Isle of Wight newcomers Reminders have 90s pop-punk coursing through their veins. Burger Records signees, the trio – Leo Dyke (vox/guitar), Theo Afsarian (bass), and Harry Spencer (drums) – have a knack for channelling teen angst into super-fun tunes that actually, make all the uncertainty and adventure of growing up sound like the best days of your life.
Hi Leo, how are you guys doing? Are you stuck at home for the foreseeable?
Hey! All good here thanks, yep, stuck inside for the foreseeable. I initially thought I would last ages in social isolation, but I’ve quickly realised I’m going to be terrible. I’ve eaten copious amounts of Hobnobs and written a song about being in quarantine and, to be honest, I’m already out of bullets.
How did you three meet then, did you grow up together?
I met Theo when I was about 7 or 8. He was my brothers best friend, and I hated him for a good 5 years, until I introduced him to Green Day, and he softened up and stopped bullying me. He was always into music and dressed like Slash (sweatbands and all), until he was about 10. He eventually returned the Green Day favour by (apprehensively) teaching me guitar. He was the ‘jock’ in high school, and I ruined his credibility by asking him to play bass in my band, and he never recovered. Who’s laughing now, he’s getting a mention in Upset!
I actually knew Harry practically since the day he was born, as our mums worked together. They used to let us play together when they were at work, putting us next to each other in our strollers and leaving us to our own devices. Somehow we ended up hating each other, meeting again when we were like 14 to form a band (in the fallout of Theo teaching me guitar), hating each other again, and then when I decided to try and become a (relatively) competent musician we started this band. Huge mistake asking this guy to join, but he’s the best I’ve got.
Are there many opportunities for up-and-coming bands on the Isle of Wight? What were your early gigs like?
The Island is a cool place, and there is loads of opportunity to cut your teeth when starting a band, and it’s the best place for it. It is so damn expensive getting to and fro, there is literally a limited number of people who can see you anyway, so it’s a great litmus test to see if you’re worth your salt. People really want to help out too, Ventnor Fringe Festival is this super cool fringe they have there, and they offer an application where basically everyone gets to play, and that was our first show. Islanders are mostly pretty supportive and accommodating, but don’t quote me on that, it’s a weird place. Our early gigs were so much fun. But a lack of general competence, musicianship and tuning pedals made them an interesting watch for gig-goers, I’m sure. Lots of empty rooms, but we built it up, and by the time our first single was out, filled up rooms with everyone singing along.
Are there any local bands we should keep an eye out for?
There are some really cool bands on the Island at the moment. My friends play in a band called Lazy Chain, and we love them. Hopefully, they will be coming out on some shows with us soon. I went to college with them, and they’ve eclipsed me as a musician about 100 times over. I’ve been listening to loads of CHAMPS’ new record, ‘The Hard Interchange’, they come from Ventnor. And our producers have just put some singles out from an old project of theirs called The Lullaby Club. I haven’t told them yet, but the singles are sick, particularly a track called ‘Batman & Robin’.
Can you remember the first song you wrote together? How have you developed since then?
The first song we wrote together, we put out on our first EP. It’s called ‘Handbrake’, and it was definitely the first time it was a collaborative songwriting process for us, and I think it’s pretty obvious. It’s definitely still naive but it’s us showing the first signs of growing up and was one I always remember people enjoying during those early shows. Since then, I’ve learnt what a minor chord is and now they make quite a few appearances in our music, and I write less about girls, but still quite a lot about girls. I think listening to our new stuff, there’s a pretty wild change, especially considering we started the band so young, so even my voice is completely different. I love the early stuff, but sometimes it just feels like chords and melody, and as much as I hate myself for saying this, it feels a bit more like art now. I’m really sorry for saying that.
How did you first come across Burger Records, and how did you end up working with them?
I think I must’ve come across Burger in 2014 when they re-issued ‘Dookie’ by Green Day. I became pretty hooked instantly and started buying blank cassettes that I wanted to record onto because Burger was known for reviving the tape format. I got really into their bands, ethos and world, and I even remember buying a knock off Burger Records t-shirt from Redbubble when I was like 15 (I hope they don’t read this), so it’s pretty wild that they signed us. I was a proper Burger nerd. I met Sean at a show in Dalston in London at the end of 2018, and we hung out and talked about music. Somehow I pitched the band and convinced him to sign us once he’d heard some of our new stuff and liked it. I was super scared he was going to think we were phoney, but that California sound is kind of a Burger staple now, so the fact they wanted it in their discography is a huge seal of approval.
You’ve said you’re not into political music, but a lot of the bands you’ve been inspired by (Green Day etc.) are pretty outspoken – do you think your stance will change in future?
I like political music! A lot of the bands and albums I like are politically motivated, but, it’s not for me to write about or comment on. I think right now, with social media and whatever else, everybody thinks they know everything, and people just post and share loads of completely baseless nonsense. Also, because of social media, politics is in your face 100 per cent of the time without exceptions, and I hate that too. Social media is basically the worst thing ever. Everyone’s writing political music, and it’s all so vanilla and opinion-less when you really listen to it. I think in 2004, writing a political album like ‘American Idiot’ was super punk rock. But now I think succumbing to the more escapist side of music is far more rebellious, not that I’m trying to be remotely rebellious. My political knowledge is unfounded, so I’m going to stick to writing what I’d want to hear, and what I’m good at writing about. Middle-class lethargy. That said, politics is super important – and I’m always up for listening to a good political band/album/song, there’s just not been very many recently!
Do you have more songs on the way soon?
Yeah! We’ve been in the studio a lot lately, and I’m always writing. We’ve got some really big stuff planned in the next 12 months, involving new music and hopefully a tape out on Burger… so yeah, definitely more in the way of music and shows from us. But we are really proud of ‘Carousel’ so definitely want to give it its time – it’s certainly a strong indicator of where we are going and want to be, sonically.
Music aside, what do you do for fun?
As much as I just denied my interest and knowledge of politics, I love watching documentaries and conspiracies. I know it’s common knowledge, but Louis Theroux is a national treasure, and his documentaries are timeless, I’ve watched them so many times. My brother also showed me a gnarly documentary which is four hours long about the Kennedy assassination, which meant I didn’t sleep for days, but it has definitely kept me on my toes, and extremely cautious of the CIA. I have a huge obsession with Back to the Future, so spend a lot of time searching for Marty McFly on Pinterest, and asking my girlfriend if it’s socially acceptable for me to wear an orange gilet over a denim jacket considering it’s not 1985. She said no, but I’m definitely willing to contest.
Taken from the May issue of Upset, out now – order your copy below.
