They were discovered by a member of the Sex Pistols, they’ve got recording studio links to The Clash and Paul Weller’s a fan… It doesn’t get much bigger than that! Who are we on about? The Goldborns, of course…

RECORD WEEKLY’S INTERVIEW WITH THE GOLDBORNS

Hey guys, how are you doing?

We’re doing really well thanks. We can’t lie it’s been a struggle to record and release music and music videos within the current situation, especially with financial and physical restrictions, so we’re proud to be releasing things. People need it in their lives at the moment.

Tell us how you formed The Goldborns.

We’ve been making music together in some form or another for about five years, merging our different genres and influences of hip-hop, rock and reggae. But we officially formed as The Goldborns about two years ago, after being discovered by Sex Pistols’ drummer Paul ‘Cookie’ Cook in a West London pub.

We then shortly found ourselves in the studio working with The Clash legend, Mick Jones, and that’s where our distinctive style and sound was born. It’s a fusion of dub, reggae, rock and punk, all of which resonated around our ears growing up in our little corner of West London.

That’s ace! While 2020 was far from normal, which moments in your career so far have really stood out?

Obviously working with people like Mick Jones (The Clash) and Lee “Scratch” Perry (on our latest single) has been massive and given is a big confidence boost. Also supporting Glen Matlock, one of the Sex Pistols, on tour early last year was a big honour and an invaluable experience.

Aw no doubt, that’s insane! Now, you’re about to release your new single, ‘Dead Town’, and your new EP, so can you give us some more info about the inspiration behind it? Where was it recorded?

It’s a live EP called ‘Broken Homes’ (Live from the Bunker). It was all recorded live at Mick Jones’ studio in London. It’s very close to our hearts as we did everything on this ourselves; engineered it, recorded it, produced it, mixed it. We even did all the artwork ourselves!

We’ve basically described the EP as a love letter and tribute to the area we grew up in. It focuses on subjects like gentrification, the Grenfell fire, social cleansing and poverty. But we communicate a lot of this in an upbeat, bittersweet way, sometimes with humour. We aren’t preaching like a lot bands tend to do when talking about social issues in ther tracks.

Due to the pandemic, many musicians have suffered with postponed or cancelled events. What did you have lined up for 2020?

The live EP was originally planned for release in 2020, along with festival dates and more recording.

What’s in the pipeline for the rest of 2021?

We’re hoping 2021 will be a big year for us, as we’ve been managing the band artistically, creatively and in making all the decisions. So we’re looking forward to working with some different people within the industry this year to help develop our sound and take our music to a wider audience.

That’s brilliant. So, one final thing then. If you could collaborate with anyone in the future, who would it be?

Wow, big question! We’ve always talked about Andre 3000 from Outkast as someone who we all really admire. And we were chuffed recently to hear that Paul Weller really liked our last single, ‘Broken Homes’! his music was a massive influence on us, especially the songwriting process.

‘Dead Town’ with the legendary Lee “Scratch” Perry is out now, so head to YouTube or Spotify for a listen. Eager to hear more news from The Goldborns? Make a beeline for their Facebook and Instagram pages now.