Reasons to be Cheerful in 2021: TV Priest

By Jon Milton 

As we thankfully left 2020 behind, we did so in the knowledge that there were already at least three new albums to look forward to in January and February of this year, from Shame, TV Priest and Mush. This was pretty much the main reason why we’ve interviewed so many artists over the course of this month to find out their plans too, to try and keep focussed on the positives in what is a challenging time for everyone.
 
TV Priest’s album ‘Uppers’ was initially pencilled in for release last November but was put back to early February due to Sub Pop signing them. The band first caught our attention with their excellent debut single House of York in April last year which was swiftly followed in May by the similarly impressive ‘Runner Up’. They won us over completely with lead single from ‘Uppers’ ‘This Island’ out last August, and subsequent singles ‘Slideshow’, ‘Decoration’ and ‘Press Gang’ have simply reinforced that opinion.
 
Following on from our first interview with the band in June last year I asked them for their thoughts on how they found the rest of 2020 and their plans for 2021:     
 
What were your highlight(s) of 2020?

We were very proud to start releasing our music last year despite not being able to play gigs off the back of it. And of course, it's been a really tough year for everyone, but being able to share our work in this way and know that it's connecting with people is extremely rewarding. George and Tristan at Hand In Hive were an integral part of this and somehow set us on a course to be offered a record deal with Sub Pop. Last but by no means least, working with Joe Wheatley on two of our videos was an absolute pleasure. He's an amazing guy and never ceases to amaze with his work, we look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.

When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats?

Our debut album 'Uppers' will be out in February which will be available both digitally and physically. Beyond that we hope to be releasing new music later in the year.

Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up?

Due to the current lockdown, our album release show has been pushed back to April. We also have other gigs planned in London, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol, Brighton and Southampton.

Any festival appearances planned?

Dark Arts in Leeds, Are You Listening? In Reading, Gold Sounds in Leeds, Get Together in Sheffield and Stag and Dagger in Glasgow.

What are your hopes for the band in 2021?

With any luck, we will be playing all the gigs mentioned above. Hopefully we'll have recorded our second album and will be looking to put it out before the end of the year.