There is something really endearing about Try Hard’s story. Formed in 2012 when they were all teenagers, the Southeast UK emo/pop-punk band released just one track and played two shows before things fizzled out as they so often do for bands with their whole lives ahead of them.
In most cases that would have been that, and for a long time it was, but now here they are in 2025, having released a wonderfully nostalgic debut EP Still Tryin’ Hard, played their first show in 12 years opening for modern youth crew champions Time X Heist, and with every intention of keeping things rolling from there.
Guitarist/vocalist Joe Evans chats about what inspired the band to start up again, how the EP came together, and what he makes of today’s intersecting UKHC, pop-punk and emo scenes.
How did the band come back together?
At 3am in July ‘23, on Nick (bass)’s stag do, we returned back to our AirBnB in the hills overlooking Tintern Abbey and stuck on The Last Thing You Forget to reminisce. We’re now in our late 20s - Try Hard was formed in 2012, when we were 17. We played two shows back then; one a house show to less than 20 people, and one at the notorious Tap'n'Tin club in Chatham.
We recorded one song pretty terribly on a 4-track in a shed at the bottom of the garden (which you can still hear here) on which we were desperate to emulate “Dreamcatchers," the Title Fight track from the first America's Hardcore Compilation. But from that point we let Try Hard fade out!
It took reminiscing - realising we all still thoroughly enjoyed fast, hardcore-influenced pop-punk - and missing Title Fight, particularly that early TF sound, to realise we should probably do it again.
What do you mean when you say your songs are written "through the lens of 2012"?
The new EP, Still Tryin’ Hard, was written in the first half of 2024; lyrically the EP tackles topics of life in your late 20s, but sonically stays true to sounds and structures we wanted to hear when we were 17, when we first formed Try Hard. It’s quite funny; the song “Pressure” is about wanting to start a family and get a house - I wonder what this would have been about if we were to have written this at 17!
Do you have any surprising musical influences?
It goes without saying that Title Fight are a major influence on Try Hard, but there are a few more notable mentions. I don’t think we would have been into this music, and particularly the DIY ethos that encapsulated UK punk/emo scene in the early 2010s, without Loose Cannons - a local OG Kent band. We looked up to these a lot, and Irish Wristwatch probably makes it to my desert island discs.
Then we have the bands that were releasing music when we first formed: Tigers Jaw, Basement, Iron Chic, Daylight; the bands that influenced these: Jawbreaker, Saves the Day (we used Shoulder to the Wheel as a mix reference for every song), The Get Up Kids, Sunday's Best; and current bands [like] High Vis, Militarie Gun, Koyo, Feverchild.
That being said, “Monday Dread” was written after listening to Alice Deejay and Joe (drums) actively goes to sound-system events and cites Burning Spear as a reference.
What was the process like for writing Still Tryin’ Hard?
We actually reconnected a lot through the process! We first practiced in that weird gap between Christmas and New Year ’23 and then spent a lot of time in the basement in The Miller in London Bridge (I reckon cheapest spot to practice in zone 1 - new London bands starting out take note!) throughout 2024. If you’re using the urinals you can hear the music from underneath you - I hope my yelps confused some unsuspecting punters above!
Writing-wise I had carved parts of these songs out loosely over the past 5 years - it was pulling in Nick and Joe for their take that made it sound like what I think you should hear from a Try Hard EP. Nick was able to turn root-note basslines into melodies catchier than the vocal lines, and sometimes I think Joe is telepathic - either that or we listened to so much of the exact same music growing up we both know exactly what should come next. It was such an enjoyable process; we’ve now recruited our dear old pal Sam in for a second guitar and we cannot wait to get back in the room as a four and start the writing process again!
How do you feel about the current UK emo/pop-punk/melodic hardcore scene, whatever you want to call it!?
Man, I don’t know any UK pop-punk bands right now (that don’t sound like All Time Low), but as we are writing this we are sat at Outbreak Fest in Manchester, and though the main stage only has Pest Control from the UK on the bill it is clear from events like this, combined with the work that people like Theo from Real Life Presents, venues like The Star in Ashford, and collectives like Concrete Culture do, that the UK hardcore scene is very much alive.
We align with this scene’s DNA and grew up in this scene so we are very happy playing shows alongside hardcore bands if there isn’t as much going on in UK emo/pop-punk right now.
We have some fellow Kent bands like Wears Me Out (check out their single “Wears Me Out”) and Sarah Tonin (check out “an excuse to give up”) treading a similar path to what we want to take, but honestly if you’re reading this and like the same stuff as us we would love to connect - let’s play some shows together!
In North West Kent, when we were growing up, there were more venues, shows, bands than there are now, and we definitely had it easier to jump on shows regularly than a new band starting now. If you are in a band and are starting out we’re keen to do what we can to help: we will support your band, we will put on the show - whatever is needed to retain a Kent scene, so please reach out!
Who are your current favourite UK bands?
Currently listening to High Vis, Pest Control, The Tubs, Cannonball and loving recent releases as mentioned above from Wears Me Out and Sarah Tonin! But can’t list favourite UK bands without shouting out some early ‘10s bands like Survival and Trial & Error through to Ten Speed Bicycle and SundayxLeague - huge influences, still some of our favourite music ever:
What are your hopes for the future of the band?
Spend more time writing music we love, play some shows and help however we can to give new bands the same opportunities we had! And also for Title Fight to get back together - this one’s a given.
***
Still Tryin’ Hard is available now digitally.
Try Hard on social media: Instagram
