Band of the Week: Such Gold

Old-school pop-punkers who just tore the UK a new series of holes. In a good way.

Posted Monday, 7 March 2011 in

When it's done right, pop-punk is just killer. Frantic gang vocals, drops into double time, loads of parts where the crowd can grab the mic and sing along... that early-00s sound seems to have dropped a little bit out of fashion, but Such Gold are bringing it right back

They recently toured the UK and RS caught them at a rammed show in London - it was, without a doubt, one of the most fun gigs we've been to in ages. Their last EP 'Pedestals', released on the ever-reliable 6131 Records, is crammed full of perky delights and we're streaming two of the best tracks from it below; while you're listening (and trying not to stage-dive off the desk) check out what singer Ben Kotin has to say about the whole 'being in a band' thing.

When did Such Gold start? And when did it go from something fun you did with your friends to something that monopolised your life?
"Such Gold, as it is now, started in early 2009. Nate and former singer Kyle had been jamming a few years before that and had written a few songs. It was when I joined the band that winter that we recorded our demo and played our first shows."

What was your first tour like?
"We did small weekend tours for a while and that was awesome but in December ’09 to January ’10 that we did our first east coast tour and it lasted just over three weeks. It really was so much fun. It was the first time I had ever traveled for so long. The first leg we played every night with an amazing trio from Albany, NY named After The Fall. Watching those guys play every night was awesome. There are few people in the world that can pull off playing guitar and singing like Mike Moak. Those guys were a blast. The second leg of the tour we played every night with a sick pop-punk band from Western Mass called Maker. I think we had played together once before this so we sort of new each other but on that tour we became good friends. They have a really good presence about them live. They also covered No Warning once, which was really fun. All in all I couldn’t really ask for a better first tour. Some of the shows had a few kids and some of them didn’t but we made a lot of new friends and learned a lot about life on the road."
Such Gold - 'Sycamore' by RockSoundMagazine
What’s the band’s process for writing songs?
"Our songs usually start from a riff and a basic structure that we like. Tim, Nate and I all play guitar and write songs so we each come from different direction. Whoever has the riff will generally sit down with Devan, our drummer, and work out a better structure and transitions. Then we add bass and second guitar to the mix. Tim and I both write lyrics for different songs and often we work together on songs. So the lyrics and melodies sort of develop in our heads as everything else is being worked out. Often by the end the original idea has changed a lot."

Easy one: what does Such Gold mean? What do you think the best and worst band names in the world are?
"I will admit that I wasn’t in the band when the name was chosen and I think it means something a little different to all of us. The way I see it is that we all had musical tastes that were changing throughout the years and for us to come back to the style of music that really got me into music in general was just such an awesome thing. It was 'Such Gold' if you will. One of my favorite band names growing up would have to be NOFX. It was simple and to the point. A band that showed you didn’t need lights and make up and effects pedals to have a powerful impact and it showed that through their name. I think one of the worst names in music is probably Alesana. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. I will say that it’s at least somewhat representative to the band’s sound, a corny name for a corny band."
Such Gold - 'Pedestals' by RockSoundMagazine
What do your parents think of SG? And how do you describe what you do to family members you don’t see very often?
It took my parents a while to get behind what we’re doing. At first they weren’t too happy about me dropping out of college to tour and make no money. After a while though they realized that that work I put in wasn’t useless. I don’t think they believed that this would work out but once they saw that we were getting booked on tour after tour I think they realized that something was happening. Now my parents back what I do one hundred percent. Parents just want to see their children be happy and I don’t think there’s anything I could be doing to make me happier than this. We try to be home on the holidays and my extended family always gets together and has a good time. So I see almost everyone a few times every year."

What’s the worst thing about being in SG? And the best?
"It’s hard to say because this band has brought me so much joy over the past two years. I would say the worst part is being away from friends, family and girlfriends for some of the guys. The best part about being in this band aside from getting to play music every night is meeting new friends. I don’t lose friends from being gone but I get to gain new ones and then when I go home, seeing my hometown friends is just that much more fun.