South Summit are RUNNING IT BACK: an Interview

South Summit is another indie-esc band off the Australian conveyor belt, a path well-trodden in the modern scene, pioneered by the likes of the DMA’s and Tame Impala. But South Summit do things differently, blending typical indie guitar tones with a feel of reggae and hip-hop, they bring a refreshing point of difference to an ever-growing space. I spoke to them while on tour, just before their newly released sophomore album ‘RUN IT BACK’.

Firstly, as a band from down under, I was eager to know what they thought about Manchester's Deaf Institute.

“Yeah, it was really fun, a really different vibe to the other ones that we've been to, I think last time we were in Manchester, we were in a place called the church, or the castle, it was like a tiny little band room in a pub, so massive upgrade from that. To be honest, I'm actually a Manchester United fan, so this place is special”

The age-old question that every band faces, likely in most interviews, yet a crucial one to answer, is how they would describe their sound.

"We've had to say this exact thing to a few people on the road, and I would say rock reggae, but I think that's like the general overall thing. It's like an alternative rock. We, to be honest, very keen to explore any kind of genre we're feeling at the moment, and that can be seen in this album, a lot of hip hop and a lot of R and B as well, but we've not shied away from doing some indie stuff, that kind of thing. Yeah, so we're still, I'd say, we've explored rock, reggae, hip hop RnB, and then I think we're going to go into some new stuff, maybe in the next piece of work."

Like most groups of people, South Summit don’t all share the same music taste, with some stating their love for Aussie bands such as Ocean Alley is what sparks their creativity, while others take a liking to the rawness and ‘Britishness’ of Geordie icon Sam Fender, but how do these influences translate in their writing processes?

“We've got three main directions it goes, so we've got the bass player, he writes a lot of songs at home, and also does a bit of recording, so he kind makes like demos at home, and then we'll add to it, and that’s is one way, but then maybe we'll do a jam and a song will just jump up out of nowhere, that kind of thing. Or maybe we’re on the road, and usually we like to bring an acoustic or something like that, and we have just a bunch of voice memos of one verse that we like the idea of, and that might turn into something, usually they all rarely stay the same when we're in the studio, usually we do a lot of writing in there, so they might morph into whatever we're feeling at that time, basically.”

One track from their new album that the band were keen to release was album opener ‘HEARTLESS’, which sets the tone for an album which explores every corner of the indie genre. They also confirmed that the opener was originally planned to be the album closer, saying that they put a lot of thought into the process of track-listings and played around with the order a significant amount before finally settling on its final form with ‘RUN IT BACK’ now available to listen to.

South Summit will be heading back out on a tour of the EU and the UK in September through to October, and you can catch them over here:

2/10/2026 Bristol, England, The Louisiana

3/10/2026, Leeds, England, Headrow House

4/10/2026, Manchester, England, The Deaf Institute

6/10/2026, Glasgow, Scotland, Poetry Club

7/10/2026, Nottingham, England, Bodega

8/10/2026, London, England, The Garage