Littlehampton band Absuma have big hopes for 2025

They enjoyed a successful 2024. They’d launched five singles by Christmas, played on Brighton Radio Reverb and established a popular residency at The Havana in Chichester. They also played Brighton Folklore Rooms. Now they are hoping to hit the festivals for 2025 and probably also bring out a live album, recorded at The Havana.

The band are Simon Keet –vox/guitar; Kristina Chapman – vox/bass; Simon Stewart – drums; Sophie Stewart – vox/percussion; Jodie Muncey – keys; and Jack Munnelly – vox/guitar.

As Simon says: “Basically it is all my songs. There are an awful lot of them and we got together to do them. We have been doing this band for two years and gigging for a year. I was in a band called Gloo before but I ended up leaving for personal reasons and then I just realised that I had to do my own music. I'd written songs since I was a teenager. My first band that I was in was called The Nuts who were a Littlehampton covers band.”

And in fact three of The Nuts are in Absuma now.

As for the name: “The name is a bit weird,” Simon says, “but my granddad was like a gypsy from the West Country and he came into some money through working really hard and he built a house at Burpham. The name comes from his name Abraham and his wife Maureen and their daughter Susan, my mum. We don't have the house now but I wanted a name that was significant for us and that meant something to me.”

As for the music, Kristina said: “I would describe the music as like an amalgamation of lots of different perspectives really and different talents. It is Simon's music but everyone brings something different to the band. We all have different styles and different talents. We all want to support Simon and help him make his music and his vision and really just bring it to life.”

Simon added: “Some of the songs are from the darker parts of my life when I would go out binge drinking but since the band I've not been teetotal but I have been sober all the time.

“I wrote a lot of songs during lockdown. There is a song about me and Kristina walking along the promenade during lockdown and talking about all the conspiracy theories. I've done a song that is Titanic set in space and our recent single was called Animal which is about the idea of suppressing your inner spirit animal.

“I would say the music is psychedelic folk pop and people see it as a smash-up of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen and the B52s and Fleetwood Mac.”

Kristina added: “We have had an amazing year. We have had this residency at The Havana in Chichester which is an amazing place. They really nurture people there and they take responsibility for growing the music scene in Chichester. They are very passionate about that. We are not from Chichester but we are West Sussex local and we've really made The Havana our home and a place where we're building a following – and also Spun Records in Worthing. It feels so special for us in both places and it just feels like it has become a musical family. They are really right there for us and helping us move forward.”