Ukulele Death Squad

Ukulele Death Squad has a reputation for pushing the limits of the ukulele. With the release of ‘Baby Don’t F**k With Me’, how do you continue to evolve while staying true to your roots?

“Baby Don’t F**k With Me” sends the Ukulele into a brand new context with a sensual groove and high energy rap. Combining the Uke with our brass section and latin rhythms from our new Argentinean percussionist, we are maximising the instruments sex appeal. Sadly last year, our co-founder, B.S. Roberts had to step down as ‘Lead Ukulele Shredder’ and we were worried we’d have to change our name to “Miscellaneous Death Squad.” Luckily we were able to have convinced our friend, Pidge, a classical guitarist of Hello Tut Tut fame, to lose two strings and join the band so uke shredding can stay firmly on the menu. 

All of our songs are written on the Ukulele, and we just add, add, add til someone screams ‘We’re playing this on stage tonight!’ in line with our ‘progress over perfection’ and ‘keep it sexy’ approach. Storytelling on 4 strings has always been our focus - we’ve just beefed up the side dishes of percussion, brass and vocal power so audiences can engorge themselves on our musical offerings.

The combination of folk, R&B, and big-band brass on the new EP has really turned heads. How did you approach blending these diverse genres, and what was the creative process like for you?

This EP takes a new direction for us musically, and although we have been playing some of these songs for a while, we gave ourselves permission to try new sounds and types of grooves. As we’ve added band members our songwriting has become increasingly collaborative, with each member bringing their favourite sounds, their unique energy and personal stories to the table. We’ve attempted to insert our playful chaos into something more refined for this EP - crafting songs that showcase our diverse musical skillset and perspectives. 

The idea of creating a project with a theme was exciting to us, and although we actually recorded some of these songs at the same time as our last EP, we chose to further refine these songs for an R’n’B flavoured EP and release ‘Til The Death’ as our pirate-folk release.

The attitude in ‘Baby Don’t Fk With Me’ is fierce and unapologetic. What was the inspiration behind the track, and what message do you hope listeners take away from it?

Baby Don’t Fuck with Me is about the power of transformation and celebrating what it feels like to feel good in you’re own body. This song came about through jamming. Julian Ferguson and former member Ben finding that groove. Matty evoked story and character from the music, bringing the “fierceness” to the song. This fierceness has only grown over the years as all members of the group have brought big personalities and new life. As for what audiences can take away from it - a boogie and an unapologetic love of the body they are living this life in. 

Ashlee Randell’s addition to the band, with her vocals and trombone, seems to have brought a fresh dynamic. How has her involvement influenced the overall sound and creative direction?

Ash made regular cameo appearances since the inception of the 4 piece boy band that was U.D.S. 1.0, officially joining the band in 2020, with siblings, Matty and Alice. This helped U.D.S. to adapt during COVID restrictions, which precluded Eastern-state members, Julian and Reuben from performing. Ash, Matt and Alice have all brought their tremendous creativity plus queer and feminine perspectives, marking a new chapter in the band’s songwriting and musicality - U.D.S 2.0 if you will. Ash provides show stopping vocal moments that makes the crowd want to surrender their lunch money; Alice brings her extensive skill in choral arranging and catchy trumpet riffs, and Matthew is possibly the world’s most engaging performer. 

This E.P. has ushered in U.D.S. 3.0 with Silky (U-Bass), Ignacio (Percussion), and Pidge (Lead Ukulele). Mainstays, Reuben and Julian, ruddered this imperfect, rowdy and damn-talented ship through the 2024 German & Australian tours, which showcased a new era for the band - all about inclusive and positive experimentation with music, play and soulful expression. 

You’ve expanded from a four-piece to an eight-piece band, which is a significant shift. How has this lineup change impacted your music and the way you approach live performances?

Expanding the line up has certainly led to a squishy stage! In a sense, having 8 people in the band necessitated us graduating from smaller to bigger venues that could accommodate our engorged line up. We now have multiple percussionists, uke players, horn players and singers. Since our lead uke-ist Benjamin Roberts left the band in 2023, we have had to fill the gaping hole, as well as Reuben moving to the drumkit (mostly) full time. Ignacio, aka Mr Argentina, is our percussionist and 2nd baritone uke player, and brings massive hype to each show with his positive energy and epic dance moves. As our new lead Uke player, Pidge absolutely slays. He has the audience eating tender cadenzas and fiery solos from the palm of his hand. Silky, our new U-Bass player sets a sassy groove that provides a backbone for the impending chaos of live shows. We kind of have these little sectionals where we can go and rehearse our parts and return for bigger, more exciting version of our previous show. Behind the scenes there is a lot more hair-pulling to coordinate all the moving parts and praying for logistical miracles but hearing it all come together in an explosive performance is very satisfying.

After touring internationally, how do you feel about the trajectory of Ukulele Death Squad? Are there any exciting new directions or projects that fans should look out for?

After expanding the band and several successful Europe tours and music releases, which exceeded our expectations for the band, we’re all very inspired and excited to fuel our future with some more ambitious goals. We already have a big year planned for 2025, but can’t announce anything yet. We’re looking forward to creating new music from the ground up with this new line up and are planning on recording our next project early next year. With all the excitement and hype, who knows what the future could hold for this band? World tour 2026……? Watch this space!