Gaffa Tape Sandy // Gaffer Tape, Human Pyramids & Street Sharks
Gaffa Tape Sandy have spent 11 years proving that small-town scenes can start something properly loud. They talk school blazers, Glastonbury turning points, human-pyramid trouble and the essential role of a vintage Street Sharks rider.
Let's deal with the elephant in the room first: where on earth did the name Gaffa Tape Sandy actually come from?
GTSCatherine's secondary school biology teacher, Ms Sands, used to cover up the holes in her blazer with squares of gaffer tape. A teacher's salary for you...
You came up through Bury St Edmunds before eventually landing in Brighton, and you've previously talked about the importance of the local scene and nights like Washing Machine and Bury Sound. What is it about a small-town music scene that can make you want to start a band in the first place?
GTSWell, all three members of GTS were studying music at West Suffolk College at the time, so I guess we all had the desire to form a band eventually, but I would say attending Washing Machine nights regularly at the young age of about 16 just proved to all of us that forming a band and performing live was possible.
GTSI think forming a band can be a daunting task to a lot of people, especially when you're very young like we were. I think Washing Machine is an amazing catalyst for encouraging everyone to just form a band with their mates and do it. Seymour, the founder of Washing Machine, has always pumped that ethos into it and we wouldn't exist today if it wasn't for that. All three of us grew up in that scene looking up to already established bands like Horse Party, The Machismos, Rats As Big As Dogs and The Vitamins, as well as many others. I think our experience being heavily involved in a small-town music scene where everyone was welcoming and encouraging just helps musicians develop musically, as well as forming strong friendships along the way.
You've shared stages with some pretty serious names, including Idles, and Robin has previously admitted to being a massive fanboy. What's it actually like supporting a band you genuinely love?
GTSOh, it's surreal! We've been very lucky to have had the opportunity to support many great bands we all massively respect. We recently opened for PUP at Chalk in Brighton, who we all love, but they are Catherine's absolute favourite band, so we'd never seen her so excitable before.
GTSI think what makes supporting bands like Idles, The Subways and PUP even more special to us was that they were all lovely as people and welcoming to us as a support act. When bands are made up of very kind and awesome people who are willing to give a smaller act the time of day and encouragement, this really makes the experience magical.
Your live reputation seems to be a huge part of the Gaffa Tape Sandy experience — there's been everything from festival crowds to packed Brighton shows. What's the strangest thing you've ever seen happen in front of you while you're playing?
GTSWe've had a festival-employed camera operator at a very compact venue try to get into a physical altercation with a human pyramid... haha! That was a very strange and sudden turn of events...
You've been described as energetic, noisy and full of infectious pop-rock hooks, but there's also a real sense of humour running through what you do. How important is it for you that Gaffa Tape Sandy never takes itself too seriously, even when the songs themselves might deal with something more serious?
GTSWell, it just comes down to the fact that we're all just three regular people who love music, love each other like family and just want to enjoy the ride. We take what we do seriously in the sense that we love our music and the journey it has taken us on over the past 11 years, but life's too short to not see the silly side in anything, let alone being in a band, which is most often a silly thing to be doing.
You've now got years of gigs, festivals, releases and questionable tour decisions behind you. What's something about Gaffa Tape Sandy that you think has stayed exactly the same since the early days?
GTSRobin's refusal to use a rack tom and Catherine never owning a pedalboard...
You've got six hours in a van, one aux cable and absolutely no democratic process. Who is taking control of the music, and what song gets played until everyone else threatens to jump out?
GTSWell, we're all pretty diplomatic when it comes to music in the van, but Robin is the most unhinged and loves jazz, so let's say Ascension by John Coltrane.
If each member of Gaffa Tape Sandy were a type of sandwich, what would they be?
GTSCatherine — extra mature Cheddar and caramelised red onion chutney sandwich.
GTSKim — a falafel salad wrap with lots of hummus.
GTSRobin — tuna melt toastie.
What was the pivotal part of your career so far — one moment that made you look and think, 'This is going somewhere bigger'?
GTSI think the pivotal moment for us was playing the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury in 2017. We were kinda going in a direction before we got that gig offer that meant we were likely going to end up breaking up due to individual life plans. That gig offer was so spectacular and the experience was so special to all three of us, it made us all realise how much we loved being in the band and each other. After playing that show, we all changed the course of our lives so the band could continue and 11 years later we're still going.
What is your favourite Gaffa Tape Sandy track to perform live? Does the crowd ever surprise you?
GTSOh, that opens a can of worms... haha! That really depends on which band member you ask and generally we all go through phases of enjoying a specific song for a period of time. I'd say Queasy is a track we all collectively enjoy playing every set we manage to fit it into, though.
GTSOur audiences always surprise us when it comes to reactions to our songs. We often have people post-set ask why we didn't perform a specific track and we're kinda surprised that song has resonated with them as much. You can never really fully gauge how any of your songs are going to be perceived by people when you've released them into the world.
Finally: you've got a headline slot at the biggest festival in the world. You can put absolutely anything on your rider. What's the one completely unnecessary demand you're making?
GTSA vintage Street Sharks action figure set... (must include Moby Lick).
Gaffa Tape Sandy are what happens when a small scene gives young musicians permission to start before they feel ready. Eleven years later, the friendships, the noise and the refusal to take the whole thing too seriously are still intact. Just keep the camera operator away from the human pyramid.
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