The Larches Talk Double A-Side Single, Favourite Instruments And More

Nov 12, 2025 | Interviews

Words by Glenn Sargeant

Feature Image Photo Credit: Supplied By San PR

North East heavyweights, The Larches, plant a prominent marker with the release of their explosive new double A-Side ‘Ego Death’ and ‘The Skin I Live In’, out now. We caught up with the band here:

Who is in The Larches, how did you meet and what do you play?

We are The Larches, Noah (Vocals) Joel (Rhythm Guitar) Sonny (Lead Guitar & Vocals) Alfie (Bass Guitar) and George (Drums) we are an alt/ sludge metal band from the Northeast of England and we are passionate about taking our new ‘fat’ and ‘heavy’ sound everywhere we go. George and Alfie have known each other for years and they have both known Sonny for some time through the local scene. We all met up a few years ago at Gig School that took place during the school holidays at Middlesbrough Town Hall. We officially started playing as a five piece in early 2023, playing indie style songs with influence from bands like the Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes.

The 5 piece released their first single ‘You Don’t Care’ in October of 2023. Going onto then release an EP In February 2024, we then branched out into a little bit more of a heavier style. From there, we have developed our sound and style playing countless gigs all around the North of the UK and really cementing their name into the roots of the local music scene. We went onto release our single Equilibrium in June 2025 followed by Ego Death & The Skin I live in on the 17^thOctober. We feel this is our best work to date and gives you a clear indication of the direction in which the band is heading with influences from the likes of as Acid Bath, Eyehategod & Deftones.

What is your earliest musical memory?

Sonny- I grew up around music in the house, Parents and Grandparent all played and the house was full of guitars and things that made a noise so to a kid it was all there for me to make a racket that then turned into a racket with melody.

Joel- My Dad listening to Pixies and Led Zep on the nursery runs, he played guitar and that became my hobby growing up. I now play his Les Paul at gigs.

George- Hearing the Beatles at my grandparent’s house when I was a kid made me want to play instruments, so it just went from there.

Alfie- Learning to play my first stringed instrument when I was like 12 my Grandad had an old Mandolin.

Noah- Going to a Panto at Christmas as a child got me into music, I was enchanted by the different components and vocal techniques used. From an early age I have been involved in shows and plays expanding my love for music. Its crazy how my musical scope has changed over the years to what it is now.

When did you begin songwriting?

We have all being trying to write songs since we first picked up our instruments, little ditty’s here and there with not much content or thought put into it. Then as a band, we didn’t have much of a shared goal in terms of sound and image, as individually we all wanted different things. But with the recent acquisition of Sonny on lead guitar, it has helped us align our vision regarding our sound as we have become so much more passionate as a united band rather than 5 individuals.

Now, we try to make our music more unique, and to the quality of what we would like to listen to; not just in our blend of sludge, hardcore, groove and melody, (taking inspiration from bands such as Acid Bath, Eyehategod, Mastodon and Deftones) but also in terms of writing the songs themselves. We have moved away from the ‘verse, chorus, bridge’ etc. shtick, rather focusing on the riffs themselves and how they can combine and blend together to make the best possible song we can. Penultimately, it is also much more of a collaborative effort. It used to be a single person writing songs with little input from the rest of the band, maybe just alternating their own parts but not necessarily the song as a whole. Sonny and I (and Noah a fair amount of the time) with gather in his basement to jam a couple riffs we have until something clicks, then write from there.

Without the ‘verse, chorus’ labels, it gives us a lot more freedom to write more unique and intricate assemblies rather than being restrained by conforming to a specific structure. And of course, Joel and Alfie will add a significant amount (at the very least spicing up what they’re playing) when we bring it to practise. Finally, the lyrical process is a fair bit different. Most lyrics before this recent ‘revitalisation’ if you will, were written by me, and whilst they were passable as narrative stories with true meaning, they weren’t anything truly special in terms of lyricism and poetry. With Sonny’s background and interest in the writings of Jim Morrison and Dax Riggs (who we all adore) he has been a vital part of writing lyrics, working with Noah many times as they have both injected so much passion and creativity into the songwriting process.

You have your new double A-side ‘Ego Death’ and ‘The Skin I Live In’ out now. What is the story/inspiration behind the tracks?

a) Ego Death:

Ego Death is about a dependency on psychedelic drugs; how sober life isn’t satisfying for the character as there’s no real purpose in ‘normal life’ for him. When the character in ego death partakes in these substances, he finds meaning in life and all his perceptions, emotions and feelings towards living change. He is in an endless cycle of loathing living (sober) and loving living (under the influence). Much like taking a psychedelic, playing Ego Death sends us to a place in my mind where we feel purpose, beauty and visceral emotions through our band’s music.

The Skin I Live In:

The Skin I Live In is about putting yourself in the body and mind of someone who is burdened by the prejudices and unfair ways of society. It is packed full of all kinds of emotions that are vividly expressed when played live. As a band we really get into The Skin I Live In whether we play it live or at practice; no matter the mood we are in, we know how to convey the themes perfectly through performance.

Where did you record the singles and who produced them?

We recorded the singles at the Studio in Hartlepool, and they were produced by Mark Folland (Foll Recording and Production) We love working with Mark he has a nice, chilled approach that allows us the freedom to just do our thing.

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

At the start of Ego Death there is a laugh and we don’t know where it came from so, we left it in the mix.

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

Mark has all the gear in terms of recording we just rock up with our instruments and amps then plug in and play, Guitar Sound is always through an old, battered Marshall JCM 900 Cab

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

Every song makes us feel all emotions to an extent and the tracks resonate differently for each member of the band. Drought makes Noah happy but George angry for example, Skin I Live In makes us angry probably because of the way we play it live we put everything into that tune, and Equilibrium makes us reflective but for the wrong reasons.

Were they difficult songs to write?

Initially, Joel and George had a bit of a writing session for Ego Death just as something to do in the day and we were experimenting with heavier expressions in the fret work and I remember writing the main riff and taking a lot of inspiration from “Dr Soose Is Dead” by Acid Bath as it featured the open drop power chord into the first fret, I wanted this sound but in a more gradual momentum so decided to cobble together a main riff after tuning to drop C, the rest was cooked up at practise as when we were refining this song our new guitarist Sonny Evans came along and innovated on it to eventually create the complete song, for the skin I live in, it was a proposal from George to integrate it into our practises, these all get further worked on whilst we’re all in the room together as that encourages a trial and error approach to getting structures down.

As far as in studio producing goes the only thing I can think of is the guitar solo from Sonny in “The Skin I Live In” as this was improvised in only 2 takes as we left a few bars open to introduce a solo if we felt necessary, as far as external producers go, we never really make inputs based on producers and only ever really make our own decisions in regards to our music’s structure.

Who designed the single artwork?

A Friend from College who is studying Art her name is Holly Morris and we love the single cover, the dogs head has quickly become our logo and is already on the back of our T-Shirts.

Do the single titles have any significance/special meaning?

Ego Death is based on the phrase “complete loss of subjective self-identity”.

The Skin I Live In – took the name from the 2011 Spanish psychological thriller starring Antonio Banderes that George watched and then the song was born.

‘Ego Death’ is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

The lyric video was created by Poppy Richardson, we just sent her the lyrics and the theme, we wanted it dark and gritty, and she absolutely nailed it. We love the way it has turned out.

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

Middlesbrough

Pretty -S***** -Wannabe- City- Parmo –

How do you look after your voices?

Noah– Staying with the range of my ability, water and healthy foods. Most important is the Mama Mia vocal warm up.

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

We will be trying to hook up with some promoters to hopefully get onto the festival circuit in 2026.

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

a) Music that we can be proud of, has a legacy and stands the test of time.

b) To leave a few scars on the scene and influence kids to keep picking up instruments and playing live music

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

Sonny Lead Guitar uses a Gibson SG through a EVH 5150 & JCM 900 Cab cranked on the overdrive with not much in terms of pedals,
Joel Rhythm Guitar uses a Gibson Les Paul with a Bigsby, pedal wise he uses a DigiTech bad monkey and a big muff for a bit of crunch and Mariner tremolo and Fender vintage 64 reverb for the gentler phrases of the tracks.

Alfie Bass guitar, loves the Bass Big Muff, dirty as F

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?

1984 by George Orwell is relevant, chilling dystopia, the Ministry of Truth, War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength.

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

Bands like Acid Bath, Deftones and Eyehategod are now clear influences on the band, and you can hear this coming through on our latest material.

What makes The Larches happy and what makes you unhappy?

a) Happy– making music and performing with each other we have got a great work ethic at the moment and are in a real purple patch for creativity and we are all getting on. Also the response we get from the crowd at our gigs our fans are game as toast, and we love them.

b) Unhappy– when we have an unproductive practice and nothing sticks, this can be frustration.