Sound of Rum on festivals, politics, and being turned away from their own gigs

No frills Sound of Rum play at Get Loaded in the Park this Summer. Here Kate Tempest talks to Skiddle about festivals, government hypocrisy, and why they sometimes struggle to get into their own gigs.

With an onslaught of street savvy attitude, front-woman Kate Tempest creates music directly influenced by her life and her environment. Tempest spits lyrics with precision delivery, where one word runs into the next, each tumbling and spinning while a mix of bass, drums and cool jazzy guitar weaves in and out.

Sound of Rum’s debut Balance is the perfect example of such dizzying heights, and today Kate Tempest waxes lyrical for Jasmine Phull.

Where’d the name Sound of Rum come from?
If I’m totally honest it’s really boring. We were on our way to Glastonbury the year before last and we found these patches of water, up off the coast of Scotland, called Sounds. There are a lot, from the Sound of Egg to the Sound of Rum and at the time I was drinking Rum. I wish it was deeper than that but yea… it’s not.

On stage do you put importance on what you wear?
I don’t give a second thought to image or on-stage attire. What I’m concerned about is the quality of our music and the quality of my lyrics. I think what our audience connects with is the truthfulness of being like ‘mate I look a state but I care so much about what we are doing’. We do gigs all the time with bands that look like ‘they’re in a band’ and we look like ‘the crew’. People don’t let us into venues when it’s time to do a show because they don’t believe we are meant to be there. The whole thing is it’s not about image, it’s about substance.

At your gigs what do you get from the crowd and what do you expect?
We’re all in it together. I’m not one of those performers who acts as if there is no one there; it’s very much about them being in the room with us. But I think it’s important to be able to change and adapt to the crowd that you are with. We’ve done gigs where the crowd has just made it for us and others where the crowd has not. The important part is just being like ‘this is for you as much as it is for us’.

What music influences you and the band? What music do you listen to?
I’m very into lyrical music. I was really into hip-hop when I was growing up and I still am. It’s my main source of inspiration. I listen to great lyric writers like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. And the guys in the band love jazz and even interesting disco music.

‘Interesting disco music’? Is that you putting it lightly?
No we’re into music and music has done a lot for all of us. We like genuine music from the heart, whatever genre it may be in. As long as there is a reason for it being made then we will give it a listen.

What was the last gig that you went to see?
The last gig I went to see was Wu-Tang Clan and then I went to MF Doom. Amazing. I’m very much into Wu-Tang Clan.

Sound of Rum is heavy on the festival scene. Are you a fan of festivals? Do you even like festivals?
By the time it gets to June I love them. I feel like I’m at home; lying in a field amongst 20-foot tulips and light installations everywhere. I saw Stevie Wonder at Glastonbury and it changed my life.

Tell me about ‘Cannibal Kids’.
It was inspired by something that happened in my life, a close friend of mine passed away. It’s not so much about inner city youth violence but more about hypocrisy of governments that shake their fingers at these kids for this ‘unfathomable’ lifestyle that they have, but at the same time they are committing the same sort of crimes on a much larger scale. They’re going to war over territory and power in the same way these kids are going to war. We’re taught that money counts and villainy leads to success. I’m not the first to make the point but I’m just trying to make that parallel between the macro and the micro. You know?

See Kate performing 'Cannibal Kids' below:

How is the writing process for you? Do you start with a message or does the message naturally form?
Unless I’m commissioned to write a piece specifically about a certain thing then it just happens. I think that part of discipline and growing up as a writer is to be able to start out with an idea and then make the piece to qualify the idea you’ve had. That’s very much what I want to eventually get to but so far it’s been gut led; instinctual. I guess it’s kind of an immature way of writing but it seems to be working.

I was speaking to one of the guys from Wild Beasts and he said that ‘writer’s block was a luxury he couldn’t afford’. Do you agree with where he’s coming from?
(Laughs). Yea I understand that but it’s very odd, since making the transition into this being a career you might find yourself with 2 days or 5 hours to make a piece. I used to just see ‘creativity’ as a tap that you could turn on whenever but it’s not like that. You can’t push. The minute you have to start using ‘it’ instead of just letting ‘it’ happen, obviously there are going to be times where you’re not writing anything good. But I don’t see it as writers’ block; I see it as sometimes you’re just not in the right space. I’m lucky enough to have never experienced writers’ block.

Do you think that’s because you surround yourself with things that inspire you?
I don’t know why it is, but I know it’s coming for me.

So you just gotta keep running?
Yea!

Interview by: Jasmine Phull

Twitter.com/j_fool

Find out more about Sound of Rum at their Skiddle artist page

Catch Sound of Rum at Get Loaded in the Park this Summer. Tickets are available below.

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