Emerging from Newcastle’s sparkling underground scene, CIRCUS are not your average rock band. Championing a wholesome independent ethos, the talented outfit doesn’t necessarily want to please anyone, instead writing music that’s inherently personal, meaningful and of the utmost relevance. CIRCUS supercharge their eclectic alt-rock and shoegaze outlook with observant lyricism, utopian themes, and political reflections, crafting an aural fever-dream that aids escapism and euphoria.
‘In This Life’ is the perfect evidence of that. The band’s only release of the year, the single adds to a sparse yet prominent catalogue, a sign that CIRCUS are not playing the industry games, instead focusing on what they have to say for themselves – and how they say it. As one would expect, such a process aids authenticity and originality, all qualities greatly shared by ‘In This Life’, a roaring, lush and electrifying gem steeped in a partly nostalgic, partly timeless aura.
Intrigued by the project, we caught up with CIRCUS to find out more about their artistry and future goals… Interview below!
Hi folks, thanks for chatting with us! I spent a while exploring CIRCUS’ digital presence, and I like what I hear and see! I am quite familiar with the music scene in London and Manchester (having lived in both cities for a while), but not so much with Newcastle, the city you call home. How’s it been down (or up) there recently? It appears as if there’s a strong grassroots scene, which is always a positive…
Hi! Thanks for that. Yeah, Newcastle definitely has a strong grassroots presence. I’m not sure it’s quite on the same scale as London or Manchester, but gigs are happening all the time and loads of new bands are emerging. The city’s also got a bunch of unique venues, which keep things interesting. We’ve taken a bit of a step back from gigging this year, aside from the odd show here and there, so we wouldn’t say we’re the most up-to-date on the scene. But from what we do see, it feels healthy, alive, and constantly growing.
Let’s contextualise for the readers; CIRCUS have entered the music industry back in 2023 with ‘Forever and A Day’, and since then, the band has moved rather slowly, releasing two singles in 2024 and one this summer (we’ll focus on it soon). There’s nothing wrong with advancing at your own pace, yet I’d be interested to know if there’s a particular reason for that? Perhaps you prefer writing music freely, without restraints, and just releasing material when you feel like it?
I don’t think there’s a strict rhyme or reason behind the slower pace, though it’s definitely something people have noticed, for sure. Forever and A Day and Low-Mood Lover were recorded back-to-back, so we had them ready quite early. We ended up delaying Low-Mood Lover to align with Valentine’s Day, which also gave us time to finish Romantic Exorcism for its B-side. 2024 for us was taken up by lineup changes, which slowed things down a bit, though we still managed to record and release Fantasy of Prestige/Puppies for December. Then, in January, we managed to get In This Life down.
This past year, though, our main focus has really been on writing and recording. We’ve built up a pretty ridiculous backlog, around 40 songs (no exaggeration!), with about 15 of those recorded. It’s a bit of a blessing and a curse; the challenge now is just figuring out where each track belongs. Some will find a home on bigger projects, some work better as singles, and some we’re holding onto for later. Obviously, bits will be rewritten as time goes by, and some songs will be frankensteined into others. The main idea is to set ourselves up so that, moving forward, we can release music more steadily.
You might have mentioned it already, but if not, how did you all meet originally? Are there any particular bands or artists that have inspired you? What would you say is the common ‘thread’ between all of you? What keeps you together?
We actually all met online, pretty much by chance, as we were each on the lookout for a new group or project to get involved in. When we finally met up in person, it just clicked right away. One of the things that’s kept it exciting is how different our influences are; everyone brings their own taste to the table, which keeps the songwriting fresh and stops us from falling into one lane.
That said, the common thread between us is a strong grounding in the alternative side of things. Bands like The Cult, Magazine, Suede and Sex Pistols have definitely shaped our sound, alongside some more modern influences too. Funny enough, we later realised the three of us had all been at the same Killing Joke gig a few months before we even knew each other! A strange little coincidence that feels almost like fate when we look back on it.
Let’s focus on ‘In This Life’, your latest single. To me, it sounds as if you were able to compromise between your fierce alt-rock upbringings and your gentler, ethereal and psychedelic side. I guess it’s a game of balance, also informed by your earlier releases (last year’s double single comes to mind). Are you satisfied with how ‘In This Life’ turned out? Is this CIRCUS at their best?
That’s a really good point. At our core, we’re definitely a rock band, but because we all bring such different influences to the table, it feels natural for us to push beyond that and explore other directions. In This Life came from that exact place, the need to step sideways creatively, rather than get stuck going down the same path.
Each of our singles so far has had its own unique approach, and that’s been a semi-conscious decision: we want every release to stand apart while still feeling like “us.” With In This Life, we’re really happy with how it turned out because it proved to us that we can branch out and experiment, but still be anchored by that rock energy at the core.
So yeah, in many ways this is us at our best, not because it’s the final word on what CIRCUS is, but because it shows we’re not afraid to experiment and keep pushing ourselves forward.
From a purely creative standpoint, how do you write as a band? Is it more of an individual endeavour (and then sharing it with others) or more of a collective action (perhaps you all write together during rehearsals)? Who would you say is the more lyrically gifted among you, and who relates more to the sonic vision instead?
Usually, one of us will bring an idea or a half-finished song, and then we’ll all work on it together, adding our own parts, reworking the structure, or reshaping it into something that feels like CIRCUS. Other times, like most bands, it just starts from a jam, and we follow where it leads. We don’t really like leaving ideas on the cutting room floor either; we tend to revisit old sketches from time to time to see if they spark something new. That probably explains why we’ve built up such a huge backlog of material.
A good example is one of our live tracks, ‘Everybody Wants a Heaven (but Who Will Pay the Cost?)’, currently unreleased. That one came together in a single rehearsal, almost on a whim. It’s simple, but it packs all of that raw energy we love. The lyrics actually came from an older track that never quite got going.
So it’s a mix of both approaches: individual ideas feeding into a collective process. Lyrically, our singer usually takes the lead, but when it comes to the sonic vision, it’s very much shared; we’re all invested in shaping and developing the sound together.
Now for the open-ended question: how are you witnessing the political and societal chaos unfolding around you? Does it inform your artistic output in any meaningful way?
Yeah, it definitely does. We’re quite active in reflecting our politics through our music. We write about what’s happening around us. Take our December release, Fantasy of Prestige/Puppies, for example. We often introduced it at gigs as an anti-genocide anthem. Deliberately released around the festive period, a time of reflection, to give the message more weight and make it hit harder.
Puppies was written after reading about the Uyghur internment camps in China and the treatment of the people there. It struck us that this was barely discussed in mainstream Western media, and that selective ignorance frustrated us. That frustration inspired the lyric, “actuality substituted by gossip and glitz / now you can repeat history and get away with it.” Even in its prelude, Fantasy of Prestige, the line “everybody prefers comfort over the truth” is whispered right at the end, just before Puppies kicks in. Unfortunately, it’s all just as relevant now.
You don’t look like the kinda band that gives a s**t about the inner workings of the music industry; you look like the kinda band that would rather focus on writing great music and share it with a dedicated fanbase. Am I wrong? Is there anything in particular that frustrates you about the current state of the industry?
We’ve kind of always been like that. The music comes first. If we had a manifesto, that would sit at the top. Of course, we still have to promote ourselves and put the songs out there so people can actually discover and listen, but at the core, we’re musicians, and we love making music. A lot of our influences and inspirations were artists who just did their own thing, and that’s what we try to carry forward. Being a creative at heart is tough, but as Bukowski put it: “find what you love and let it kill you.”
From what we’ve seen, the music industry feels plagued and oversaturated with a kind of false self, and that just doesn’t align with who we are or our vision. You’ve got elitists turning their noses up if you don’t have the “right” following, and others ditching their identity just to bow to the popularity contest. It’s a bit gross, honestly. Then there’s the social media side of it, you either need a degree in it to play the game, or you strip away your integrity and slowly turn yourself into a Black Mirror episode.
We respect the artists who present themselves as they truly are, not as who they think people want them to be. For us, it would mean far more to be recognised for our influence, or even just to be in that conversation, and cut through the fog of today’s mainstream than to be force-fed into someone’s ears. When you come to see CIRCUS, you get the raw deal. No smoke and mirrors.
What are the next steps for CIRCUS? Do I have to wait one year for your next release? (that’s completely okay btw, no rush) 🙂
Haha, hopefully not! As we’ve mentioned, this year has really been about recording, it’s been our main priority and all leading up to what comes next. We’ve got a stack of new material ready to go, and the plan is to start sharing it out before the year’s over. If everything goes to plan, there’s going to be plenty of music to go around and this is just the beginning!
