Outline
Photo Credit: Max Hart
Outline: four guys, four songs, and four hits for your listening pleasure. Hailing from Birmingham in the UK, the group got its start during high school. Four and a half years later, the quartet has effectively branded themselves as an indie-pop group with a playfully jazzy side. It’s this very combination of genres that makes their music oh so addicting. Minutes speed by in the world of Outline, but it certainly doesn’t raise any complaints on my end, at least. Making their professional debut in 2018, Outline released “She Said” and then “Midnight Mind” before taking a 2 year hiatus, coming back better than ever this year. Doing nothing shy of honing their skills during the break, Outline’s development of their one-of-a-kind style finished with the release of “Candid” and “Blu-rays,” their 2020 hits. Though all four songs are great, the boys of Outline truly come into their own with the second half of their discography. We recently spoke with the up and coming group about what went on during the hiatus, the secret behind their uniqueness, and more!
How did Outline get started?
We first played together as Outline just over four and half years ago during high school, we were all 15 and played a lot of Ed Sheeran and Coldplay covers (very badly haha), but myself (jack) and George (Lead Guitar) have been playing guitar together since we were six years old. George and Ollie (Drums) met when they were both in pre-school and we met Ethan (Bass) in high school, so we’ve all been best mates for a long time.
You seemed to have taken a two-year hiatus from releasing music, only coming back with "Candid" earlier this year. What was the reason for this and what made this the time to come back?
We released our first two singles back in 2018 and we were only 17 at the time. With us being relatively new to the music industry, we were still finding our feet and being a completely independent band, we were figuring out how the industry worked - so it was all a little bit trial and error back then. In 2019 we took a step back spent the year writing and producing a lot of music in my DIY bedroom studio, focusing on the artists we wanted to be and the messages we wanted to put out.
‘Candid’ was the first song we wrote which felt right after a long time. We really worked at trying to find a sound which was unique but also felt like us; we’re all big fans of producing unusual sounds and then making them listenable to implement into our music. After finishing 'Candid’ back in December 2019 we knew straight away that it was the right song to come back with, so we started working on the release ready for March 2020. A few days after its release the UK went into lockdown so we definitely picked our timing haha. Fortunately we had recorded ‘Blu-rays’ in January so we’d been sitting on it for a while, waiting to drop it in summer - We haven’t been able to play either of our new songs live yet so that’s something we’re definitely excited to do!
How much of an impact has the Birmingham music scene has on your career over the years?
It’s definitely had an impact for sure. We’re all big fans of fellow Birmingham bands such as JAWS, RISCAS and Swim Deep - there are so many talented musicians in the Birmingham scene which definitely keeps us inspired. It’s also helped push to come out with something fresh too, and hopefully add something new to the scene.
In recent weeks, you've broken into the United States with a huge portion of your listeners coming from Los Angeles. What has it been like for your music to be heard this in another country?
It’s honestly so surreal, we’re all over the moon and we’re definitely struggling to comprehend it haha - every day when our stream count updates we always put a screenshot of the number in our group chat and we’re all just blown away by it. We come from a small town in the countryside on the outskirts of Birmingham, so the idea that our music is reaching people so far away from us is crazy and really does mean the world to us. We listen to so much music from the United States too and a lot of our fashion and aesthetic choices are definitely inspired by American Culture, so its really nice to see our music in playlists alongside our favourite U.S. artists. We’d also love to play a show in L.A. for sure!
How have you managed to maintain your own identity in a world where indie-pop acts are sounding more and more similar?
We spend so much time locked away experimenting making beats and music. 95% of what we write will never be released but occasionally we’ll stumble across little gems and those are the songs that make it to outside world. We also work really closely with our producer Ryan Pinson too who is incredible. He helps us materialize ideas we’ve been struggling on and helps make everything sound pretty. I think it helps that we have a very eclectic music taste too, we listen to so many genres anything from old-school hip-hop, to indie-pop music, to dance music - so I guess our sound is just an amalgamation of all of that.
Which artists do you most credit for shaping your sound?
We love a band in the UK called ‘Easy Life’, they’ve definitely been big inspirations for us. We’re also big fans of Rex Orange County, The 1975 and Boy Pablo, as well as rap and R&B artists such as Tyler the creator and frank ocean - the production on their tracks is definitely an inspiration of ours for sure.
Do you have a dream collab in mind?
I think if we had the chance to collaborate with any of the artists we mentioned in the previous question we’d loose our minds haha. Maybe we can get them all on one song, that’d be the dream ;)
When is the perfect occasion to listen to Outline?
I’d probably say the best time to listen to Outline is definitely when the suns out, maybe driving during road trip? I’m not too sure really haha, just anytime you’re feeling good or need a bit of a pick-me-up.
What can we catch the band doing on your day off?
We all have jobs to support the band so when we’re not at work we spend most of our time writing music to be honest. However if we’re not doing that we’re all into fitness so we’re probably doing some sort of exercise or planning where we can travel to next - we love exploring new countries.
Any upcoming projects for fans to get excited about?
We’re just about to release our music video for our new single ‘Blu-rays’ in the next week or so, so definitely keep an eye our instagram (@outline.band) for that! We’re working on loads of new music too so hopefully you’ll hear more from us before the end of this year. Thanks so much for having us on here to get to know us a little more, we hope everyone has a great day!
***Interview done on October 4th, 2020.