WELCOME to LAZ (Live Art(s) Zine) Magazine, ushering in the ressurection of objectively good opinions. Based in Manchester, we strive to keep you informed of what’s happening in the big wide world of Manchester’s theatre, music and art scene - from parties, protests, poetry, and back again.

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SUPERMARKET, Night And Day Cafe - Photo @will.crumpton_, edited @islaa_gw.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Picture this, readers - it’s the 8th of October, 2025 and I am stood outside Northern Quarter staple NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, after an incredible gig by SUPERMARKET - a musical duo comprised of JOSH SUPER and JACK MARKET - yes, those are their real names. In between meeting adoring fans and catching up with proud family members, Supermarket were generous enough to give us an exclusive interview, right here in LAZ. Enjoy, dear readers - and please, don’t pick up any items you aren’t prepared to purchase.

WC - Hello, SUPERMARKET, how are you doing today?

SUPER - We’re fantastic, thank-you.

MARKET - Never been better.

WC - So, where did you guys meet?

SUPER - We were at a business conference –

MARKET - About five years ago –

SUPER - Five years ago, in Salford, and it was the most boring shit, honestly. Everyone was just there to make money, and y’know - not really making any money.

MARKET - It was the first one in person after COVID as well…

SUPER - Yeah, and we were just leaving, we were like no, this is just… So we saw each other on the way out, said ‘oh, are you alright?’, exchanged business cards –

MARKET - Bit of small talk…

SUPER - Saw Market - Jack Market, Josh Super –

MARKET - You can’t write it.

WC - Wait hang on - those are your real names?

SUPERMARKET - Yeah, yeah.

MARKET - I had a business card, gave it to him –

SUPER - That’s how we met.

MARKET - We kind of looked at them, and went ‘huh’, you know…

SUPER - And five years later here we are!

WC - So, where did music come into it?

MARKET - Well after that, we were clearly like-minded. So I actually wrote this piece, and invited Josh round, and just like put a song together. We haven’t released it, or played anything out with it, but it was like, there’s clearly something here. We initially set out to just do dance music and DJ, as that makes money. So it seemed like the most profitable avenue. So, what happened was we ended up making something that wasn’t dance music, INSTANT COFFEE.

[Instant Coffee is the high-octane rap track that can be heard on SUPERMARKET’s newest EP, aptly titled SHOPPING LIST. The track was the opener for the gig, and expertly introduced the crowd to the kinetic off-kilter performance that made up the night.]

MARKET - And we were like, well, we like this, but this isn’t what we intended to do. And then it just kind of ran away with itself, and we ended up with the concept for SHOPPING LIST. And then, about three years later we finished making SHOPPING LIST, and now, here we are.

WC - I actually did want to go on to Instant Coffee. I thought it was a great opener for the set. I really liked how you were able to play with the structure of a gig - like, you had a golf break, which I thought was great. Is that the sort of attitude you take to your music, that you do away with norms?

SUPER - Yeah, well I mean, we thought it fit in, as we’re called “SUPERMARKET” we best sell everything you know - if we want to monopolise the market, this sort of “pop consultancy” we’ve got going on? It’s best to have a wide range of products to really catch the consumers in our net.

MARKET - Yeah. It’s also this like, split between us, like making the music, but then the performance is this second thing. Like we’re making the music before we have to perform the songs. So it becomes like a larger act, rather than saying if we were a band, we’ve got like the spectrum of the band; all the “bubbly” songs together, whereas we’re allowed a little bit more freedom. By having these battling tracks we can put in the original things. Because there’s plenty of space on the stage. If you’ve got a band on the stage, you can’t play golf there, y’know?

WC - So true. Well I do think the performance adds so much - even the bit at the end where you fall down and the show ends. I just think it’s great.

[At the end of the gig, and the emotional climax of the night, SUPERMARKET both drop dead, a kindly voiceover explaining to the audience that the show is now over, and that they are now free to buy some merch, a wide range of products that successfully trap fans in their net - this writer now sports a SUPERMARKET sticker that lives on the business end of his laptop.]

WC - I really enjoyed the golf segment, bringing people up on stage. I thought that was such a great aspect. I've been in countless crowds where they've tried to get people involved and it falls flat.  But you have something like CHEEK TO CHEEK, which was very silly and everyone enjoyed and took part in it. What do you think is the secret to getting the crowd in on the action?

[Cheek to Cheek being SUPERMARKET’s unreleased track, with choreography featuring the duo facing away from the crowd, swinging their backsides in perfect synchronisation into the audience, who miraculously echo the movements back - or forward? - at the band. It was one of many moments where SUPERMARKET’s rehearsed nonchalance created the perfect energy in the crowd.]

SUPER - Well with people being part of the performance, it’s a lot easier to do something with a crowd if everyone else is willing to do it. If everyone is putting their hands up around you, you feel like you need to put your hands up. So knowing people, with us having friends and stuff helps everyone else get involved with it.

MARKET - It’s almost like an icebreaker.

SUPER - I feel like you’re part of something when you’re there. It’s not like an us and them, because I think you can fall into the trap of you’re on the outside looking in - but when you’re surrounded by these people, people are a part of the performance.

MARKET - I also think people see how much we’re moving, how much fun we’re having, and you want to be involved with that. Again, with our friends coming down, they’re having a good old boogie.

[And he has a point. The energy on stage for a live gig is one of - if not the most - important factor, and SUPERMARKET brings it in swathes. From the get-go, it was obvious the barriers between the performers and the audience were being broken - the gig begins with Instant Coffee being played as a backing track on a boom box - Market himself seemed to down an entire bottle of wine on stage across the performance (and still give a stellar interview afterwards). It was hard not to feel the infectious vibe watching the duo perform.]

SUPER - We haven’t played London yet, but we did play up in Kenmore, so Kendell Calling, we were invited to come by the BBC, which is crazy. Like, so many people in the crowd that we’ve never met, everyone was so nice. Never been to a festival before.

[From here, the interview took a turn, as more of SUPERMARKET’s fans and family emerged onto the street.]

SUPERMARKET, Night And Day Cafe - Photo @will.crumpton_, edited @islaa_gw.

PASSERBY - I didn’t realise you were still working, boys!

MARKET - Does it look like I’m not at work?

[He had a point - SUPERMARKET’S crinkled business formalwear clearly signified a duo of hard work and graft. The rest of the interview takes place in the green room underneath Night and Day.]

WC - Sorry to drag you away from your adoring fans. Five years then, you meet, you started music, and you’ve never been more popular. Where do you think the beginning of fame has come from?

SUPER - I think fame might be a strong word —

MARKET - Fairly strong.

SUPER - I don’t know, we just got a lot of distant support. Just like all the people who listen to the music as well. It’s not like one specific thing, you know? Everyone’s part of the performance as much as we are.

MARKET - We have such lovely support from our friends as well, because like, the first two rows are like, personal friends, a lot of them are people I work with; I’ve also had customers that have come down. And that’s really cool, cause like I’ve been doing the band thing for a while in Manchester, and I’ve never had the support and reception that SUPERMARKET have. It feels like we’re involved in the community, and we have a community, and we know the people in the scene. That’s really what matters to me, the connections like that. We do have our best friends coming down to see us regularly, and that is so cool to look down on the first two rows and I know who they are. That’s a really nice boost, a nice lift.

WC - So where is the music going to go? Are you still going to go in the same insane direction?

MARKET - We like everything, so why would we stop making it?

SUPER - Because it’s hard!

MARKET - It is hard… It took us so long.

SUPER - I think Jack mentioned earlier but it did take almost exactly three years, start to finish, six songs. You can’t take six months on one song. That’s bonkers.

MARKET - We want to be making more music. It feels like we’ve found our footing, and figured out where we want to go. We’ve been writing new stuff, and we like it, and I think that’s all that matters, is just finding out what we make next. Shopping List was such a hard concept - but it knew what it was - it was like making something that already existed, but just figuring out how to do it. So now we’re cut loose, and we don’t have a hard concept, it’s just figuring out what we like. A bit of a transitory period.

SUPER - A little pivot into a different market.

WC - Well, that’s all I’ve got for you, Supermarket. Thank you so much for talking to me, and thank you for postponing your goodbyes. I’ve had a lovely time chatting.

MARKET - Thank you for coming down and caring enough to want to talk to us. That’s really appreciated.

WC - Oh it’s my pleasure. Any time! Well, specifically Manchester, please.

[But it should go without saying that SUPERMARKET did not need to follow my request - shortly after the interview the duo have played in Camden, London, and are set to continue to crash the market like no other retail-inspired musical double act has done before or since. After ending the recording, I wandered back up the stairs with SUPERMARKET to the bar, being awarded my very own sticker. Bloody hell, I thought. I didn’t even pay for this.]

Check out SUPERMARKET on Instagram, Spotify and more.

Article written by Will Crumpton.

Filmmaker. Writer.

@will.crumpton_
@wcrumpton@icloud.com