That feeling of the first time touring, getting paid to do something you love, is so incredibly infectious. It’s all about taking those first steps and then diving into a sweaty sea of punters, shredding onstage and chasing that ever elusive sense of an exciting life.

Talking to Cody, from  killer UK up-and-comers High Tyde, this sense of pure enthusiasm and a straight up love for music is once again brought to the forefront. To find out exactly what these lads from Brighton are really all about, we sat down with the frontman, and chatted about crowd surfing, touring, and what’s next for the indie-rock kids.

Their sound? “I’d call it brash indie-rock”, says Cody, there’s almost a cheeky sense of rock and roll nonchalance and confidence that follows his voice, but after listening to their latest EP Real their sound precedes any sort of expectations and is, in a sense, the ultimate proof. Their tracks are a solid mesh of sound, infectious, fast paced and made for the stage and any pre misconceptions fly out of your mind in a heart beat – think an early, unfiltered The Kooks, but with an overwhelming yet delicious focus on full on dirty guitar riffs and solid down beats.

Tracks like ‘Piece of Paper’ and ‘Speak’ really emphasise the revival of that real gritty, indie-rock sound – polished yet still sticking to the gut wrenching and solid vibe of the genre. But it’s ‘One Bullet’, which recently premiered on our very own triple j with Richard Kingsmill, that’s a real stand out – there’s something incredibly addictive about Cody’s vocals when paired with a relatively simple yet punchy guitar sound.   

High Tyde have been playing together for the best part of five years, touring the UK extensively and slowly but surely building a somewhat cult following, particularly in their home town of Brighton. Although they now spend their time playing packed out (and sold out) shows across the UK, their rise to heights was born amongst the humblest of beginnings.

“We’ve recently done a lot of house shows, we basically wrote a status on Facebook saying you know, if anyone wants us to play at their house we’ll show up and play. Those house parties are always fun, people just go crazy”.

Of course there has to be a sense of blind trust behind the spontaneous nature of these house shows, but Cody reflects; “We’re really up for anything. Also, it looks good on videos as well. When we play those shows we make a point of not really having an expectations. We don’t set out to play with a set plan or focus on anything in particular to play, we just sort of vibe and just see what happens”.

Cody comments further, reflecting on the motivation for starting High Tyde. “The idea of playing live shows for us was so exciting”. Although initially it was simply a love of music that was the driving force behind the band, as they move through the industry their priorities have taken a different turn. “We really just started playing quite a lot in our home town but began to start expanding across the country on tours. Recently though, we’ve started thinking about how we’re releasing our songs and doing things more strategically instead of just putting them out without any PR behind them”.

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Despite the majority of the band still sitting well within their teens, the temptation to dismiss them as another young group of guys having a crack and bashing out some indie-rock is dissolved with the help of their live performance. If their tour video and social media following is anything to go by, these lads are definitely going to start turning some heads as they move outside of the UK. Images of a mash of sweaty indie loving kids jumping, moshing, and just really having an incredible time fills the screen.

Speaking of jumping, the images of Cody literally launching himself into the crowd are beyond insane. The guy doesn’t leave anything in the tank, that’s for sure. In what is surfacing as true High Tyde style, there’s an extra element to this giant leap of faith. “It’s all about the element of surprise, 100%,” Cody laughs.

In a sense, High Tyde’s success can now be measured by the fact that Cody is no longer dropped by the sparseness of the crowd. “Like twenty people or thirty people would come to the shows and that’s definitely not enough people to catch you but… you’ve just got to give it a go! Now I can just jump in and people will catch me every time, it’s a really good feeling”.

Coming back to the music, Cody reveals that 2017 will see the band doing “a lot of touring”. We’re going to release a shit tonne of music and hopefully just be out on the road the whole time”. Ever the ambitious young artist Cody comments further, “I want to do over 100 shows next year it’s going to be exciting… I really want to go to Europe, and I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, for me it’s just the one place that I’ve always wanted to go”.

Thankfully, fans will get to see a lot more music in the future, with a full length record in the works. “We’ve finally found a sound we’re comfortable in,” Cody says confidently, and thankfully, their full length debut is set to be an incredible collection of tracks and “a big brash indie record”. Definitely keep an eye on these lads, and get ready to catch a flailing frontman when they eventually grace our shores with their killer sound.

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