We speak to Jess Eastwood and Guy Page from the Isle of Wight’s latest breakthrough band, Coach Party, about life on the island, tackling difficult topics through their song-writing and their forthcoming gig at the Stade de France. Their new single, Nothing Is Real, is out today.
Something’s brewing on the Isle of Wight. The island off the southern tip of the nation is fast producing some quality talent. Wet Leg emerged from there and are now securing themselves amongst the top brass of rising indie acts, even performing just a few weeks ago on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Coach Party – the hugely likeable indie-grunge four-piece – are now another to keep your eyes (and ears) on if you haven’t already, as they now go through the gears of establishing themselves too.
The band first came together through the musical forays of previous projects: Guy and guitarist Joe Perry were in the band ‘Polar Maps’, whilst Jess and Steph Norris were in a band called JEPH.
The collision that came to form Coach Party was also as much to do with the close-knit seaside setting the Isle of Wight offers to those in the creative fields. “It’s the sort of place where if you do the same thing,” Guy says, “whether that’s music or photography, you’ll end up knowing all the other musicians and photographers, or whatever they do.”
“One day,” Guy recalls of a period around 2017, “[Jess and Steph] played us a couple of demo stuff and me and Joe were like, ‘this is so much better than anything we’ve ever done – can we be in your band please?’ And that’s kind of how it all started.”
The Isle of Wight’s the sort of place where if you do the same thing, you’ll end up knowing each other
“It’s a really interesting mix of people to be in a band because me and Joe have been doing nothing but playing music since each of us were old enough to. So we come from a very different background musically to Jess and Steph, who have come into it as adults, really, doing it for the first time.
“So we’ve ended up with a slightly strange mix of music that could have been made by people who are fairly experienced musicians, but with a very new and naïve approach to how we go about the lyrical side–”
“We’re like the cherry and you’re the cupcake and the icing,” Jess interjects. “So we kind of make it look like it’s a band but actually all the cake and icing was made with lots of practice.”
A naivety to their song-writing might be something of a self-deprecating comment – as is Jess’s view of simply being the cherry. In reality, what Guy is touching on is a lyricism that’s strongly relatable; something that has so far been their recipe – just to extend the cake analogy – for success.
We make it look like it’s a band but actually all the cake and icing was made with lots of practice
Take their track ‘Sweetheart’, for instance – its slow-build eventually breaks out into their typical raucous sound, defying the song’s title. At one part, Jess softly sings: ‘Think I’ll make myself a cup of tea / After I pay the fucking rent / Think I’ll shower now / Been an hour since I woke / Filled out documents in my dressing gown’.
Such a scene couldn’t be more down-to-earth – and, for that matter, easy to relate to. Seeing the pair of them now, sitting on the sofa, Jess with her mug-in-hand, confirmed these unpretentious credentials.
‘Weird Me Out’, too, their recently released track which will also feature on the forthcoming EP, has equally modest beginnings. “I remember watching this Love Island episode once. And that whole season was dominated by this one quote: ‘I’m happy but I could be happier’. It’s a really stupid reference, but it was such a toxic thing.
“I guess that’s sort of the thing: there’s always a chance you could be happier. But if you keep striving for change, and you want someone to be someone else, it’s so unrealistic. You could always change, and you could always change yourself and someone else, but when does that become weird?”
It’s having a go at unrealistic standards of relationships – something that’s really easy to get down about
“It’s having a go at unrealistic standards of what relationships should be like,” Guy adds, “as we are fed by media and stuff. It’s something that’s really easy and I think probably really common to get down about: that you look at yourself or your relationship and you judge it suddenly on something else you’ve seen. It can be really hard to get out of.”
Whilst showing their knack for producing tracks that speak to people’s every day, they’ve also shown an ability to cut through onto more serious matters too, particularly with their track ‘FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)’, which has been billed as a feminist anthem for its forthright takedown of someone who sounds – for want of a better word – like a prick.
“It all just started with one encounter I had with someone I worked with,” Jess explains, “I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. That was enough. As soon as that happens, you then become so aware of everyone around you that’s giving you that same energy – someone who will say they believe in equality but won’t talk to you the way they talk to another man.
“When we went into the studio and finished it off, it was really nice because it did spark conversation between us all, where we’re two guys and two girls. There’s no gender barrier in our band, but we just all believed in it so much that actually maybe that’s why it turned out to be the way it was, because we were so passionate about how this person made me feel.”
I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back – that was enough
Guy concurs: “It was really easy to write because it was so obvious Jess had started writing this song for a reason; we instantly fed off of that and wanted to get involved. It was just like, ‘well, this is happening right now – to you. We all understand it – to an extent.’ It was a really nice process for something that came from quite a horrible place.”
That’s the touching aspect of Coach Party. Despite only speaking to Jess and Guy, there’s a strong sense of camaraderie and support between them – a band that has each other’s backs as they now lift-off from their Isle of Wight beginnings.
Even the way Jess and Guy talk of the others is heartfelt, such as the description of Steph’s “face of thunder” when she believes a lyric sounds corny, “her lip pulled in a bit as if to say, ‘I’m not being onstage with you when you say that,’” Guy explains.
Certainly, this will stand them in good stead – or Stade, rather, as they play the Stade de France in May, supporting French outfit Indochine. So does such an arena feel daunting for them as a band? “It’s very strange,” says Jess, “because it’s going to be the most surreal experience of my life to date; I mean, I’m sure maybe all of our lives–”
It’s going to be the most surreal experience of my life to date – I’m sure maybe all of our lives
“Yes,” Guy reiterates, laughing at the thought of something more surreal than playing his music to a 100,000-capacity stadium having happened to him before, “it’s unusual.”
But then, bringing it back down to earth once more, Jess continues: “What I’m most conscious about is what I’m going to wear. I don’t want to look back because – let’s be honest, if we’re ever going to play start de France again, hopefully we’re headlining, but maybe that’s not gonna happen – I don’t know. So I don’t want to get it wrong. I want to wear something that every time I look back on it, I’m gonna think, ‘That’s a great outfit.’”
Stade de France, the 100,000-capacity stadium where Coach Party are set to play in May.
“And if you see a photo of yourself in any relative’s house from then on,” Guy adds, “it’s going to be of you at Stade de France.”
Their concerns once more emphasise their relatability – after all, which typical person wouldn’t be concerned with what they wear at such a venue, or even on a printed image stuck onto your Mum’s fridge? It’s what makes them exactly the kind of coach party you want to be on.
So buckle up and listen to their new single Nothing Is Real, which is out now.
