After releasing their debut album last month, indie band Sundara Karma performed to a packed-out 02 Academy Leicester on Monday 20th January, following the news that their ‘Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect’ tour has now completely sold out.
The first support act on was Palm Honey, a four-piece psychedelic indie band. They played great with fuzz-fuelled pedal pieces such as “You Stole My Blackout”. Their guitar riffs were mesmerising, and got the audience grooving along to them.
Will Joseph Cook, the second support of the night, had a beautiful voice that worked well with the alternative/indie style of music. He performed songs from his debut album (out in April) ‘Sweet Dreamer’, such as “Take me Dancing” and “Girls like me”, which were favourites of the crowd. His feel-good music got the crowd energised and pumped up for the main act.
The crowd packed in tighter than sardines as Oscar, Dom, Ally and Haydn walked onto the stage. In almost Sahara-desert-like heat, the band rocked the ceiling off with hits like “She Said”, “Flame” and “A Young Understanding”.
Oscar’s voice was beautifully captivating, as was the upbeat music he sang along to. With the band occasionally wafting away balloons that came on stage, they danced whilst they played, which really showed how passionate they are.
Before the gig, I interviewed them on festivals, tours, memorable moments and their favourite food. This year alone, the band are headlining 100 Above, Dot to Dot festival, whilst also making appearances at Blissfields, Best Kept Secret festival, Truck festival, and Barn on the Farm. After these, the band isn’t up to much for the rest of the year – “It’s just the festivals this year, and lots of holidays. Probably Majorca for a little bit, or Ibiza,” says Oscar. “We would love to play Glastonbury again; we played last year, but I feel like we messed up with logistics and timing. This year, hopefully we will live our dreams.”
Sundara Karma Taken by Lauren Raybould
The guys rose to fame at just 18; when asked if they were to go to university if things were different, Oscar replied with, “No I was really happy to leave school, to leave education. There was never really anything else for us to do. Like when we were at school, we were still doing this band and it was always the plan for us – and school was just getting in the way big time. Luckily, we got a record deal early on so we didn’t have to do any part time jobs.”
The tour they’re currently on – Youth Is Only Ever Fun In Retrospect – has now completely sold out; Oscar commented on how that feels by saying: “I do feel detached slightly. It definitely feels and looks a lot more impressive on paper.
“When we finish the tour, I think then we can look back at it and think – Jesus that was quite big.”
Currently, the band is listening to Lemon Trees, and Nick Drake; Oscar said he was “going through a big Nick Drake phase” as well as listening to Mort Garson’s album “Plantasia” – an album released in the 1970s, which helped plants to grow.
The next cities on Sundara Karma’s tour are Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham.
