Gans discuss their new album, touring With Pixies, how to break a crowd and shouting swear words and unintelligible lyrics in a Tommy Shelby accent!
Gans formed in 2023 but are already making waves following a fine debut album, notoriously lively headline shows and a series of high profile support slots with various music legends. The alternative electro-post-punk band are fully worthy of your time, your listening ears and absolutely have to be experienced live – preferably from the middle of their very active mosh pits!
Reading Indie Life: Are Gans the hardest working band in the UK?
Thomas: I’d say absolutely. We’ve had no weeks off in about two and a half years now.
How many gigs did you do in 2025?
Thomas: 156.
And how many are you expecting to do this year?
Thomas: 127.
Is that sustainable in the long term? Can you carry on at that pace?
Thomas: No. Look, we’re happy this morning. We’ve got a Tour Manager now. In April this year, we finally got someone who organised our tours and drives us, because before that we were doing it all in our Passat. And there was one instance where we nearly crashed into a very long trailer, just a few of us coming back from, we were going from Bordeaux to Brighton in a day, and that was the time that we knew it probably wasn’t sustainable. But now we’ve got a driver, it’s rock’n’roll man, we barely do anything really.
Euan: And it’s much better than just being sat at home, isn’t it? So, you know, like you’re constantly going out, meeting new people, seeing everybody’s reaction and shit like that. It’s wicked, man. And I’m just thinking, I mean, you’re like twenty-six, ain’t ya?
Thomas: I’m getting old.
Euan: You’ve got to do it while you’re young and before…
Thomas: While our bodies can take it.
Euan: Yeah, before we’ve got fucking, I don’t know, actual responsibilities to get back to, ain’t it?
Is there a GANS workout schedule? Do you get in the gym?
Thomas: Well, we get arm ache a lot from drinking pints. To be fair, we’ve started stretching now, so that’s new. There is a skipping rope in the van, but it gets used once every six weeks, by me, when I decide I’m getting fat. That’s about it. I’ve stopped drinking, which helped for a bit.
Euan: Yeah, and we also, like, when we’re on tour, have you ever heard of Nuffield Gym Spa and Sauna? Just make up a new e-mail address, give it to them, and then you get a free day.
Thomas: Yeah.
Euan: Like, normally when we’re on tour, just basically seeing if we can stop by one to go into the sauna.
Thomas: Burner emails.
Euan: I mean, you feel all the shit that you’ve consumed within the past fucking six weeks, just come flying out of you when you’re sat there, opposite some poor guy.
Thomas: Trying to chill out.
Euan: Yeah, in his towel.
You guys bring huge intensity when you’re playing, whether it is to thousands of people, or fifty people on a wet Tuesday evening. If you’re not feeling it, what do you do? How do you get into that Gans mindset?
Thomas: The true answer is we’re never not feeling it. We’re always in the mood. To be fair it hasn’t hit us yet. We haven’t hit the rockstar moment yet. Honestly, though, the gratitude carries us a lot. I’m not joking, that was trying to be funny, but the only thing is tiredness. Our mood is always like, we have such a good crew and we’re just travelling around with our best mates having a laugh. Fifty people, ten thousand people, doesn’t make a fucking difference to us.
Euan: It’s the same point whether it’s fifty, or like a thousand people, you know what I mean? Like those 50 people have still spent their hard-earned money in order to come and watch us. So, you want to just, as Tom said, it’s like the gratitude of just fucking actually being able to sit and see these people that have come to, you know, like they’ve put their time and money into coming to see you. And we appreciate that more than words can express, I think.
“sometimes you show it in London shows or stuff, and they think you’re being questionable, or morally wrong.”
You usually have the Black Country flag on stage with you. Why is it so important for you to represent that?
Thomas: It’s such an under-represented area. A lot of, especially anywhere south of Watford, hasn’t got a clue that the Black Country is even a place. Like sometimes you show it in London shows or stuff, and they think you’re being questionable, or morally wrong.
Euan: Racist.
Thomas: Yeah, or racist, yeah. They think you’re being racist. Obviously, you know, it’s an area that we’re like born and grown in, like, you know, our grandfathers, our great grandfathers and our heritage comes from this place that’s like working class, and been hard done by politically in the world, as most of the UK has. So, we’re just so happy to kind of like represent that around. Also, there’s a bunch of greats that have come from the Black Country. Robert Plant is from Stourbridge, and then we have Ned’s (Atomic Dustbin), Pop Will Eat Itself, all of the 90s era. But then since then there hasn’t been so much, you know, like we have Judas Priest as well and stuff, so it’s something that we’re determined to pump back into the world to understand that, like, it’s there are beautiful people, you know. Like it makes us who we are, so we’re just determined to show that to the world, and we’ve had some amazing moments. It’s so nice to go home. We’re now chatting to the mayor all the time. He absolutely loves us, man. He’s Pete Lowe, what a legend.
“I wanted to be a paramedic before I discovered music”
How did you both get into music?
Euan: Well, I’ve always – my mom and dad were always really interested in music and stuff like that. They used to take me to gigs all the time when I was younger. That’s just what they spent all their money on. And my granddad was a musician, he was a drummer in loads of different bands. So it’s always funny, like looking back and seeing photos and videos of him drumming and whatever. And then we’ve, I don’t know, like, I originally started learning to play the drums because my brother played guitar. Me and him used to sit and listen to records all the time and stuff so then I was like, “Well I want to play an instrument but he already plays guitar so I’m not gonna do that,” and then my granddad was a drummer so I got into it. I learnt to play drums and absolutely loved it. I was gonna like, I wanted to be a paramedic before I discovered music, I wanted to be a doctor and stuff like that. I dunno how that…
Thomas: Imagine that, fucking hell… Jesus… I had no mates at school, so basically just spent all my lunch times in the music area on my own playing Arctic Monkeys licks, but it served me all right. They’re all fucking, I don’t know now, somewhere else. I still get laughed at sometimes when I’m home. I’ll be in some pub in Stourbridge. Like last Christmas, I saw this lad that I knew at school, and he was all right, whatever. And he turned around and we said, “Hello.” And then I walked down the road. It was Christmas Eve having a drink. I walked down the road, and then he shouted at me, “Oi, Tom,” and I turned around, thinking he was saying bye, and he went, “You’ll always be a div, though.” And then I carried on walking. So that kind of, yeah, that’s why I play music, because I had no mates.
At what level of success will you be able to give him the finger in the street?
Thomas: That’s a good question. I don’t know. I have a man that drives me now, so I think that dude’s like, I don’t know what he does now, to be honest. I see him driving his Beamer around town, but I’m sure that he lives in a one-bed flat, so you know, fuck you, mate, if you’re listening. You won’t be, but fuck you.
You guys have been on the road with Pixies recently. Were you big fans before they gave you the call?
Euan: Oh, completely, man. I mean, like Pixies is one of bands like, no matter who you are in modern music, you’ve either been inspired by Pixies themselves or been inspired by a band that were inspired by pixies… like Kurt Cobain always said he just wanted to be in the Pixies and when he wrote ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ obviously one of their biggest hits, he said that he was literally just trying to write a Pixies song. Just like that’s fucking amazing, you know what I mean, and they’re really lovely people as well, all of them are so sound and all the crew that they had with them everyone was so warm and welcoming and that it was a really lovely experience.
“you end up chatting to him and then all of a sudden, he just started cracking out cards and doing magic tricks”
Did you learn anything from them?
Thomas: Yes, say less on stage. They’ve just got that aura, like they’ve just got, like I had some really good chats, especially Joey (Santiago), like he’s such like a guitar nerd, the first record he recorded, Surfer Rosa, was on a Peavey Bandit Teal Stripe, and I play a Peavey Bandit Teal Stripe 1982 on stage. I don’t know, man, you could talk to them for years and they’ve just got so much wisdom. What an experience. We’re so lucky, man. So lucky.
Euan: It’s wicked as well, because Dave, David Lovering, basically, like when the Pixies all sort of went off and did other things for a bit, he became a full-time professional magician.
Thomas: True story.
Euan: You’d be sort of sat there, you know, like, you walk past and you end up chatting to him and that, and then all of a sudden, he just started cracking out cards and that and doing magic tricks and you’d be like, “Oh, this is fucking good.”
Euan: He’s got a good key trick that he does. Talks about a ghost story, like, the ghost turns the key in the door of his hotel and then he’ll hold a key at the same time that twists in his hand. Cool guys, man.
“you basically just point at someone in the crowd and start shouting at them until eventually they cave”
I’m not sure you were respecting the average age of the audience coming to these shows when you were demanding the circle pits to open up on a nightly basis.
Euan: Man, I always think it’s one of them age doesn’t apply to. I think it’s funny, whether you’re young, old… whatever, whether you’re, no matter what gender you are, like, what religion, I don’t know, whatever, like, there’s no discrimination when it comes to getting involved and stuff, and I find a lot of people, the reason why I always try and get people fucking moving is that as soon as they do, they realise they quite like it, and it opens them up. You know, in order to do it, you basically just point at someone in the crowd and start shouting at them until eventually they cave, and then the rest of them then follow.
Thomas: Yeah, once you break one, they all go, don’t they?
Euan: Exactly, And then as soon as everyone’s like sort of getting into it together, it’s straight away the atmosphere just lifts and everyone’s having so much more fun, whether they’re just watching it happen or whether they’re actually involved themselves. So, you know, they realise like, Oh no, this is okay, like this is cool. Everyone’s sort of like safe.
Thomas: We’ve noticed this recently, because people have sort of said to us, when people are sort of moshing to us, they’re smiling. It’s not like it’s an aggressive place. Like last night we did Deer Shed and because it’s a super family festival, “Everybody get your kids up on your shoulders.” And then there was like an army of like 8 year-olds on the shoulders. Some of them going mental. So that’s kind of the point.
You had a new single out recently, so what was that all about?
Thomas: ‘Do You Glow?’ That’s a good question. We’ve started working with Youth who’s in Killing Joke and he did like Urban Hymns with The Verve and he was the Orb and stuff and we know we’ve sort of delved into the world of electronics more and more, and like we went away in January to write in the Netherlands, the two of us. So we basically booked like an Airbnb in the Netherlands, set up a studio in this B&B in the snow and just locked ourselves away, getting really stoned and writing tunes for a month. And ‘Do Your Glow’ was a big part of our message and what we sort of noticed going around, especially as the world’s so divisive and shite now. It’s important that people need to be what they want to be and not what they think they should be. So ‘Do You Glow’ was a sort of way of like asking people directly do they, you know, look inward and to do the thing that you want to do. Don’t do things to appease the world, or try and be cool, or dress a certain way. Find your glow, your energy, and be that militantly. So that was a hope, love, and protest song, really.
Euan: I think a lot of that lyrically as well, when you look into it, the meaning behind the song, or what I interpret it as, it’s the idea of being dissatisfied with who you are and not being who you want to be. Yeah, like I feel like whether it’s mental health conditions or family or circumstances and stuff. A lot of people can feel dissatisfied in life and I think that a song like ‘Do You Glow’ is about like realising who you are and actually becoming that thing and choosing to be that, I think.
Is it the first single off of a new album. Is it finished? Are you still working on it?
Thomas: Yeah, like it’s unannounced, it’s not officially announced, but it’s pretty obvious that we’re going to bring out a new record, you know. I don’t think the air of mysticism is necessarily needed. Like, obviously we’re going to bring out a new record, which hasn’t been officially announced to the digital Sahara. We went away to Spain in March with Youth. We spent time at his most beautiful studio in the hills in Malaga. He cooked for us, cleaned for us, and produced us for a whole month and vibed us. And, you know, that’s all to come now, which is so exciting. It’s scary for us, like we’re on our second record. There’s a second album syndrome, and things are building all the time and they’re so intense. So it’s quite, we’re in quite a transitional period, but we’re loving every second. But no, there is lots of music coming, obviously.
Before Christmas or after Christmas?
Thomas: I’ve got to keep some mysticism! What are you trying to do? We don’t do the scoop for free, mate. We’ll send you our PayPal.
So how did the experience of making that one compare to the debut album?
Thomas: Back then we’d only been doing this job, like we weren’t even full-time then, and the first album was like, if we don’t ever get another record, we’re going to throw the kitchen sink at it. And the first one was created in a week, we wrote it in a week, and then recorded it with Ross (Orton) in two weeks, you know, in like an industrial estate in Sheffield, whereas this time we’ve now been doing it for 12 months. We went to the Netherlands to write it, and then we went and recorded it in Spain. It’s like it’s a whole different prospect, it’s a whole different one, new instruments, new people, new vibes, more experience. We’re different people now.
Euan: The first record is almost like, imagine you’re sat in a really crowded restaurant, the first record is basically standing up and going, “Everybody shut the fuck up and listen to me!” And then the whole room goes silent and everyone then turns and looks. And then the second album is what you actually say afterwards. It’s what makes people then determine whether you’re someone worth listening to. So I think the second record we spent a lot more time actually thinking about what we wanted to sound like.
Thomas: What we wanted to say as well.
Euan: Yeah, and experimenting as well, coming up with new things that we’d never thought about before and never actually thought about doing and stuff. So it’s a lot more experimental, but it’s been really good for the pair of us because it was such a fun experience. It was such a wonderful thing to be a part of.
“Gans are awful. They’re just shouting swear words and unintelligible lyrics in a Tommy Shelby cocaine accent”
You’ve added a third member to your live experience now. What was the thinking there and why did you decide that saxophone and flute was the combo you needed?
Thomas: We always had this dream of Gans being like the Bob Dylan Travelling Roadshow. Like, you know, the two of us are the spirit, but there’s no ego in that it just has to be us two in the live scenario because we wanted to give the best experience. So his name’s Tommy Lawther. I’ve known him since he was 17 years old. Our first gig ever was actually playing this festival (Truck) with an old band on the This Feeling Stage in 2022. So today is quite a full circle moment now we’re doing this as Gans. But he’s so talented. So we just found a place for him. Like he played a few shows with us last year just to have some fun. And then we just found it just gave a whole new dynamic. Recently in a TikTok, somebody described us from Albert Hall saying, “Gans are awful. They’re just shouting swear words and unintelligible lyrics in a Tommy Shelby cocaine accent.” So that inspired us to find a bit of subtlety to the performance as well. That man alone changed our course. I’m joking, though, Tommy was before then. But yeah, no, no, like he’s such a, he’s brilliant, you know. It’s just incredible. He has his own fan club now, it’s annoying.
Euan: It’s about being able to like showcase his talent as well, or the talent of whatever session players we get. That was how the whole thing started up. As Tom said, the Travelling Roadshow, it’s like getting all these beautifully talented musicians and get them all sort of coming up and being able to showcase their art and their performance.
Thomas: Away from traditional dynamic, guitar, bass and drums. It’s like, fuck it, let’s get a flute and sax player, or you know, at some point we’ll try and find a conga player, or like a fucking theremin or something, you know? Yeah, let’s get Jethro Tull involved.
Thomas: Yeah, exactly.
So, after the multiplatinum, BBC Radio One hit-laden album, we could see 8 or 9 members?
Thomas: Totally. That’s the dream. You know, one day we’re going to have a whole orchestra and chorus behind us. Just wait. Once the big bucks come rolling in, mate, we’re going to be like, fucking…
Euan: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Thomas: Yeah, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
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