The band was formed in 2021 by vocalist Harmony Cavell, guitarist Harry Vinks, bassist Ollie Green, and drummer Cody Jones at the University of Surrey in Guildford. Later, they relocated to Cavell’s parents’ home in Oxford. The band’s name originates from a sign outside the Westgate Oxford retail center. After two years, South Arcade performed a performance to promote Yours Truly and released their first single, “Danger.” In the spring of 2024, the band inked a contract with LAB Records. On December 13, 2024, they published their first EP, *2005*, after tours with As Everything Unfolds and Noahfinnce, as well as performances at the BBC Radio 1-sponsored New Music Live event in Halifax. The music video for the title track takes homage to Apple’s iPod commercial.

The past

In 2021, South Arcade https://znaki.fm/teams/south-arcade/ was established. The band consists of Harmony Cavell (lead vocals), Harry Winks (guitar), Ollie Green (bass guitar), and Cody Jones (drums). After meeting at the University of Guildford, the band relocated to Cavell’s home in Oxford. They took their name from a sign in Westgate, Oxford, and performed their initial shows in a garage. 3:45 The group released “Danger” in 2023, followed by “Silverlight” in September and “Nepo Baby” in January of the following year. In April of that year, the band released “Riptide” on BKM and LAB Records. When “Danger” reached one million plays on Spotify the next month, the band announced a tour. In June, they released “Stone Cold Summer,” and in August, they released “How 2 Get Away with Murder.” The second one includes an animated short that depicted South Arcade and the fictitious band North Arcade as competitors.

By October 2024, videos of the band rehearsing were widely shared on Instagram and TikTok. That month, they released “Moth Kids,” a song they began writing immediately after they met but did not complete until after their first tour. In November, they performed at BBC Radio 1’s New Music Live in Halifax, West Yorkshire. With less than a minute remaining, the band prepared for this. They discovered that the laptop with the background music had not been set up until thirty-four seconds before the performance was meant to end. Green had to get the files to the stage while the presenter was still making the announcement.

Style

South Arcade’s music draws heavily on 2000s pop-punk and nu-metal. They refer to their style as “Y2K Core.” Pop artists such as Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and Avril Lavigne have had a significant influence on them. The bassist, Ollie Green, said, “In the early 2000s, rock and pop music crossed over a lot, and that time period would be a great place to find crazy and amazing things.”” Harmony Cavell, the band’s main vocalist, claims that each of the four members draws inspiration from various renowned persons from the 2000s. According to Andy Price of the online journal Music Radar, South Arcade combines pop-punk delight with nu-metal blasts that sound like sledgehammers. According to Jack Reedsdale of the online journal Distorted Sound, South Arcade’s music is “cocky” pop-punk with melodies reminiscent of Pale Waves. Screen Rant’s Alisha Davy describes South Arcade’s music as “retro-futuristic synthwave.”