Edward Parker-Bray speaks to Spanish three-piece Mustard about moving to Brighton, how this affected their sound and the influence of Brighton as a “music city.” Tied together with a superheated spark of genius, Mustard’s songs are snapshots of a strange and beautiful world.

Why the name Mustard and why was it the right name for your band?

It’s quite an anecdote. The name came up pretty randomly: we liked how Mustard sounded and we were a bit undecided until a friend told us the story of the mustard seed: “The biggest bush grows from the smallest of the seeds.” We like to think that no matter how small you are, if you work hard for what you want you will achieve it.

What inspired you to start a band?

Music is our passion, it runs through our veins, so we didn’t need any inspiration, it just followed its natural course.

How long have you been together and why the move from Spain to Brighton?

We started playing together in another formation in Spain, named Desproposito. It was a classic teenager formation playing questionable music. After that split the three of us kept writing and recording songs together, and when we had about 20, we decided to form another band. After two to three good years playing all over Spain, the idea of moving to Brighton took hold and the rest of the band couldn’t join us in this adventure. At the same time, this gave us the opportunity to push ahead as a trio and luckily we found this new way of making music, which we couldn’t be happier about.

Has moving to Brighton changed your sound?

We love to think that our music is fresh and new. Each one of us has his own influence (Miguel: folk; Juan: jazz and Blues; and Pedro: electronic) and when we write songs we try to meet each other in the middle. The result of that is Mustard. Of course we’ve expanded our horizons thanks to the experiences, but in this case we could say that we brought something from where we came from.

How do you find Brighton’s music scene?

It’s the best! We’ve been very lucky to be involved in it as this is a city for music. We’ve found the scene to be a huge family that has opened its doors to us. Every single person we have met musicwise has been very kind and helpful. We feel we are, and we will always be, part of this community of music maniacs.

How do you feel BIMM Brighton has furthered your music career?

BIMM gives you a realistic view of the music business. They teach you obvious techniques and styles, but the best part is that they teach you how to learn what you want to play.

For anyone who hasn’t heard your music before how would you describe it?

Let us quote our big friend Jon here who described us as “part-Latin swagger; part-folk psychedelia and part-urban minimalist electro”. Mustard are far more than the sum of their parts. From Spain via Brighton, they sound like nothing else you’ve heard.

Do you have any upcoming shows or new releases on the way?

We are starting our first European tour this weekend and we couldn’t be more excited. Our next single is going to be Daily Battles which is included in the Like The Sauce EP.And we have many more songs coming!

For more information on the band, visit: www. facebook.com/normantonstreetofficial