Despite sharing their formative teenage years cutting their teeth in the surprisingly vibrant music scene of the sleepy medieval city of Salisbury UK, the southwest based OVERSIZE would only be founded in late 2019 over a mutual love of the sounds of yesteryear. The alternative 4-piece draw inspiration from 90’s Indie, Emo, Shoegaze and Britpop and regardless of their infancy, show no hesitation in crafting their defined sound, of which can be heard their latest single ‘My Eyes’.
Frontman Sam McCauley commented:
My Eyes was written after reflecting how many hours I spend looking at a screen. The feeling of becoming a slave to technology, the impact it can have on social anxiety and the toll it can have on both mental and physical health.
These lyrics have become even more relevant to me in these past weeks after being told to stay inside. The default is still to grab my phone in a time of boredom or used to distract myself from more important tasks. We just have to remind ourselves that there are plenty of other activities that don’t involve staring at a screen.
Guitarist Lewis Emm added:
This single was recorded at The Ranch Production house. This studio has been our favourite for a number of years and has been involved in previous projects/ bands. A talented friend of ours, Kurt Fagan Recording/ mix engineer, started out as an intern there and it made total sense to record with him.
We took a very DIY approach to recording, studio time is expensive and when you’re a new band a lot of the upfront costs have to come out of your pocket. We tracked all the guitars and bass at home, and re-amped in the studio, this was great for saving time as they could be used for guide tracks for drums and it also meant all the tempos were decided beforehand. We even ended up using some of the home demo vocals as we preferred the emotion and vibe especially for a song like My Eyes.
“My Eyes” lyrics:
Take me outside, the weather’s nice, but it won’t suffice, these thoughts are on my mind, take me outside.
Take me outside the weather’s nice, but it won’t suffice, these thoughts are on my mind,
Trapped in a vice, tools to cut my eyes, the artificial light.My eyes are tired.
As I take the biggest breath, smell the flowers as I digest my time in the sunshine,
Summers over laid to rest, darkness draws a cold hard chest, goodbye sunshine.
More about the band
The band formed in late 2019 over a mutual love for 90’s Indie, Emo, Shoegaze and Britpop despite most of us knowing each other from growing up in the same medieval city of Salisbury UK. Growing up we all cut our teeth into the surprisingly vibrant music scene.
We had some great shows in the pipeline, playing a bunch of towns and cities for the first time. Unfortunately these have all been canceled or postponed. I can only sympathise with our friends within the industry and I hope we can help each other to keep doing the things we enjoy the most.
We have decided to use this time to continue writing and exchange bedroom demos, organise future releases and take advantage of silly filters on video calls together. I’m genuinely so pumped to record these new tracks and play them live.
Bristol alt music scene
Guitarist Lewis Emm:
Despite originating in Salisbury, half of the band now live in Bristol, which of course is incredibly vibrant and cultural. Unfortunately this is no longer the case for hometown Salisbury. Despite formally having a surprisingly rich underground music scene, It has fallen by the wayside due to small venue closures and a lack of support and resources for young people. Of course there are key members keeping the remnants alive, venues such as The Winchester gate, who continue to support live music with weekly shows. These are the unsung heros.
Other artists worth a check
Collectively we are enjoying:
Loathe – I let it in and it took everything
