Mother Brain present an outstanding double bill on Saturday 6th July, featuring Sweet Pill and SUDS!
Philadelphia’s Sweet Pill writes eruptive emo songs that embrace the edges of pop and hardcore, whilst Norwich-based SUDS are flying the flag for UK emo. Two sensational live bands on one summer evening!
“Another proper-dose of pop-punk and Midwest emo by combining the feelings of Snail Mail’s soft-girl tunes, Tigers Jaw mood-swings, and Paramore-esque vocal melodies” – Post Trash on Sweet Pill
Sweet Pill has a style earmarked by an earnest ingenuity that many young artists are quick to romanticize and aspire to but slow to cultivate and execute. It takes time. For singer Zayna Youssef, guitarists Jayce Williams and Sean McCall, bassist Ryan Cullen, and drummer Chris Kearney, however, their 5 years together have seen their hard work rewarded tenfold in half as long as it would take almost anyone else. From their 2018 inception, Sweet Pill forged a storied path leading to this moment: the release of their new EP, Starchild, their first for new label home, Hopeless Records.
There’s a cinematic quality to Sweet Pill’s forming in college in New Jersey, converting a small school bus into a tour-ready, cross-country capable vehicle (complete with bunks!) and driving it to SXSW in efforts to draw attention to their newly growing passion. In true film fashion, Sweet Pill arrived at the world-famous Austin festival only to be informed of its cancellation as the introduction of shelter-in-place restrictions surrounding the emergence of COVID-19. Proceeding to return home, their converted vehicle buckled under the pressure of the excursion, leaving them stranded for several days in Baton Rouge, LA before returning to their new home of Philadelphia. It was this struggle that set the stage for the writing process that conceived what would become Sweet Pill’s first full-length LP, ‘Where the Heart Is.
‘Starchild’ sees Sweet Pill returning to Weber and Gradwell House for another triumph, tapping in Dave Downham for mastering, and ‘Where the Heart Is ’art illustrator Kerry Dunn to continue the style their debut established. With these two releases, Sweet Pill only hopes to inspire others into a life lived passionately in close community with like-minded individuals, as they have been by bands like Algernon Cadwallader, Hop Along, and, of course, Paramore. For Williams, the only intention is “to live a sustainable life while playing music and uplift the people around me,” while drummer Chris Kearney feels it is his only path. “I don’t know what else I would do, I don’t have another purpose in life.”
“Sweet Pill are incredible… such a thrill” – Stereogum
“SUDS have swiftly and seemingly effortlessly become a stable of the national emo scene” – Noizze
