THIS FEELING BIG IN 2024 TOUR TAKES MANCHESTER BY STORM | INCLUDING EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ARKAYLA

And just like that it’s ‘Big in 2024’ season again. Every year indie tastemakers This Feeling scout out some of the best emerging talent the UK has to offer, and their ‘Big in’ line ups are one of the most hotly anticipated moments in the underground music scene calendar.

This Feeling nights are a must see for any emerging music fan, and as legendary Libertine Carl Barat once said: “If you’re going to see the emergence of a great band you’ll see them at this feeling first”. With past alumni of Blossoms, The Lathums and many many more now household names, it really feels as though you are witnessing the start of something special when each band takes to the stage.

As well as a special limited edition vinyl compilation album, featuring 2024’s artists and raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust, every year This Feeling take over some of the most loved independent venues across the length and breadth of the UK, bringing their stacked ‘Big In’ line up to Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, London, Birmingham, and Glasgow.

Read more about the This Feeling ‘Big in 2024’ LP here.

Last Friday we headed down to the Manchester date of this year’s ‘Big in’ tour, where Arkayla, Alright, Cruz, Marseille, The Mezz and Pave played their hearts out to a packed-out Bread Shed.

Northern Exposure’s very own Sophie and Holly managed to steal Arkayla for a chat before they closed out the nights proceedings with a set full of fan favourites interwoven with new unreleased material.

Arkayla Interview

Sophie NE: We’re here at the This feeling big in 2024 with Arkayla, how was your set/how are you feeling for tonight?

Finley: We’re very excited, we’ve got a lot of new music to show our fans. We’ve not played the new stuff, it’s quite different from what we’ve been doing previously, so we’re looking forward to showing them the new vibe. It’s a bit more strange and unexpected.

Cal: We’ve had a recent development in the band too, this is only Joe’s 2^nd gig … in his life actually. This is his first band.

Sophie NE: Where did you find him?

Cal: We found him on a website, on the Dark Web (laughing). We put an ad up, and obviously he’s lurking on there.

Joe: It’s a website of literally 50 year old blokes, looking for someone to jam with, and I never thought it would work ever. It’s called Bandmix.

Patrick: They wanted us to pay a fiver to see his message though, so luckily he messaged us on Instagram as well. We debated it for a bit … and thought he was too metal, nah I’m joking. He’s fitted in nicely though.

NE: So tell us about yourselves, how did the band get together?

Finley: We met in School, (pointing at Cal) and started writing songs. We had a few different line ups, and I was in two bands at the time, multi-tasking. They say men can’t multi-task but here I am in the flesh. But it didn’t work. We actually poached our drummer from another band. We thought right let’s get this geezer in, (pointing at Patrick), he’s a bit over the top, he’s quite jazz and classically trained, he’s a bit mental, and put him in a rock and roll vibe. And we found him (Joe) on the Dark Web.

Sophie NE: What does it mean to you to be included in this year’s big in 2024?

Finley: We are very proud to be selected for This Feeling Big in 2024, simply because in the past they’ve had great bands that have gone on to great things. We’ve been working very hard, so to be given the nod from them means a lot. They also put us on our first festival last year at Y Not which was fucking unbelievable.

There’s some promoters out there that will put a gig on but don’t really give you the support, or help you to promote it. Whereas every single time we’ve done a gig with This Feeling, they don’t just stick you on and say “there you go”, they’re getting the word out there, they’re getting magazines talking about it – they do a lot for the bands.

They’re creating the scene in Manchester, there wouldn’t really be one without them I would say.

Sophie NE: How would you describe your music in 3 words?

Cal: Asthmatic and soul shifting.

Holly NE: Cal runs out of breath halfway through the set. He has to have a five minute break.

Cal: I have to have my puffer.

Sophie NE: Who are some artists that inspire you?

Cal: The La’s, The Beatles certainly. We love a harmony and a nice melody base like Paul McCartney.

Patrick: For me personally I like musicians who are virtuosos in their field, so where individual members are the best at their instrument, like Black Midi, Geese, Talking Heads, some jazz fusion shit. I think that helps us strive to be as good as them, and as good as we can be in our respective fields. We all sit at home and just tinker away and grind a bit.

Finley: I listen to a lot of Travis Scott.

Sophie NE: Does that come through in the music?

Finley: Not in the music no, there’s no autotune in there. I try and push I through, but the other lads don’t like it. I come out with the auto tune and they unplug it. (Laughing)

Holly NE: You’ve had a lot of interest on TikTok recently, do you think that’s an important part of being in a band now?

Cal: It’s been good, it’s a tough thing to crack. I don’t love it, I don’t love having to do it, but it is a big part of it. I always try to imagine like Radiohead in the 90s like “Hey this is our new song”. It was a different world back then.

Sophie NE: What have you got in store for 2024?

Cal: We’re in the studio in February, with a man called Rich Turvey, who’s a top tier producer, he’s done Blossoms and Courteeners.

Patrick: We’re going to Parr Street Studios in Liverpool… it’s actually just relocated to Kempston Street, so it’s called Parr Street but on a different street. Hopefully we’ll spend a week out there, living with each other, creating music, “bonding”. I’ll end up killing Cal. (Laughing)

Sophie NE: That can go in the police evidence don’t worry.

Patrick: Thanks, we’ll be doing that for a week, immersing ourselves, hopefully recording 4 singles that we can put together for an EP at some point.

Cal: Yes, it’s one of the 4 songs that will be coming out and we’ll be playing it tonight too.

With new music on the horizon, Arkayla are sure to be one to keep an eye out for in 2024. To keep up to date with Arkayla head to https://www.arkaylaband.co.uk/