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Words by Dexter Clark | Photos by Millie Noble and Kate Humphreys
From childhood memories to improvised sketches and shared jokes that shape their music, Sad Dads have spent seven years turning the ridiculous into sublimely catchy songs and increasingly elaborate bits.
Last month Sad Dads released their newest single ‘Lawnmower’, celebrating with a single release party supported by Stanford Family Band and Christian Le Surf. Underneath the Brighton train station at the Green Door Store, Sad Dads performed their third single to date with the same hijinks and showmanship we have come to expect from their escapades.
Sad Dads consist of Dan Noble as frontman playing guitar and providing vocals, Owen Bullock on vocals and guitar, Jack Prichard and Dan Shepard on backing vocals and guitar/bass and Tom Tollyfield on Drums. Their new single ‘Lawnmower’ begins with a call to arms to “cut the grass”. The quick spiralling riff creates a three-minute track that’s just fun to listen to. Taking a somewhat ordinary scenario of cutting the lawn and turning it into a single is a talent that Sad Dads seem exceptionally good at, with past singles describing similarly niche scenarios such as ‘Surf Instructor’ and ‘Tattoo Gun’. Although Dan and Owen sing most of the lines, Jack and Dan provide backing on most moments of the track, creating a layered and lively sound akin to hearing them at a live performance. Sad Dads know how to create a compelling and funny story to accompany their catchy indie riffs. Under all the humour that draws listeners in, there’s sincere themes about inadequacy, childhood and tribalism, just beneath the surface.
The lineup for the single release was a perfect precursor to Sad Dads performing, focusing on catchy indie rock and lively stage performances. Christian Le Surf opened up with an indie rock set, with diverse sounds drawing upon folk and post punk. Le Surf has a distinctive voice and persona that echoed around Green Door Store. Following on was Stanford Family Band, who performed a whimsical and timeless set with a vintage sound. The band is reminiscent of early 1960s guitar bands, with stripped back tones and jaunty lyrical delivery. Keeping a steady drumbeat and bassline, they warmed up the crowd perfectly for Sad Dads’ theatrical set.
When it was time for the Dads to come on, and enough drinks had been drunk, their whacky antics lit up the venue and stage. During their song ‘Colin’, they stopped right in the middle, in order for Owen to act out as a bored Grandson talking to his nan, who was played by Dan. We watched this skit for a minute or two which ended with Dan breaking down (in character) at Owen hanging up on him. After pretending to cry for half a minute, they jumped right back into their song, with no other mention of the sketch again. This is the kind of thing they fill their performances with, drawing in the crowd with both their catchy indie and witty stage antics.
I sat down with Dan, Owen and Tom before their gig, and it was clear how close knit the band was and how this influenced their tongue in cheek style. With each question I posed, a flurry of university stories and inside jokes were explained and mapped out – with the Sad Dads lore becoming ever apparent. In fact, they were in a punk band together before Sad Dads called Swan Meat.
When did you know you had to make a band?
Owen: We begun in a basement in our old house. I knew how to play drums and not guitar and Dan knew how to play guitar and not the drums.
Dan: We swapped instruments.
Owen: We wrote the songs on instruments that we didn’t really know how to play. We didn’t really teach each other either.
Dan: It was genius.
Owen: A lot of those songs from that time aren’t available anymore. We were very Lo-fi.
Tom: The first show we did was downstairs at Hope and Ruin, we hadn’t had many rehearsals. We played to five people and they all hated it.
Dan: That’s when we realised that we needed to do this. In the early days of Sad Dads every single song had a skit like ‘Colin’.
Owen: Our first song was an 80s cop themed track called ‘Pleasure Beach’. There’s been many different phases of the band.
Do you ever channel different Sad Dads phases when writing a new song?
Owen: We’ve had many eras, the Dads have been together for seven years.
Dan: Sad Dads was originally meant to have every single song as a different sound and they all needed to tell a story.
Owen: I suppose they do all tell stories even now.
The stories within your songs are niche and particular. Are they based on real life or completely fictitious?
Dan: I find a lot of the time we write fictitiously. We don’t always necessarily realise what has inspired it, but it is normally something in our lives.
Owen: A lot of the time I’ll remember a story from my childhood. Sometimes they’re funny, so I’ll tell everyone and if they laugh I think there’s often a good song behind that. We had this song called ‘King of the Jungle’, which was based on a time when I was little and was gifted a Bear Grylls’ survival book and a pen knife. I got the pen knife, wrestled with the duvet and imagined it was a lion – ending with me tearing apart the pillow with my knife. My mum was a bit shocked in the morning.
What draws you to these surreal situations when writing?
Dan: I’ve always been quite bad at writing sincerely. That’s what made me do Sad Dads.
Owen: Me too, I am best at writing silly lyrics with good music behind it.
Tom: A lot of the songs are silly at first glance, but they do have quite a sweet feeling to them. For example, ‘Roll another Ciggie’ sounds quite silly but it’s about having that last good night out with your mates.
Dan: ‘Surf Instructor’ is the first one that struck me as being a bit more than what it seems at first glance. The song is about inadequacy, there’s feeling underneath it after you get past the ridiculousness of a surf instructor that can’t swim. I didn’t necessarily write it like that; I only realised later on.
Tom: We do often start with an anecdote and go from there.
Dan: Lately we have gotten better at just going for pure ridiculousness.
Sad Dad’s favourite band?
Dan: Get Down Services. That’s the scoop.
How do you draw inspiration for your on-stage personas?
Dan: The Sad Dads hive-mind.
Owen: It helps we’re good pals.
Dan: We have a shared penchant for jesting people. When one of us starts doing a bit we all join in without mentioning beforehand. You have to just buy in and take it seriously in the moment. We did bits before it was cool. I just say something ridiculous and look at Owen.
Owen: I just have to stone face it. I have to agree and back him up – we go down the rabbit hole and see where it ends up.
Tom: I think that something that does help with onstage energy is something that Dan said for most of the first three years of us doing gigs. Before we’d go on he’d get us in a little huddle and say “I don’t care if every single note you play tonight is wrong. All I want is the energy.” I think that’s what I love about it. It doesn’t matter if you get something wrong, it adds to the energy. One of my favourite things Dan has ever done was when we were at Chalk playing to four people. Without a second thought he just walks on and shouts “Hello Wembley!”, genius.
Are there any non-musical inspirations while you’re writing?
Owen: The words of Hemingway?
Dan: Comedy duos. I think that’s what Sad Dads was born as really. Just a musical comedy duo.
Owen: Particular acts we love include Mitchell and Webb, the cricket skit they do is amazing.
Dan: I love a bit of Fry and Laurie.
Owen: Flight of the Concords.
Dan: And Tenacious D!
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