How did The Savage Hearts come together as a band?

It was my little pet project after Covid. I ended up with a huge stockpile of song ideas and thought, ‘What the hell am I going to do with them?’ I finished them off with Ste Kelly from Raglans and Stefan Murphy from the Mighty Stef. With The Strypes, we got very involved in major record labels and things like that. This was my little revolt against that, doing my own indie thing.

What’s it like being part of an indie label like Blowtorch Records?

They’re fantastic. During The Strypes days, we got a lot of attention very early on, which flowed into a bit of a high-falutin’ world I personally never really felt we belonged in. It got us our start in the business, but it also taught us a lot. Because you go, ‘Well, I’ve worked with those labels, and now I have a better idea of where I’d like to be.’ It’s the indie/garage-rock scene I feel at home in.

What does each band member bring to the table?

I was the drummer in The Strypes and I switched over to bass guitar. Darragh Muldoon is the lead singer and lead guitarist – he brings so much talent to what he does, because a lot of it rests on his shoulders. We also have Terry Brady, who’s an amazing harmonica player, and Eugenio Collinassi, a tenor sax and trombone player from Italy. He’s a real musician, because he can read and write music, and add brass and sax lines. There are a lot of different influences from blues, soul and roots music.

How do you balance those influences to create your own style?

Becky, my sister, comes in and does harmony and backing vocals, and she adds a little Shangri-Las, girl group element. You might go, ‘Oh, I was listening to country music and Motown, or something contemporary’, and you mix it with other influences. You might think you’re doing your take on a certain style, but because you’re going to get it slightly wrong, it’s your own kind of music. It’s going to sound like you, more than it sounds like you trying to be somebody else.

• ‘Gang War’ is out now.