DOWNPOUR: HEAVIER THAN ANYTHING WE’VE DONE BEFORE

THE MELODIC HARDCORE BAND ON BURN IT DOWN FESTIVAL AND NEW EP THE SEARCH FOR PERMANENCE

Since forming in 2023, Bristol’s Downpour have wasted little time making their presence felt on the UK hardcore scene, earning attention from fans and critics alike.

Built around the creative talents of Richard Lardner on vocals, Jesse Brock on guitar and vocals, Mitch Young on bass and Isaac Barton on drums, the four-piece serve up emotionally charged melodic hardcore — although their music happily wanders into pop-punk and metalcore territory too.

Downpour’s debut album, Where There Is Life, There Is Hope, was unleashed back in March 2025 and showcased a band equally comfortable with soaring melodies, emotional intensity and brutal metallic punches to the face, helping establish them as one of the more interesting and compelling names on the scene.

Now they’re gearing up for their next chapter.

The Search for Permanence — a five-track EP that sees Downpour pushing further into darker and heavier territory — lands on 11 September. They’ve also got plenty of miles ahead of them, with a UK headline tour about to start and more European dates on the horizon for 2027.

Before all that, though, they’re heading back to Torquay this weekend for Burn It Down Festival — a fitting return given that the festival was the first they ever played, back in 2024. This time around, they’ll be sharing the bill with the likes of Stick To Your Guns, Speed, and Locked Shut.

With the new EP on the way and a busy few months ahead, we were lucky to collar the Downpour boys for a nice long chinwag about music, mortality, zombie survival skills and the horror of social media.

For M&S pies, 'Sweet Caroline' and neurodivergent emos — read on!

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Hello Downpour. Welcome to The Winchester. What are you drinking?

JESSE — Thatcher's Gold. You can't be from the West Country and not be sipping on a Thatcher's when you see one. 


A lovely, crisp and refreshing pint. Excellent choice.

Let’s start with the easy stuff. Please describe Downpour for us.

JESSE — We’re a bit of a mixed-genre band: the core of the band is melodic hardcore, with elements of pop-punk and metalcore. Everything’s very melodic, with some catchy sing-along choruses and some nice chuggy breakdowns. But every song is kinda different, so it doesn’t get boring.

What’s your secret sauce?

JESSE — We’re all neurodivergent emos.

Snap! Let’s go right back to the beginning: how did the band start?

JESSE — Me and Mitch had a previous band together, called We Struck Gold. That came to an end, but we didn’t want to give up on playing music. That’s when Issac, who used to drum for us a few years previous, hopped in on drums and that was the foundation sorted.

We were looking for a vocalist for quite some time. I reached out to Myroslav, who we’ve recorded everything with so far, and he knew Rich was looking for a band. We sent him some demos and it all kind of fell into place. ‘Losing Grip’ was the first song we wrote together and played as a complete band.

Please describe for us your typical songwriting process.

JESSE — I usually write the skeleton of the song on my own, then everyone adds their touches. They’ll tell me what they like and don’t like, and share ideas to enhance the demo.

Sometimes a song will start with just a vocal melody in my head, and I’ll try to write a chorus around it. Sometimes it comes out great; sometimes it’s trash.

Let’s focus on the great. Your new EP — The Search for Permanence — releases on 11 September: what can you tell us about it?

RICH — In many ways, the EP serves as closure to a lot of the topics discussed in our previous release, Where There Is Life, There Is Hope. Sonically, the songs feel a step up.

We really feel like we've been able to sculpt our songs into a darker space. We were conscious of switching it up a bit. We definitely tried to lean into some heavier moments with these five tracks: heavier than anything we’ve done before.

Emotionally, there have been new challenges to overcome and I think the songs on the EP play testament to that. We have definitely had time to connect musically since writing the album. It was probably in the back quarter of the album when things really started to click into place.

Can you talk us through the recording process?

RICH — The way we tackled this recording was completely different. We recorded ourselves for this one, and then had everything mixed externally by Myroslav at Jigsaw Audio. Myroslav’s mixed all our other material.

We actually recorded some of the vocals in the back of a clapped-out Ford Transit at the border crossing in Dover, while waiting to board our ferry. That was an interesting experience.

Is there a particular song on the EP that you’re especially excited for people to hear?

RICH — ‘Memories’ is a song I'm especially excited for people to hear. It's something we've been playing live for some time. It's melodic but packs a lot of energy.

The track has a connection to ‘Miles Apart’, which was written about the passing of my father. ‘Memories’ focuses on celebrating those memories and has really helped provide closure.

Given the EP’s title, what does ‘permanence’ mean to you?

RICH — I had a breakdown seven or so years ago. It was right after my grandad had passed away. He was the first person I had ever lost who had been close to me. It was only a few weeks after the funeral when I started to think in great detail about my own mortality.

I began thinking deeply about what it means for something to be permanent. The title really plays on that thought process. Making things creatively is one way we can find permanence.

You’re performing at Burn It Down this weekend. How are feeling about it?

ISAAC — Torquay is actually my home town. To see the names that Matt and the Burn It Down team are able to bring to a small seaside town is incredible.

We love the festival and its ethos. The team behind it are some of the most passionate people, wanting to produce the best experience for both the bands and the attendees.

Burn It Down was actually the first festival we ever played, back in 2024. We were really fortunate to have played it so early on. Since then, I think we’ve really found our feet with what we’re doing. Being able to come back and play again is a full-circle moment for us.

Do you approach a festival set differently from a regular show?

ISAAC — Yeah, for sure. For Burn It Down, we’ve really tried to tailor the set around the line-up we’re playing alongside — trying to stick to the heavier side of the Downpour catalogue.

We’re really looking forward to playing a set made up of our heaviest tracks: punk beats, riffs, sing-alongs and breakdowns. We hope the energy transfers to the crowd. 

You’re playing alongside some pretty big names. Does knowing that affect your performance?

ISAAC — I think it just makes us want to go out and play the best we can, and leave knowing we gave it everything we could. If at least one person hears us for the first time and fucks with what we’re doing, I’ll be more than happy.

The calibre of talent playing Burn It Down this year is very high, but I don’t think we feel that as a pressure. I think the pressure comes from ourselves just wanting to put on the tightest and most engaging performance we can.

Which bands are you most looking forward to catching at Burn It Down?

ISAAC — This year’s line-up is stacked from top to bottom — as it’s been every year I’ve attended, which is all of them. Very excited to see Stick To Your Guns. I know that it’s been Matt’s dream to book them for years. The fact I get to play on the same bill as one of my favourite bands is very exciting.

RICH — There’s a bunch of bands playing this year that we’re extremely excited to check out: Monochrome, Styg, Supernover, Roman Candle, Speed, Negative Frame, to name a few.

ISAAC — Yeah, Speed and Locked Shut are going to be great. Bands I’d definitely recommend checking out are Bodyweb, Not Without Punishment, Apathy, Last Wishes, Spaced, Spy, Tempers Fray, and No Relief. There’s loads more I could recommend, but there’s a few I’m looking forward to.

What’s been your biggest Downpour highlight to date?

RICH — Our biggest highlight was actually also a crushing disappointment. A big thing we’ve been pushing towards for a long time is breaking into mainland Europe. Last year we were fortunate enough to get the offer to play alongside Stick To Your Guns in Germany. We jumped at the opportunity. We also fixed to do a small headline show in Karlsruhe on the way.

Unfortunately, our van broke down in rural France and we ended up stranded for 36 hours. We missed the headline show and then ended up in quite a deep hole financially.

Seeing footage from the show we missed was also really gutting. But we made it to Germany eventually and the Stick To Your Guns show was amazing. We couldn’t have asked for better.

What’s the best thing about band life?

MITCH — The best bit has to be playing shows. Even after days of endless travel, traffic jams and van breakdowns, the show always reminds us why we do this and nothing can match the feeling of playing a sick show.

Conversely, what are the aspects of band life that sometimes make you wonder why the hell you bother?

MITCH — The worst part has to be social media and how it's totally mandatory these days. Without it we wouldn't have reached half of our audience. But trying to navigate the ever-changing algorithm and spending hours on posts for them to reach 2% of your overall following is infuriating! Yeah, social media is hell.

Couldn't agree more. What hidden talents do you each have?

MITCH — Isaac's a great artist. He studied traditional tattooing and he’s illustrated our latest EP cover. Jesse is pretty handy with cars and knows how to write a banger. I'm pretty good with technology, both on and off stage. And Rich is great at doom scrolling at max volume in the van.

Who in Downpour would be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse? And who would be first to get eaten? 

MITCH — Rich would be most likely to survive. When our van broke down somewhere in France, he went straight into survival mode. He was straight on the phone trying to come up with a solution. The other three of us weren't as 'on it' and therefore I think Jesse, Isaac and myself would all likely be eaten.

You’re on Death Row: what are you having for your last meal? 

MITCH — M&S Chicken and Broccoli pie: 10/10.

You really know how to spoil yourself. What’s the most embarrassing song currently lurking on your playlist?

MITCH — For a laugh, we've started blasting a ‘Sweet Caroline’ drum and bass remix in the van when we arrive at venues or just supermarket car parks. We get some funny looks, but it's hilarious in the moment.

But it’s definitely embarrassing when it randomly plays outside of that situation and you have to explain yourself.

Please give us three albums everyone should own.

MITCH — Naming just three is hard, but here goes:

• Stick To Your Guns — Diamond
• Modern Baseball — Sports
• Shaboozey — Where I've Been, Isn't Where I'm Going

I’m not even joking with the last one. Banger!

Beyond releasing The Search for Permanence, what’s next for Downpour?

MITCH — We’ve got a UK tour coming up later this month with our friends from overseas, Waves Like Walls. We’ve also got a few one-off shows and festival appearances before the end of the year. All our upcoming dates and tickets can be found on our Linktree.

And we’re working hard on EU plans for 2027 currently.

What are your dreams for Downpour? 

MITCH — We’d love to be touring more frequently, especially outside of the UK. We’ve already got plans to return to Europe next year, but to have the opportunity to go further afield — to the US, Australia, Japan and further afield — would be the dream.

Everything about Downpour is DIY, so to be in a position where we could invest more of our time into what love, without the 9-5 getting in the way, that’s definitely the goal.

All power to you. Thanks guys. We really appreciate you chatting with us. Best of luck with the EP and Burn It Down. Any final words? Anyone you want to thank?

MITCH — Obviously, without the people turning up to our shows, buying merch, streaming us and supporting us through socials, we’d be nowhere. We’re incredibly grateful for every opportunity we get to play and to meet new people that love live music and hardcore as much as we all do.

Thank you if you’ve ever given us the time of day in any form or medium. And if you’re discovering us for the first time, we hope you like what you hear. Hopefully we can welcome you to a show in the future.

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