Interview: Sea Girls’ Oli Khan talks upcoming Isle of Wight Festival appearance

London based Sea Girls will be performing at Isle of Wight Festival this Friday (14th June) as they will take to the Big Top stage alongside the likes of Jax Jones and Freya Ridings.

Sea Girls recently unveiled the video for their new single ‘Damage Done’. The propulsive track is yet another euphoric, ear-worm guitar anthem, and recently was not only premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record on Radio 1, but was followed up a Tune Of The Week on the same show.

We managed to catch up with drummer Oli Khan as talked about the upcoming Isle of Wight Festival appearance and more!

So how pumped are you for your performance at Isle of Wight Festival?

Very pumped! It’s such a legendary, almost mythical festival, so it’s going to be great to be a part of it.  Read somewhere that it was the 51st year as well – epic!  

Do you prefer playing festivals rather than gigs?

It’s two sides of the same coin really! A very awesome coin… festival season is amazing because you get to perform to so many new people, see other bands we’ve been wanting to see all year. Our own shows are just amazing for us though. Filling out a venue with people who love our music is something we’ll never take for granted and we just love the bond you create with the audience on these nights. A little cheesy but it’s true!

What can we expect from your performance on the day?

A Sea Girls extravaganza! We can’t really contain our excitement on stage, so there’ll be a lot of bouncing around, Henry can’t resist getting up close with the crowd either. There’ll be old songs and new songs, a little bit for everyone hopefully!

What is your favourite song to play live?

I’m really enjoying a new track called ‘Closer’, we’ve been playing it live since our last tour and it always goes down really well. It’s a bit of a workout for us too, so it keeps us on our toes!

How has the video of Damage Done gone down so far with fans?

Really well, from the start we just knew James (the director) had the right idea and it’s rare something goes so smoothly – yet here we are! The video is a continuation of the lyrics and we think James hit the nail on the head there, all the amazing PSA footage really conjures up this world wrapped in nostalgia.

You have a busy few months, is there any other show that catches your eyes?

It’s our first festival season heading into Europe, so we’re very excited about that. We play Drøbak festival in Norway the day after Isle of Wight and then on to Hurricane and Southside festivals in Germany and Rock For People on the Czech Republic after that, which we’re all extremely buzzed for.  Benicassim is going to a be a dream – who doesn’t want to chill on the beach after their set?

If you could work with any band on a new song, who would it be and why?

I’ve been really enjoying Mitski and Weyes Blood at the moment, so maybe we could all make a big sad banger all together. 

Can we expect any new music anytime soon?

Yes! We’ve been busy in the studio for most of May, so expect something before too long, we love putting music out as much as we possibly can.