A Conversation

With

Tors

In music, one song can change everything. Indie-pop trio Tors have been on the cusp of achieving a major breakthrough for some time now, but the phenomenal fan reaction to teasers for their new single “Anything Can Happen” has reached another level. Clips of the trio performing the song with their sumptuous, organic vocal harmonies have received over 4 million views in just three videos, with social media sensation Elyse Meyers, Meghan Trainer, Melissa McCarthy and singer-songwriter Ber (‘Meant To Be’, ‘I’m Not In Love’) leading the names who have already praised the song.

The single is accompanied by the release of their debut 6-track EP of the same title and shows that there’s still much more to come from Tors. NSGs Billy Vitch had a chat with the boys about their lives, music and career to date.

BV: Good morning and how are you? What have you been doing today and how’s that going?

Tors: Good morning! We’re very well thank you, celebrating three days of “Anything Can Happen” being out in the world! We’ve just got into the studio and made some coffee ready to record some new music. So far so good but check in with us after a few hours! 

BV: So who are Tors? And how did the band come to be?

Tors: We are Tors and Tors are we! We are two brothers (Matt and Theo) and their tall friend (Jack) and we play songs together for what some people would call a living. We formed a good few years ago now after Matt and I (Theo) began writing music for other artists and decided it was about time to do something of our own, we met Jack at the gift shop of a local ‘Witch museum‘ and the rest is history, a history that literally no one is aware of but history nonetheless. 

BV: What’s in the name? Tors?

Tors: We grew up in Devon spending our weekends clambering around a national park called Dartmoor; littered across the landscape there are these enormous, ancient stone structures called ‘Tors‘ so it only felt fitting that we took the name for ourselves, given how old and granite-like in appearance we are. 

BV: Your new single “Anything Can Happen” is such an uplifting song, the harmonies and instrumentals are sublime. I think it’s a really relatable song! Wanna tell us a bit more about it?

Tors: Thanks so much that’s very kind! We’d hoped that people might relate to it even though it’s an intensely personal song. It’s all about our ongoing struggles and experiences with depression and a reminder to celebrate every small step and victory on the road to recovery, no matter how insignificant it might seem at the time. “Don’t feel guilty about taking time for yourself when you really need it”. 

BV: You Grew up in Devon right? What was the local music scene like there, growing up?

Tors: We grew up in the era of thin ties, pointy shoes and a pale, white boy indie band on every street corner so there was actually a thriving music scene at the time. We used to spend our evenings at the NME club in a venue called ‘The Hub‘ before both of those institutions were torn asunder. We’d see bands like Cage the Elephant, The Mystery Jets, Razorlight etc before they blew up so we felt quite privileged to be a part of that scene. 

BV: If you had not been musicians, what other occupations do you think you’d have chosen to do?

Tors: Matt would have been a door-to-door ‘door salesman‘, travelling the country and selling doors to people who already have doors. Theo would have been a horse whisperer but would only whisper insider trading secrets, ultimately useless to the horse in question but valuable intel nonetheless. Jack would have lived out his days in the ‘Witch museum‘ gift shop, it’s often the last place he remembers being “truly content, on account of all the witch memorabilia and the free hot chocolate”. 

(Tors)

BV: We hear that Matt and Theo’s grandfather was a famous guitarist wasn’t he? Would you like to tell us about him and his contribution to British music history?

Tors: He was indeed, he actually wrote the first ever teach-yourself guitar book called ‘Bert Weedon’s Play In A Day‘– it’s the book that The Beatles, Eric Clapton and Brian May learnt from. To us though he was just Grandad and we’d spend hours in his house obsessing over his beautiful guitar collection and playing music with him. 

BV: So your band consists of three members, Matt Weedon, Theo Weedon and Jack Bowden, with Matt and Theo being brothers. What’s it like being in a band with your brother and do you get on well? No Gallagher-style feuds to report yet? lol

Tors: We actually get on alarmingly well, one day it’ll probably all blow up in a Vimto and Dairylea fuelled rage but for now, it’s fairly harmonious. There’s definitely an unspoken connection between us that means we end up agreeing on most things and musically our instinct are well-matched. Jack just has to deal with us on a day-to-day basis and that’s his own cross to bear. 

BV: The UK is not in the best shape of late is it? I mean politically we’re in a right mess. What do you think some of the fundamental problems are and do you have a solution?

Tors: Wow that’s a big question. I think the arts are always criminally underfunded in this country despite the unfathomable artistic output and foothold we have creatively in the world in general. But that’s a very personal standpoint – beyond that we couldn’t really pass judgement, we’re in a band and that’s about all we know sadly, saving the country is a little beyond our remit. 

BV: If you could sit down for dinner with any three people from history, past or present who would they be and why?

Tors: Derek Akorah – to ask if ghosts are real after all.  Ainsley Harriott – because obviously. Geoffrey Chaucer – just to watch him have a panic attack at the modern world, I’d give him an iPad, send him out into a laser quest and watch his little, medieval life fall apart.

BV: Your UK tour kicks off in March and one of your dates is Liverpool. We are a Liverpool-based publication, so we wanted to ask what do you like most about our city and its people, and what are you most looking forward to about the tour as a whole.

Tors: This sounds terrible but we’ve never actually played Liverpool! We hear it has buildings and food so we’re very excited about it! Honestly though travelling around and playing music feels like the biggest blessing ever and we really can’t wait to explore the city itself and soak in some of what makes Liverpool great. In terms of the tour in general we get the most pumped about playing music and connecting with people, that’s what it’s all about. 

BV: What is the rest of 2023 looking like for you and what are you most looking forward to?

Tors: It’s looking unnervingly busy, there’s not actually a lot we’re allowed to talk about yet but rest assured everyone is gonna be sick of our faces by 2024. 

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