Liverpool band Red Rum Club head to Mash for second Cambridge visit

When the Cambridge Independent caught up with Liverpool band Red Rum Club, they were in a freezing rehearsal space by the docks in their home city. “We just went out and bought some heaters to keep ourselves warm!” says guitarist and backing vocalist Michael McDermott.

The group formed in 2016 – though some of the members have known each other since primary school. Joining Michael in the lineup are lead singer Francis Doran, guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Williams – who is Francis’ cousin – along with bass player Simon Hepworth, Neil Lawson on drums and Joe Corby on trumpet.

Michael, who describes himself as the band’s mum – “the one who looks after everyone” – confirms that the sextet’s upcoming show at Mash in Cambridge on November 17 will be their first public gig in the city, but their second time performing here.

“We’ve only been to Cambridge once before,” he recalls, “we played the Wolfson College May Ball, and we had obviously no idea what to expect. It’s not often that we do like a private function of that nature... It was on the college campus and they’d hired a big stage and a festival tent.

“It looked great and we were really excited to be there, and then we found out it was a free bar. So we had a really good party; I think I was out until about five in the morning with some of the students.

“So if this time around is anything like last time, then it’ll be a massive party – and hopefully we’ll see a few familiar faces from our first time as well, but we’re going to treat it like we do all the other shows on the tour: we try and make a party of it. We want the gigs to be what somebody’s looking forward to all week or all month.”

They’ve certainly gained some fans, including This Is England actor Thomas Turgoose. “Turgoose did that video and he didn’t ask us for a penny,” says Michael, of the video for Vanilla. “He came and did that just as a favour to the lads, which was incredible really when you consider his status and his schedule and everything.”

The 29-year-old continues: “We met Tom at the Tramlines Festival in Sheffield a couple of years ago, and we just kind of kept in touch. We got along really well with him – I think because the six of us in the band we formed a human shield around him from people coming and asking for photographs. So he appreciated that and he’s a good friend of the band now.”

Michael and his bandmates recently returned from their second North American tour this year. “We went over in March and we played the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas,” he says, “and then we went out with a band called The Lathums, from Wigan, closer to our neck of the woods.

“They’re a really great band and lovely fellas, so they had us out supporting them on their first North American tour, and it went really well for us. We picked up a booking agent over in the US and we had a really great reception.

“So as a result, we got our first headline North American tour through September, October, so we’ve been busy boys over there for the past few weeks.”

How to Steal the World, Red Rum Club’s most recent album – which includes the stunning single Vibrate (their favourite song to perform live) – came out in 2021. Have the boys started work on a follow-up? “We like to constantly try to be writing and creating and churning out new songs,” replies Michael.

“It’s difficult when you’re writing these songs to kind of close the door mentally to what they’re going to be, because when you write a song you should be trying to write a song as like a standalone piece of music that’s going to be the best it can possibly be, as an individual song.

“But we think, ‘Are we writing an album here? Is this a concept album? What’s the identity of it? How does it all work? What are we going to do with releases? Are we going to release singles or albums, or what kind of deal are we going to get?’

“We released How to Steal the World and then we’re up for a new record deal. So it depends what kind of concept somebody out there wants us to release new music in, but we’re certainly creating the music at the moment.

“As I say, we’ve moved into this kind of big abandoned warehouse and we treat it as our headquarters now, if you will. We’re constantly here, whenever we’re home, writing new songs and demoing and rehearsing and all of that kind of thing.”

[Read more: Up-and-coming band The Lathums to appear in Cambridge next month, The Lathums knock Drake off top spot in UK album charts]

Red Rum Club have just released a new single called The River. Hear the song and more when the band come to Mash, in Market Passage, Cambridge, this Thursday (November 17). Tickets are £12 in advance and also on the bill are Scottish singer Rianne Downey and Holdfast, an alternative rock band from Denver, Colorado.

Visit mashcambridge.com for tickets. And for more on the band, go to redrumclub.com.