to Japan, Australia, back to America, back round Europe, then [Britain]. I think at some point we’re heading to Mexico, and Iceland, too, so we’re going to see a whole load of the world this year.”
This intensive travelling comes off the back of their debut album, which was released at the beginning of March, for which the band created eye-catching CDs and vinyls which glow in the dark.
“We were discussing various things to do with the artwork, and the album name, and it just came up in a Whatsapp brainstorm. We were just spit-balling ideas, and someone suggested calling it Glow In The Dark. We weren’t sure about it as a name, but we thought it’d be cool if the record was [fluorescent].”
Although Superorganism are based in London, the band members all have very different backgrounds, with backing singers Rudy and B coming from New Zealand, South Korean vocalist Soul, and lead singer Orono Noguchi from Japan.
“Even when we’re living in the same house, we still work the same – emailing ideas,” confesses the guitarist. “It gives you a bit of space to work on things at your own pace, and things you might not try if you were around other people.”
Young offers an insight into the challenges he faced trying to make a career in the music industry.
“Be prepared to be extremely resilient. You’re going to fail 20 times more often than you succeed, so you need to prepare yourself for that ... the first time you pick up a guitar, your fingers aren’t strong enough to form a bar chord. The first 20 times your fingers won’t be strong enough, but on the 20th time, they will be. I think the same applies for writing songs, for putting music out, how people react to it and playing live,” Young says.
“When I was a kid, I had so many gigs that felt like a failure but eventually you get to this point, and it’s just about having that resilience to get there.”
Edited by Nicole Moraleda