Barbudo
English band Barbudo released their new single “Secret Admirer” on May 18th.
Formed by brothers Harry and Ben Stanworth along with Elliot Salter, the English band released their debut EP “Pleasures” in 2017 and introduced their Nu-eyed Funk sound. Inspired by the likes of Steely Dan, Shuggie Otis and The Isley Brothers, the new self produced single delivers a dynamic latino-funky record.
“We wanted to write a fun song which would make people want to get up and dance,” says Ben.
“Secret Admirer” is now available everywhere.
Introduce the band - What’s your story?
We are Harry, Ben and Elliot and together we are Barbudo. We’ve been playing for a couple of years across the South, playing sell out shows and supporting some great bands including The Big Moon and Superfood.
When did you start playing music together? When did you know you had to form a band?
Me (Ben) and Harry are brothers so have been playing and writing together since our early teens. We’ve gone through many different musical projects but once we started Barbudo we knew it was the type of music we wanted to make.
How would you define Barbudo?
Barbudo is here to have fun. Whilst we take the music seriously, we don’t want any pretension around its delivery.
You released your new single “Secret Admirer”. How did this song come about? What’s the story behind it? Who did you work with?
We were going go for latin infused funk vibe, like a blend of Michael Jackson and Santana. We also tried to emulate the synth sounds of Plantasia & Jean-Jaques Perrey.
The lyrics are slightly tongue in cheek and are about having guilty pleasures. It’s a playful confession of secretly liking something that is deemed ‘uncool’ by most people. You might not publicly admit to liking it but beyond judging eyes, you see it for what it is. Like listening to Coldplay when you are sad…..
We self produced the song with some help with the final mix by our friend Guy Gyngell who is great.
Listen to “Secret Admirer” here.
How did your sound evolve since your first EP “Pleasures”?
We had an EP before Pleasures which was quite mellow and psychedelic which was cool but we wanted to do something a bit more fun. Pleasures was a marked change from this as we went for a more groovy 70s vibe. Our new songs are an extension of this.
How do you guys usually write your songs?
It varies really. Usually we sit down and mess around with an idea, often pretending to make a song the vein of another artist and then later try and make it sound like Barbudo. We also work on demos, using the recording process to help write the songs.
What do you like to write about?
Recently got into writing about technology which is obviously bit of a hot topic these days. But whatever it is we write about, we try and write as a reflection of our experience.
What message do you want to deliver through your music?
.daed si luaP.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
We are inspired by various artists like Prince, Steely Dan and Michael Jackson. Anything groovy really.
Any advices you’d like to anyone who’d like to form a band?
Just make music you enjoy and don’t be overly concerned about what others think.
What do you want to accomplish as a band?
We’d love to tour around the world. Playing at Glastonbury is on the bucket list of course.
You are from Portsmouth. What can you tell us about the music scene out there?
There are some great bands coming out of Pompey at the moment. Is Bliss and Melt Dunes are really good. Our buddies at Pie and Vinyl and Strong Island Recordings are always putting on good shows and releasing great artists too.
What do you like the most about performing?
It brings the songs to life and its nice to see peoples reaction to that. 🕺
Any upcoming album?
We have a few singles coming out later this year as well a vinyl release. Whether this will be an EP of completely new songs or a compilation of all the ‘hits’ we are unsure.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
Three day weekends!
What’s your purpose?
To rock till we drop.
Connect with Barbudo: