HAMPTON BEACH, NH – There are certain bands who have the extraordinary ability to seem like a blast from the past with their music and aesthetic while also being refreshing and invigorating. It’s a fine line to walk in a creative sense, but when it’s pulled off, then it’s something that’s wicked cool. A prime example of this are The Struts, who hail from the British city of Derby. The quartet of lead vocalist Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Sack, bassist Jed Elliott and drummer Gethin Davies have a sound that evokes ‘70s glam rock and hard rock with a modern feel, and they’re an amazingly fun live band.
Old fans and new fans alike will be able to experience this when The Struts take the stage at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom on August 15 with Los Angeles rock & rollers Dirty Honey kicking the night off at 8 p.m.
I had a talk with Elliott ahead of the show about a compilation the band recently became a part of, an online coaching service he has, and getting excited about putting on a party on a Friday night.
Rob Duguay: A couple weeks ago, The Struts released a version of Bad Company’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy”, which is on the compilation “Can’t Get Enough: A Tribute To Bad Company”. What was the experience like making a rendition of one of the band’s hits and how were you guys approached about being part of this project?
Jed Elliott: It was an honor for us to be involved along with it being a huge moment for the music from a band that’s done some amazing things. To be included in the list of artists who were involved with it was a real honor and what was fun for us especially was how we went about the recording process of it. We got to work with Bob Clearmountain, who is a legend in the audio world, and we got to go down to his studio and very much do a sort of plug in and play approach. We ran through the song a few times in rehearsal during the day prior, and then we went in to get the sounds right, pressed record and we got what you hear right there. It was done in a rough and ready way, which we felt was sort of a good way to put our stamp on a version of that song.
In terms of how it came into our orbit, I actually don’t know if I have the full answer for that. I just like to think they were fans who trusted us to do our version, and it was an honor in that sense.
RD: Being a band that’s very much influenced by ’70s rock music, how would you describe your songwriting process where you’re putting your own spin on things instead of coming off as a caricature of something else? In my opinion, you guys are kind of a breath of fresh air in that sense.
JE: I appreciate that, man. I think it’s quite a melting pot of so many bands that we enjoy, and I think it’s safe to say that there are the more obvious influences with acts like Queen and The Stones. We’ve always kind of tried to straddle the line between those two, but there are other bands that we’re also inspired by, like the Britpop stuff out of the U.K. and bands like Oasis, who are also heavily inspired by The Beatles. There are bands like Slade as well who perform a sort of glam element, and I think we’ve just been listening to so much great, and particularly British, rock & roll music with everybody sort of digesting that in their own way. There’s never been a sort of deliberate focus of us doing a song that sounds like this band or another that sounds like this other band, it has just been a natural progression in how every single band member has digested those greats into our own tastes and into the songwriting organically.
RD: That’s a really cool vision to have. Along with being the bassist for The Struts, you also do online coaching for musicians through your platform “Don’t Start A Band”. What made you initially want to pursue this endeavor as a way to give back and how did you go about planning out the program for the sake of accessible learning?
JE: It really came from what you just said about wanting to give back and do something bigger than just being a bassist in a rock band, which as we know is incredibly important. (laughs) To do something outside of that has always been a life’s mission for me. What I’ve kind of noticed is from everything ranging from my first experience on tour at 14 with my high school band up to playing with some of the absolute greats and legends that we’ve been fortunate enough to support, so many conversations were the same in terms of what it actually means to be a good band member, not just a good musician. I think that’s something that is so overlooked and it can be a bit easy to overlook things that might be more detrimental to the lifestyle. I’ve seen so many talented musicians who just aren’t cut out for touring or to build a long, sustainable career, so for me, the sort of nucleus was how could I map this out from everything I’ve learned from 20 years of touring since I was a kid.
All of the lessons that I’ve learned along the way, both from my own experiences and learning from the greats, boil them down into a program that makes sense in a digestible way for musicians to create their own strategies for a sustainable career.
RD: That’s fantastic. What are your thoughts on performing at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom? It’s a place that’s been around for well over a hundred years, and I know both Europe and the U.K. have establishments that have been around for a long time like that, so when it comes to playing in places that have a lot of history, what comes to mind?
JE: Well, it’s a big Friday night, right?
RD: Yes.
JE: We all live in the States now, the U.S.A. has been so kind to us, and I think we get just as excited when Americans have something with rich history in the younger country. It’s always very, very fun when we come through town, and every Friday night on tour, we know it’s going to be fantastic. Given the nature of the venue and where we’re in, and the fact that we’re coming through to party during the summer on a Friday night, we’re very excited for this show. We’re gonna have a lot of fun.
RD: It sounds like it’s going to be a blast. I know it’s been a couple years since The Struts put out a new record, so can we expect a new album in the near future? When it comes to new recordings, what are the band’s plans? I know you guys released a few new singles last year.
JE: There’s going to be some exciting things around the corner, I’ll put it that way. We’ve done a lot over the past two years, and we’ve always got our ears to the ground when it comes to the musical climate and what it means for us and what it means for our connection to our audience. We’ve spent the last two years building a lot internally, it’s going to inform where we go next and all I can share with you now is we’re collecting lots and lots of fun stuff. It’ll all be revealed before too long as well as a sneaky, sneaky surprise that’s coming soon and it’s something that both our current fans and people who haven’t discovered us yet are going to enjoy.