Sheffield is a hotspot for talent. From Pulp to Arctic Monkeys, Sheffield now has The Sherlocks to add to this list of prolific musical talent. Being the first band to sell out The Leadmill since Arctic Monkeys, they clearly have the coveted ‘it’. Fresh from the festival season which saw them packing out tents all over England, I met the band for a chat just before they played Leeds Wardrobe on their recent tour.

Despite the band’s increasing popularity, the band remain rooted in spite of their fame. They have the drive to succeed and are striving to be big, but haven’t been swept away by the achievements they’ve had in the past year. When asked about how the tour’s going, Kiaran says, “[it’s] been a blast. By far the best tour we’ve ever been on”.

“It’s a lot harder to choose a favourite gig this tour, ‘cause all the gigs have been way better than last tour. We haven’t really had a bad gig. That’s not lying. Every single gig’s been good”. They were particularly fond of their Nottingham gig, at the Rescue Rooms, which they said was “mental” and “one of the best”. With a persona similar to early Alex Turner, Kiaran is quietly confident in his abilities and doesn’t feel the need to hide behind a brutish façade.

I was lucky enough to catch The Sherlocks at Kendall Calling Festival. They delivered a fast paced set on the main stage that won over the punters. “Every single festival we’ve gone to, we’ve had a massive crowd, tents been full or whatever. It’s just gone too quick”, Kiaran says.  When I mention the success of Catfish and the Bottlemen following their 2014 Reading festival set, all the band say is “we wanna blow up twice as big”. It’s therefore no surprise that when asked what their ambitions are for the future, the reply is “arenas, stadiums”; The Sherlocks have got their sights firmly rooted on success.

Yet, despite this desire to succeed, they remain proud of where they’ve been. When talking about their sold out shows at the Leadmill, they comment “we’ve done it twice now. It’s a nice achievement. We’ve done it twice,so doubt we’ll do it again. It’s nice to tick the Leadmill off. Now we’ve done it twice we know full well we can do it”.

So far there’s just been a string of singles released by the young band. The most recent, ‘Will You be There?’ was out just a week when I met the guys. Kiaran says: “it’s going down well that yeah.  Ain’ttook long, for people to know it. It’s only been out a week, if that, and people know the lyrics, they’ve obviously been playing it and playing it”. I for one, can’t wait for them to drop their debut. They said they have one in the pipeline and that “there’s no release date or ought. But we’re going in next month to start demoing some stuff”.

With a debut album under their belt, The Sherlocks promise to be a regular on festival main stages all over the world. Make sure you catch them when they next play in Leeds – they won’t disappoint.

Ben Roberts

(Image: Lara Shoe)