Interview with Tivertons: ‘Sonically, it will blow your head off!’

Oxford, Cardiff and Ross-On-Wye based jangly rockers Tivertons are gearing up to release their second single ‘Pay The Fine’ to follow their debut single ‘The Way You Call My Name’, which was released in October this year.

The band comprises frontman Leo Herriott, main songwriter Harry Denton, lead guitarist Luca Govani and drummer Morgan Holt. Their name references living together on Tiverton Road during their time at Birmingham Uni: ‘We all did sport science,’ Denton said. ‘I met Leo on the first day of uni and we all lived together in our second year, except Morgan, who we met later. I was originally going to go to Loughborough Uni but had to have a major back op from a football injury, so I had to have a year out and during that time, I had a change of heart and decided to go to Brum. So the band wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for that!’ 

‘The Way You Call My Name’ is a jingly jangly break up song; Herriott’s warm vocals pull you in and the guitar lines have a summery, upbeat feel, despite the slightly melancholic lyrics: ‘It’s a really tough song to sing,’ Denton said. ‘I wanted it to be “bang” straight away. It’s tough, it’s one to belt out! When I wrote it myself, I was trying to sing it (laughs). Leo has proper owned it. I had the chords for the verse, I took them from another song I wrote called ‘Special’ – it had those same chunky chords in the middle. It’s gone up levels with the boys, we were practicing every week.’ I ask him where the birdsong at the start of the song comes from and he laughs: ‘As fate would have it, we were halfway through recording a live video for it and I messed up my guitar part in the solo. We go to do it again and as we were counting ourselves in there were the birds singing in the background that you hear on the song; we knew we had to leave them in. It’s such a good cue for Leo’s vocal.’

As the track kicks off: “It’s about time we met up on a hillside. Looked on up at the blue skies. And reminisced about the days. Time flies. Remember when I looked in your eyes…”

‘There’s rock ‘n’ roll hidden in that!’

Denton is more cryptic about who inspired the song, saying that he doesn’t like ‘to give too much away’: ‘I like people to decide themselves what it means,’ he said. ‘A few of the lines I’m really happy with, like “I think this might be the end, it’s 50:50, so I phoned a friend”. A mate said to me “Oh, is that like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? I like that.” I thought it was obvious! The line: “The boat has rocked and the dice has rolled” I like that, too – there’s rock ‘n’ roll hidden in that! I tend to get lines from everyday things, one liners people have said or funny things that have happened.’

The photo artwork for ‘The Way You Call My Name’ is particularly striking, showing a glamorous blonde with an old school Hollywood vibe, wearing a red dress and holding a red retro phone and I ask him where they got the inspiration from: ‘My friend’s girlfriend Poppy – they live in Australia now – she randomly sent me a WhatsApp featuring different logo designs for us, just the day after we did our logo. We didn’t have a clue she was doing it. She did all that and sent us a non-licensable photo and then she dug a bit deeper and sent us 10 photos as artwork options. We really liked one, so we got Ella, a girl I knew from school to recreate it. The week we shot it was the only weekend she’d been home all year, so the stars aligned nicely for us.’

He is a bit frustrated that Herriott and Govani are travelling until the spring: ‘It’s annoying, it’s put the brakes on the music a bit’, he said, looking disappointed. ‘They’ve left me here to do the admin while they’re living the life! We recorded four singles, we just need to get the other three mastered. The next single, ‘Pay The Fine’, will probably be out at the start of February then ‘Reaching Out’, which Leo wrote, he wants me to say that (laughs) will come out in April or May time as we start to gig again. Will, who’s producing, mixing and mastering the songs also plays bass on them. Then we’ve got ‘Come On Darlin’’ which will be our summer tune. We’re very nearly there with them!’ 

Herriott describes ‘Reaching Out’ as ‘about a break up and you care about them and wonder how they’re doing but you’re left in the dark’: ‘You know they are probably no good for you but you can’t help but ‘fall at their feet’,’ he said. Denton weighs in: ‘It’s a slow burner, it builds slowly and when the drums come in, it really gets going. Then it comes down nicely again with lovely lead guitar parts taking it home – Leo’s best vocals.’

‘It goes off. It goes up and up throughout and there’s a nice outro riff’

‘Pay The Fine’, which kicks off with a fuzzed up wall of guitars, is probably the most high energy of their upcoming tracks but turns out to have not just been inspired by Denton’s own fines: ‘Funnily enough, I have kept getting parking and speeding tickets lately. The day me and my ex-girlfriend split up, we both got parking tickets so that was a good day! People have thought it’s about that but I wrote it way before then. I could barely play three chords then (laughs) but I wrote it when I was 17 or 18, meaning we had it when I lived with Leo and Luca but we never did anything with it. The chorus goes: “I don’t know how it started but I’ll find out how it ends”. It’s about a relationship with a female. Sonically, it will blow your head off! It’s a big song. Everyone has their moment in this song – it starts with a cool guitar part I play, then the little drums. Luca’s big guitar comes in and then it comes down for Leo’s vocal. The intro is wicked. Luca’s guitar parts throughout are mega, Morgan’s drums filling the gaps are massive and Leo’s vocals particularly towards the end are ridiculous. It goes off. It goes up and up throughout and there’s a nice outro riff.’

As the track begins: “Hang in there, lady. You’ve got the world to see. You’re going crazy. And you don’t know who you’ve been. You’re chasing shadows. Tryna read the signs. You dream of a red rose. But see love is colourblind.”

Denton started to play the guitar when he was 16, teaching himself via YouTube videos: ‘I’m the least musically talented in the group,’ he said. ‘Luca is really good, he knows exactly what to play over any chords. Morgan has that BPM brain and when he speaks you listen, he’s really switched on musically. Leo is very switched on vocally, hitting all the notes and he plays guitar. He’s smashed it in ‘Reaching Out’.’ 

‘The better songs, I tend to write those quickly’

He’s the main songwriter in the band: ‘Generally speaking, I’ll be messing around on my guitar,’ he said. ‘The music often comes first. The better songs, I tend to write those quickly. I might get a verse or a chorus and build up the music then get the lyrics down on paper. I then usually send Leo a video to learn it and then we’ll come together as a band. I can just whistle a solo at Luca (laughs) and he will take it away and put his spin on it.’

They bring different influences to the band: ‘Oasis is massive for me and Leo, they were one of the first things we spoke about when we met. I’m really inspired by them. I like Richard Ashcroft and the DMA’s from a songwriting perspective, too. Luca is a bit more Hendrix, lead guitarist vibe (laughs) and Morgan is bang into Stereophonics, he’s Welsh!’

I ask him which musician he would most like to have a pint with. ‘Ooooooh! I want to say the obvious one, Noel Gallagher, he’d have good stories, but I’ve listened to so many of his interviews. I’d want to tap into something new. Maybe Richard Ashcroft. I’d ask him: “Have you heard ‘The Way You Call My Name?!”‘

(Photo from left to right: Luca, Leo, Harry and Morgan. Photo credit: Cathal Mattimoe.)