UNITED KINGDOM—Surrounded by a lush greenery of vines and sporting a David Bowie shirt, enters Jake. Next to join is his childhood friend and partner, Max. The latter who has chosen to join the chat inside the comfort of his home against a white wall wearing a casual blue collared shirt. “Me and Jake have been best friends since we were about 4 years old” recounts Max. “The others we became friends with in secondary school”
What began as a hobby, has now gradually been turning into something more than just a fun collaboration between friends. “We all gravitated towards each other” Jake Passmore reflects back. Singer and rhythm guitarist of the London based alternative band SCORS, which consists of three other integral players. Joining Jake in the meeting is Max, in charge of keeping a steady rhythm and beat with his trusty bass. The latter component of which band member Tom is also crucial in keeping together behind the drums. Piers keeps the melody afloat as the lead guitarist.
Linked by their passion for music, Jake and Max ponder back to the very beginning where they fondly remember a music teacher who encouraged them enough to “…give them a fascination with music very early on.” Max adds. Not to mention, their families whom Jake reveals that it was never something forced on them but rather that his family would rather “accommodate” as soon as they showed interest in music.
“We were just very fortunate,” Jake says.
Inspired by artists such as David Bowie and bands like the Strokes, the four friends decided to start creating their own songs during their school years. The latter which made their experience during school unique from their fellow peers. “During school time we sometimes would meet with a manager” Jake remembers. Yet, it would prove to be more difficult to balance their projects post-school. “I (Jake) was going to art school and Piers to dance school.”
“I think it was much easier during school because we all had the same schedules, and later on we had to accommodate between our different schedules because of jobs,” Max says.
However, Jake confesses that he has not left his artistic side behind. He reveals he is in charge of making the cover art for the songs.
As they continued to try to keep the band together, the release of their first song Calpol, solidified their union.
“We all kind of started as guitar players” comments Jake. “In the early days, I used to play guitar” reveals Max. In fact, Jake reveals that in Calpol, he was behind the bass. It wasn’t until the song’s release that the band decided to experiment into the music industry and experiment to find their uniqueness. Their voice. Their sound.
“We knew there was a lot of building to go. We knew we needed to find our sound first before jumping into something big. That is what our SoundCloud playlist is mostly for; hearing our progression. That is until we decided to take it seriously with “E Is The Real You” Jake divulges.
In 2016, the group garnered more attention with the release of E Is The Real You. A song which propelled the band to take its journey more seriously and establish a proper band name.
SCORS presented its unfinished version at the headquarters of music company Sofar Sounds. “We hadn’t even finished writing the song at that point,” reveals Max. In fact, Jake mentions that he had to make the lyrics on the spot. However, when they played the song, Jake adds that “…this was our direction, the next step, our sound.” Previously used to record their songs at the school, the creation of this song led them to experience for the first time what it was like to record at a professional studio.
But it wasn’t all fancy and clean. That same year, they experienced what they have fondly dubbed the “cursed” live show.
“There was this show where our sound was very bad. Our sound check was greatly delayed. They told us ‘Ok, there’s so many people outside that we are going to start letting people in’ and (they did this) while we were doing our sound check. Three people came in and told us “this is too awkward”. It sounded so horrible. We were using all of the house amps. Except the bass amp, we were borrowing that one from the main band. It sounded so much better than the other amps. All you could hear was bass and vocals. Then at the end they told us they filmed it and they were going to upload it to YouTube. “I was like ‘Oh no why did you do that!” [Laughter]
“Our gigs are better now. There’s a team we have that is helpful. We know how to speak for ourselves now, we are not as nervous as that time,” Jake continues.
With industry attention at their door, Max adds that it was an exciting time, especially as they released the song when they were only 17.
Calpol reverberates with its funky chorus. E Is The Real You maintains that jazziness jingle all while evoking a dreamy atmosphere, blasting off to the sound of rock during its chorus.
“Back then, (when we were younger), Jake would come up with some chords, and play together. Then we decided depending on how we jammed out. But now that we are taking it more seriously, Jake and I mainly write the songs on the acoustic guitar and finish the lyrics and structure.” Max elaborates as they explain the process of writing songs. They let music be a fun process. A spontaneous happening where the flow of music tells them where to go.
“That is what I love about songwriting; Every single song happens in a completely different way,” Jake adds.
Max, with equal passion for writing lyrics, confesses that he always “…liked writing and doing poetry.”
Such spontaneity led to their latest demo version of How’s Our Favorite Girl. The latter which distances itself apart from their other songs by opting for an acoustic feeling.
But what does the name SCORS mean?
“We did gigs early on without a name. Sometimes we came up with band names on the spot. Those did not work, so we decided to actually plan it and have a name that people can actually find us with,” Jake explains. “We wanted a one word name for the band. We wanted an ambiguous name. Leave it open to the point it can be whatever you want it to be.”
Defined by the flexibility to work with others, Jake and Max are delighted by the sound of being able to collaborate with others.
“We love working with other people,” Max responds.
“We really value collaboration because the band started as a collaboration. This wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for each other. We understand how useful it is,” Jake continues ”When opportunities come up we always take them in mind.”
They reveal the current setbacks the current quarantine has imposed on them. Live shows, photos, music videos cancelled. However, that does not stop the band from trying to push forward. “We are trying to adapt. We don’t want another hurdle.” Jake comments.
“Our dream is to travel the world through music. Although London is always going to have a soft spot.”
On the style of their future projects, Max reflects that their “…future work is going to have a more mature sound than the previous work.” With Jake pitching that their early work was “more loud and fast,” considering their young age.
“We are excited for what’s coming up.”
