(Credits: Far Out / Dylan Coates / Automotion)

Being a London band has its obstacles. Chief among them is shouldering through a swamped mass of hopefuls vying for attention from an utterly jaded public. The city is a packed tube of culture. Yet, over the past four years, Automotion have been gradually gathering speed. Continually refining their atmospheric, eclectic sound and performing to increasingly full rooms, they’ve charted their own path from the beginning, and this tact is now starting to bear fruit.

The group were formed in 2020 by school friends Lennon Gallagher and Jesse Hitchman. They’ve since consolidated the lineup alongside twins Finton and Otis Eatwell-Hurst on bass and drums, respectively. With the former duo handling vocals and guitars, this stable iteration has seen Automotion evolve markedly.

While the quartet have performed across the country, their spiritual home is the ostensible epicentre of South London: The Windmill in Brixton. It has provided a perfect place for them to hone their craft in performing and songwriting. This creative incubator has also supplied the same for other compelling contemporaries, whom the quartet have watched with open eyes and ears, soaking it up.

On June 19th, Automotion released their latest EP, Dissolve, which sees them take their craft up a level. Crowning it with a release show at The Lexington that night, the group are now looking to close the book on this chapter, and segue into a new one.

I sat down with the band two days after the record arrived. The boys were buoyed. The initial reaction to Dissolve had been extremely positive. Nevertheless, they remained somewhat nonchalant about it, with Otis saying, “It’s just an EP release innit”. This coolness was a signifier that they’re always looking to push things forward.

“It’s all going to plan,” Lennon says sardonically, laughing. “We haven’t hit a million streams yet, but I give it three more days, and we’ll be there.” I did ask them about their favourite tracks, but what ensued was a chaotic back-and-forth between the members about the working titles for songs and the new, official ones used on the release. This is a common cognitive snag for musicians who have rested on less serious names in the rehearsal space for so long.

Through this wild peek into the band’s inner workings, it becomes clear that ‘Lost in the Spinal Labyrinth’ and ‘Your Eyes Dissolve into the Sea’ are the two standouts for them. These are also tracks that define their singular sound at its best.

And singularity is somewhat of a concern for the group. Given their connection to The Windmill and the oft-mentioned ‘South London scene’, I wondered if the band actually classified themselves as a ‘South London band’. Gallagher commences, pondering: “We do play in South London a lot.” He’s the only one who doesn’t live in the area, but the connection is still robust.

“I don’t really like the name anymore. I think it’s kind of cringe,” Finton offers. “There’s a weird connotation to it isn’t there?” Gallagher picks up, with Otis adding, “It’s just a bit bait now, isn’t it.”

“‘Oh, we’re from South London,” Finton utters in a mocking tone, which echoes how many people currently feel, given the area’s inextricable connection to the most recent wave of post-punk, which has long since become exhausted, despite the spectre still living on in various newer groups. He feels so strongly on the matter because the twins were in the post-punk-leaning Peeping Drexels, who were regularly pigeonholed as South London through and through.

Finton clarifies: “It reminds me of being a teenager, not really knowing what you’re doing, and just making mistakes and being a bit cringe, I would say.”

“There are a lot of venues,” Gallagher muses on whether the scene is officially dead. “I think it’s still alive.” This was evidenced when local hubs like The Ivy House, The Old Dispensary, Venue Mot and Avalon Cafe were all rattled off in support of the statement.

Hitchman, who had been mostly quiet until this point, presented why he believes Automotion differ from the aforementioned sound despite playing its key venues. He starts: “The association, I guess, with the South London thing is with this idea of post-punk. I’d never consider us post-punk.”

The group have been labelled as such a lot, but none of them can see any discernible connection to the genre. The curly-haired vocalist continues: “But what’s the connection between us and punk? We’re not punk. I think the term ‘post-rock’ is better because it’s more indeterminate. It’s so unbelievably broad; it’s such an umbrella term that it feels like it works better.” This speaks volumes about the group’s motivations.

Hitchman maintains that they don’t have that relationship with punk, but certainly do with rock. Automotion like to think they’re moving within rock music, but also outside of it. They want to do something new to move it forward. It’s an idea that adds a whole new dimension to the band name.

Hitchman clarifies that they likely aren’t doing that with Dissolve, as it refines their previous efforts. It’s not revolutionary, he realistically asserts. The quartet are still on their journey to find out what actually qualifies music as genuinely new and innovative.

He explains: “I think part of the idea with this EP was to initiate something of a send-off to the old style, to try and refine what we’ve done before; ‘Okay, we’ve done this now. Let’s try and figure out something slightly different.’ I’ve been listening to more electronic music, trying to get more electronic elements into it.” He grins: “We don’t know where it will go. Which should be the idea.”

As a distillation of this emergent singularity, the quartet are reticent to talk about musical influences. Still, Hitchman offers that his original idea was to make something completely unique within the rock context. He smiles in another show of humility: “Increasingly, this seems more and more unlikely.” Seeing a band straddle the line between confidence and self-awareness is always pleasing.

Displaying immense understanding, Hitchman explained that perhaps the greatest influence, instead of specific artists, is Automotion’s environment. The creative milieu at The Windmill has proved instrumental for them. When he and Lennon were starting out, they’d regularly go to the Brixton haunt to watch bands for inspiration. He explains: “I’m not musically trained, but that felt a little bit like my training.”

It’s impossible to have a conversation with the band without addressing the trunked animal in the room. Lennon is Oasis frontman Liam’s oldest son, and it was necessary to ask the group about the broader nepo baby debate, particularly in light of them being firmly on their own path, creating music far removed from his father’s.

As with everything in this interview, the group are unified in their beliefs. They haven’t had a fast rise, and are still a small band playing small venues. It’s true. Aside from the surname, there is virtually nothing linking Automotion with Lennon’s father at all. They’re doing it the right way.

“We’ve been doing this for four years, man. It’s been a great journey, it’s been a steady rise up. We’ve all been doing it ourselves; the contacts we’ve made have been through our own merit. To say there’s an element of nepotism in this, there’s really not,” Lennon asserts. “It’s always good to acknowledge it and not shy away from the topic, though. To have that understanding is the best way to go about it.”

Ironically, Otis adds that they’ve had more help from his connection as a sound engineer at The Windmill than anything else. The puckish Finton nods to his brother dryly: “He’s the nepo one, not us”.