Hertfordshire’s The Pedals are making a name for themselves with a fresh take on high-energy indie rock, pairing punchy guitars and driving rhythms with raw emotional weight. Their new single “Spitting Feathers” captures the chaos of a messy relationship—equal parts frustration and longing—delivered through melancholic vocals and dynamic instrumentation. With early support slots for Toploader and Pentire already under their belts, the band is quickly proving they’re ones to watch. We caught up with them around the release of “Spitting Feathers” to hear more about the track’s emotional core and its unique recording process.
Let’s start at the beginning, how did The Pedals come together? What’s the story behind the name?
We started the band in late 2022 after we bought a couple of guitars on Boxing Day. A week prior, we were both listening to Catfish and The Bottlemen in the car when we said, “We could do that.” We began making demos in James’s bedroom as a duo. In September, within the same week, we found a drummer and a bassist and worked on putting together a 30-minute live set as a band. This led to our first gig at the Water Rats in December 2023. Looking back, it all came together surprisingly quickly – from an idea in the car to performing on stage within a year.
The short story behind the bands name is a nod towards our lead singer’s (James) inability to ride a bicycle.
Every band has a moment where things start to click, when did you feel like The Pedals really found its voice?
We felt it all ‘click’ after recording Cliché, our debut single. After working on the song, we managed to land on a sound/style that we both liked. This is a combination of love of harmonies for James and mental ZVEX guitar pedals for Olly. I think one day we want someone to turn on Radio X and go ‘Yeah that sounds like a Pedals tune’. For now though, we’re just going to keep building upon what we’ve created so far.
Who were your biggest influences when you were first forming the band and how have they evolved over time?
Our biggest influence when we started the band was Catfish and the Bottlemen. James really got into them during Covid and was constantly shouting their tunes in the car, this led to Olly becoming slightly obsessed with Johnny Bond’s massive solos/breakdowns, hence the ZVEX Fuzz Factory making its way onto our songs. After being in and around the up-and-coming UK indie scene for the past 2 years, our taste is now class bands like The Royston Club, Overpass and The K’s.
Your latest track “Spitting Feathers” captures that push-pull dynamic of a difficult relationship. Was this written from personal experience or more as a storytelling piece?
Lots of our music is written by imagining ourselves in a specific scenario. Coincidentally, all these scenarios seem to be about relationships… We want the listener to paint their own picture whilst listening to it. So I guess our music is more storytelling-based. Growing up Olly was listening to a lot of the Jam through his dad who is a big fan. Hearing the way Weller could tell a story, like in ‘Down in the Tube station at Midnight’, definitely inspired us. The K’s also smashed this concept in their song ‘Sarajevo’.
There’s this great contrast between the high-energy instrumentation and the melancholic vocals. Was that a conscious choice during writing/recording?
It’s never necessarily a conscious decision; I think we just make music that we would want to listen to ourselves. This in turn, produces songs with thumping riffs and vocals where it sounds like the singer really cares about what they’re saying/singing – I think ‘Spitting Feathers’ is probably a prime example of this. I guess it comes down to each of us doing our part in our own way. Like, Marco had some really funky bass patterns that sat nicely under the heavier guitars. Greg also took inspiration from some of his favourite bands, like Sum 41 and blink-182, which adds another cool dynamic.
Do you typically write as a group or does one of you bring in the skeleton of a song first?
We are very fortunate that our guitarist (Olly) has too much free time, he’s at home with guitars and recording equipment staring at him. Throughout the week he’ll experiment with various demos and send some clips over to the rest of the boys. This turns into ‘Demo Tinder’ where James and Greg give it the green/red light on whether to progress with it. The songs that we liked are worked through in our rehearsal rooms as a band where we all modify our parts until it becomes something worth pursuing. This has been the same method since the day we started!
Are there any recurring themes or moods you find yourselves drawn to when writing music?
Moods swing. Some days we want to write a song that wouldn’t be out of place on a 4th Catfish album, other days we’ve written a demo that sounds like it will be the start of The Jam’s resurgence. We like to be inspired, I believe listening to good music makes you want to create some yourself. I think we just work with whatever feels right on the day.
Which part of the song-making process do you enjoy most; writing, recording, or performing live?
The writing can be fun, especially when you’re working with new sounds, but we do love when the songs are finished as we can take them to Casey, our producer and turn them from an idea into a real song. But, who doesn’t love performing? What’s the point otherwise? Seeing people sing your songs back to you at gigs gives you a feeling I can’t quite explain, hopefully one day it will be more than just our parents and mates…
What’s next for The Pedals after “Spitting Feathers”? Is there an EP or album in the works?
The fake answer is we’ll be headlining Glastonbury in 2026. The real answer is keeping our head down, playing shows, recording songs, and enjoying ourselves. Hopefully, a few big support slots thrown in somewhere too. The main goal is to keep consistently improving – we have one of the best hobbies in the world and I believe that one day, if we keep working hard the way we have, with a little bit of luck, all this may not have to be only a hobby for us.
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