Start Listening To: Cardboard

Cardboard captures the chaotic charm of London life with an infectious energy that’s hard to resist.

Cardboard are a London four-piece channelling the chaos and charm of city life into fuzzy, high-energy garage rock. Their songs capture the thrill of falling in and out of love with the capital, soundtracking late nights, broken flats and the strange beauty found in between. With their debut album on the horizon and new single ‘Tenner’ tapping into the grit of young life in London, the band sat down with us to talk coming of age, collaboration and finding community in the chaos.

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

Cardboard are Daniel Hacker, Chris Clapham, Louis Bultitude and Daniel Rowson, we met at college in London and have been playing together ever since

We’ve always been bad at deciding what genre we fall under, but I think it’s safe to say we’re an indie/garage rock band, we love playing with a lot of energy and getting people moving

What was the inspiration behind your latest single, 'Tenner'?

Tenner, similarly to a few of the tracks off of our debut, is about of living in London, which at times can be quite cut throat, but being in love with the city and its people nonetheless

Can you describe your songwriting process?

We tend to write as a group, especially in terms of the composition. However Dan Hacker, our singer, usually takes the reigns with the lyrics

Do you collaborate closely, or is it more of an individual effort at first?

All of our songs are the sum of all members of Cardboard, and that’s what makes it so special.

Someone might have the seed and bring it to the group, but it’s fleshed out by all four of us

How did working with Spike Curtis on the music video for 'Tenner' influence the visuals and themes you wanted to convey?

Spike Curtis was an absolute gem, we came to him with a basic idea and he really elevated it beyond what we thought was possible, It’s really important to us that the energy of our music is projected in all aspects of Cardboard, not just through the music but the visuals aswell, and he got it spot on.

What themes or messages do you hope to explore further in your upcoming album, and how do they reflect your experiences?

The album is definitely our coming of age, shedding of our baby teeth, it’s more about sharing our experiences coming of age in London, and the relationships that were made and broken along the wayb

Can you share any memorable moments from your gigs that have shaped your journey as a band?

On one end we’ve played in a friends basement in Leeds, where people could barely fit in the room, and there’s exposed spikes and pipes just gagging to give you tetanus. On the other end of the spectrum we’ve played at some great festivals, including Vestrock in the Netherlands where we were greeted at 1pm by a horde of eager Dutch punters, and then bumping into the prodigy back stage

How do you think your music reflects the vibrant London scene, and what role do you see yourselves playing within it?

Our music reflects Londons energy and urge to let loose. But also touches on the struggles, constant questioning and surreal situations you find yourself in. Capturing the incredible peaks but also the deep prolonged lows that come with living in the city. Thats where we hope we’re fitting into the scene and relating to people.

What role does the concept of community play in your music, both in terms of collaboration and audience engagement?

We’ve collaborated with some great musicians and artists along our journey so far, Emmie from M/W/C, Glenys Mathews and Tiger Braun-white to name a few. All of our artwork has always been done by our good friend Callum Lovell Harrison, and being able to work along side him on it has been so important. In terms of our audience, we love the idea that everyone can come to our shows and we all just have a really good time, dance around and get a little silly and get really chalant

Can you tell us about a song or moment in your career that made you realise you were on the right path as a band?

We’re proud of all of our songs, I think we know we’re onto something when we get infront of people and it really connects face to face

What do you love right now?

The London scene seems to be at its healthiest, any hostility has been cut out and everyone’s back to focusing on bigging each other up

What do you hate right now?

The non-chalant agenda

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

I’m always coming back to Nevermind by Nirvana, we’re not quite a grunge band, but I think it’s a reminder that sometimes you just gotta write a great, simple track, not everything always has to be black midi

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

We hope people will put on our album and go on a mean stroll, and fall into the same love hate relationship of where they live as we do.