After enough nights in Leeds gig venues, it’s easy to feel as though the local circuit has got into something of a boring rhythm, with the same post-punk variations echoing from stage to stage. Then a group comes along that shifts the atmosphere, reinstating some energy into the local scene. Troutflies have become one of those groups: teenage wonk-rock prodigies Reuben Pugh and Guy Godivala, whose witty lyrics and weird, jarred rhythms exist within a distinctly personal, homemade world. We caught up with the pair on the Sheffield date of their debut tour to chat about the Private Regcords scene and weird London sound engineers.
When and how did Troutflies form?
Reuben: Troutfies started when I wanted to make an album but I didn’t really have anything to do it with, and Guy did, so I sent it to Guy’s every week for like 11 weeks. Just for a couple of hours, and we just recorded a song each week. We weren’t going to play live or anything, but then we got offered to do a couple of gigs in York so Guy joined and it went from there.
Guy: It was great, it was just a couple of hours recording at mine, my mum would be making a curry, we’d have the curry and then we’d go to the pub. For like two months.
Do you think the environment of writing and recording in the bedroom instead of a studio shaped the songs?
Guy: Oh yeah for sure. Like Reuben just had guitar on his tracks but then I just had some random stuff like xylophones and melodicas – a lot of it is my grandma’s old stuff when she was a primary school teacher – so we put that on some of the songs and it sounded sick so we stuck with it. I like using what we’ve got around us.
Reuben: In a studio it would be like a proper album, it would sound like Kings of Leon or something.
Was there a specific moment when you realised Troutflies was going to be a proper project rather than just a hobby? Was it when you got those York gigs, or later?
Reuben: I don’t know, it still doesn’t really feel like a project really. It’s just a bit of a laugh.
I guess it’s a bit more serious than that now, getting more gigs and stuff made it feel a bit more proper.
You were in a band called The Needlework before, what do you think are the main differences between Needlework and Troutflies, do you approach them differently?
Reuben: Well I at least attempt to sing in Troutflies. Didn’t bother with Needlework.
Guy: You just got sweaty and moaned.
Reuben: Yeah. And I actually remember my lyrics sometimes. But no, Needlework was much faster and it was all written together, it was all collaborative. Whereas all these songs, I’ve written them and then I go to Guy and then he adds stuff to them.
Guy: Yeah, he’ll do the whole backbone of the songs, like the structure, the chords, the lyrics, and then I’ll add the bass and any extra stuff. I think that’s what makes it good because it means I won’t overthink it, it’s just so natural.
Did you take any lessons from The Needlework into Troutflies?
Reuben: Not to get too drunk before playing.
Yesterday (3/5/26) marked eight months since the release of your debut album ‘The Dancing Years’. Have you found the reaction so far and everything else that’s come as a result?
Fucking hell! It’s crazy how well it’s come down. It’s nice to look back on – I do think it’s a good first album. They were literally the first 11 songs I ever wrote, I just recorded them and it was really fun to do.
Guy: The reaction’s been great, I think the craziest thing is when we get a message that we were just on Flo Dill’s NTS show, or Carla’s show. It’s like, oh sick.
You did CDs of the album and got a cassette release with Leeds label Shooting Tzars. How did it feel to hear it on physical format, and how important is that side of things to you?
Reuben: The physical element is really important as someone who really likes physical music. It’s nice to just have it and to sell.
Guy: Yeah but the CDs we burnt ourselves, half of them didn’t work so we had to refund them.
I read in Yo-Yo Zine that you’re interested in writing when you’re tired. What draws you to that? I imagine most people wouldn’t bother writing when they’re tired.
Reuben: Yeah I never used to sleep very well but now I sleep good. But I used to try to write stuff down when I was tired because you don’t really write in the same way, so it’s interesting to try and capture it and see what happens when you’re feeling better.
How did you get your sleep schedule back on track?
Reuben: I start work really early and then on a Sunday I’d never get to sleep and then have to start work at six. But now on a Sunday I just wake myself up really early so I’m tired that way.
I guess you’ll be playing a lot of tracks from the album today, what do you hope people think and feel when they listen to those songs?
Reuben: To be fair we’ve just finished our second album so we’re mainly doing songs from that. But I don’t know, I don’t really care what people think. I want them to like them but if they don’t that’s alright.
What kind of direction is the new album going in?
Reuben: The instruments we’ve used are pretty similar but I think the songs are a lot better written. It’s not as messy, the production’s a bit nicer on it.
Guy: We spent much more time with it. He was staying at my flat for a week on my floor on a little inflatable mattress and then we’d wake up at 10 and just record. A lot of it’s through physical media, like recorded on a tape on a reel-to-reel machine which is great. I’ll be doing stuff like cutting things double, halving the speed on and stuff. It’s saved me so much work because I wanted it to have higher standards and be something you can have on the playlist with other stuff as well. We were trying to make it sound like a proper album.
Reuben: I’m better at playing guitar and singing and stuff now so we’ve been getting more of a full sound.
You’re currently on your first tour, how’s it felt gigging in places outside of Leeds and York?
Guy: It’s been great, we’ve had a great time.
Reuben: Yeah it’s been so fun. The first one was rubbish though, the sound guy was terrible.
Where was that?
Reuben: Dublin Castle. He was so rude to the Leeds singer as well, saying you have to project louder into the crowd. He was a proper weirdo but the rest of them have been awesome. Windmill was great, it was our first time playing that. Supports have been crazy good as well, especially Jawharp – going around with Jawharp and getting close to them has been lovely. Listen to Jawharp.
And you had a dancer onstage with you in London, how did that come about?
Reuben: That’s something we did from Needlework, Sid did the Needlework album covers. She’s from York. And I’ve got another band which is a bit more serious called The Childminders. We played our first gig in London last week which she put on, and she said how much she enjoyed just being involved in stuff. I asked if she wanted to do some dancing and she was like, yeah. But it was awesome,she’s so cool.
You’re quite heavily involved in the Private Regcords scene in Leeds – how did you get involved in that, and what advice would you give to young bands looking to get involved in a similar kind of community?
Reuben: We got involved because I just played a gig in Leeds, it was our first gig out of York and it went down really well. I went to see Vardy and Alex, who’s in Bathing Suits, and they asked if I wanted to get on the label and stuff. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to at first, but then they promised me good things. They’re awesome, get us really good gigs and they’re amazing people.
What advice would I give? You’ve got to be good at drinking to be in the private reg squad. Nah just play as many gigs as you can, that’s the only real advice. You’ve just got to keep doing it, we’ve had some pretty bad gigs but you’ve just got to keep doing them, you can’t be downhearted about it – you’ve got to enjoy it.
Guy: It’s also good to try and be authentic, not try to be something you’re not or try to copy another sound. Make the music that you want to listen to.
I saw on your Instagram story you said you were happy to be back up north after eight days in London. What don’t you like about London?
Reuben: I don’t like the people, I don’t like how it’s like a million pounds for a pint. I don’t like how hot it is, I don’t like sweaty rooms. Nah I do enjoy being in London when I’m there, it’s alright. The gigs we’ve played have always been pretty good there, the crowds always seem to really like it. It’s so different to York. Well actually they say York’s the London of the North.
Guy: My friend Frank was at the gig and he used to say he likes how we don’t try and be like fucking Black Country New Road. Just use what we have and strip it back a bit.
Words by Donovan Livesey
