Punk is a rather strange genre: it leaks out of the idea of being a music style and instead lives its own existence as a lifestyle, a spirit, one that always exists in every social system in the world, in one form or another. Punk is also deeply intertwined into the music scene of Nottingham. One up-and-coming band, who boast loud, chaotic but intricate and charged live shows, is Sunk. We caught up with them at The Angel on a wet Saturday night, an hour before they took to the stage of The Chapel...
So, who are Sunk?
Matt: We are a two-piece punk band from Nottingham, Sunk, S-U-N-K, we met at university, four years ago, we’ve only been gigging ten months now.
Fred: Yeah, ten months.
Matt: We’re still pretty fresh -
Fred: - very new on the scene, but we’re hoping to make a bit of an impact.
Why make punk music? What does it mean to you?
F: Punk’s always been a big influence on my life.
M: I’ve always loved punk, since I was 15/16, but he probably got me into it, really.
F: I went to see Kasabian, when I was about 14, in Birmingham, with my dad, he took me to my first live event, and Soft Play were supporting. I walked into that, and there was just this mass of noise, and it instantly grabbed me. The week after that, I went to the record store, in Lincoln, and bought Brand New Age by U.K. Subs, and since then was just brought up on it. I really love the whole movement in general, the fashion...
M: The attitude, the attitude appeals to me
F: - the mindset.
What is that mindset?
M: For me, it’s just being yourself and not caring what people think.
F: Doing what you want to do and being unapologetic in doing it.
M: Being you and not worrying about what people say and stuff, you know.
Who influences you?
F: A big one is U.K. Subs for me, but a big band for us, for when we starting playing together and knocking about, was Shame. We listened to, uh -
M: Drunk Tank Pink -
F: - and Songs of Praise back to back to back. We both love The Fall, Mark E Smith is a massive influence.
We want to see how far we can push it
M: There was also a band called Mice on Mars, now called Deadletter, but we listened to the first EP, Northern Soul, and that was good.
F: And then again, Soft Play.
M: Idles.
F: The Chats. Amyl and the Sniffers ... anyone that makes a loud noise.
M: Anything vulgar as well.
Do you have any non-musical influences?
F: I guess Vivienne Westwood. I like the history a lot and I like looking into how everything develops and the culture surrounding it. The whole scene surrounding it and how the fashion affected the punk music.
What have been some of your favourite shows to play so far?
F: We’ve had quite a few big ones, for us, so starting out we supported Steve Ignorant of Crass at the Old Cold Store, and then further down the line we supported Pill at Rock City, that was massive for us. Playing on a stage of that size at a venue of that calibre, it was insane for us. I can’t really get my head around that.
M: I think my favourite was Rebellion, in Blackpool, on their Introducing stage, that was good fun [and] the gig we did with Televised Minds, at Rough Trade, 'cause the energy there was just proper, it was beautiful.
F: We also, recently, this past Wednesday, played at Metronome, for BBC Introducing, and again that was amazing, probably our biggest crowd yet, mind blowing.
And what's next?
F: We’re looking at starting to bring out more music, and we really just want to build up our momentum and keep it going. We’ve done quite well in the 10 months we’ve been active, and we want to see how far we can push it.
Photos show Sunk along with Stained Glass, City Flowers and Rhythm Eaters, at The Chapel on 20th September 2025.
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