For someone that’s never heard National Citizens before, how would you best describe your sound and live show?

Asher: National Citizens can be described as 2000s Pop-Punk that’s really trying to be Midwest Emo! I think our sound really encapsulates Emmerson and I’s songwriting influences growing up, so you get a bit of an Indie to Alt Metal spectrum when you come to our live shows – that’s if you can look past our constant bickering! We just love to fight for attention and have fun while doing it!

Emmerson: They call us “Early 2000s pop-punk,” which I absolutely love! Think whiney guitar riffs with sad lyrics we probably should’ve spoken to a therapist about.

Our live shows feel like a big group of mates just hanging out; we get loud and fast. We dance, we laugh, we have a little cry, we argue over who’s meant to be the frontman… Oh! And we play tunes to channel all that rage I know you’re trying to hide, with a little leftover teenage angst for good measure 😉  

Which bands do you take inspiration from?

Asher: My biggest writing inspirations for our new songs come from classic Linkin Park (my childhood favourite band) and Sleep Token, whose music spans so many different genre influences that there is always something new and exciting! 

Emmerson: My Chemical Romance – I believe that’s very obvious as soon as you meet me. There is so much raw emotion and crazy fast guitars that I just fell in love with at 13 and never looked back. The storytelling in their albums is something I didn’t get until I was a little older, but it’s definitely shaped my lyrics, and I love a big screamy note.

The Front Bottoms feel like home. They showed me that I don’t have to be literal in every verse; people will still understand the emotions through the music, and you can still boogie while crying! Asher did recently have to stop me from layering vocal chants in every song, but they just make me so happy.

Once the likes of Waterparks and Twenty One Pilots taught me I could sing as fast as I liked, all of my anger and frustrations were unleashed onto a page for Asher to fix with his fancy Master’s degree (I have learnt so much from this man and am forever grateful).

This is your first headline show in quite a while, are there any surprises in store? And tell us a bit more about the support acts and venue.

Asher: At the start of this year, we decided to take a step back from headline shows as the 4 we played across last year ended up being quite heavily themed and lots of work to put together. While we absolutely adored every show, we needed the time to grow our fanbase and put more time into writing new music – this headline has come at the perfect time, as we’ve been working so hard over the last 2 months to shake things up and everything has changed! 

Emmerson: I guess the main surprise is that it’s ALL NEW, even the songs we’ve been playing for 7 years have had a complete overhaul, and I’m so excited to play them how we’ve always wanted them to sound!

One of the fun things about playing for a new promoter is meeting new bands!! Ludvik Langholm hits me right in the heart and has me crying happy tears. Fake Fame makes me feel like I’m in some epic coming-of-age film; it’s wonderfully uplifting.

Thinking about headlining Oporto is an amazing, terrifying, fever dream. We have seen countless people play that stage, and we even got to play Independent Venue Week there earlier this year! The energy in there is electric, it’s one of my favourite venues to watch shows, definitely a bucket list venue – and we get to tick it off soon!!

What can we expect to see next?

Asher: Hopefully, me taking a break for 5 minutes! On a serious note, our next project is our biggest yet – we’re talking multi-media, collaborations to the max and a dual EP release? 

I won’t say more just yet, but it’s looking to be a pretty epic project!

Emmerson: This is a dangerous question because I am TERRIBLE at keeping secrets! Give us til the end of the year (to finish up recording). We’ve got a few more shows and Asher’s infamous BANDMAS, then… You may be hearing a lot more of us, and maybe keep in mind that I’m a sucker for a concept album and lots of lore… let’s put it that way

As a crucial artist in the Leeds DIY scene, what is the importance of supporting local artists and venues to you?

Asher: If there’s anything we joke about most, it’s that if you’re at a local band’s gig in Leeds, then Emmerson and I are there. We average about a gig a week across a year, but sometimes we’ll hit a crazy week, like the last week of September, where we were at a good 4 shows! It’s so important to us to be involved in the scene by showing up for others the same way we’d like others to show up for us.

I feel strongly that going to shows that you’re not involved with shows that you’re a good band, you respect the art, you support the music industry, and you love what you do! I always take this into account for booking my own events too. 

Emmerson: Crucial artist is the biggest compliment I’ve ever received, and we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the wonderful support of our scene! Music won’t have much of a future without local artists and venues; this is where the magic happens. The shows are so incredible that they make me feel alive, and honestly, I enjoy them way more than some of the arena shows I’ve seen recently. Many of them have served as a safe space for me too. I’ve had many a seizure at shows, and I’m so appreciative of all the people who look out for me and are genuinely helpful – I’ve never seen a group of more supportive people than the Leeds DIY scene.

Which Leeds bands are you listening to at the moment?

Asher: While they’ve broken out of the Leeds scene, and are doing absolutely awesome things around the world, Artio are always in rotation no matter what playlist I have on! Cateyes are my favourite shoegaze band, with their best tracks being Interlude + Trick – the last show I saw them at, they pulled off an amazing transition between the two!

Ómoia has some killer, heartbreaking, queer tracks, such as Section 28 and People Like Us, that are must-listens.

I’ve just recently purchased Threat Detector’s new CD “Tell Me You Don’t Feel That” and it’s track after track of amazing dance music with dark undertones.

Emmerson: RatPakk – I think my favourite is either SUNNEH or SHUT YA MUSH, which actually inspired parts of a song that I can’t tell you about yet!

Lavender Gray – Russian Roulette is so damn catchy! Loz stood in for me singing As Seen On TV during a Key Club rehearsal, and it was beautiful, honestly, I think that should be their song now.

Muck gigs are like a band family outing with the matching t-shirts and all!

Yuppie Supper – I had a bad day recently and remember feeling like I just needed Riley to scream MUNCHAUSEN’S-BY-PROXY directly into my brain.

Our session musicians are loving Niph at the moment too!

If you catch us driving, there’s a 70% chance we’re listening to Artio’s entire discography

Anything else you’d like to add?

Asher: Drop @nationalcitizens a follow to keep up with everything we’re getting up to next!

And as a big thank you for being a Content Nausea reader – use code “national6” to grab yourself a cheaplist ticket for our Oporto headline on Monday 13th October!

Emmerson: 1) We have a song called Halloween that is an essential addition to your Halloween playlists! 2) Go to a local show, please, for the love of whatever you believe in!

And also – Hi Ma & Dad ❤