Sour Tongue Talk New EP, Single And More

Jul 26, 2025 | Interviews

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By Red Sand PR

The Los Angeles-based punk band Sour Tongue was formed in the early days of the 2020 pandemic by Satori Marill and John Murphy, the mission of the alternative rock, grunge and riot grrrl influenced quintet remaining the same ever since their inception: “when it stops being fun, we’ll end it.” As they gear up for their ‘Final Girl’ EP release on 15th August 2025 0n Metropolis Records, Satori Marill chatted to JLTT:

Who is in Sour Tongue, how did you meet and what do you play?

Sour Tongue has five members-Satori Marill (vocals), John Murphy (bass), Mars Horner (guitar), Stamati Arakas (drums), and Van Ham (guitar)

I first met John Murphy at the Til-Two Club in San Diego circa 2019 while we were playing in different bands. It wasn’t until nearly a year later that we met up and began messing around with some song ideas for fun after I parted ways with my old project. We wanted an outlet to do the goofy stuff we normally wouldn’t write without any genre limitations. We went through a few different lineup variations before landing on Stamati Arakas, Mars Horner, and recently Van Ham as permanent members of the band.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Much to my extremely goth mother’s chagrin, I was a huge fan of Limp Bizkit as a child. I fancied myself a deep, somewhat morose kid, and I remember standing in the corner of my kindergarten’s schoolyard singing to myself “nobody knows what it’s like-to be the bad man, to be the sad man-behind blue eyes”. I didn’t even know that song was a cover of The Who for another ten years, I just thought Fred Durst had a soft moment.

When did you begin songwriting?

I began songwriting in 2012 when I was fourteen after I gave up playing the cello and thought my abilities would immediately transfer to guitar. They did not, but I stuck to it. I don’t think you need to be the best at every instrument, but I find that having an understanding of the things you don’t play that well can still help you compose songs.

You have your new EP ‘Final Girl’ is released on 15th August 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the album?

John and I began writing this album in an extremely distressful time of our lives. A month before we left to tour with KMFDM, I watched my mom die, followed by John and I breaking things off with our best friend of several years. At times it felt like we were living out a horror movie. You know those flicks where the girl finally escapes the killer and tries to tell a passerby what happened, only to be disregarded and driven right back into the killer’s hands? That’s how we felt in the wake of it all. But we also thought there was a certain strength in owning the trope. We wanted this EP to play out in chronological order of the events that inspired the EP, and we decided to name the first three songs in honor of horror/thriller films that carried some of the themes of the tracks. In the past we’ve recorded almost everything in our apartment, and truthfully we mainly sprung for a studio because I hate having to record in 100° heat without being able to run the AC cause it’s too loud.

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?

It was recorded at LMNL Studios in LA and produced by Jack Endino from Seattle. Nirvana’s “Bleach” was a really consequential album for me growing up and I always dreamt of having Jack work on an album of mine someday, so to get him on this one has been beyond cool!

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

We had to complete recording on the album during the Palisade fires which were on the other side of the hills from the studio. As you can imagine, vocal takes with asthma+a healthy dose of smoke inhalation does wonders for the voice.

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

We used an older Seinheiser model because I didn’t want a super clean tone on the vocals. As for instrumentals, Mars used about a thousand different pedals. The guy is kind of a wizard when it comes to creating really interesting and dynamic guitar tones. We mic’d every piece of Stamati’s kit because he’s a really skilled drummer and we wanted to make sure we could tweak the pieces individually for a more controlled sound.

Which of your new EP tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

Happiest? I would maybe say “I Thought You Liked Me” but only for the manic nature of it. As for angriest and most reflective, those both point to “The Disappointer”, it’s a song about betrayal and trying to rationalize inherent evil.

Was it a difficult EP to write?

I think it was the easiest to write. Everyone in the band is super driven, and has insane work ethic. These guys play in a way that genuinely gives me goosebumps, and I couldn’t ask for better musicians to work with. This album had some difficulties along the way, but it never felt draining. I’m very grateful to everyone who helped us bring it to life.

Who designed the EP artwork?

Aside from the single covers for “A Mile in Clown Shoes”, and “Y’Know”, I’ve designed all of our album art. The cover for “Final Girl” was photographed by Silvia Cardullo and edited by me.

One of the tracks is the single ‘I Thought You Liked Me!’ What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

I had these lyrics sitting in songwriting limbo for years. It’s kinda Frankenstein-ed together from a song I never wound up putting instrumentals to, and one I wrote to tell my boyfriend at the time that I knew he was cheating on me-which coincidentally enough I debuted at the show where I met John. I’ve always had a flair for the dramatics, so I thought it would be funny to make this guy drive me three hours to a show just so I could confront him on stage. Unfortunately, I did not think far enough ahead to realize that it would also be a pretty uncomfortable three hour car ride back.

Do you have any visualisers to accompany the EP?

We just wrapped filming a few music videos last night that we should have ready in time for the release of the EP!

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

Hmm five words? Well I’m from Seattle, so- passive aggressive, fishy, cloudy, artsy.

How do you look after your voice?

I drink tea with honey and do my warmups, and I try to limit my nicotine intake to the occasional social cig.

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2025/2026?

Unfortunately not, but we’d love to go. We’ll play almost anywhere for gas money and a drink ticket.

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

I hope to push people to express their emotions. I think in this era of internet therapy speak, a lot of people feel like they need to be calculated and nonchalant about everything, but I’m a very loud mouthed gal. I say what I feel, I scream and I cry, and I think more people need to vent. Most importantly, we just want people to have fun. We love to see people dancing to our absurd riffs, even if they think we’re goofy, it’s better than taking yourself too seriously.

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

I love my hot pink Telefunken m80. It packs a great sound and it doesn’t peak when I scream, which is important when you scream a lot. Mars rocks a digitech whammy, strymon el capistan tape delay, jhs artificial blonde vibrato pedal, and his jazzmaster. John’s a simple guy, he’s a big fan of the rat pedal.

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

If graphic novels are allowed, I would have to say Junji Ito’s “Tomie”. It’s a manga about an evil girl that dies over and over again and wreaks havoc everywhere she goes. I think her story is really dark and nonsensical, which fits our music.

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

We take influence from everything ranging from the Butthole Surfers to Klaatu. I think the best way to improve your songwriting is to listen to a bit of everything, because you’ll never come up with anything new when you only listen to the genres you work in. I’d say our music has a heavy undertone of grunge a lot of the time, but I also love throwing in some random influences like disco and country. I recommend listening to an album in a genre you’ve never listened to before and see how it inspires you. Every summer I find myself going back to Masayoshi Takanaka’s album “Brasilian Skies”, which has super rich percussion and funky guitar riffs that make me want to write something dancy!

What makes Sour Tongue happy and what makes you unhappy?

What makes us happy is making music! We’ve always said “when it stops being fun, we’ll end it”, and so far we’ve only enjoyed keeping this project going on more and more as we’ve continued. What makes us unhappy is killjoys. To us, music is about fun-even if the songs are depressing. There’s nothing worse than working with someone who never has a positive thing to say, which is why we like working with fellow goofballs. If everything is always serious, then when will you find time to enjoy yourself?