ShareDom Ganderton (seen here on the left), guitarist and vocalist with Superfood chats with Kevin Cooper about signing with Dirty Hit Records, their latest single Double Dutch, their new album and their forthcoming headline tour of the UK.
Dom Ganderton, is a guitarist and lead vocalist with Superfood. Originally a four piece band from Birmingham which included Ryan Malcolm, Emily Baker and Carl Griffin, they have reorganised leaving them with just two members, Ganderton and Malcolm. They do have guest band members accompanying them on tour.
In 2014 the quartet headlined NME’s New Breed Tour which went down a storm. They later released their debut album; Don’t Say That before becoming a duet. They are now signed to a new record label, Dirty Hit Records and have released their latest single Double Dutch. A new studio album will be released during the summer.
Whilst busy preparing for a tour of the UK, Dom Ganderton chats with Kevin Cooper and this is what he had to say.
Hi Dom how are you?
I’m very good thank you Kevin how are you?
I’m doing very well thank you and let me just thank you for taking the time to speak to me today.
No worries.
So how is life treating you?
Life is all good at the moment. I have just got back from Kent and I underestimated this morning when I left just how long it was going to take me to get there (laughter). So I have had a bit of a nightmare to be honest with you but I am okay. I am back home sitting in a dark room (laughter). I really do fucking hate the tube. I’ve been on it for about five hours today and it’s been a fucking nightmare (laughter). So yes, live is all good with the exception of that.
I’m shocked, it’s almost 2.30pm and you are not watching Judge Rinder (laughter).
(Laughter) I know I’ve got loads of shit to do so I am just having five minutes. I will just have to watch Judge Rinder on catch-up later today (laughter).
Right swiftly moving on (laughter) Superfood who came up with the name and why?
Superfood was the first song that Ryan (Malcolm) and I wrote together. I think that it came from a Facebook post that I had put up. I had drawn a picture of a can of tuna with a big splodge of mayonnaise in it and had sent it to Ryan saying Superfood underneath the drawing and after that we decided to write a song about it. And the rest as they say is really boring history (laughter).
It’s caused me all manner of grief as I have been trying to do some research on the band. The internet comes up with everything from raisins to genetically modified crops (laughter).
That’s something that Ryan and I loved as well. Our details and faces would be in the middle of all of this Google stuff about beautiful foods and blue berries (laughter).
Superfood were a four-piece band but you are now down to a two-piece band. Do you find that this suits you better?
Yes, it’s a lot easier but I have to say that there will still be other people in the band whenever we are playing live. Ryan and I are the two people who wrote all of the music all of the time so it works for us at the moment. Having said that, I really do think that the people who join us live will become permanent members of the band at some point in the future. But at the moment things are going great as we are. It’s just pictures at the end of the day, that’s all that it comes down to. Shall we have four people in the picture or just the two people that we know are still going to be in the band in four months’ time. So being a two-piece suits us better at the moment but who knows what will happen in six months.
You have recently joined Dirty Hit Records. Does that feel like a good fit for you?
Oh man, I have to say that it is totally amazing. They have got The 1975 and Wolf Alice, and it is the kind of label that I have always looked at and thought that they are doing something right. Every decision that they make is correct; everything looks really cool and every song that comes out of there is really good. So for them to turn round and ask us if we would like to join them was a real compliment to be honest. So as you can imagine Ryan and I are really buzzing about that.
Now that you are signed to a decent label does that take some of the pressure off you?
(Laughter) no, not at all. I feel like I want to impress them because I don’t want to be in the same position after the release of this album with everyone scratching their heads thinking how are we going to make another album work. I want Ryan and I to get our heads down, work hard and really fucking go at it this time. I think that now we have got the right people behind us, and we have now got the tunes as well, we are in a far better place now.
I have to say that I love the new single Double Dutch. Are you pleased with the reaction that it has received?
Nice one, I’m pleased that you like it. It’s great in the fact that we haven’t had anyone completely slating it yet (laughter). We have had a few people who are a little confused by it but I like that. The single is just a bookmark for us going in between our two albums. The single takes a different path from what we have followed in the past. It would have been so simple and easy for us to have changed our name and given up on what we had achieved with Superfood. However, we decided to keep the name and continue to pursue the goals that we are striving to achieve and I think that our fans will appreciate the fact that we haven’t gone into the studio and simply recorded the same thing again.
We feel that we have made something that will grow on them. It is almost four years ago now that we put out our last album and I assume that everyone is still not listening to the same music that they were listening to four years ago now. I like to feel that we have grown with our fans and that we have given them something that is going to whet their appetite on what they expect from us. So yes, I am happy with how well people have received the record and I simply can’t wait to get the new album out there to them.
On the subject of the new album, is it all finished and ready to go?
Yes it is, it is now totally finished. I have had it on my computer for the last four months. I have been listening to it, sweating over it, thinking that it is shit, thinking that it is amazing; I have gone through all of the emotions and now it is there, all ready to go. I really am super chuffed with it and I have to say that I feel that it will take some people by surprise and hopefully catch their imagination.
So are you are now past the tinkering stage?
(Laughter) it has been tinkered with, in fact in has been fucking tinkered beyond death (laughter). Because we have produced it ourselves including all of the boring stuff on my computer, you can drive yourself fucking insane; you can actually go mental. I found myself constantly walking around with headphones on listening to mixes and then when you are doing it yourself there is no end point. Because we didn’t have a label at the time that we recorded it, we didn’t have anyone to tell us to stop so it just went on and on and on. But I’m glad that it did because I have learnt so much about how to produce a record that I can’t wait to get into the studio and start the next one. We want to tour this one and take it all around the world. I now feel more prepared for the next time and I don’t think that we will ever use a producer, not unless it is Nile Rodgers (laughter).
Well let me tell you that you are in good company. I recently interviewed Vince Clarke from Erasure who as you know produces so many bands and artists but he said that he will never produce anything that Erasure record simply because he never knows when to leave it alone. So the first person that he employs is a producer who can then tell him to leave it alone, it’s finished.
Well it sounds as though I will be taking a leaf out of Vince Clarke’s book then as that sounds like just what we need (laughter).
Do you have a release date yet for the album?
Well, we are going to be playing a load of festivals over the summer after the forthcoming tour, and so I would like to think that it will finally be released some time over the summer. We would like to put out a few more singles in order to get the people excited about the new record. It’s so good now because you don’t need to have a six-month lead up before you put a record out. You can literally decide two weeks before and just put the record out. So we are just going to see how things go and hopefully wait for the right moment; that moment being when the people are going to want it the most. I would assume that it will be sometime soon after we have played the festivals.
When it is finally released will you get back out on the road and tour the album?
(Laughter) yes we will, in fact our manager recently told us that we are going to be on the road until the end of 2018. I have been looking at just what Dirty Hit Records do and they really do love to have their bands there out on the road. So I think that we are going to be quite busy (laughter).
I appreciate that artists are very protective of album titles but I have to ask you, have you got a title for the album as yet?
Yes, we are very protective and no we haven’t so you will just have to go and fuck yourself with that question (laughter). We have a few ideas that we are toying with but nothing solid as yet (laughter).
You have mentioned the tour; you are about to get out on the road and tour the UK. Are you looking forward to it?
Yes I am, and I think that it is going to be amazing. Although we have toured before for some reason this tour feels like out first tour; a little like Groundhog Day I suppose (laughter). It feels as though we are starting out again. We just want to get out there and play a good mix of both old and new and ensure that everyone is having a fucking great night. I just think that they all are going to be great nights with a great vibe for everyone.
Who would you say has musically inspired you along the way?
Back in the day I really did get into Stereolab and I would be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that I am influenced by anything that Damon Alburn does.
Now then we get to the potentially embarrassing moment (laughter).
Shit what now (laughter). Go for it.
What was the first record that you bought?
Right, I will tell you as long as you don’t laugh. The first single that I bought was Ghetto Superstar by Ol’ Dirty Bastard (laughter). However, the first album that I bought was Willennium by Will Smith. That was a bit of a nightmare but you do these things when you are younger don’t you (laughter).
Who did you first see playing live in concert?
This really will make you laugh, it was Wizard, Cliff Richard and The Honeyz playing at the Centenary Square in Birmingham for the millennium celebrations on New Year’s Eve 1999.
What was the last song or piece of music that made you cry?
Oh wow. You may think this is strange but it was Money by Pink Floyd. It’s not that it is a particularly beautiful song but it brings back memories of my late friend Marcus who passed away just before Christmas. I went to his funeral and I just knew how much he loved that song. It is just a cheeky song and it just reminded us all of him. I have the same reaction with breakup songs. I had never really believed in breakup songs before until I broke up with my last girlfriend and I was in a fucking taxi and Ronan Keating came on the radio and I started fucking blurting out crying (laughter). Music really can fuck you up but in answer to your question, it was Money by Pink Floyd.
On that note Dom let me once again thank you for taking the time to speak to me. You take care and I will see you here in Nottingham.
Nice one Kevin. You take care and I will see you at The Rescue Rooms.