We caught up with the fantastic prog-psych-rock band, Fish Night, who recently dropped the single “Bleeding Wires”, ahead of their headline show on the 26th of September. We got to know the lads, and this interview comes with a fantastic endorsement from an A-List! But you have to read on to see what they had to say!
Interviewer: So, just to start off, where did you guys all meet each other?
Aaron:
So I recruited these two from a website called “Join My Band”. I met Toby first, which feels like a long time ago now.
Interviewer: When was that?
Toby: About 2 years ago, yeah? The band has been through a few iterations, a few different lineups.
Aaron: & Jimmy was my friend from back home,
Jamie laughs and repeats “was” and rolls eyes.
Aaron: And we (gesturing Jimmy) had just moved in together, and I’d asked if he wanted to come along for a jam. Jimmy is primarily a drummer, but plays a bit of bass – then that was that!
Jamie: And I sort of sabotaged James’ first practise, sort of made it all about me. *shrugs shoulders* “main character energy”. Which is pretty standard with a lead bassist.
Interviewer: You mentioned that the band has been through a few “iterations”, how long has this line up of Fish Night been together?
Aaron: Almost a year now!
Interviewer: Obviously, we’ve been following your socials, and you guys are pretty big on the gig scene at the moment. Was there a turning point that you realised that people were really paying attention, appreciating you and your music?
Jamie: I think it was, to be honest, when we put the first single out. We’ve got mates here in Chester/Newcastle/Stoke. We’re all originally from different areas. We put the band socials together before we started releasing music officially, posted teasers, which helped create a bit of a buzz. That way, when we put up our first single, it blew up quite quickly! We got up to around 2,000 streams really quickly – quicker than we expected!
Interviewer: Especially since you’ve only been together for a year, to have that sort of presence and following that quickly, is really impressive!
Aaron: Gig-wise, the time when we really knew that it had “clicked” if you like, was our first headline gig that we performed in Whitchurch. The venue had put up lots of pictures from the gig, and someone had said that it was the best live gig that they’d seen at the venue, and we were like “this is it – we’re gonna be huge!” *laughs*
Interviewer: Who were your musical influences starting out, and have they shifted as you’ve developed your own sound?
James: Originally it was leaning more towards your “classic rock/psych” sounds – your Pink Flloyd’s … Led Zeppelin. Then it’s moved into Rush, Genesis, King Crimson. For more modern influences I’d say King Gizzard, Lizard Wizard and Black Midi, so it’s evolved quite a bit.
Jamie: For me, it’s fairly similar. Except, when I was younger, my Dad was a big influence in my music taste. So, the likes of Metallica, Black Sabbath – I’m a bit more of a metal-head. I enjoy quite “heavy” music, but then more electronic influences like Muse. Now, I like bands that are a little more risk-taking and progressive, such as Tool and Carnival. They’re more the kind of bands that inspire the type of music that we write.
Interviewer: You can see that in the music that you do write. I think it’s risk take-y, but with an element of whimsy when it comes to your lyrics.
Toby: My earlier influences also came from my Dad. He was really into classic punk, so the likes of The Sex Pistols and The Damned and The Descendants. When I got to Uni, my tastes moved more to the more “out there/psychedelic” stuff, which are definitely more the influences within this band.
Aaron: I was brought up with a more “flamboyant” taste, which definitely came from my Mum: Michael Jackson, Elvis, Meatloaf, Aretha Franklin. Then my Mum’s partner – who is massively into music – came the influences of Nine Inch Nails and Rush. Then mirroring what the other guys said, I’ve gravitated more recently to the more psych/experimental stuff.
Interviewer: How do you balance your individual ideas with your creative sound as a whole?
*Collective laugh*
Jamie: I don’t know if we do! We’ve all got our own influences and inspirations, and we try and blend all of them together to create a collective sound. There’s never a “bad idea” as such, when it comes to writing. We take a bit of this, take a bit of that, and it all comes together in a cocktail of unhinged goodness.
Aaron: Sometimes it’s a bit like throwing paint at the wall.
Jamie: We’re like the Jackson Pollock band.
James: Sometimes one of us will come in with an almost full song, and we’ll spend a couple of hours practising it, and at times it can sound completely different!
Aaron: Other than the classic “Fish Night” outro.
Toby: So, our ideas all tend to evolve collaboratively.
Interviewer: What normally sparks the song writing process for you? Does it start with a riff / a lyric / a feeling?
Jamie: It changes every time. One of the tracks that we’re recording at the moment started with this riff *plays a really swung riff*. I was in my bedroom and couldn’t get that out of my head. I brought it to the band, and it developed from there.
Interviewer: What is your favourite song to perform live?
Aaron: Bleeding Wires that we’ve just sampled for you guys, came out September 26th, that’s a really good one to do live. We tend to leave that until last in our sets, which is a good crowd pleaser. Also “Cerebral Ramen” which will be released mid-2026. Our second single, “Hot Dog Surf Shop”, we do some crowd work within that one and have the crowd sing the chorus back – so that’s always really fun!
Interviewer: I do love that song, and I think it sums up what we were saying earlier. I think it really captures the juxtaposition that you guys have – grungy, psychedelic songs, with great lyrics, but that have that element of whimsy.
Interviewer 2: I love that art can be chaotic, and a real piece of energy. You seem to create each song on their own merit. And we love that.
At this moment, something strange, but amazing happened. Simon Jones, The Verve Bassist happens to own the practise space that we met Fish Night in walked in to see how we were getting on. Here’s what Simon had to say about Fish Night:
Simon: Seeing these boys, from when they first came down to the space to where they are now, they sound fucking amazing. Initially, they slaved over their first riff for the whole of that first practise session – almost three hours! Whereas now – fucking unbelievable.
Interviewer: Wow. That’s an endorsement right there!
(We sat stunned for a second and then continued with the interview).
Interviewer: You mentioned earlier about crowd work with the audience, but I wanted to ask, what is your favourite thing about performing on stage?
Aaron: Honestly, looking out into the audience and seeing people smile.
Interviewer: That’s so wholesome!
Jamie: Mine’s similar. When you’ve just played a dirty riff, and you look out into the crowd and they pull that almost-bass face, almost looks like you could’ve just smelt a fart (insert picture here) I think that’s the best compliment you can get as an artist – that face.
Interviewer: Lastly, where do you see your music heading in the next few years?
James: Next few years, phew…
Aaron: Honestly, we’re just enjoying the journey.
James: We’ve got ideas for albums, concept albums. We’re staggering releases of the songs we have over a few months and that takes us up until at least mid-2026.
Jamie: When we make an album, I think we should call it “eh?” – it’s such a good representation of our sound.
Aaron: I won’t be happy until we headline Glastonbury. But we want to get some festivals in next year. We’re focussing on incremental milestones. Then of course we have our next headline gig at Telford Warehouse on the 26th of September, which coincides with the release of our next single.
Interviewer: Well, we can’t wait to see you there. Thank you so much for meeting with us and letting us preview Bleeding Wires. We’ve had a great time, and can’t wait to see you at your headline show!