Rising indie pop trio Tors’ sound is as anthemic as you can write. Huge chorus’, ear worm melodies and relatable lyricism is aplenty across the band’s discography, with the three-piece at the epicentre of the continued indie renaissance.
Writing from their converted barn studio down in Devon, the group have written with Declan J Donovan, Nick Wilson and The Wandering Hearts amongst others. They’ve been busy this year, unveiling a progressive and colourful EP, “Anything Can Happen”, back in January, and a statement single, “Amsterdam”, back in May.
They have now returned once again, more confident in their sound than ever with “Miracle”, their first release via Glassnote Records. The new single taps into their arena-ready approach in a clear and concise form, with vivid songwriting, soaring vocals and a swirling guitar-driven instrumental palette ensuring the cut is an ardent success.
Ahead of the band enjoying Lime Cordiale of a European tour, we connected with Tors, discussing origins, essence, the Devon music scene, and their vivacious latest release.
Listen to “Miracles”…
Read the exclusive interview…
Who and what influences you as a band?
Ah that’s such a tricky question! I feel like we all draw inspiration from a wide range of outlets, music naturally is the biggest one; we grew up with our parents playing records over dinner every evening so we were exposed to everyone from Nick Drake and The Beatles to the Gypsy Kings and Join Mitchell. Outside of musical influence we all have an emotional reverence with the outdoors, we live in the countryside of Devon so we’re often trying to get immersed in the moors or head out surfing. The mix of exercise and solitude makes for a really regenerative experience.
How did you first form as a band?
Matt and I (Theo) are brothers so we’ve known each other since I was born, we’d always had a real connection with music growing up – our Grandfather was a famous guitarist in the 50s/60s called Bert Weedon and when we’d stay with him we would spend hours obsessing over his guitars while he taught us bits and pieces and told stories about the music industry. As we got older we played in different bands and projects respectively until one day we were asked to write a song for a Jack Wills ad campaign and found that we worked really naturally together. We then found our drummer and best friend Jack via a gumtree ad we put out, we met in a pub and the rest is history.
How did you go about finding your sound and creative approach?
To be honest getting our sound has been a process of trial and error over a lot of years and being the anxious, indecisive people we are we’re still never sure we’ve found it yet! But we try and trust our instincts and first and foremost is the songwriting – we like to use the campfire test which essentially means if a song is still good when it’s sung and played on just an acoustic guitar then it’s a keeper.
How would you define your essence as an act?
Intimate, personal songs written to be played in stadiums. That’s our mission statement at least. We like to have a lot of fun on stage and chat with the audience and really try and connect with our fan base, we consider the whole Tors team to be a big family and our fans are an extension of that.
How do you feel signing for Glassnote Records?
It feels very surreal, when we first started working with our management a few years ago they were number one on our list of dream labels and to be sitting here on their actual roster feels like a fever dream to be honest.
Have has the experience of trying to make it big from a place not necessarily known for their music scene like Devon?
It’s been interesting, we’ve very deliberately chosen not to live in London despite the obvious reasons we should (being in the music industry) but we’ve done so for our souls. Creatively, emotionally and physically we feel like Devon is home – we need the wide open spaces and natural beauty/quiet to keep us sane and grounded.
Talk us through the creative process of your new single, “Miracle”?
We wrote it during one of the lockdowns over zoom with and awesome writer called Lewis Gardiner, the word “miracle” kept popping up while we were arranging melodies and we began to flesh out our story as a band through the lyrics, the dogged persistence we seem to collectively share. We then took it to our dream producer Simone Felice in Woodstock, NY. Simone has worked on the Lumineers records as well as Noah Kahan, The Avett Brothers etc. we spent a week in a studio buried in the mountains recording the track.
What are you trying to say with the track?
We’re essentially describing our journey as creatives, it’s an exhausting and mostly fruitless experience in terms of actual success or monetary gain but there’s something inside of us that won’t let us give up, we’re always chasing our “Miracle” moment despite every set back and ever falter we encounter. We don’t seem to have an off button. So it’s a song about hopefulness and hard-headed-ness in the pursuit of your dreams.
Is it a sign of things to come from you stylistically?
Yes, we’re definitely moving into what we feel is a slightly bigger sound for us – organic but full band, it’s been influenced a lot by touring so much the last few years and playing live over and over again.
What are your main goals as a band?
To sell out Wembley Stadium and tour till we’re elderly men with shaky voices and regrettable jackets.
What’s to come from you this year?
We’re currently on tour with Lime Cordiale throughout Europe and it looks as though we’re jumping straight into another October U.K. tour once we’re home! We’re also releasing more music and desperately trying to get our pumpkin farm off the ground.