SugarFüt: ‘A lot of Jack’s lyrics are very introspective – he’s really good at baring his soul’

Hull alt-rock band SugarFüt are gearing up to release three new singles, ‘Oblivion’, ‘Room’ and ‘Casanova’, giving us more of their trademark powerhouse vocals, addictive bass lines and tightly woven rock.

The band, which formed in 2023, is the brainchild of frontman and guitarist Jack Moxon and drummer Calvin Casey, which quickly solidified its lineup with the addition of bassist Rory Myers and guitarist Dave Measom, all of whom have played in other bands in Hull’s vibrant indie music scene, including RADARS.

SugarFüt has an interesting and unusual provenance: ‘I’m Type 1 diabetic,’ said Myers, explaining the name. ‘It was just a funny nickname I got from some old friends that we gave ourselves as a bit tongue-in-cheek, taking the mick out of ourselves. We thought it sounded like a fun name and I like to think it shows we’ve got a bit of groove to us! The little umlaut, I like to think, personally, shows a bit of our accent because the umlaut makes it pronounced “foo-t” (he says, elongating the vowels). If you’re from East Yorkshire, where we’re from, like Hull, we do mispronounce words quite a lot! So it’s like an old Yorkshire way of saying “foo-t”!’ 

This year, they’ve released two new singles: ‘If You Say So’ (31 January) and ‘Places You Call Home’ (21 March), both of which demonstrate just how good they are at blending different elements of rock, punk and even pop, and mashing them up with gritty, driving guitars and seductively hooky bass lines. Moxon’s emotion-filled vocals could easily sit atop a Foo Fighters or Queens of the Stone Age song, such is the power behind them. ‘If You Say So’ is as hypnotic as the blind obsession the song is about, a kinetic anthem that builds to a huge call and response chorus: ‘We started writing a song and got onto the subject of blind obsession and how you can blindly follow things,’ Moxon said. ‘The hypnotic repetitive riff fit well around that kind of context, so we started to put the two together and it really flowed. Once we had something to work around and a context, the track itself fell together within a couple of hours. We tend to write about past experiences and things that are relative to us in the hope that they might be relative to someone else. It just so happens to be a time where I think a few of us have been in situations where we’d put a bit much into something. One of us was really struggling at work. Personally, I’d been suffering from a relationship, which is always a fantastic place to start for songwriting (laughs) and we were finding ourselves. You do things blindly and you give people too many chances, or you give your situation too many chances, and you go: “I should have left this six months ago!”’

‘Even though we wrote it together, the song speaks in its own way to each individual member’

However, when writing the lyrics, Moxon tries to dial back the personal connection ‘to make it more universal’: ‘That way, it can be more relatable over a broader spectrum and it can hit people in different ways,’ he said. Myers agrees: ‘Jack, just to back that point up, I think when we play the song, I think about a different experience than you or Dave will think about and Calvin will probably think about. Even though we wrote it together, the song speaks in its own way to each individual member. We try to make it relatable for anyone who’s been in that situation and not make it so personal that it’s just about ourselves.’

As the track kicks off: “I want to break what′s made to bend. I wanna fake, let’s play pretend. I wouldn′t look you in the eye. My Medusa, loosey right. I wanna cut, I wanna slice. Orchestrate my self demise. In the name of your love, I’ll never give up.”

The black and white dystopian artwork for ‘If You Say So’ features a room of people kneeling before a statue with an enormous mirror ball for a head, a recurring element in all of their recent artwork.  Interestingly, they have used generative AI to create all of it, with additional input from Myers’ girlfriend, who is a graphic designer: ‘This was a big introduction for me into the world of graphic design and the visual arts and I really got into playing around with Adobe Illustrator and different pieces of software that you can get on your mobile phone,’ he said. ‘We’d never used it before but thought let’s have a bit of fun with this. The initial results are always terrible (laughs) because you’ve got to be so specific with these pieces of AI software but me and Jack would just sit together and keep tweaking the commands, putting in little bits of flavour to get what we want to see out of an image. We’ll spend a lot of time whittling down the AI commands until it’s exactly what we want and then we’ll go in and fine-tune it from there to make a cohesive series of art.’

‘Mirrors’ continues the mirror ball theme, depicting a man looking in the mirror but seeing a huge mirror ball for a head staring back at him. It’s a powerhouse of a track, reminiscent of both Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam, with more than a hint of Eddie Vedder-style vocals. The scuzzy intro riff hooks you from the off, as the track oscillates between imploring vulnerability in the verses and something altogether more defiant in the chorus, highlighting both the emotive depths of Moxon’s vocals and their pull. The melancholic chord progressions are constantly being shaken up, surprising the listener like Easter Eggs scattered throughout the song. 

The first time I heard it, it made me think of funhouse mirrors at the fair as it races along powered by an intensity that matches the underlying riffs: ‘That track, we turned it back on itself,’ Moxon said. ‘It was originally a song about meeting somebody and the feelings that it gave you but it ended up being a reflection on a failure. The ball in the artwork is essentially a reflective view of everything around you. In the artwork for ‘Thorn’, we use it as a reflection of a weight being pushed uphill – we used the idea of the Sisyphus complex but we changed the rock to a mirror ball.’

As the track goes: “Keep thinking there′s a little game I wanna play. Keep thinking you’re a little phase. That momentary break away from base. I could lie if I deny that I′m in love with the chase. Got me feeling something different. That flavour, yes, I savour every taste.”

‘Mike Kerr, their bassist, he’s fantastic and he knows how to write a horrible riff!’

Understandably, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl turns out to have been a massive inspiration to Moxon: ‘Through and through,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘He’s just the boyo, isn’t he?! I was seven or eight years old when my dad was playing Foo Fighters albums that had just come out. We lean on things like Queens of the Stone Age as well for some of the styles that we’ve recorded in past tracks. I’ve always been a massive fan and I feel like even my singing style has been honed on a gravelly voice like his. It’s something that I learned I could do from singing along to those tracks.’ I ask if they ever cover the Foos: ‘We’ve never done any covers to be honest!,’ Myers said. ‘We have joked around in the studio and did an impromptu rendition of ‘Hero’ by Chad Kroeger, but that’s about it, really!’

Myers, for his part, cites different influences: ‘From a listening perspective growing up and getting into music, I would probably say a lot of Rush and The Who,’ he said happily. ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers were big. My dad was big into these bands so that’s what I was initially drawn to when I first started picking up instruments and trying to write songs like Black Sabbath and trying to have a pop at some Geddy Lee! I’ve always been a huge fan of Royal Blood, I know it’s a really basic answer for a bassist to say, especially one who’s into rock music (laughs). It’s such a go-to! Mike Kerr, their bassist, he’s fantastic and he knows how to write a horrible riff! I’d say I pull a lot of inspiration from him. I’ve also listened to so much Arctic Monkeys throughout my life, I’ve always been infatuated by how the simplicity of the bass lines – even though there are some songs which are quite technical – just carry the rhythm section and provide that drive but it’s not too in your face. It’s just really clever little licks that are easy but effective. I think the true skill and musicianship comes from the precision a lot of the time, not just playing the fastest and showiest thing you can, so I really like to try and focus on that, especially with Calvin, trying to lock in as much as possible with him.’ If he could put together his dream line up for a night, of bands dead and alive, Myers picks Bowie to headline ‘with support from The Talking Heads, Elbow and Arctic Monkeys as they are now’.

Typically, Moxon will bring a half-written song he’s written on an acoustic guitar to the band: ‘I’ll usually pass it between Rory and Dave to put something into it,’ he said. ‘We just go from there, really. If not, it goes on the back burner and sometimes we might be like: “Guys, do you remember that thing we did six months ago?!” Rory tends to put his first bit of input in because if I’m coming with something more acoustic, it’s already got a guitar melody to it.’

‘I see the mirror ball as almost like a metaphor for introspection’

Interestingly, on ‘Places We Call Home’, the mirror ball takes on a different function, reinventing itself to become a compass: ‘I see the mirror ball as almost like a metaphor for introspection,’ Myers said. ‘It’s a way of looking in on yourself. A lot of Jack’s lyrics are very introspective – he’s really good at bearing his soul. We want to use that honesty and promote it as much as possible, proving that it’s alright to have these introspective moments.’ Moxon interjects: ‘‘Places We Call Home’ is a track pointing out the battle between staying true to yourself and following trends to fit in,’ he said. ‘It’s us asking ourselves, does the scene in which we seem so eager to prosper in actually accept us? Or is the only way to succeed to conform to your environment? It’s a take on not losing your true self in order to gain popularity. My inspiration on the track comes from feeling confident in my writing style and process. It’s taken some time. I’ve spent a lot of time figuring it out, thinking I had to fit a mould to get coverage or approval but I’ve found value in making music for myself. We don’t want to pander and an audience who doesn’t accept our genuine selves isn’t our audience.’

Moxon would like to hear ‘Places We Call Home’ on a television action drama: ‘Where someone is undercover, that’s where the context of the song sits around.’ Myers has other plans: ‘I wouldn’t mind it on some daytime TV that loads of people are going to watch, just to get the royalties, something like Antiques Roadshow! Every now and then on rubbish daytime TV, you’ll be watching some gardening programme and they’ll throw in a weird Arctic Monkeys banger (laughs). That’s the kind of thing I’d like them to chuck one of ours in!’

Problems that weigh you down are tackled on ‘Thorn’, which took a few different forms before it became what it is today. As Moxon puts it: ‘It’s a ‘come to terms’ track that’s there to remind me, and hopefully anyone that listens, that you’re not bound by your mistakes, even when they feel they’re at their heaviest. It talks about problems that follow you around, particularly anxiety and depression. I’ve had my own struggles in life and I’ve been in low places. I’m happy to say that I’m in a great place now in my life but I have had some bad times and some bad experiences. I would say that the story is like you sticking me like a thorn in my side. Another day I’d bury you but it’s not that day today. It’s one of those ‘keep pushing on’ kind of tracks.’

Casey, who is also the band’s producer, came up with the low-fi, fuzzy, under-octaved intro: ‘You see it in a lot of late-90’s, early-2000’s intros, it’s very Queens of the Stone Age,’ Moxon said. ‘We played around with a few different ways to start the track. We had about seven or eight different versions of it! We picked that one because it seemed familiar to us. Something draws you in as the writer.’

Last week, they headed back to the studio to work on upcoming tracks ‘Oblivion’, ‘Room’ and ‘Casanova’: ‘’Room’ is more Black Keys style, the reference track that we’ve got on that was their song ‘Weight Of Love’,’ Moxon said. ‘I’d say that ‘Oblivion’ is bang in the middle of that and what we’ve been producing so far. We’re doing a live studio tracking session – a friend of mine who’s got a studio, he’s kindly said that we can go in there and do a three track set and we’re hopefully going to bring some live strings on it as well!’

‘DEADSET are great, they play sleazy, sludgy punk, it’s like they’re flicking the V to traditional punk!’

We get chatting about the Hull music scene and I say that I am always so impressed by how diverse it is: ‘There’s some real talent in Hull,’ Moxon said enthusiastically. ‘Not only at the minute, there have always been some great bands in Hull. Even bands like The Paddingtons are having a 20 year reunion comeback tour this year, playing two dates and fooling around! Humber Street Sessions just announced its headliners, we’ve got people like Fiona-Lee, a friend of mine. You listen to her, she’s absolutely phenomenal.’ I say that I know her and she has a really beautiful voice and Moxon agrees: ‘I’ve known her from open mics since I was about 14, my mum used to bring her to the open mics that we used to play. She’s had that voice for years, she really is fantastic and she’s wise beyond the years there.’ 

Myers weighs in: ‘To start off, Hull’s music scene owes so much to Mark Page who created both The Sesh and Humber Street Sesh, he’s a true local hero! Alongside him is Daniel Mower, who keeps The Sesh rolling over, he finds so many fantastic artists to fill the bills and has a huge part to play in The Sesh/Humber Street Sesh company,’ he said enthusiastically. The full team at Adelphi are champions in their own right in keeping such a historic place as vibrant and full of music as ever! Also, a massive shout out to Jericho Keys for playing our tunes on BBC Introducing every time we release a new track. It’s such an important platform to help grassroots artists get on the radio waves. Finally, a huge thank you to Nick and the team at DiveHU5 as they are always so welcoming and go the extra mile to help us network with other artists.’

He laments that one of his favourite local bands, FEVER, of whom I am also a fan, has recently disbanded: ‘I absolutely loved them,’ he said, looking genuinely dejected. ‘I went to college with them. The Black Ravines are brilliant, they’re quite similar to us, they play grungy, stompy rock music! DEADSET are great, they play sleazy, sludgy punk, it’s like they’re flicking the V to traditional punk!’ Moxon interjects: ‘And NEWMEDS!’ I ask them if they know the gloriously genre-bending Avalanche Party from Rosedale on the North York Moors and they get very excited: ‘Me and Jack discovered Avalanche Party individually and went to introduce the other to them, not realising they were already a fan,’ Myers said laughing. ‘They’re so good, we’d love to be on the same line up as them some day! I hope our paths cross.’

Hull celebrated its 726th birthday this week and the city has a lot to offer first-time visitors, according to Myers: ‘The obvious go-to is The Deep (the award-winning aquarium), it’s fun for everyone of all ages and genuinely a brilliant day out! After that, I’d recommend the marina and Humber Street if it’s a nice day, there are plenty of bars with good food and gorgeous views! If you’re a music fan, you absolutely must visit The Adelphi Club and Polar Bear, they’re just rife with grassroots talent, plus they’re a short walk away from all the wonderful places on Princess Avenue/Newland Avenue which have tons of bars and eateries such as DiveHU5 & The People’s Republic.’

If he could go for a pint with anyone, Moxon goes with Dave Grohl: ‘He’s so influential. I’d want to hear about the Seattle punk scene in the 90’s in its heyday, the Nirvana days and about Queens of the Stone Age.’ Myers is quick to pick David Bowie: ‘I would have loved to go out with David Bowie to a quiet pub, chewing his head off,’ he said. ‘I’d love to know more about his ethos, his ever-changing persona, how he championed popular culture. He could do a fantastic Hull accent, too, which I’d’ve loved to hear!’ (The Spiders from Mars, Bowie’s backing band in the early 70’s were from Hull.) I’d like to think that I’d ask our heroes these questions (laughs) but I’d probably fumble it and walk home in shame!’

(Top photo from left to right: Rory, Jack, Dave and Calvin.)