North western collective Working Men’s Club are gearing up for their performance at NBHD Weekender on Sunday 24th May! After an incredibly successful 2019, we caught up with them to find out what else they’ve been up to, as well as their new album…

You’ve sold out three shows at YES, now Gorilla, how’s the last 6 months been?

Yeah, it’s been really good, it’s been nice that we’ve got a good crowd in Manchester and I guess across the North now. I think those YES shows were quite a big deal, I didn’t personally think we’d sell one of them out, so it was crazy that we sold all 3 out, and we’re now at Gorilla. We weren’t even headlining The Castle Hotel a year ago, so, it’s gone quickly, it’s nice that we’re here.

You went on sale with YES (The Basement) show first. how quickly was it before someone said we need to do a Pink Room show, and add a second Pink Room, to form the 3-date residency.

I think our label had put it all in place to see how The Basement one did and then put another one on sale, and then another one on sale. But I said to them I don’t think we’ll sell out The Basement so, the fact we sold all three out was a big deal. We’ll see. The label seem to have it in place so…

I noticed throughout the YES shows, by the third one, you’d stepped up the production side of things, using lighting to control the atmosphere.

After we finished the record, we’ve tried to improve the show. We’ve got better lights and visuals, better gear, bringing in new songs, we’ve tried to step it all up a level so by the time the albums out it will sound as good as it does on record. People haven’t heard the record yet, so it’s a good time to try things before it comes out.

One of my favourite parts of the show was when you get the cowbell out and just go ham on it! When did you first pick one up?

I actually used to have a sampler that I’ve gone back to, but it broke on a Fat White Family tour we did last year. My dad came to this gig in Glasgow and I asked him to bring me a cowbell because I didn’t have time. He did, and that’s how the cowbell came about.

And you announced the other day that the album is coming, so can you tell us any more about that?

So, we’ve recorded it and it should be out at the start of summer. We’ll see what people think of it !

I’ve noticed with all the singles, they’re all very different. With new bands, you get people trying to compare them with more established bands but its quite hard to pinpoint you… I feel like you do that on purpose with throwing a new style out there.

Yeah, it’s to surprise people I think, to confuse them again, this is why I’ve not said much about the album or leaked any other stuff through live videos because we just want people to hear it when it’s out! Get the grasp of it when it’s there. It’s all pretty different anyway so the whole album will be pretty diverse.

You’ve got a few festivals lined up. What’s your favourite part about festivals apart from playing the shows?

It’s not just our gig, so the pressure is off! If people don’t like it, they can f**k off [laughs], they can go and watch something else, they’ve not spent 100 quid watching one band. And you get to play with different bands, meet new people and get your face out in front of people who might not have necessarily seen you before. Plus, it’s summer, so, the suns out and you’re not inside a dark room.

And for people who haven’t seen you before, can you sum up your live show for us?

Pretty rapid and intense. Yeah, I doubt you’ll be smiling, that’s what I’d say [laughs].