Mixing southern imagery and murder balladry on the road

Expect southern Gothic imagery, murder balladry and a brooding mix of dark roots, bluegrass, gypsy jazz and gothic Americana as Heathen Apostles head to Lewes Music Club on August 5.

Formed in 2013 by Mather Louth (Radio Noir) and rock 'n' roll veteran Chopper Franklin (The Cramps, Mau Maus, Nick Curran & the Lowlifes), they also feature Thomas Lorioux (Kings of Nuthin', Legendary Shack Shakers) on bass and Luis Mascaro on violin, promising an immersive, cinematic experience that leaves a lasting impression.

With seven critically acclaimed albums, a string of haunting singles and accolades including Folk N Rock Magazine's Best EP of 2018 award for The Fall, Heathen Apostles have carved out a unique place within the alternative Americana scene.

Now they are enjoying playing this side of the pond.

Chopper said: “It's a natural progression. We have played the EU and we've played the States. We started playing the UK in 2023, and it's just really great. We have a wide spectrum of influences and a lot of them come from the UK, a lot of immigrants that came to the States and settled there bringing their music. And that's the kind of tradition that we play. We are injecting a lot of gothic influences but also a little bit of punk rock.”

Mather said: “Chopper and I had known each other for many years through mutual friends. We were working on projects of our own that were disbanding for whatever reason. We ran into each other again at a mutual friend’s party. We were just catching up on what we were doing and he was telling me that he was working on this new gothic western project. He sent some tracks my way and I listened to them and I immediately connected with what he was doing. I came over to his place and did a kind of audition!”

Chopper recalls: “She came across. And I just knew. If you could hear the song you would understand why. It just fitted. I was not thinking male singer or female singer but she was just absolutely right.”

Since then they have done seven full albums and a slew of EPs, Mather says. As for the content: “It just really runs the gamut. I am a writer by nature and sometimes it starts off as prose or maybe I have a specific story that I want to tell but at the same time I just love riffing off the classic British murder ballads. It's fun to step into those stories and to me that's what it is all about. Even if it's just an instrumental piece, it is all about telling stories.”

The current EP is the No Peace EP. They wrote No Peace back in 2021 after the George Floyd protests. Five years later, they rebuilt it heavier, and the more they worked on it, the more they realised it was never about just one moment.

For the video, the band cut their performance together with protest footage going back over one hundred years. Wounded Knee in 73. The Chicano school walkouts here in LA in 68. School integration in the south. Stonewall. The Rodney King protests at LAPD’s Parker Center. And more recently, the Sackler opioid protests in DC and the Standing Rock Resistance. You can watch the video on YouTube.

As Chopper says, he has got the word Revolt tattooed across his shoulders.

Mather explains: “We have never hidden what we want to speak about especially now when it is so important to speak out at what is going on.”