Following performances at Glastonbury and supporting Queens Of The Stone Age on tour, the Isle of Wight’s Coach Party are on quite the upward trajectory as they release their debut album Killjoy. Singer/guitarist Jess Eastwood and drummer/producer Guy Page talk about forming the band on the island and then touring inland, why Killjoy is their heaviest body of work to date, and their no-holds-barred approach to the topic of mental health.
While Coach Party have sarcastically labelled themselves the ‘Other Isle of Wight band’ following the breathtaking Grammy-winning success of Wet Leg, the band are steadily building a solid claim to also putting music from the south coast island on the map. Having formed in 2016, they were signed within three years to label Chess Club, and they’ve followed the well-trodden path of relentlessly touring and performing to get their music out there. Their three EPs also had them noticed by the likes of NME and The Guardian, so the stage is set very nicely for their just-released debut album Killjoy.
Eastwood and Page form one half of Coach Party, joined by guitarists Steph Norris and Joe Perry. On growing up on the island, Eastwood says, “It was really nice, it’s very chilled and it’s known for being really safe. There’s not a lot to do here beyond going to the park or the beach. But when I was growing up, there wasn’t much of a music scene or any music venues, so I’d go over to The Joiners in Southampton a lot and watch bands there.”
“It’s a great place to start a band or a business,” Page adds. “Because there’s less pressure and expectations here. And also, once we’d played the handful of bars and venues here, it then had us questioning why not just do a full tour? Because once we’d paid the money to go over to Portsmouth, we may as well also go to London, Brighton etc.”