Interview: Sweet Unrest on Their Poetic Roots, Speed Punk Sound, and Forging a Unique Path

British “speed punk” band Sweet Unrest brilliantly illustrate life’s hectic and overwhelming nature in their music, sitting down with Atwood Magazine to discuss poetry, their passion for raw, unfiltered expression, and their new single, “How Are You Feeling?”

“How Are You Feeling?” – Sweet Unrest

Edgy and untamed, UK indie rock outfit Sweet Unrest’s new single “How Are You Feeling?” is chaotic in the coolest kind of way.

The song’s thrashing drums, booming bass, and grungy guitars are further energized by punchy, persistent vocals. Fitting seamlessly with the track’s sound, its message speaks to the disorderly mayhem of the modern world. This can be hard for anyone to navigate, but it is especially challenging for those with ADHD and ASD. Things can become frustrating and confusing. “How Are You Feeling?” harps on that experience which many can resonate with. The in-your-face release also remarks on today’s casual sex culture and reluctance to settle down.

Released January 16, 2025, “How Are You Feeling?” takes its audience through a wide array of emotions – and we are down for the wild ride. Boisterous and bold, Sweet Unrest consists of lead vocalist Jack River, lead guitar Marlo Richards, drummer Dani Ali, bassist Leon Theo, and rhythm guitarist Tom Waller. Meeting in 2022, they instantly uncovered a transcendent musical synergy, pulling from poetry as well as their own lived experiences to create music that is as mesmerizing as it is invigorating. Previous singles like “Peace of Mind” and “Falling For You” truly showcase these qualities, while the band’s latest offering is more upbeat and equally as compelling.

As a direct question, ‘How are you feeling?’ can be hard to answer. Oftentimes situations and emotions quickly change, making it difficult to gauge. Sweet Unrest’s track encapsulates that ever-changing essence.

“If this song were a drug, it would be some kind of speed, which, incidentally, is not far from the medication many people, including myself, take for ADHD,” Jack River reveals. “We need all kinds of things to cope in today’s world, and for me, this song is one of them.”

Atwood Magazine recently spoke with River to discuss the band’s formation, their musical inspirations, the “mad and vapid rollercoaster” of modern dating, and much more!

“Fundamentally, this band and what we say through it is what we care most about in our lives,” he shares. “From now on our mission is simple: To keep building the band into something that can support us financially, so it can continue to support us spiritually, because the truth is, we need it. It’s our hope we can entertain some others along the way.”

— —

:: stream/purchase How Are You Feeling? here ::

:: connect with Sweet Unrest here ::

— —

A CONVERSATION WITH SWEET UNREST

Jack River: It’s from a Keats Poem, “Bright Star,” one of my favourite poets. The line is:

  Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
         Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever – or else swoon to death.

It also seems to sum up our sound quite well. Plus, you’ve gotta have something unique, don’t you? These days you can literally see every band with the same name when you search them on Spotify.

Jack River: I met Dan and Marlo on a musician’s app called Vampr around the same time in Spring 2022. We’d jam round my house a lot and compulsively went around Marlo’s to record demos cause he had some decent mics. We were all unemployed at the time, too, which helped. We started gigging, and I soon realized that the extent to which I wanted to writhe around the stage made playing the guitar difficult, so we found Tom as a second guitarist a few months later. We knew we had chemistry after a legendary and poorly attended ‘gig’ in a quiet pub in West London, where we basically just jammed and slagged off the audience as they heckled us. About 2 years and 6 bassists later, we eventually found Leon through my girlfriend, who was keen to play bass with us permanently. He clearly couldn’t believe his luck cause he immediately quit all the other bands he was in.

Jack River: Behind the bins of a Tesco, was over in about two minutes. The truth is, it was never something we sat down and consciously crafted. I suppose it’s something we’re all just drawn to play and to write. Marlo and I knock out all kinds of songs, and I suppose when one speaks to the whole band, that’s the one that ends up getting finished. The ‘speed punkiness’ of it is just a function of how enthused we all are by a tune. Though we’re also keen on slower and sweeter numbers. Also, the opportunity to fully let go and writhe around in a fit of madness is hard to come by these days, especially if you’re sober like me – but I think it’s incredibly good for us. I suppose in some ways, we’re trying to create an experience of total joyous disregard – an environment where we and the audience can shake off those gremlins that spawn and suffocate us each day and, soaked in sweat and endorphins, re-emerge a more lucid and peaceful human being.

A few things. The chorus riff came first, straight after I listened to ‘You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use it?) by the Undertones. This track owes a lot to that one. I was also listening to Wet Leg at the time, and I was inspired by their playful attitude to write lyrics that were just stupid and fun. Believe it or not, I think the bassline for the verses was inspired by the bassline for ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ which was originally taken from Chuck Berry’s ‘I’m Talking About You.’ The line “How are you feeling now” – I don’t know where that came from but I remember it happened fast. Sometimes that just happens, you’ll hear something and a phrase will pop into your mind that fits perfectly. In our experience, the lines that come fastest are often the best. Once you start trying to craft something methodically, it’s not inspired anymore; you’ve unwoven the rainbow and whatever you’re making has lost its novelty and beauty.

Jack River: I think life in London (and probably other cities) can be a uniquely lonely and isolating experience. I think this creates a number of symptoms in our lives, many of which are some kind of vying for the sense of love and home that we seem to have lost somewhere along the way. One of these symptoms, I think, is dating apps and casual sex. We’ve all done a lot of that, and I reckon it’s in some kind of effort to find connection, a proxy for real love and belonging. It’s never enough, though.

I think there’s definitely a culture of that these days, and we’re all left feeling emptier than when we started. It’s a mad and vapid rollercoaster, until one day, you realize you’re “stuck in your dressing gown,” and have achieved about as much as one might expect to in a dressing gown.

It’d be boring to be dressed all the time though, wouldn’t it?

Jack River: Really cool, I actually went to school with him. My school mate Fred who shot our Falling For You music video said I should talk to him. Luke actually saved the track – it was our first time recording live and we basically completely f*ed it up. It was recorded in a huge room and the drums sounded awful, the guitars were just DI’d. Our producer Harry did an excellent job but it was our fault for rushing it. Luke worked his magic, we did some overdubs and it sounded brilliant. Fundamentally, we’re keen to bring a modern sound to our music. For better or worse, we feel like you have to these days to be taken seriously. We never want to be referred to as ‘nostalgia rock’. The challenge now lies in how we incorporate our influences, incorporate modern (bordering on pop) production, and continue crafting an original sound and doing things that haven’t been done before. So long as we keep the music from the heart, I’m confident we can do this.

Jack River: For us, poetry isn’t restricted to poems. It can also refer to how you approach your art and interact with it. At risk of sounding too wanky, we want to apply that same sensitivity you find in poetry to the music. There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be there. For us, that’s precisely what makes art great, and that approach is not incompatible with an all out banger. Incorporating poetry into lyrics isn’t always a straightforward process, we can sometimes feel more constrained by meter or syllables in a way we wouldn’t with poetry. But that’s a cool challenge. Also, it’s not like everything has to be doused in sprawling insights or flowery language. Sometimes, you need to release a song like “How Are You Feeling?”, or you’d just end up so far up your own arse you couldn’t tell it from your elbow.

Jack River: It was nice to beat Sabrina Carpenter after those scathing remarks.

Kidding! I wouldn’t come to us for advice. Really, the person to ask is Owen from No Distance Records. He put in a lot of work to make that happen in terms of promotion and everything. No Distance is a fledgling record label, it’s Owen’s baby, and he treats it as such. Falling For You / Peace of Mind was its first release. Honestly, success to us is just to keep writing better tunes that are more sincere and more original, and resonate with more people. From my perspective at least, we do all the other stuff just so we’re more able to sit down and write. Nothing makes us happier than that. It’s the salve to everything. If we’ve been feeling a bit off for a few days, it’s usually because we haven’t been writing. For me at least, it’s where I derive all of my self worth. As you might imagine, that can be a double-edged sword, too.

Jack River: With any luck, we’ll be playing some festivals next year and SXSW Texas in the Spring. Over the next year or two, the aim is to find a label that cares about the music, what we’re saying with it, and wants to help us develop that. We also want to continue collaborating with talented people like Luke who mixed the record, because getting that outside perspective and expertise has been brilliantly refreshing (and flattering). We want to continue making more ambitious music videos – we love all that.

Fundamentally, this band and what we say through it is what we care most about in our lives. From now on our mission is simple: To keep building the band into something that can support us financially, so it can continue to support us spiritually, because the truth is, we need it. It’s our hope we can entertain some others along the way.

Jack River: Been loving Wunderhorse, Black Bordello, Dead Freights, Candide, Safe at Any Speed, Vieira and the Silvers, and Laurie Wright has just released a killer album too.

— —

:: stream/purchase How Are You Feeling? here ::

:: connect with Sweet Unrest here ::

— —

“How Are You Feeling?” – Sweet Unrest

— — — —

Connect to Sweet Unrest on
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram

Discover new music on Atwood Magazine

 © Albert Jagger

:: Stream Sweet Unrest ::