Sprints: Shaped by Struggle

      For more than 18 months, Sprints have hardly taken a moment to rest. Their successful debut album in 2024 propelled them onto stages from Brooklyn to Berlin, but at home, significant changes were unfolding. As they faced a series of major transformations, they had no choice but to reconstruct both themselves and the band into a new, more robust identity.

      They say change is the only constant, and Sprints understand this better than many. From an outsider's perspective, their recent whirlwind years may have seemed like a dream come true: sold-out headlining tours, supporting acts like Fontaines DC, Pixies, and IDLES, and a critically acclaimed debut LP that broke into both the Irish and UK Top 20, leading them to sign with Sub Pop for their next record. In many respects, it was indeed a dream. However, beneath the surface, the connections that once anchored the band to their previous selves were increasingly strained. “Last year, I think the longest stretch we spent at home was two weeks,” laughs drummer Jack Callan, reminiscing about their relentless 2024 schedule. “We always say we’re in the eye of the storm,” adds frontwoman Karla Chubb. “It’s incredibly challenging to understand what’s happening while you’re in it. I used to be a meticulous planner, wanting to map out my month ahead; now, I function on a day-to-day, need-to-know basis. It's very much about putting one foot in front of the other.” The irony is that even now, those feet are not planted on familiar ground. With a busy festival season, an ongoing album campaign, and a couple of moves across the Irish Sea—Jack and bassist/vocalist Sam McCann having relocated from Dublin to London—Sprints are hard to catch. They are also a band that thrives in live performances. That’s why DIY finds itself in Amsterdam this afternoon, chatting with Karla and Jack over drinks (lunchtime white wine and sparkling water—very European) before the two board the Eurostar to Brussels tonight.

      Jet setters? In a way, yes. This is the reality of modern rock stars, forever balancing between the distinctly ordinary and the utterly surreal. One moment, Karla is discussing her current book, one of four she picked up at the airport because of a two-for-one deal; the next, she’s recalling a night out in Berlin with Fontaines and Greta Thunberg. “Jack was playing music, and Greta said, ‘Oh, I love this song,’” she laughs, mimicking a Swedish accent. “I was thinking, ‘Hell yeah!’,” Jack chimes in, punching the air with a smile. “‘This is wild!’”

      “A lot of this album is about confidence. I think the shackles of self-doubt and imposter syndrome are gone.” — Karla Chubb

      A constant presence of chaos appears to be the foundation of Sprints’ operating method. Not necessarily by design, but rather by circumstance, they have become true navigators of the storm. Last year, Karla ended an eight-year relationship, moved out of their shared home, and distanced herself from close friends: “essentially, I completely upended my life.” Just weeks later, founding member Colm O’Reilly departed, a decision made from a desire to step back from public performances and full-time touring, which, although amicable, left the remaining members needing to fill a significant gap.

      “It was incredibly tough,” Karla reflects on those turbulent months. “I was thinking: ‘How on earth are you going to get through this?’ At one point, I genuinely didn’t know if we could.” If their fierce debut ‘Letter To Self’ stemmed from personal strife, each track serving as a cathartic release of inner demons, then the upcoming ‘All That Is Over’ represents the opposite—an intense outcome of interpersonal turmoil set against a world embroiled in conflict. In Karla’s words: “the only thing we could control was music.” The breakup occurred during Sprints’ US tour, with another four weeks ahead on the road. They had a show scheduled for that very evening. Although Jack mentions that “if someone can’t proceed, we will halt the show,” in retrospect, Karla believes that having that distraction could very well have saved her. “Your life is chaotic yet so structured at the same time. You have to put on your big girl pants and decide: do I fly home to deal with this, knowing it affects multiple lives, or do I just push through it? That’s honestly how I was able to process it so quickly—because I had to. I didn’t have a choice.”

      Taking all of this into consideration, it would be easy to expect ‘All That Is Over’ to be an album about endings—loss, closed doors, and farewells. Instead, it radiates a vivid sense