With the tour commencing in Manchester on 14 November and concluding in London on 25 November, Sports Team have a very busy schedule lined up for those two weeks. Additionally, they are finally returning to Newcastle after three years, this time sporting a different venue on November 20th - the Boiler Shop. "I actually really like Newcastle. It's a lot of fun," says Alex, "it feels like a really good music city, you know?"
The long-awaited UK tour has sparked excitement amongst fans, with many wondering what they can expect to see when Sports Team return to the stage. "There will definitely be some unreleased stuff," Alex promises, "a lot of the EPs and the first two records, and then mix all of this stuff in". A newsletter distributed to supporters allowed people to have a say regarding what the set list will be looking like for the upcoming live shows. "We've done a full pathetic spreadsheet of that," says Rob, "I was kind of surprised by the top songs that came through". Songs from their debut album including 'Lander', as well as 'Stations Of The Cross', which has never been played live before, were popular choices amongst fans. 'Here's The Thing' and 'Fishing' were also noted by Alex and Rob as obvious, but nonetheless enjoyable, picks.
On 18 July 2024, Sports Team sold out OMEARA London in less than three minutes - a warm welcome back to the UK after two years away. We asked Alex and Rob about how they felt following this incredible response from fans. "I think it's pretty great. I think it's always just kind of relief in those situations," Alex continues, "that night was great fun". As a band, Sports Team recognise their reputation to perform in smaller venues to a more raucous crowd and they "love doing that".
The band stepped back from live performances and recorded their upcoming album in Norway earlier this year, with producer Matthias Tellez. The band's adventurous side is not only reflected in their music, as when asked about their favourite part of being in Bergen for a month, Alex tells us, "Me and Rob were going on huge 10-hour walks in the darkness with torches, trying to get into Cold War tunnels". When asked if there were any artists they listened to during production, Rob says, "I listened to a lot of Prefab Sprout". Inspiration taken from the County Durham band's style of rock and synth-pop is especially evident on the album's recent singles 'I'm in Love (Subaru)' and 'Condensation'. Sports Team explained that they didn't necessarily have a difficult experience recording 'Boys These Days', however Alex and Rob agreed that, "all of us needed a little break".
Sports Team consistently take a unique, artistic approach towards the creation of their music videos - 'Condensation' and 'I'm In Love (Subaru)' being no exception to this. With Alex Rice featured in a suit and bathing in a tub of wine, we wondered what the creative inspiration was behind all of it. "When you're lucky enough to be in a band and do creative stuff," Rob says, "you sort of wake up and you're like: what am I going to do today?". Alex added to this and highlighted the satisfaction of "driving three hours to find a depot where the wine was coming from". He stated, "you try and make your life as complex as possible, so you don't just sit down at the pub all day".
Previous albums, 'Deep Down Happy' and 'Gulp!' charted at number 2 and 3 respectively on the UK's Official Album Chart; we put it to Alex and Rob for their expectation regarding Boys These Days. Alex says, "we take pleasure from it [chart battles] because certain other bands hate it so much". As a band known for their strong relationships with their fans, he continues, "as long as the record connects with people, we're not that bothered". They confirmed the release of five singles in total for 'Boys These Days', the UK chart maximum, in line with their previous two albums. Rob and Alex said to us that fans can expect the next single in early November, described by Rob as, "the most 'Deep Down Happy'-ish song".
Coming up as a university band in Cambridge, we asked what that experience was like for Sports Team, to which they responded, "you kind of fall into it very gradually". Nervous Conditions, several members of whom went on to form Black Country, New Road, were considered peers by both Alex and Rob. Sports Team were allowed access to their studio and were given help with recording demos when they first formed at Cambridge. Despite Alex telling us "none of us thought we were going to be in a band or even pursue being in a band," Sports Team have grown to unimaginable levels of success on the live stage.
'Boys These Days' is set to release on 28 February 2025.
