Hardwicke Circus was formed by brothers Jonny and Tom Foster, who early on developed a reputation for making a racket in their neighborhood–but they were not to be deterred. Throughout their school years, they surrounded themselves with the best musicians their hometown had to offer. When their friends began the university treadmill, Hardwicke Circus jumped in a van, hit the road, and haven’t looked back. Their latest album, Cumbria Pizza, offers unplugged versions of their greatest hits.

You’ve been incredibly busy over the past couple of years. Do any highlights stand out for you?

It’s funny to think that any highlights are in the past because we’re constantly on this treadmill towards the next destination; new songs, new records, new tour to plan, new people to play in front of. These are the things that make us want to get up in the morning. Of course there’s certain shows we look at with great memories of. Playing in Hyde Park with Bob Dylan. Paul McCartney putting us forward for Glastonbury, our annual hometown show, finding out people resonate with our music. They will always be highlights. But we never get too nostalgic about them, we’re from Carlisle! 

And your new album is called Cumbria Pizza. I can’t help thinking that sounds like a euphemism for something! What does the title mean, and how does it reflect the music on the album?

Good question. I really think we live in an age of online-over analysis. People curious to find the kinks in every chord progression and the metaphysical value of some mundane lyric. We’re not striving for that. We just want to write good simple songs that people can dance to. So obviously in our usual fashion we have released an acoustic record where we reinvented the songs and turned them inside out. The recording was made at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in London. I’ve never felt so naked in my life. Usually I can rely on the power of the band behind me to create a cushion to sit on, but this time my right hand man – my brother on the drums – was tickling the snare and the keyboardist was sipping a negroni over a Steinway. It was an odd affair. People at crotch level eating pizza listening to me sing a song about a guy fleeing the war in Afghanistan. But we made it and you could call that evening a definite highlight. As far as the title goes, it’s kind of straight up – a bunch of northerners singing songs in a place they wouldn’t even get served a drink. Cumbrian Pizza tastes better, anyway. 

This one is an acoustic album. What accounts for the shift? 

A good man called Steve Melhuish who ran PX Records approached us.

I’m reminded of the Beach Boys’ Party! album, which served as a kind of unplugged, live(ish) stopgap between two proper studio albums, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!) and Pet Sounds, which is widely regarded as their masterpiece, the kind of project that gives a band a little breathing room between major projects. Is that a fair assessment? 

Absolutely. I hadn’t thought of it like that. Although, this was a major project. Having spent years honing the full live sound on the road, it was a bit of a brain fuck reimagining the songs in such a different format. I mean, we all had an individual idea, but we had to find the common ground between each member without any warm up show. Many of the songs on this record featured on Fly The Flag, which we hadn’t even performed with the big sound yet, so going straight into dissecting them from the recording for an acoustic wine drinking version before having the chance to thrash them out in some lager drinking club took a moment. 

And you do, in fact, have a studio album due in the near future. Can you reveal anything about it. Might it be your own masterpiece?

It’s hard to avoid the cliché here – but it’s definitely our best yet. The songs stand up in their barest form, and the band is playing better than ever. There’s also a very pure optimism around the group which certainly motivates us all. And you can hear it.

Cumbria Pizza includes mostly live versions of songs you’ve released before, but one song, “Once I’m Gone, Your Sun Is Coming Up” is completely new. Will that one be getting full studio treatment in the future, or is the “official” release? 

I’m not sure about that. But I’m willing to be proven wrong. It’s a great track. Our original bass player Ben Wilde came to me with a lot of it written. I think it’s about his love affair with an English teacher. It’s always the English teachers. So obviously I get a lot of joy from singing it. 

The album also features two covers, Rosco Gordon’s “No More Doggin’” and Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street.” What drew you to these two songs? 

We like performing covers. I think there’s a lot of snobbery in today’s ‘industry’ about young bands performing other people’s songs. It’s like, get over yourself. You’re in a band to play music, and whatever mood the room is in, go there – with a cover or an original if it fits. There’s no rulebook. If you’re gonna be selfish though, these songs have all the good stuff you can pinch from. We all beg, borrow and steal at some point in our lives, so you might as well take something good. No More Doggin’ and Baker Street fit this bill. All the classic songs come from that folk music mentality of writing the 5th verse. Carrying the song forward. I think that’s a beautiful way to share and develop music. R&B music does this a lot, with no shame about being inspired from the past or other people’s work. But a lot of the new band scene is trying to reinvent the wheel. I’d go to the Guggenheim if I wanted to ponder. Spare me. 

It also include a live version of “A Johnny Come Lately,” which originally appeared on your recent album Fly the Flag. Your press materials say that song is about continuing to rock while your friends lead conventional lives. What do you think separates you from those friends? What keeps you going while they’ve settled down? 

The song features the odd lyric about previous members moving on. But that’s totally natural and there’s no bad blood whatsoever. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles. If you think about the band now, we’re the abnormal ones. It’s a difficult path, but one we love. There’s no promises, it’s an unexplainable passion. 

Are you ever tempted to take that path? To settle down yourself?

I’ll ignore that. 

Fair enough! What makes it all worthwhile?

I’ve recently been doing the mail orders for the Cumbria Pizza vinyl and CD and emailing everyone who has bought a copy to let them know it’s in the post. The responses have been amazing – fans saying where they first saw us, they have the other records, songs which remind them of their friends or family members. That makes it worthwhile. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to write songs because we love doing it. But if there’s ever to be any confirmation, that would be it.