INTERVIEW: Itch

Itch -promo image

Itch, is ‘releasing free tracks and videos over the coming months’.

First up is ‘Spooky Kids’ – a Daily Mail baiting attack on the preconceptions about today’s youth. Tough, raw and perhaps and aggressively self defeating – check it out here:

‘Spooky Kids’ – Itch (click here)

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Recently signed to Red Bull Records, Itch was previously front man of Punk Rockers – The King Blues. Now solo, ‘Spooky Kids’ is from Itch’s current EP – ‘Manifesto Pt.1: How to Fucking Rule at Life’.

And after having recently supported AWOLNATION across the UK, Itch is back working on his debut album – rumoured for a Spring/Summer release.

Richard Wright caught up with Itch for a polite Birmingham Review Q&A.

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BR: Hi Itch, you’re debut EP ‘Manifesto PT 1’ came out in December last year, how was that for you?

ITCH: it was amazing for me because I’d been working on music for the past 2 years and this was the first release. I was so excited to get it out there and have people hear what I’ve been working on

BR: How would you describe your new sound? Maybe, compared to what you have done in the past?

ITCH: I’m not sure yet, I’m weary of labeling it because I want to be able to do anything. I’m a punk rock kid attacking hip hop, I guess kind of like what the beastie boys did, but I’m pushing myself to keep moving forward.

BR: Do you think you’ll still appeal to fans of The King Blues?

ITCH: I have no idea, to be honest, appealing to anyone wasn’t even in our minds; if no one liked my shit I’d still make it just because I love vibing to it. I’ve done one support tour so far and there were definitely kids in King Blues t shirts bouncing around so I hope so.

BR: And do you believe the messages sent through your lyrics with The King Blues, such as the state of jobs in this country, will still come across in the same manner with this new project?

ITCH: The core of the philosophies behind The King Blues are the same things I still believe in – love mainly. It’s the motivation for everything.

BR: You released ‘Manifesto’ as a free download, what’s your thinking behind this? Do you think more artists should make their music more readily available to potential fans?

ITCH: I personally just wanted to get music out there so people could hear it. What other artists do is up to them, there’s probably too much free music about nowadays, it can be a bombardment but I was in a lucky enough position that the label were down with me releasing 2 EPs for free so I thought it’d be cool.

BR: The songs on ‘Manifesto’ feel quite dub influenced; what, music or otherwise, would you say influenced you while writing this record?

ITCH: Hip hop, punk rock and reggae are really at the core of what I love, as a lyricist, anything that makes me feel any emotion I grab with both hands. We wrote and recorded 3-4 songs a day when we were in the studio so we just went at it hard, we didn’t give ourselves time to sit around and talk ourselves out of doing anything weird so we just saw everything through to the end. It was really liberating for me, now I feel I can write about anything and put my stamp on it.

BR: Your first Single ‘Spooky Kids’ feels much darker than The King Blues, what spurred on this change?

ITCH: The whole reason for me doing this was that I wanted to do something different to The King Blues. I’ve always loved darker music; and I love positive, life affirming music too. I just wanted to try out everything and not limit myself.

BR: Your tracks, such as ‘London Is Burning’ contain a lot of expletives, how do you think the radio stations will take this? Or people in general?

ITCH: I don’t give a fuck.

BR: You have an extensive tour coming up, including the Vans Warped Tour in America; how are you feeling about getting on the road? Where are you most looking forward to playing?

ITCH: I’m really excited to get back on the road, it’d been a year since I’d been on tour and I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to do it anymore, if I just wanted to stay in the studio but on the first night when I got the mic in my hand and felt the power and the rush again I knew where I wanted to be. I’ve never toured America soIi’m looking forward to that a lot.

BR: And any other plans for the future we should look out for?

ITCH: My album’s dropping in May, it’s been a long time coming and I can’t wait for people to hear it.

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Itch’s EP, ‘Manifesto Pt.1: How to Fucking Rule at Life’ is out now on Red Bull Records.

 For more on Itch visit www.facebook.com/itchsmixes / www.itchsmixes.com