We’re so happy that you’re here in Budapest. Did you get the chance to take a look around and explore the city a bit?
Not yet.
Not yet?
No, but we went out for lunch. But we’ve actually all been fans of this place. We’ve all been here before socially. Budapest is a beautiful city. We are tonight, after the show.
Let’s start at the very beginning. How did you guys come up with the band’s name?
We’re all about community and togetherness and I think poets is art, isn’t it? We feel like, with music, film, anything that can give people escapism, and things like this, we always felt like that was kind of a big point for us. Then Only The Poets just felt like all those things. Only people that can do that can offer people that. That kind of escapism from everyday life. That’s the beautiful thing about music, it’s like an international language. When we were spitballing name ideas, that was one that stuck, and we were like, oh, that actually makes perfect sense.
You just released you latest EP, „One More Night”. First of all, congratulations on it.
Thank you very much.
Can you tell me a bit about the background of the record like what were your main inspirations while making it and what is the message that you’re trying to get across with it?
The general feeling of the EP is based on nostalgia, self-love, the breakdown of relationships, and just human feeling, really. Like, the lots of emotions that we feel as human beings, that’s the main thing that ties all the songs together, because sonically, they’re all quite different. Like, there’s a couple of ballads in there but what we are most proud of this EP, is we actually recorded some of it in beautiful, big studios in London, and then we also recorded some on the tour bus, in dressing rooms, hotel rooms… Every single process was different but it’s just based on human feeling, really and nostalgia, yeah. Looking back on memories.
Which song of yours would you show to a person that doesn’t know you yet and why that one?
There’s quite a few. I’m gonna say, at the minute, I think „One More Night”, the title track of the EP. There’s a lot of energy in that record, and we like to think we give that at a live show. That’s a good representation of what we are and what you’d expect to see at our show, so I’m gonna say „One More Night”.
Your songs help a lot of your fans who are going through a difficult time. What helps you remain positive and optimistic when life gets a little too hard?
When life does get a little tough, I kind of turn to songwriting and that’s my way of dealing with it, really. My advice to everyone always is to reach out to people and never feel like you have to be alone in those feelings because we all have bad days. Don’t be too hard on yourself and mainly just look after each other. Just reach out to people and let’s raise the awareness of the conversation around mental health. Let’s talk about it because it’s really important and it helps.
What’s one thing that you learned from your fans?
So many… The sense of community, the way they built it around us, is so incredible. The kindness… It’s almost like they restored my faith in humanity a little bit. What they do for each other and the love and support we feel, not just towards us, but the love and support we see towards them. People turn up to shows on their own and they tell us they meet their best friends, so it’s beautiful. They teach us that there’s still good people out there.
You’re on tour right now, so let’s talk about concerts and touring a bit. Do you have any pre-show rituals that you always do before every concert of yours?
Basically, we always have our little speaker because we wanna get in the zone, we play some tunes and we have a little drink together. And before we go on stage, we do some high-fives just to remind everyone that we’ve got each other’s backs. The four of us, we’re best friends, and we’re in it together. It’s really important to just feel really together and as one before before we walk out.
And what’s one thing that you just can’t leave at home when your travelling on tour?
My phone?
Okay, that’s a given.
Yeah. Hmm. Can’t leave at home… Oh, I have a little vocal steamer that I have to take for my voice. There you go. Can’t leave that at home.
What does success mean to you personally? How would you define it for yourself?
Success, I think, is subjective, really. It depends on what you define as success. For us, we are just so grateful that we get to do this. We’ve done things that we’ve never ever dreamed of, and I think we’ve already overachieved in our minds, so anything else now is just a bonus. My advice would be to others too… Success is a funny thing, just try and not think about it too much, focus on what you’re doing and just have fun. That’s the main thing.
You just released your EP, you’re on tour right now with YUNGBLUD, what’s next for you?
After this, we’re just basically doing a bit of recording and writing for some of the next batch of songs we’ll release. This year, we’ve got some festivals in Europe and in the UK. We’re doing Reading festival which is a big one for us, it’s a fun one. That’s gonna be like a homecoming for us. To be fair, mate, the diary is pretty free at the end of the year, but I’m sure something will go in. We’re absolutely buzzing to be here today with YUNGBLUD, we’ve been a fan of his for ages, so yeah, it’s great to be asked to do it.
And finally, is there a message that you would like to share with your Hungarian fans?
Yes! Sorry that we’ve not come here yet, but we are so, so, so happy to be here. We feel the city is beautiful, massive shoutout to YUNGBLUD for having us. To anyone out there that has heard of us before this, thank you so much, and to all you new people that maybe are into it, then thank you for checking us out. We’ll have to come back, of course, come on. It’s a beautiful city, we love it.
