Start Listening To: Butch Kassidy

The wait is over! Butch Kassidy finally return with incendiary new single ‘Like Fire.’

Butch Kassidy have always felt like a group on the brink of combustion. The London five piece deal in sharp edges and explosive peaks, the kind of music that grows out of long rehearsals, loose jams and a shared instinct to push each idea until it cracks open. After four years of writing, touring across Europe and quietly shaping the next phase of their sound, they return with Like Fire, a single that captures everything volatile and hypnotic about them. We caught up with the band to talk about their creative process, the sister tracks that anchor their new release, the thinking behind their new label Polished Stone Records and why the live show still feels like their truest form.

For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?

We’re Butch Kassidy from London and our music is a rollercoaster of tension and release

It’s been four years since your last release. What’s been happening in that time, and what made now feel like the right moment to return?

Lev: We spent a lot of time writing new music, refining old music, playing and travelling in Europe and also recording music. There was also a lot of time spent thinking about the concepts of future release either in form of tracklisting or visually/aesthetically. This just felt like the right time for us.

The new single ‘Like Fire’ is ferocious and hypnotic in equal measure. How did it first take shape, and did it always sound this volatile?

Tom: The song began with a driving kick drum and bass section. We wanted to give it a techno-like pulse that keeps pushing the listener forward until the end. From there, we built the rest of the track around that core groove, layering in guitars and other textures. When we write, we usually try to keep a sense that the song could fall apart at any moment. That’s where I believe the volatility comes from. At any point, it might erupt or shift direction completely, and that’s really the role the guitars play in Like Fire.

You’ve said ‘Like Fire’ and ‘Ascend’ are two halves of one idea. How did that concept develop, and what connects them for you?

Anders: We write things very naturally all together through jams and throwing ideas around. I think it started with the bass line (of Ascend) and then through hours of playing it we kept extending it to 2 songs. Everyone adds their own elements and ideas on top until it eventually resembles a “Butch Kassidy song”. We split it up after finishing as we thought they were nice contrasts of each other and we want to show the two sides of our music.

You’ve launched your own label, Polished Stone Records, with a “creator-first” ethos. What does that mean to you in practice?

Fionn: It’s something we’ve always wanted to do. We don’t exactly agree with the way the music industry has been set up and the norms that have just been accepted by everyone. We want to give the artists we work with the lion's share of splits unlike any label we’ve heard of in the hope that it gives bands and acts a better chance of being able to sustain their career and focus on creating. We hope more people realise this is the right thing to do and follow suit as without the music in the first place there would be nothing to work with.

The live experience seems crucial to your identity. What do you find most rewarding about performing your music in front of an audience?

Aron: We’ve done shows in places I never thought we’d get to visit and met people who have been brought to tears from the music being performed live. Seeing this has been really rewarding.

What was the inspiration behind the unique remixes featured in the CD-only edition of your EP, and how do they differ from the originals?

Fionn: We wanted some of the great bands we’ve become friends with to completely reimagine our songs. The remixes are very different from the original songs and we gave everyone free reign to do whatever they want with it, they could even add new parts if they wanted. It also goes hand in hand with trying to build a community and see how people create under different environments.

How do you approach songwriting as a group, and what’s the dynamic like when you’re crafting new material together?

Aron: Songs for us usually mould themselves throughout time.

Some songs are written in a day and are never touched again, whereas other songs are written over much longer periods of time and are constantly changing. A song usually isn’t finished unless we’re all happy.

With your recent festival appearances, what have been some standout moments or interactions with fans that have left a lasting impression on you?

Lev: Our first festival appearance in Poland has been the biggest standout moment for me. It was amazing to see the crowd's reaction to every song and also sharing the stage with some of our favourite artists.

Can you share a bit about the symbolism of the broken cymbal key-rings, and what they represent for you?

Aron: there’s not much symbolism involved really, I just thought it was a good way to give back. I’ve got massive chunks of sharp metal laying around my practice space from cymbals, probably about 30 broken cymbals laying around like one big cymbal grave yard. It’s quite tragic.

What do you love right now?

My bed - Lev

The Prodigy - Fionn

Thingvellir National Park - Aron

AI face swapping - Tom

Southwest railway - Anders

What do you hate right now?

Prices at airports - Lev

Predictability - Fionn

Broken cymbal grave yard - Aron

Long throw-ins - Tom

Peanut dust - Anders

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?

Tom: AC/DC - If You Want Blood You’ve Got It (Live)

It’s the greatest live album of all time. My dad had a battered CD copy and we would listen to it in his van most days. The energy in that performance on every song is off the scale, Bon’s vocals are insane and it feels like you’re really there. I often return to it as it’s a great motivator for both everyday life and also for the band. If you can just capture an ounce of that raw power in a live performance then you’re off to a good start.

When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?

Anders: We always aim for things to be as minimal as possible in the quiet sections and as maximal as possible once it reaches its crescendo. There’s always about 5 different melodies going on at once in order to create the wall of sound and we all love music that you can keep discovering things in, so I hope people will be discovering all these different parts hidden in the wall.