From their mighty riffs to their captivating passion, London rockers Curser are a force to be reckoned with. Veterans of the South London scene, their stunning craftsmanship has led them to a slow but steady rise through the ranks and gained them somewhat of a cult following along the way. With a back catalogue brewing, we expect to hear big things from them this year - so let’s get to know them.
They say as one door closes another one opens, and that was certainly the case for Curser. Following the demise of his old band Monk, frontman Herbie Jones enlisted Alex Lambert (bass) and Bleu Wright (drums) before recruiting latecomer Pete Schünemann (guitar) to complete their hard-hitting lineup.
“We used to play a lot on the same bills,” reflects Bleu. "When Herbie was in Monk I used to play in a band called Karma Coma, and alongside Monk, we built up quite a little buzz for ourselves at that time, so we knew each other way back then from just playing on the same circuit.”
Herbie laughs, “The funny part about that is we used to play in a venue called The Locke Tavern in Camden, and I remember they played after us and I was mesmerised by this little crazy drummer. I got chatting to him outside in the smoking area and I bought him a pint and we had a little smoke together, it was nice! - but I found out years later that he was only 15 at the time.”
“I started early on the scene,” smiles Bleu, “We kind of found each other at a moment where we were both looking for something new to really start. When we got together as a band we didn’t play a gig for over a year. We rehearsed. Religiously. That’s some advice to any band out there - I know all you want to do is gig but you’ve got to get that quality up before you play.”
Herbie confirms, “I remember we said we should have the set down so that we could do it with our eyes closed before we even do one gig. And then when we did do our first gig it was fucking astronomical.”
With new influences, a new band member, and the effects of a global pandemic, a lot has changed since that first gig at Off The Cuff in 2019. On the band’s evolution, Herbie mentions, “We’ve been going for five years this month, and over the years we’ve had a few changes in direction in terms of what the sound has been like. When we started it was a bit more funky, and a bit more Steely Dan-ish. Then we went for a bit more straightforward rock sound, but now, although we hate to say it, a little bit of the old ‘post-punk’ has been injected into the sound. We never wanna be put into that category because it’s a little bit saturated, and we wanted to do something a bit more individual.”
Alex comments, “I always thought we sound a lot more American than other bands that we played with because we like a lot of American rock music, so I think that seeps into it a bit.”
“I think that goes into how we write our songs," considers, Bleu. “When we’re writing, there’s no barrier. We could be any genre because we have a way of working ideas. There are always basic fundamentals of how we play and our natural sound. But I think when we write music we’re thinking about what we like and what we want to play and how we’re feeling.”
Herbie continues, “We all like pop structures because it’s nice to listen to! I feel like we try and bring that, but then also incorporate things of interest or funny little bits. The lyrics are, if I do say so myself, more on the picturesque side. They’re not that straightforward, but musically there are a lot of twists and turns that we like to put in, above all else to keep things fresh, but also appealing.”
On their creative process, Herbie explains, “It’s always a completely collaborative thing, but there will be a skeleton that’s brought forward to work on which has traditionally come from me, but Alex had tunes that have come from his ideas, Bleu has, Pete has yet to but he will do!”
“I’d say when we write, I’m always thinking of us playing it at a gig,” explains Bleu, “It’s almost like we write as if we’re planning live albums. So I’m always thinking I’m gonna go and play this song tomorrow. There’s a difference as a musician - do I wanna write this song because I wanna release it next week? We write a lot of our songs and we don’t release them - we play them first. So, it’s a completely different experience.”
On their inspirations, Alex muses, “I listen to loads of different types of music but when I’m writing it’s quite specific - it’s a lot of sort of punk music and a lot of hardcore punk from America. Nirvana are probably my favourite band so a lot of that. Probably some Queens of the Stone Age as well because we all love them.”
“Having been a musician over a long period of time, your influences change,” explains Herbie, “but I’d say my biggest influence of all was Jeff Buckley. I think a lot of people paint him as soft, I think his most listened-to song is Hallelujah, but people don’t know that he had a really gnarly heavy sound to him as well, and he was very versatile. I love his lyrics and I love his singing, but as a guitarist and a songwriter he’s huge for me.”
Bleu continues, “I love Sly and the Family Stone, that’s always a big one for me, just all of his tunes - for any genre I feel like he’s the guy. I like heavy bands like Primus, and punk bands like Suburban Lawns, The Ramones, and The New York Dolls.”
Pete chimes in, “For me, it’s all about melodic guitar parts and harmonies, which is quite a lot of what I do in the band. There’s this great guitar player called Matteo Mancuso who I get a lot of inspiration from when I’m playing, but I’m also big into my heavy stuff as well, especially foreign heavy metal. There’s this great band called Metsatöll from Estonia who are great and also Sepultura from Brazil.”
“Pete also plays in another band called The Grove," explains Herbie, “they’re like a jazz, Neo-soul band”.
“I’m into my jazz, but I’m not a jazz musician,” clarifies Pete, “I like to try and push the boundary of what I can play. That’s why our music isn’t really tied down to one genre, because we all bring something different to the mix.”
Herbie concludes, “I guess we do play in one genre but essentially because we all bring the little sprinkles from other influences, there are different flavours that translate.”
Taking pride in their live shows, Bleu beams, “The shows have really been building up, we’ve been playing for so long. It’s been cool because we’ve got a bit of a buzz. But, for a long time now you’ll see the same faces pull up, even at a weekday gig. It’s really cool to see.”
“They’re all really nice people too,” smiles Herbie, “it is sort of a mad thing for us. We’re still pretty small but we have this little community of people who do show up to the gigs, and they really actually fucking like us.”
Coming up through the London scene, Herbie reminisces, “I was fresh 18 when I started, and it was at the time when Shame, Sorry, Goat Girl and Dead Pretties were all popping up. The South London scene was popping off like crazy - it was like a nuclear bomb. I only have fond memories from that time, it was sort of a legendary period of time thinking back. It’s been funny coming back into it as aged gentlemen - finding our way around it again and getting to know all the new local bands.”
“It’s been interesting because sometimes we feel like we don’t really belong or that we’re not really part of the scene because we make a certain type of music which is a bit different than a lot of what’s out there - a lot of what gets played at the Windmill for example. Let’s just say there was the Black Midi effect of 2019 or so.”
With drummer Bleu performing with Warmduscher as well as producing his own solo work, balance has been key to the bands success. “I was very nervous to go and play in another band, but over time I actually encourage these guys to keep other things open because I think it’s very important as a musician to play in other projects. I think we all really believe in this band and I think we really do wanna take it far, and we have a lot to give into it.”
With big plans for the year ahead,” Pete teases, “We’ve got a great single coming out - we’re about to shoot a video as well which is going to be pretty interesting. It’s a great new tune called ‘The Leach’. We won’t reveal too much but looking forward to having that one out. We’re also talking to a few people at the moment who put on shows outside of London, just so we can play elsewhere and get out of the bubble a bit.”
Bleu declares, “This year there’s lots of engagement, and I feel like we just want to put lots of stuff out. We’re talking about maybe releasing some more demos and building that catalogue on top of what we have professionally. I think we just want to get our stuff out more.”
Alex exclaims, “Singles! Videos! EPs! Shows Outside of London! Shows in London! Everything! Firing on all cylinders!”
“The machine is ever continuing,” smirks Herbie. So make sure you stay tuned - you don’t want to miss out on what’s next.