We chat to Death Of The High Street about life, music and taking things just seriously enough

Can you give me a quick summary of the history of the band? How did it start?

Scott: I started going out with my ex-partner: she happened to be one of Ash's friends and Ash's wife is one of her best friends. I was at a barbeque, I was the new guy, I was very shy playing guitar and singing in front of people, but Ash happened to catch on that I played guitar and pressured me into playing to the group at this barbeque. Unbeknownst to me, he filmed me, recorded me, and then a couple of months later, while he and my partner at the time were all at YNot Festival, I got a message from my partner basically saying, ‘I've given Ash permission to ask you to be in a band.’ And it all went from there. So there was me and Ash on acoustic guitars in his mum and dad's house, just planning on changing the world. 

How did the name D.O.T.H.S come about?

Scott: We were called The Small Town Boys, and it was all about being from a small town – it had a kind of folk-punk vibe to it. As the years went on, we added someone else into the band and we recorded an album during COVID. The album never got released, but we kind of got some interest – record company interest – and we changed the name because they thought it needed to be edgier. So we went from The Small Town Boys to Death Of The High Street and that's where the second life of the band happened. 

Your album Bragging About Breaking comes out on 19th September. What led to you making the record?

The last five years has led up to this album. We knew we wanted an album out. It happens to be 10 years since we started that we'll be releasing it. We had a couple of years where we were travelling up and down the country. We agreed we'd play anywhere, we'd do anything. So, you know, two or three times a week sometimes we were in Manchester, and then over at Darlington, and then, you know, London or wherever it was. Then when that didn't really make much money for us, we thought, ‘Right, we'll plough our efforts into recording music and writing songs more.’ That's where we're at. 

We spent time recording and getting these songs together and Ash has worked really hard this year to try and push it. We had an album listening party, we're going to be having an album release party, we've organised merch and things like that. Stuff that we'd never really thought of before. We've tried to take a bit more of – I don't know if it's a professional approach, is it? 

Ash: Semi-professional!

Scott: So, we’re pushing the album, thinking about album number two, setting some goals for next year. That is what we want to try and achieve and what have you.

Ash: Like you said, slightly more structure than we've probably had in the past. 

Taking it seriously…

Ash: Yeah, trying to. In a good way. You can get yourself into a position where you're so focused on the things that are going to help you make it that you lose the essence of what's actually important, which is getting in a room with your mates and making some noise. If you get overcrowded by all that other stuff, it becomes a nightmare. So the way we're doing it now is definitely the right way. 

In your recent singles, I’ve noticed a bit more of a message or statement there. Kind of political with a small ‘p’. How important is that side of the band to you?

Scott: Definitely very important. I think I have two songwriting modes. It’s either break up with lots of animosity and anger, or it's social commentary / societal commentary. It runs through all the album, I'd like to think. I think every song – even the break up ones – they're commenting on things that are happening today. 

These are all conversations me and Ash were having ten years ago when we first met, kind of, ‘Society's doomed, it's all going this way,’ and then here we are. You look around and go, ‘Well, we weren't far wrong, were we?’

Ash: Yeah, I think we've always tried to put a message in there, but not force a message on people. It's what we've observed and we've experienced. We're not saying ‘This is the way you should think or act’, but we just put forward what we've lived. You let people make up their own minds. 

And is there more of that kind of thing on the album? 

Scott: Yeah, definitely. I didn't really notice as we were putting the songs together, but there's definitely a lot in there to do with screen time, social media, the internet age… And there's a lot in there about people being distracted or people being “in their own wormholes” and ignoring the things happening around them, or not really being fully engaged with what's happening around them. 

So I think you'll find that is sort of through the whole album. Whilst nothing's overtly political, there's definitely a ‘Hey, don't you think it's a bit weird that this is happening?’

Your album launch gig is at Mist Rolling Inn in Nottingham. Why did you choose that venue?

Ash: We used to love The Chameleon – we played there numerous times and Simon the sound guy has actually moved to Mist Rolling In. As soon as we heard that Simon was there, we thought, ‘Right, that’s enough.’ We went down to look at the venue and the pub is just great. For these kinds of gigs, it's just perfect.

Scott: The Chameleon was a wicked venue. Every time we played there, we loved it. The sound was definitely one of the best. So it's nice knowing that you’re supporting new and local businesses. We've done one event in Derby, we're doing another event in Nottingham, because both cities have been very important for us. 

And what can people expect from a D.O.T.H.S live show?

Scott: Straight to the point. We're energetic, hopefully loud – or as loud as the sound guys’ll let us – and we’re straight to the point. You'll see five guys in their own worlds going for it. You know, high energy, high octane, just going for it. It’s honest.

D.O.T.H.S launch their album on 19th September at Mist Rolling Inn on Derby Road.

@deathofthehighstreet