IF YOU haven’t heard of them – you will. The Katuns are one of the many bands stunted by the onset of the pandemic, but are slowly beginning to take what is theirs.

The band – comprising of Adam Frame, Declan Milne, Declan Fisher and Matt Collins – are on course to come flying out the traps in 2022 with new material on the way. The excitement among the four is palpable as they prepare their big reveal in short order.

But what is behind their sound? Who has accompanied them on their musical journey? There have clearly been a load of influences along the way, including a major shout out for a certain Sam Fender recently.

Here, they delve deep into their sinful side to confess their 7 Deadly Tunes…
 

SLOTH – What tune makes you want to sit back and do nothing forever?

Frame: Under Wraps – Hers: The song is so relaxing to me, and so pure it makes me feel like I’m floating away. I discovered hers when I was 18 and since then their songs and riffs have been a constant inspiration to me and my songwriting and I wish I could write as beautiful songs as they do.

Milne: Repeat Until Death by Novo Amor, I remember the first time I heard it I was sat on a train, and it caught me off guard. It had been one of those weeks and this song hit me so unexpectedly and I found myself almost tearing up on the train.

Fisher: 100 Times Over by Cassia. I found this band a few years back when I stumbled upon this song in one of the Spotify-curated playlists. It just makes me want to chill out for hours, a great band too.

Collins: Opaline by Novo Amor – I always listen to the production in this song and fall away to it.
 

WRATH – What tune makes you want to absolutely wreck the hoose?

Frame: III Ray (The King) by Kasabian saw them play this live in 2017 and everyone went mental; it still makes me go mental every day and it’s the kind of energy I want Katuns gigs to have.

Milne: OG Bule Sky by Hot Mulligan, pretty much every song off the album You’ll Be Fine. Hot Mulligan have such mega energy behind every single song and the blend of open tunings and stylistic guitar tones underneath a powerful vocal that you can scream when you’re in any mood, I love it, such a great band.

Fisher: People – The 1975. Relevant to the modern society we live in as well, I just love the energy in this tune, always gets me in the right mood to just do something whether that be at the gym or elsewhere.

Collins: The Pretender by Foo Fighters. I loved playing to this through my headphones on my Alesis DM electric kit as a kid in my bedroom.
 

LUST – What tune do you NEED in your life right now?

Frame: Somethinggreater by Parcels - this is one of Parcels newer songs and I can’t get enough of it. It’s a funk rock song and a bit different from their usual stuff; they have two versions of the song and the extended version is blissful to the ears.

Milne: Silver by DMA’s – with our frontman Adam’s massive claim to fame of playing with DMA’s in a pub in Glasgow, you’d think that we would have all been really invested them, but I had never really listened to them. When we were in the studio at the start of November our producer, Jamie Holmes, put it on during a lunch break and I was quite astounded by this song – it’s so pretty and I was surprised I hadn’t heard it before.

Fisher: Pretty much all of Sam Fender’s new album Seventeen Going Under. Just pure raw songwriting and soul in the lyrics and great music to go alongside. I am particularly fond of Angel In Lothian, although I’m not sure if this is because it makes me think of West Lothian, which is my home county. I also had the pleasure of meeting Sam after his gig at the Barrowlands, he deserves every success he’s receiving.

Collins: Broad-Shouldered Beasts by Mumford & Sons. I always go in and out of the Wilder Minds album; every time I do it sits on repeat.
 

GLUTTONY – What tune can you not get enough of?

Frame: Either The Borders or Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender. I saw Sam Fender at TRNSMT and at Isle of Wight Festival when we played there and he is blowing it out the water right now – tune after tune.

Milne: The Borders by Sam Fender, I’ve listened to Sam Fender for a while, but The Borders wasn’t one of the songs I had noticed too much until an hour before we were due to play at the Isle of Wight Festival, myself and Declan Fisher snuck off from the group and went to see Sam live. I remember the feeling of anticipation for playing the biggest festival I’d ever been to, when Sam played this song live, watching his crowd go absolutely nuts for it, it had hit me just how excited I was to be there and now every time I hear this song, I still get this same feeling.

Fisher: It Won’t Always Be Like This – Inhaler. I used to listen to this song after my mum actually found out about Inhaler, was instantly hooked with that synth and the heavy weight of the guitars and bass – just *chef’s kiss* – now they’ve remastered it for their album and it sounds even better so I’ve not had it off since that album came out.

Collins: Tunnel of Love by Dire Straits (Alchemy Live). I love the drumming on this album from start to finish; it accompanies the other instruments perfectly (Everything on the album, it plays like a movie).
 

GREED – What tune makes you want to hear more and more from that band?

Frame: Otherside by Spyres: When I first heard this song I had never wanted to hear more of a band in my life – the energy of this song is unmatchable.

Milne: Towers by Bon Iver… Every time a Bon Iver track comes up on a playlist I find myself diverting away from the playlist and going straight to one of their albums. I love Justin Vernon’s often very intricate lyrics and the way he writes some very beautiful metaphors along with interesting compositional ideas and textures that grasp your attention. There’s a lot of detail in more recent works by Bon Iver and I love listening to them just to figure out what’s going on.

Fisher: Retrospect - Vistas - I remember hearing this tune in the car going down south and I was just blown away by the energy of it that it was the soundtrack of that whole journey. The way the claps kind of break up the song, it just gets you hyped up and ready to take on anything. Great guys as well, had the pleasure of speaking to their bassist Jamie a good few times.

Collins: Boiler Maker by Royal Blood. When this was released as a single, I was really looking forward to what their third record would be.
 

PRIDE – What tune are you most proud to have written?

Frame: I take pride in every song I write and always like to show my work when it is the best it can be, but Be Mine and Friend Like You were the toughest to write as why I am proudest of them. I couldn’t write the songs all at once like some other songs and took some challenges and different variations of songs which I had never faced before in songwriting.

Milne: Sad Song Sunday Club by Feels Like Thursday or the ending to Be Mine by The Katuns. Feels Like Thursday was the band I fronted pre-joining The Katuns. It was actually one of our final gigs

Adam had approached me and told me he was starting a band which soon became The Katuns. Sad Song Sunday Club was our biggest tune, and I wrote it when I was going through pretty dark time. Its lyrical content discusses a turning point in my life where I made a lot of changes to try and stabilise my mental health. I wrote it on an empty train on the way home after playing a show in Glasgow’s Ivory Blacks and it came to me so naturally.

The latest Katuns single Be Mine, which is due to come out in 2022, is the most melodic song of our discovery so far. It’s a bit slower and is much more emotional than our previous songs. The outro of this song is introduced by the solo which was inspired by the solo of Nowhere Man by The Beatles and suddenly goes into this huge outro which has hints of Snow Patrol behind the inspiration (for me personally anyway).

Fisher: I think I’ll speak for the rest of the band here, but one of our unreleased tunes called ‘Be Mine’ has to be one of if not my absolute favourite of the songs we’ve written so far. It’s kind of different for us but it’s got just a great indie-pop vibe, with some synths, really powerful guitar and an all-round energy about it and I can’t wait for folk to hear it. Stay tuned next year for that one...

Collins: The two new Katuns singles – I’ve really enjoy the varied sounds we’re coming up with; it’s a new era for rock ‘n’ roll.
 

ENVY – What tune/chorus/verse/solo/lyric do you wish you had written?

Frame: I wish I had written many songs and look at them for inspiration as an alternative, but I really wish I wrote Another One Bites the Dust as it’s just a genius repeating song and riff which is so simple, and infectious like all the other queen songs. I also wish I could sing it as well.

Milne: Berlin by Bears Den, this song always gets me through it. When I’ve had days that I’ve not been myself, Berlin has this power to make me cry. I want to write a song that has that power, to remind me of the memories and tell stories in such a beautiful manner that makes someone who’s listening to it want to cry through every moment. It’s one of my top 5 songs.

Fisher: The opening lyric to The Lathums’ single This Place O’ Yours. It’s in Spanish first of all which I admire as it’s quite a hard thing to incorporate a foreign language into your lyrics, so I respect their frontman, Alex, for that. Secondly, it was around the time I met my current girlfriend who happens to speak a bit of Spanish, so it just constantly reminds me of her. I think it translates to “Take me to this place of yours, to the place you call affinity” which is also a very admirable lyric.

Collins: Queen or MJ: I would’ve loved to have been a part of all the music written by both these geniuses – it set a standard for a groove.
 

LISTEN: The Katuns on Spotify