Ten years after Catfish and the Bottlemen uploaded their first track to BBC Introducing, the band and BBC have teamed up with BBC for a rare and exclusive interview session including all four band members. The video titled The Rise: 10 Years, 10 Key Moments sees the band in conversation with Jack Saunders. Watch below.
The Rise rounds off a massive year for the Welsh four piece who have released their third album The Balance to critical acclaim and played a sold out UK arena tour in its wake. The film is also the first shared interview between Van McCann (vocals, guitars), Johnny ‘Bondy’ Bond (guitars), Robert ‘Bob’ Hall (drums) and Benji Blakeway (bass) in several years.
The program also includes rare footage from the band’s breathrough appearance at Reading / Leeds in 2013 as well as appearances at the BBC Music Awards 2014, Glastonbury 2015 and their recent headline slot at TRNSMT 2019.
Back in 2009, Steve Lamacq of BBC6 was one of the first to support the band and give them radio airplay. Ten year on, Catfish played Manchester Arena where they saw Arctic Monkeys perform in 2009, throwing demos towards the stage. McCann remembers:
We’re playing the gig and he’s (Benji) pointing right at the seats we were sat in for Arctic Monkeys […] saying ‘remember this gig?’ and I’m like ‘yeah, mate, I remember!’
The band have already announced their first shows for 2020, tickets are available here.
The Balance is out now on physical and digital formats.
