Sports Team Sports Team first got people talking when their rumoured
Alex: We’d have wild line-ups, lots of cover acts, rap acts.
‘beefs’ started circulating ‘the scene’ with many not seeing
We did like three of them, still got the poster pinned in the
the funny side, something the band relished and often
kitchen in Harlesden from the first ever one. People found
played up to. A year later, the outlying mockers of ‘the
it endearing if not good. I think people just thought we were
scene’ are now forging their own way with no obvious
joking for so long. I think they still do now, people are still
peers. Their satirical indie hits have opened doors to a
like, “are Sports Team real?”
pathway to greatness not seen in these parts for some time. We caught up with the band at their local to talk
We then graduated and had a bit of a wilderness year where
Poundland beginnings, Britain’s bridleways and not being
we played the odd gig. It was probably only last year when
too Partridge…
we all ended up in London with everyone living together, we’d play The Old Blue Last a lot and had a good moment
Take us back to beginning…
where we met our manager about a year ago and have been working with him since. And it’s become serious since
Alex Rice: We were all at Cambridge together living on the
then…
same corridor and before we’d go out we’d sit and listen to Pavement, Family Cat and we always had this implied
Rob: And then we met Dave McCracken.
want to be in a band that no one ever really spoke about. And at about Christmas time that year, we wrote ‘Stanton’
Alex: We just got amazingly lucky and he was like, “come
and thought “OK, this could work”. We had two acoustic
round to my old timber yard in Hammersmith… you can use
guitars, that was about it…
this for free for as long as you want.”
Who was in the band then?
Alex: Then we did ‘Winter Nets’ in about a week and the reception that got spurred us on a bit… So that’s where
Alex: It was me, Rob, Henry and a guy who left quite early
it’s at now… there’s been some mad moments along the
days. But I remember it being around Christmas time and
way, bizarre little things have happened, like the festivals
we played what was kind of a gig in one of the bars and we
in France for me have just punctuated it… Then we played
played our ‘Christmas Song’… It really pissed people off.
Moth Club and that was our best ever live gig. We didn’t
’Herod’s Men and The One That Got Away’ was the first
know how it was going to be and we walked in and a
name we played under… But it felt good and right. Putting
hundred people had to be turned away, packed out room,
‘Stanton’ on Soundcloud pretty early on was for our own
just seething.
benefit and to be able to listen to it, but we got loads of approaches actually. When we first starting putting on gigs
We saw you a few days after that and you were still
we put on a night called Poundland where you’d get in for
buzzing from it.
a quid and we’d get all our mates down to a social club by Rob: It was just after we’d released the EP as well and it
the river.
was the first time people we singing along, there was like Rob Knaggs: It was a staff and student bar, the sort of place
15/20 kids we’d never seen before, singing along to the
that would hold flamenco lessons, but it was cheap to rent.
words.
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Words by Sam Ford and Josh Whettingsteel
