New Hope Club celebrates their third anniversary
Members Blake Richardson, George Smith, and Reece Bibby talk about life on the road, dream tours, and upcoming music
All photos © Alessandra Guarneri, United By Pop
New Hope Club is a British pop trio originally formed in 2015, celebrating their third anniversary as a band this month.
The trio was signed by The Vamps and their label, Steady Records, after being discovered by the four-piece on YouTube. Having released a series of singles and a debut EP, New Hope Club has now toured with The Vamps twice as well as Sabrina Carpenter, headlining a number of their own shows as well.
Members Blake Richardson, George Smith, and Reece Bibby talked to United by Pop about life on the road, dream tours, and upcoming music prior to opening for The Vamps on their Night & Day Tour in Boston.
You’ve been on tour with The Vamps for quite some time now! How is that going?
Blake: It’s been incredible. We’ve been touring with The Vamps in England and stuff. We’ve done a whole tour with them except the US [so far], so we were lucky enough to come out with them this year. We’ve played a lot of places we’ve been [before], but it’s nice to come back and do it again and see the fans that we’ve met and gained on the way from the last tour.
George: Yeah, there’s been a lot of people who said they came to watch us last year and they’ve come back which is crazy. Thank you [to the fans] so much for coming back. There was a girl two days ago that drove 10 hours.
Has it been crazy to see the fanbase grow from what it was when you first started to what it is now?
Blake: Yeah, every day it seems to be growing, and it’s insane. It’s obviously just crazy, and we’re very lucky to be in the position we are in.
It was important for us to make sure we were best mates before we did the music.
How did New Hope Club originally form?
George: Well, we all met up at my house one weekend and we just wrote a song, filmed, and just bonded pretty much. It was important for us to make sure we were best mates before we did the music. We had such a great time, and we kept meeting up. We posted our first cover on YouTube of a Vamps’ song, and The Vamps picked us up. Now we’ve been supporting them for almost two years [on tour].
You guys have a new single out called ‘Crazy’. What can you tell me about that?
George: It’s crazy!
Reece: It was a lot of fun to be a part of this song. It’s all about a relationship. We tend to write about our relationships, but it’s about the good and the bad. We filmed the video on Venice Beach, which was insane and so cool. We spent quite a lot of time out in LA writing, so it was cool to have our first proper single filmed out there. It’s really cool and we’re really proud of it.
How do you feel your music has evolved from the start of New Hope Club to now?
Blake: We were all writing music from the age of 11. We’ve always been writing our music, and we’ve developed a lot as writers. At the start, we might have been trying to be maybe something that’s in the charts, and we realized we need to be ourselves and write what we like and the music that we listen to. On the road, I bring a little studio kit around with me, and if we have an idea, we can put it on my laptop and send it off. We’ve got so many songs we want to come out that are coming out [in the future]. Good ones coming!
What do you guys do for fun with the other acts on this tour during free time?
Blake: We play football — or soccer, as you say. We played a game with The Vamps the other day and we lost terribly, which is not good because it’s usually a close game.
George: We also watch football [soccer]! We went to watch DC United and some events and stuff. We went to watch Bruno Mars the other day, which was really cool.
Blake: We just play cards and chill out.
We’re more experienced and we’ve done loads of different tours. We’ve gotten used to it.
You toured with The Vamps on their 2016 tour, too. How was it to tour with them then compared to this current tour?
Blake: Our shows have improved. At the start, our first show was 16,000 people so we were obviously very nervous, but I think now we’ve settled into our own styles more.
George: We’re more experienced and we’ve done loads of different tours. We’ve gotten used to it.
Are there any artists you would want to personally tour with?
George: Touring with Ed Sheeran would be pretty cool.
Blake: We went to watch Bruno Mars like two nights ago and that was insane.
George: We’d also get a few moves down if we toured with him.
Blake: Shawn Mendes! He puts on a great show.
Reece: I agree!
What can your fans look forward to?
Reece: We are releasing an EP. We’re working on the EP right now. It’s going to have some songs that are already out there, but it’s also going to have some new songs as well. We’re really excited about it. We have so much music that we want to release, but we have to take our time. With new music comes new shows. Touring and doing what we love!
What are your goals as a group for 2019?
George: I’d love to do a big headlining tour. I think that would be pretty cool. Hopefully we can come back to the U.S. because we have not done a proper headline show in the U.S.
Blake: An album would be cool!
What is your favorite part about being on the road or on tour?
Blake: Live shows are the best thing in the world. Personally, when I wanted to be in a band, the main thing was I wanted to play shows and they are amazing. It’s really nice to come [on tour] and see the fans who have been supporting us.
George: Agreed.
Reece: Yeah, collective!
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