Oh lala! What a time to be alive! The last two months went like a blur but we are extremely happy! So much is happening on the indie scene, that it is hard to keep your eyes on the wheel and your thoughts at the tasks at hand. Two of our beloved bands, The Blinders and The False Heads, have been on tour and we went out to see them playing live. The Blinders destroyed the stage at the Castle and Falcon in Birmingham and False Heads descended upon Bristol, bringing the crowd gathered at Mother’s Ruin to their knees. We are also running two large blogs covering The Blinders’ Columbia tour and it leaves us with not enough time to sleep and eat. Just kidding about the lack of food, we only stopped sleeping!
As the famous song says, we will sleep when we are dead. Before that happens, we would like to introduce you to some of the hottest bands that we think, will make a lot of noise on the UK scene in 2019. Since all other blogs we followed, already published their own lists of “The Best of 2018” and “The bands to watch in the New Year”, we thought we would like to join the trend as well. The more the merrier we say and in 12 month time, we will be able to see who was actually right.
So this is Vanadian Avenue’s official “The-Bands-To-Look-Out-For-In-2019” list. Dig it. Or not dig it. The choice is yours. We don’t do countdowns from number X to number 1, so all the artists you see below are equally talented and are mentioned with no particular order in mind. We just like them, we think they are excellent artists and that’s why we put them here. Have fun discovering the music! And we are going to publish an article like this each month (well, maybe until March or April) so be on the lookout! These bands will take over the world!
Ivory Wave Birmingham based and founded exactly three years ago, the quintet consists of Luke Morris (bass), George Johnson (vocals), Connor McMinn (guitar), Rob Clarke (synth) and Seb Baldwin (drums). Ivory Wave brings back the old-school, Hacienda-like rave beats and successfully fuses them into Stone Roses/Happy Mondays/Inspiral Carpet Brit-Pop indie. There is nobody else who makes such music anymore and we are grateful that they decided to dust off the magnificent genre. It is long time overdue. This is a solid, dance music inspired alternative rock that gave us the brightest stars in the business: from The Stone Roses and Oasis, to Underworld, The Orb, KLF, Future Sound Of London, The Prodigy, Sven Vath, Orbital, The Chemical Brothers, U.N.K.L.E and others. Of course, The Ivory Wave are doing it with the modern twist. This is not a nostalgia-trip to make the 50 year-olds feel young again. The boys have skills, they have the moves and are not signed yet. The bands spent several months in the studio recently and their new material will be released later this year.
“They’re absolutely fucking colossal. ‘Paradise’ is one of the best singles you’ll hear all year by a new band”. (GIGSLUTZ)
“Mic in hand, eye balling the room, singer George is the classic frontman. Latest single ‘Separate Beat‘ cements their place as a band tipped for great things. Ivory Wave will soon have a venue in the palm of their hands”. (COUNTERACT)
Kick The Clown Kick the Clown are a 4 piece alternative rock/punk outfit from Worcester and Cardiff. The band was formed in 2016 and consists of White Noise (George Ormerod, vocals), Guisseppè (Matt Tyler, guitar), Strange Dog (Joe Cummings, drums) and Sour Mash (Dan McLaren, bass). In the last two years, the band has built a strong following in the West Midlands through constant touring and sharing stages with Karkosa, Soeur, Ivory Wave, The Cosmics, The Dickies, The Ramonas, Fight and Fires, and Straight for the Sun among others. Their presence has been praised as “loud”, “energetic” and “in your face” but it is not enough to fully describe the essence of the group. They combine swagger, rare charisma and DIY ethos to create controlled chaos on stage. The band claims every inch of the floor as their own, bringing wild melodies, shouts, sweat, pain and clown masks to enthral the audience and drags them (kicking and screaming) into an alternative musical dimension. Mixing a variety of genres such as old school punk rock, hip-hop, metal, hard core and even jazz, Kick the Clown are becoming a phenomenon on the indie circuit. They released their debut 6 track EP “Car Bomb” at the O2 Academy in Birmingham in late 2017 and a double A-side single “39 Steps/No Way Out” in 2018. In November 2018, they were featured on Public Pressure’s first “Subcultures #1” cassette tape documenting the best emerging artists in the punk underground. The band is currently working on new material to be released in 2019. Kick The Clown are coming and are getting rowdier with every show. You have been warned!
WITCHFEVER We have already written about WITCHFEVER on our blog and we absolutely loved their show at the Alphabet Brewery in Manchester in December last year. Seeing how good they are, we had to include them on our list of bands to watch in 2019. If you haven’t read our interview with them yet (it is criminal!) please do it as it is a truly eye opening talk – the girls spoke to us about what it means to be a woman in the male dominated music industry, how often their skills and expertise are being diminished just because of their sex. Luckily the things are changing for the better and let’s hope this year will be a breaking through year for more female artists! https://cocamidemea.wordpress.com/2018/12/01/inditerria-meets-witch-fever/
Quite recently WITCHFEVER announced that they will concentrate of recording new music and expanding their fans base in Europe and we are truly excited to her this. They already have played in the Netherlands and maybe a real EU tour is in the works? Keep your fingers crossed!
Avalanche Party One of the brightest stars of the new wave of British bands, Avalanche Party is a true phenomenon. If you haven’t seen them live yet, then you are committing a crime against rock music. At least put them on your bucket list! Avalanche Party are from Castleton in Derbyshire and they have been going on for a couple of years. This band is known for its energetic performances, shirts disappear after the first song and Joe, the lead singer crowd surfs and dances among the crowd for majority of the performances. The Band has a massive following in the Yorkshire area and the fans are travelling all over the country to be able to see them, even multiple times on one tour. They are best mates with The Blinders, Strange Bones and Rascalton and we might be seeing the beginning of a new wave of bands that will take over the world. Both The Blinders and Avalanche Party are rumored to tour Europe or even US this year so keep your eyes open. This band is the strongest contender to achieve a true level of stardom. You just watch them going stronger and stronger this year.
So these are our picks for January. We will continue next month with another great bands to watch.
Please come back soon, there is an amazing number of artists that are making fantastic music these days!
In December Indieterria focused on Manchester to showcase you some of the newest artists on their local scene. We had a pleasure to sit down and talk with Witch Fever and Tin Mole. Now, we bring you third interview with a band that grabbed our attention from the first time we heard them on Steve Lamacq show at BBC 6 Music. They are called Ist Ist and we swear they belong to a different era.
Louder Than War magazine described them as “majestic post-punk, haunting and hypnotic”. This four piece blends alternative rock with cold wave elegance and they have been compared to The White Lies and Joy Division. Dark, brooding, mysterious and melodic at the same time, Ist Ist are fiercely independent with disregard for social media and all the hype about networking.
Ist Ist (classic) logo
It was a bit of a challenge to find the right questions to ask but then again music requires effort from listeners and writers alike. So we had to dig around a bit, in an old school way. We questioned mutual friends in Mancunia for tips, went reading through printed interviews in Manchester Evening News in a Central Library and searched though pages of a label that would rather quote poetry than provide you with “about us” segment.
We also went down to Picadilly Records to “argue” to get a copy of the band`s EP on vinyl.
We visited Manc several times from Worcester…
The last time we researched a band like this was when Melody Maker was still a thing. But we loved every minute of the preparations. It only made our admiration for the band stronger. In a world where artists put their entire lives and privacy for everyone to see, Ist Ist are not just a band. Their approach is an act of defiance.
Ist Ist:
Adam Houghton (vox, guitar)
Andy Keating (bass)
Joel Kay (drums)
Mat Peters (keyboards)
Ist Ist built themselves a reputation as iconic Manchester performers. Can you please introduce yourselves to Indieterria readers?
Andy Keating: We’re Adam Houghton, Andy Keating, Joel Kay and Mat Peters.
You have started out in 2014 and from the very beginning this band is synonymous with complete control of your art: no radio plugger, no label, handling all the group related matters and tours. We were told you don’t have a manager. Yet, you easily sell out such legendary and sizable venues as Gorilla or The Deaf Institute and receive air play on national radio. Steve Lamacq champions you regularly on his 6 Music shows. How important is the DIY ethos to you?
Andy Keating: The DIY ethos is very important. We don’t really know how to operate any other way, either. We seem to appeal to a fan base who don’t want any bullshit and want to get behind a band who are real people making real music they can believe in. At the same time, we’re not without a manager by design, if the right offer came along or the right opportunity to work with a genuine label presented itself, we’d take it.
Ist Ist are also not very fond of self promotion on the Internet. Your social media are limited to announcements regarding tours and upcoming music. No funny posts, jokes or behind the stages shots. You try to keep a distance between your audience and the band. Aren’t you sometimes tempted to break the fourth wall or post something controversial like Slaves for example?
Andy Keating: We’ve never felt like posting something controversial just for the sake of it. What’s the point? If it’s just for sake of it it’s just going to be contrived and unnecessary. With regards to breaking the fourth wall, we like to keep it strictly business online. Bands posting photos posing in Christmas hats? No thanks. Stick to the music. Our fans would attest to us looking after them as best we can, we’ve always got time to sign a record, have a photo, have a chat or whatever at gigs but your online presence should be a snapshot of the band and their image. We’re serious about our music so we’re serious online.
We want to ask you about the visual side of the project. Your videos and photography are limited to the monochrome and all releases feature distinct photography, often of brutalist architecture or strange landmarks. There are other bands in Manchester who also have their own artistic direction but we have to admit, what you put out is the closest thing to what Peter Saville did with releases at Factory Records.
Andy Keating: Thanks, the artwork and style should always compliment the music. The Peter Saville influences are inescapable given where we grew up and what we were listening to when we all started playing instruments as teenagers.
Sleeve and vinyl pressing of EP “Spinning Rooms”, photography by Tom Houghton
You channel FAC also in another way: Ist Ist is yet to release their debut album but your catalogue is huge and highly collectable. You released five singles: “White Swan”, “Night Arms”, “Silence”, “Strangers” and “Right Before Your Eyes”, then followed it up with a single compilation “Prologue” and two live albums “Live at St Phillips Church” and “Live at Manchester Gorilla”. Then in April 2018 you landed your first EP – “Spinning Rooms”. Each release is limited between 100 – 300 copies, on CDs or vinyl. And once the stock is gone, it’s gone. Nobody beside you and maybe Idles cares to release their materials in such collectable formats. What made you take this approach to releasing your music?
Andy Keating: Listening to music should be an experience and much of that is lost with digital streaming. Being on streaming sites like Spotify and iTunes is necessary but it’s not an experience. The art of the album is being lost because of this. Sites like Spotify suggest an artist’s “most popular” songs, so unless you really want to get into a band, you’ll likely only listen to those suggested songs and you may never find some gems which are on earlier EPs or singles.
We wanted listening to music to be fun and something you commit to. Getting hold of a vinyl record and putting it on whilst you look at the artwork and cover notes should be special. Receiving a new record in the post should be special. Streaming sites serve a purpose but they’re not particularly fun.
The limited edition thing works well because people like to be part of something exclusive. There’s some people who’ve bought everything we’ve released and there’s some who maybe came on board around “Spinning Rooms” and missed out on the initial limited runs of singles and want to get their hands on them but can’t.
Ist Ist`s upcoming EP “Everything is Different Now” sleeve and red vinyl pressing. Photography by Tom Houghton
Ist Ist`s upcoming EP “Everything is Different Now” bundle: red and black vinyl pressing and CD. Photography by Tom Houghton
Ist Ist was for most of the time a three piece but recently you added Mat Peters as a permanent member of the band. Do you think your sound changed because of introduction of keyboard into the mix?
Andy Keating: Barring “White Swan” and “Right Before Your Eyes”, every song we recorded in the studio had keyboards or extra on, but we either didn’t use those elements live or we occasionally used backing tracks. After the tour in early 2018 it felt right to bring an extra member in to play keyboards because the new songs demanded them. So the older songs haven’t lost their fundamentals and Mat gave them a lift – but we’ve really developed our sound with him. The new EP will show that.
The release of “Spinning Rooms” was followed by an extensive tour that took you around the country and abroad (playing in Berlin). It also received rave reviews. Nigel Carr wrote in Louder Than War: “This EP will stand as one of the best debut releases by any band; simply stunning”. Are you satisfied with what you accomplished with the record? Would you change/ correct anything on it?
Andy Keating: It’s always a bit of a wasted exercise to deliberate over something which has already been committed to record. We’ve sometimes discussed what sort of impact Mat would have had on the record if he was in the band at the time, but we love “Spinning Rooms” and it perfectly encapsulates who and where we were when we recorded that in early January 2018.
Promotional poster showcasing sleeve to single “Exist”. Photography by Tom Houghton
Your sophomore EP “Everything Is Different Now” will see the light of the day on Friday, 25th January 2019. What can we expect?
Andy Keating: It’s a progression from “Spinning Rooms.” It still sounds like Ist Ist but it was the natural progression. It’s probably actually slightly more accessible. “Spinning Rooms” was relatively niche in places but there’s two definite “singles” on “Everything Is Different Now.”
“Everything Is Different Now” is being promoted by a single “Exist” and a video filmed in France. It was created and directed by Natalia Bedkowska and Matthew Boone. Can you tell us more about the idea behind this video? It seems to follow the same concept as “Right Before Your Eyes”, showing ordinary life and streets of urban dwellings.
Andy Keating: Our keyboard player Mat knows Natalia so he got in touch with her and the only brief really was that it needed to fit in with our style, we left the rest up to her. She was on a trip to Paris so decided to film it there, she sent it across and we were happy with it. Boone shot the live footage at our show at St Philip’s Church back in August 2018.
We want to ask you about your label – Kind Violence Records. They seems to share your interest in high art and dislike of social media hype. Their website is minimalistic and quotes “Darkness” – a poem by Lord Byron. We noticed that photography on the record label’s page is done by Tom Houghton whose images also can be found on the covers of your releases. It’s hard not to notice that Tom bears the same surname as Adam, your vocalist. Is it a coincidence or rather a family owned enterprise?
Andy Keating: Someone’s done their research… Adam created Kind Violence to use as a label to release our EPs and to potentially release other music he and we liked. The surname isn’t a coincidence either. Tom is Adam’s brother. He takes some really cool photographs which always seem appropriate for our artwork.
Artwork showing a brutalist landmark that can be found on Kind Violence Records website Photography by Tom Houghton
Surely after the EP is out, a tour will follow. Where can we see you playing live next?
Andy Keating: Yes, we’re heading out on tour soon after the EP is out. We’re playing:
So there you have it. Ist Ist`s new EP “Everything Is Different Now” will be out on 25th January. Get your copy before its gone! The only thing we could not do while preparing this chapter of Indieterria was to see the band live. That may change in the coming months!
We hope you enjoyed our first interview of 2019 and we will be coming back to update this blog in the future.
The time has come! The great tour of Columbia is almost upon us and for the next month, we will be following The Blinders as they deliver their sermon of raw emotions, rock and roll fire and spiritual awakening to a venue near you! Vanadian Avenue will attend two concerts on our own turf. We will bring you the exclusive coverage from Birmingham and Bristol so be prepared for live streams, videos and pictures from the front row.
This entry will be dedicated to the tour exclusively. We will try to collect all materials that will be published on various social media to keep everything tour-related in one place.
For the next month and a half, The Blinders will be travelling all over the UK bringing their music to their fans and shaking the old walls of Columbia until they crumble into a pile of dust. The tour starts in Manchester on 15th of October and will end up with the Last Battle of Bristol on 11th of November. The 22-date tour is the second this year and already several shows are sold out or running very low on tickets. The Blinders will be supported by White Room and Calva Louise on alternative dates so please consider coming to the shows twice as both support acts are incredibly good and it is worth seeing them both live.
The Blinders tour with The White Room and Calva Louise as support acts at the beginning of week 1
And at the beginning of week two – 7 shows sold out and 7 running very low on tickets (less than 20 tickets left)
Third leg of the tour and 9 sold out gigs. Out of 22 shows, that’s nearly 40% of the tour being sold out! Nice!
Merch: It is not possible to go on a national tour without a whole range of t-shirts and other memorabilia. This time, the band prepared coasters, stickers, three different shirts to choose from, bags, lighters, posters and many other items. Some of them you can see on the pictures below:
The bags
Some of the good and their prices.
Coasters
Thomas Haywood signing posters that will be available in the shop
Stage: There is a new scenography for the tour and it is in the darkest shades of crimson! The colour of blood is visible on posters and stickers, the Columbia banners that are proudly displayed on both sides of the stage and the lighting. You can see the picture of Charlie standing on the stage just before the last rehearsal. There is apparently a shocking beginning to the set too but you will not hear any spoilers form us!
Reviews: The reviews are already pouring in and we will be gathering them all to show you how well the tour has been prepared.
We have made a screenshot from Twitter to show you several opinions.
October 15th – Manchester Academy 2 with Calva Louise and White Room (sold out)
October 16th – Newcastle Upon Tyne, The Cluny with Calva Louise and Baltic
October 18th – Kingston Upon Hull, New Adelphi with Calva Louise and Faux Pas (sold out)
October 19th – SWN Festival, Cardiff, O’Neill’s
October 20th – SWN Festival, Cardiff, Old Market Tavern
October 22th – Stoke On Trent, The Sugarmill with Calva Louise and Saint Ivy
October 23rd – Birmingham, The Castle and Falcon with Calva Louise, The Mother Earth Experiment and Paper Buoys (sold out)
October 24th – Nottingham, The Bodega with Calva Louise, Those Howlin’ Sounds
October 25th – Derby, The Venue wih Calva Louise, Damn Cargo
October 26th – Sheffield, The Plug with Calva Louise, The Varletts (sold out)
October 28th – Leeds – Brudenell Social Club with Calva Louise, Household Dogs (sold out)
October 29th – Liverpool, Arts Club, White Room, The K’s (sold out)
October 30th – Aberdeen, Cafe Drummonds with White Room, Swym
November 1st – Preston, The Ferret with White Room, Sweet Deals on Surgery (sold out)
November 2nd – York , The Crescent with White Room, Faux Pas
November 3rd – Lincoln, 2Q Festival at the Liquor with Ducking Punches, OCTOBER DRIFT, Queen Zee, Madonnatron, No Hot Ashes, The Ultraviolet, tiger warsaw
November 5th – Oxford , The Bullingdon with White Room, Brixtons
November 6th – Cambridge, The Portland Arms with White Room, Ugly
November 7th – London, The Garage with Calva Louise, Moses
November 9th – Southampton, Heartbreakers with White Room, Moses (sold out)
November 10th – Brighton, The Haunt with White Room, Swoon
November 11th – Bristol, Thekla with White Room, GumSole
Home-coming gig! It was mad and tightly packed. Half of the local scene was there so claustrophobic conditions, mosh pit of epic proportions, blood, sweet and tears were to be expected. Manchester Academy 2 has capacity of 800 people and all tickets have been sold out which signals a new chapter in the band’s development. From small and medium sized clubs, they are quickly moving towards large arenas. After the concert, everybody were invited to the official after party where the band once again played the DJ’s and tormented their guests with their favourite songs from Nick Cave, Bob Dylan and The Doors to The Arctic Monkeys to Abba (Oh, does your mother know you are out?)
The Blinders’ guitar tech, Max Grindle, (@maxgrindle) captures the moment when the champagnes are being opened to celebrate a huge success!
02. Newcastle Upon Tyne – 16th of October (now completed)
Newcastle poster
After triumphant beginning in Manchester, The Blinders played Newcastle on Tuesday night. The doors opened at 8:00, the show started 30 minutes later with local 4 piece band called Baltic opening. Calva Louise played their 45 minutes set at 9:15 and then The Blinders took to the stage at 10:00 PM. This venue has capacity of 275 people and was nearly sold out (only 30 ticket short from being full)!
The New Adelphi Club may be small but it is very popular in Kingston. The tickets sold out hours before the gig and many were left desperate when this screen appeared around 14:00 in the afternoon:
Tickets are now sold out!
Those who came to the club earlier, were told by the organizers to purchase passes to other shows as quickly as possible as all the venues on tour were running low on tickets. This caused a minor panic among the gig goers – many of them admitted that they planned on seeing The Blinders multiple times! Hopefully everybody will have a chance to see the band playing but note that at this moment we are told that Birmingham is down to 6 tickets, Bristol is down to about 30, the same in other venues. Please don’t leave it to the last minute as there is no reprint of tickets. The venues cannot accept any more people beyond their capacity limits! Thank you! Now, having the announcements behind us, we are pleased to report that Calva Louise and Faux Pas played excellent shows and the crowd went absolutely mad for them both. The Blinders went to the stage at 10:00 pm and played “a very lively gig” as one of our correspondents described it. There was a signing session at the end and many people had to queue to have their records signed. Did we mentioned that the band sold out their tees and vinyl records? All in all it was a great night to remember!
04. SWN Festival Cardiff – 19th of October (now completed)
The Blinders played twice in Cardiff during the SWN festival. On Friday, they headlined the main stage in popular bar, O’Neills and their set took place between 11:30 pm – 00:30 am. Early bird passes sold out at the end of August and there was no tickets left at the door. Festival goers had to queue to see if it was possible for them to enter! The place was packed so tight the security had to intervene!
You can see the schedule as a pdf or jpg below:
As you can see from the song list, two fan favourites made a big come back: “Swine” and “Ramona Flowers”. They might not be on the record but their place among the best songs are confirmed. This tour is a massive punch in the guts and if you haven’t been punched yet, please stand in line!!
05. SWN Festival Cardiff – 20th of October (now completed)
Saturday is always one of the busiest days at SWN festivals. The schedules are packed absolutely mad and Cardiff was bursting at the seams in the evening. The Blinders played a 45 minute set at the Old Market Tavern starting exactly at 6:00pm. The crowd was wild, welcoming and ready to rock. What can we say, another day in the office, isn’t it? 🙂
Poster advertising Huw Stephens show with the Blinders hanging outside the venue
06. Stoke-on-Trent – 22nd of October (now completed)
The band had a day off on Sunday 21st of October to recharge their batteries and came back to the stage on Monday at the Sugarmill. This is a popular venue and The Blinders played there on their last tour in the winter. To thank their fans for being so welcoming (by the mid-day on 22nd of October, the band learnt that 7 shows have fully sold out and 7 additional ones were down to last tickets!), the lads along with their management offered 4 free tickets to the show. You can imagine that they were snapped in a matter of minutes. As usually, the gig went perfectly well with Calva Louise and local act, Saint Ivy on the supporting bills.
The first gig on Vanadian Avenue’s turf! Birmingham was selling well from the start and it is our greatest pleasure to announce that we have a second sold out show for the band in the Second City, following the gig at Sunflower Lounge on 16th of February 2018. We will be doing an extensive coverage and a concert review so please be on a stand by!
Instagram picture advertising the nearly sold out show in Birmingham!
On the 8th day of tour, The Blinders visited Nottingham to play at nearly sold out gig at the popular club, Bodega. The doors opened at 7:00 pm and the show finished exactly at 10:00 pm, very early for a mid week night! We cannot complain as the concert was an excellent one, with massive mosh pit and a fantastic crowd reaction. Young 4 piece Those Howling Sounds opened the show,followed by a well received performance by Calva Louise. We don’t have to tell you that The Blinders of course stole the show, but nobody would bet on something that obvious!
Starting in Birmingham, the tour is becoming more and more relentless. There are shows now every day without any breaks but the band truly enjoy being on the road and playing a gig in new town each day. More and more gigs are also selling out, so please don’t wait until last minute. On 25 of October, The Blinders returned to the Venue in Derby for the second time this year, after their sold out debut in February. Another venue and another, nearly sold out show. It was very intense, or sources confirmed that Matty broke one of his drumsticks and he threw it into the crowd!
We are almost in the middle of the tour! On 26 of October, The Blinders played in Sheffield in a fantastic place called The Plug on Matilda Street. The doors opened at 7:30pm, the curfew was at 11:00pm and Calva Louise and The Varletts were supporting. It was considered one of the best shows on the tour so thank you to those who came and made it such a fantastic experience for everybody involved. We love you all!
After a day of rest (for Halloween parties), The Blinders are now back on the road. On 28th of October, the band arrived to play at the lovely Brudenell Social Club in Leeds and it was again a sold out affair. Doors opened at 7:30, Household Dogs were the first support for the night, followed by the wonderful Calva Louise just before the Doncaster trio. As expected, it was a beautiful gig, with massive mosh pit, great response from the crowd and a fantastic feedback.
12. Liverpool – 29th of October 2018 (now completed)
Liverpool poster
Liverpool was the 12th gig on this tour and right now we are exactly in the middle! It is true that the time flies when we are all having the time of our lives. The Liverpool concert introduced some massive changes in the line up: Calva Louise finished their leg of the tour and the new support slot was now filled by White Room. Liverpool concert was also be supported by the mega popular local quartet, The K’s. It was the 6th sold out show for the trio and as you can imagine, it was a blast! The crowd was mad, the band again gave it all and everybody loved each second!
13. Aberdeen – 30th of October 2018 (now completed)
Aberdeen poster
The lucky, 13th gig took place in Aberdeen! A long, long way from the Kingdom of Mancunia (about 6 h by car), but only an hour by plane. The band was travelling by air to reach the next destination and luckily it was a sunny (yet very cold day) for such a long journey. As with other gigs before, the show was spectacular and the club was tightly packed. The Blinders were joined by the White Room and local 5 piece, Swym.
The concerts are going so well that Sam Crowston (The Blinders’ official photographer and visualizer) posted this on Twitter. The merch has nearly sold out and again. That is a very, very good news indeed! Time to order so more.
14. Preston – 1st of November 2018 (now completed) – sold out
Preston poster – sold out!
After a day of rest for the Halloween festivities, the show number 14 is a sweet deal for The Blinders. Preston was one of the first shows to sell out, even before Manchester, Birmingham or London. The show will take place in a club called The Ferret. The doors opened sharp at 7:00 pm and the party lasted until way past the curfew at 11:00. White Room and Manchester trio Sweet Deals on Surgery were supporting to universal acclaim. Of course, The Blinders again stole the show, but it happens every night so nobody is surprised.
Another evening nearly sold out and a fantastic, active crowd singing every word! Thank you so much York! You were fantastic and this show will be remembered for a long period of time. The doors were opened at 7:00, Faux Pas played first, followed by White Room and The Blinders (or Los Blinders as they are recently known) came to the stage at 10:00. Their 50 minute show left people drenched in sweat and wanting more. And more shall come as the tour continues!
16. Lincoln – 2QFestival – 3rd of November 2018 (now completed)
2Q Festival – Presented by the crew of Badlands Festival, the Liquor stage will present: Ducking Punches, The Blinders, OCTOBER DRIFT, Queen Zee, Madonnatron, No Hot Ashes, The Ultraviolet, tiger warsaw
2Q Festival is a one celebration festival happening in Lincoln. 80 bands, 9 venues, a whole city dedicated to rock and roll – what else can you ask for? The festival is an award winning event and is known for it’s fantastic and safe atmosphere. The Blinders played their slot at The Liquor exactly at 19:45 pm as a first support before the headliner, Ducking Punches.
Stage times
Facebook advert
How can we describe their show? Well it was MADNESS! People shouting, jumping, Thomas being lifted in the air and walking among the crowd, Charlie playing like a demon and Matty just driving everyone and everything into the ground with his drumming. Only handful of shows left so please come and see them if you haven’t had the chance yet!
The band arrived in Oxford to play at the legendary Bullingdon Club on the 5th of November (remember, remember…). The doors were opened exactly at 7:00 pm but many people were waiting outside of the club for at least several hours despite the cold weather. They were singing “Rat In a Cage” and sharing teas – this is what real dedication and true fandom looks like! Thank you to those who provided the free cuppa to the half frozen fans! Due to a mistake on the ticket vendor site, the show was marked as 14+ when in fact it was 16+ so fans had to show their ID’s to the gentleman at the door. Local Oxford heroes, Brixtons were the first opener, with White Light playing at 9:00 and The Blinders at 10:00. The show finished around 11:00. What can we say? The show was nearly sold out – only 11 tickets were left at the doors so that says a lot about the reception this tour is getting. The crowd was mad, the band finished drenched in sweat and Thomas’ make up was washed clean by fourth song. Another fantastic night!
18th day of the tour had the band arriving in lovely Cambridge! Lets hope the lads had some time off to do a bit of sightseeing as Cambridge is simply breathtaking. As for the show: opening times were pretty standard. Doors opened at 7:00 pm, first support, Ugly performed at 7:30 (please give them a spin as they are truly excellent band!), The White Room went on stage at 9:00 and The Blinders again exactly at 10:00. The show was finished by 11:30 pm. Again, the requirement for all attendees who were under 18 was to have an accompanying adult with them and an ID. According to the reports, the crowd was mad as a hatter, the mosh pit was truly impressive (though not as big as in Birmingham) and everyone had time of their lives.
London gig advertised in Time Out Magazine, London. Picture by by Artbeat Promo
London!! The Columbia tour has finally reached the capitol! For one night only, at the amazing venue The Garage, we had a chance to see The Moses, Calva Louise and The Blinders on one bill. It was a dream come true and the show will remain in our memories for a very long period of time. The doors were opened at 7:00, Moses played at 7:45, Calva Louise at 8:30 and Los Blinders at 9:20. The mosh pit was extremely tight and several people have to be removed from the venue but the security guys did a splendid job. Everyone was safe and sound, had a great time and nothing could spoil the fun! Thank you once again guys! You are truly amazing!
On the 20th day of their journey, The Blinders went down to Southampton. It was one of the earliest sold out dates and the band is always welcomed in the city. The place, The Heartbreakers Bar and Venue has a fantastic reputation and is known to deliver great events. Moses and The White Room went along for the wild ride and we have to say that the night went smoothly and everybody were perfectly happy. As usual, doors were opened at 7pm, Moses played at 7:45pm, The While Room at 8:20 and The Blinders went on at 9:30. The curfew was 10:30 pm. There was a secret after party at one of the city’s night clubs and fans had a chance to take pictures and speak to the band. All in all, the night was greatly intense and long will be remembered (there was just one causality, the amp backed up and exit the stage left, but it didn’t spoil anything!)
Brighton, the next step after Southampton (aka day 21) also sold out several months in advance and is considered one of the best shows on the tour. The band was incredibly focused and energetic. Each song was played with additional strength, dedication and with an extra layer of what can only be described as a “rock and roll” spirit. In plain words – there was more sweat, more theatrics and more swagger. The public loved every second of it and so did the band.
As usual, the gig was opened by a local support, this time by Brighton quartet, Swoon with the amazing vocalist Alice Guala at the helm. The White Room were next at 8:30 and then at 9:20, the Blinders took to the stage. The gig ended at 10:30 with all three bands meeting fans and signing records and posters. After everything was said, done, sang and signed, the entourage went off to a local night club for the after party that lasted, if you believe the report, till the dawn.
Venue: The Haunt
Time: 7:00pm – 10:30pm
Official website: https://www.thehauntbrighton.co.uk/
Supports: White Room, Swoon
More information: https://www.facebook.com/events/220680275374879/
Bristol gig (aka The Last Battle of Bristol) took place on the 11th of November and it was the last show on this tour. What was happening, you may ask? The band has long promised to finally kill off Johnny Dream persona, but the show was rather peaceful and nobody was hurt. There was no murder on the (dance) floor and no blood streaming down the walls. The doors were opened at 7:00 and the fans were treated to a cloak room, two upstairs bars, one main bar at the ground floor and a viewing gallery (aka the upper deck) on a real boat! Thekla is quite famous for its unique interior and it was a pleasure to see it with our own eyes. Gum Sole, a young quartet from Bath were quite impressive and we took some videos and pictures so please be on the look out for a review! The White Room are not our cup of tea, but we have to say their music is of excellent quality and the lead singer knows how to charm a crowd! Sadly, we had to leave the venue quite early and we only saw the Blinders for a couple of songs but as usual they were amazing. We missed a very cool thing though – Thomas (or rather Johnny Dream) came into the audience and sat on the floor surrounded by the crowd during one of the songs and everyone commented, it was a truly magical moment. Oh well! You cannot see everything but there is always another gig to attend!
So how can this tour be summarized? Was it a success?
The answer will be a simple one – it was a huge success for the young Doncaster trio! 22 concerts, 10 sold out shows, 7 nearly sold out gigs (leaving 10 or 20 tickets at the doors), 4 concerts with more than half venue capacity filled out. Please note that we are only relying on press reports, venue press releases, our own calculations and the reviews available online and those of our friends who came to the gigs. Maybe the official results will be even better. In any case, Columbia tour has to be called a success. The attendance was way above the average, we have found more than 50 videos on Youtube, hundreds of pictures, 20 articles, 21 reviews and that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
The merch stand was almost empty in Thekla and the gentleman behind the counter was apologizing that the band ran out of t-shirts again! Apparently the shop had to be restocked twice before. This is a very good news and thank you so much for your amazing support for the band! Buying tickets and merch provides necessary income to keep the bands going. We are sure all sales will be dutifully counted and the stock will be much bigger on the next tour, to meet the demand.
Was there something missing?
There is always room for improvement and we have collected the best fans suggestions that were posted all over the Internet:
– A gig in Norwich! Many fans called for additional gig to be added to the tour. The last time The Blinders played Norwich was on 17th of October 2017 along with Queen Zee and Cabbage (Norwich Arts Centre). Maybe 2019 will see the band returning to the capitol of East Anglia.
– More variety at the merch stand – fans asked for more t-shirt designs to choose from (there were only three available) and for female versions of the tees to be added as the unisex ones (even in S and M sizes) were simply too big. Also, please bring back the lighters! – Festival appearances – some festival appearances were added at the last minute or were not advertised on the social media in advance, not allowing fans to purchase the tickets.
– New material/song order – in short, can at least one new song be added to the set? If it is not possible, please play “Murder at the Ballet” and “You Are So Cold” from the first EP to add some variety. Those who attended multiple concerts wished that the song order was changed a bit as it was identical for the majority of the tour. Some fans also called out for the mysterious “Acid Bath” to be finally added to the set!
– More security and safe spaces for female attendees – this one is tricky as the band has absolutely no control over the behavior of the concert goers. When Thomas saw a rowdy fan trying to start a fight at the London gig, he stopped the concert and made sure the gentleman was escorted out by the security. The band also posted an appeal on their social media asking fans to take care of one another afterwards. Fans suggested teaming up with Safe Gigs for Women (https://sgfw.org.uk) a non profit organization trying to provide women with spaces where they could enjoy concerts without being harassed or being endangered. The charity also caters to the needs of the vulnerable people of both sexes, people with disabilities (including wheel chair users) and underage or young teens. There are other organizations doing similar work as well. It is something that can be taken into consideration.
Please remember that after all, we are responsible for the safety at gigs so if you see something worrying, suspicious or wrong, please let the stewards or security know. Thank you!
So what’s next? The band is now resting and working on new material. There are many gigs already booked for the rest of 2018 and for the 2019 and we will follow them in a separate blog entry as this one is very, very long already!
Please stay with us and enjoy the music, memories and the extensive library of links, pictures and videos!
So much is going on dear readers, that we don’t know where to start! Interviews, pictures, secret gigs being organized (maybe in Birmingham, or maybe not 😊), plans and collaborations – we are 24hrs party people, only our party is a long-time marketing campaign! It is an exciting time to be alive as our friend says, but we wish our day had 48 hours instead of 24. Or well, you only live once.
Saturday, the 9th of June is coming closer and closer and we cannot wait! We will have a mini Worcester invasion with HVMM playing at The Flapper, Lost Tigers appearing at the Bishop and Actress and Dead Dads Club coming back to The Sunflower Lounge to rock you like a hurricane. Please use the links below to purchase the tickets and support The Racket, Jack Fletcher Band and our Malvern boys in DDC, if you are looking for a quality entertainment. Always support your local DIY scene. Those bands are the future of the British guitar music!
Poster for gig at the legendary Sunflower Lounge on 9th June 2018
Today, we would like to present you with the last interview we did to promote the show. The Jack Fletcher Band is one of Wolverhampton’s finest new bands and you just have to see them live. We talked to lead singer and guitarist, Jack Fletcher about the band’s name (quite obvious!), playing with Johnny Brown of Twisted Wheel and their new upcoming music. No beating about bush, only simple and straightforward answers. This is what we like!
Band`s logo
Jack Fletcher (vocals, guitar)
Tom Robinson (drummer)
Henry Bradley (bass)
George Hadley (lead guitar)
Official bio: The Jack Fletcher Bans is an indie-rock four piece from Wolverhampton that can only be described as real rock with their stripped back guitar music, Midlands twang and their live-for-the moment attitude.
After the split of his former band “The Town”, lead vocalist Jack Fletcher began his solo career before meeting fellow band members: Tom Robinson (drummer) and Henry Bradley (bass) on a music technology course at university. From this friendship and the introduction of George Hadley (lead guitar), The Jack Fletcher Band was formed. Combining influences from mod bands such as The Jam & The Who with the rock and roll sounds of Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix.
To date these Black Country lads have played numerous festivals and venues including Lakefest (supporting the likes of Primal Scream, The Coral, Cast and Star Sailor), Party in the Pines Festival, Wolverhampton’s Slade Rooms, Notting Hill Arts Club, Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham and the legendary Band on the Wall in Manchester.
With their unique and timeless compositions, youthful spirit and optimistic outlook, The Jack Fletcher Band are a group that will stand the test of time. They are a band that not only defines the present, but a band that embodies the culture and guts of those that came before them and will continue to do so for years to come.
Before we start, let`s have a proper introduction to all the members of the band. Please tell us who is who?
Jack Fletcher: Hi. My name is Jack Fletcher and I’m the lead singer and I play guitar. The rest of the band is George Hadley on lead guitar, Henry Bradley on bass and Tom Robinson on drums.
You have been performing under The Jack Fletcher Band moniker for quite some time now. It is simple yet memorable name. Did you choose it on purpose or was it last minute decision that just stayed with you? Are you tempted to change it to something else?
Jack Fletcher: We decided on The Jack Fletcher Band as the band’s name wasn’t really something we cared about. I wasn’t really good at picking names so we picked the worst name that we could find (laughing). Joking aside, it’s just stuck with us.
Your biography mentions that the band started out after a group of incredibly talented musicians took the same music course at the university. It is a perfect script material. Was it really a random encounter or did you know each other before?
Jack Fletcher: We all knew each other. Myself, Henry and Tom – we all really met at college and George was a friend of Jack’s early on… and the rest is a history (laughing).
Jack, before forming this group, you fronted The Town, an accomplished act in its own right. Can you tell us more about your project?
Jack Fletcher: The Town was my first real band. We played all around the country when we were around 16 -17 years old. Looking back on it, that’s a big achievement in itself really. We did well and we were so very young. But we enjoyed it.
Jack Fletcher Band in black and white
You have wonderful working relationship with Twisted Wheel. You supported them several times and in return Johnny Brown performed with you on stage. How did your collaboration start?
Jack Fletcher: We were always big fans of Johnny’s music and we met him at an acoustic gig in Derby some time ago and our friendship has been good ever since. We see him as a hero, but please don’t tell him that (laughing). He is a good friend.
The video to song “Has it all gone wrong” beautifully directed by Benjamin Harrp amassed over 100k views on social media. We have to admit, we absolutely love this song. It is very emotional. Any back story behind this track?
Jack Fletcher: Thank you! The story behind this track is very simple. I personally believe everyone can relate to it. Anything can go wrong in life but I suppose, it is always for the right reasons. The song is very emotional but I think it has a positive ending. You know, “keep on keeping on”, that sort of thing. And we are glad to hear that people can relate to the song’s tune and its lyrics.
Another of our favourites “What are you waiting for” was produced by Ryan Pinson at RML Studios in Wolverhampton. Pinson is known for working with several upcoming independent artists such as Jump The Shark, Wax Futures and Cosmic Rays. His style is crisp, a bit raw and energetic. Was that what you wanted to highlight in your song?
Jack Fletcher: Writing a good song is one thing but getting it produced well and making it sound like you do live is very difficult. Ryan’s a legend. He is an excellent producer and he can do his stuff very well. Always brings the best out of our music and that’s very important for us.
As Vanadian Avenue is based in Worcester, we have to mention that you have played on our home turf at Worcester Music Festival in 2017. How do you remember it? We hope The Faithful City provided you with a solid crowd and good memories.
JFB live on stage
Jack Fletcher: Yeah we have played in Worcester a few times. To be honest sometimes a bit too early for us to have half-decent crowd. You seem to put up shows very early guys, but the experience hasn’t been bad all bad (laughing).
On 9th of June you will join The Racket and Dead Dads Club at The Sunflower Lounge for a true rock and roll celebration. Are you preparing something special for the gig?
Jack Fletcher: We will try and impress people at gig on Saturday. That’s what we always intend to do anyway. We are not planning anything special, we will give it our all and maybe play a new tune.
Your schedule this year is fully packed. Where can your fans see you next? Any summer festivals or important concerts we should be on the look out for?
Jack Fletcher: We’ve got a quite a few things coming up and we are getting quite busy again. But everything still needs to be confirmed. Always come to our social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to check things out. You will not be disappointed.
As mentioned already, the band is available on all important social media platforms, so take your pick!
Talking to the bands is one thing, but seeing them live is a completely different set of vinyls. Hopefully we will see you in Sunflower Lounge this Saturday. Bring your friends, a pair of comfortable shoes and let’s dance the night away!
Au revoir la haut à mes amis (just because speaking in French is hot these days)
xoxox
Rita and Malicia
We hope you had a nice and relaxing Easter break. Here at Vanadian Avenue we are unable to rest or sit still (one of our biggest flaws!) and we had to find something music related to do. And there was plenty to things to be done! We have set up a Youtube channel, edited hundreds of pictures, did a nice small social media campaign and even had some time to eat a bit of chocolate. Talk about very productive long weekend!
From now on, you will be able to see videos of the performances we attend. So far, we have fantastic clips from Iggy Cuthbert (aka Happy Bones), mighty The Americas and the indie sweethearts, Junior Weeb! Soon we will add other great bands from the WorcesterWave scene: Nuns of the Tundra, Thousand Mountain, Dead Dads Club and many more. Please be on the look-out for the best new and unsigned bands from West midlands.
One day we are hoping to feature on our YouTube channel the band interviewed in this blog. They are named Karkosa and you will be hearing about them often in the coming months.
We met Karkosa at Indiecon conference in London at the beginning of the year. They made a great impression on us and we are very happy that we were able to sit down with Karkosa’s lead singer Michael Warnock for a short chat. Those guys are one of the nicest and the hardest working people we have met! There were so many things to discuss: their unusual name, being nominated for an indie award and even winning fans on the other side of the globe. Karkosa’s on their way to greater things and we will be keeping our fingers crossed for them to get there as soon as possible.
Big in Birmingham
Official bio: British Indie rock band Karkosa was formed in Birmingham in 2014 by brothers Michael and Jack Warnock. After recruiting Tom Rushton on lead guitar, Ryan Trott on bass and Will Clews on keyboard, the band wrote and recorded a batch of songs and published them online. Their melodic, propulsive rock sound is heavily inspired by Catfish and the Bottlemen, Royal Blood and The Amazons. The Devil’s Greatest Trick – band’s inaugural release arrived in 2016 and was followed by singles Monarchy, Sheffield and Where the River Flows in 2017.
Michael Warnock (vocals/ rhythm guitar)
Tom Rushton (lead guitar)
Jack Warnock (drums)
Ryan Trott (bass)
Will Clews (keyboard)
Karkosa in black and white
Your biography mentions that Karkosa formed about 4 years ago in Birmingham. Please introduce yourselves to the readers of Indieterria and tell us a bit more about your beginnings.
Michael Warnock: I think my brother Jack (drums) and I started the band a little earlier than that, about 5 years ago. Our first gig was at our dad’s 40th birthday party. The line-up has changed quite a bit since then. I met Tom Rushton (lead guitar) and Will Clews (keyboard) at BOA College where we studied music together. The last member of the band to join was Ryan Trott (bass) who went to school with Jack. In our own words, we are an indie rock band with influences from The Amazons, Catfish and the Bottlemen and Royal Blood.
Karkosa is a very unusual name for a band, yet strangely it is easily memorable. We are very curious where it comes from. Our best bet would be you are named after the fictional city from a short story entitled “An Inhabitant of Carcosa” by American writer Ambrose Bierce. Are we correct?
Michael Warnock: (laughing) Yes, you are correct! The name Carcosa is also featured in a book called “The King in Yellow” by Robert W. Chambers. It is documented as being a fictional “ancient and mysterious city”. It was actually my dad’s idea to use that name. We changed out all the C’s for K’s to get Karkosa. Which we liked and it was unique.
Your new single entitled “Lonley Kid” is a very interesting composition. It also comes with minimalistic and very striking cover designed by artist Amber Le Grys. Can you tell us more about this song?
Cover of “Lonely Kid” single
Michael Warnock: We started writing “Lonely Kid” back in July 2017. It reflects how I felt at the time when most of my friends had left college or had their relationships to deal with. I was fine being on my own. I also wanted to create something that broke the stereotype of songs with word “lonely” in the title, being sad. I think the song’s spirit was captured quite nicely by the artwork which Amber made. As you said, it is simple, yet effective which is different to our previous artwork. The song’s climax was inspired by the bridge of “Ain’t it fun” by Paramore.
March was a very busy month for you. You headlined a hometown gig at the O2 Institute in Birmingham on 17th of March being supported by North Parade and Elliot Sturman. Then you travelled to London to play at Camden’s Dublin Castle. Was that your first time playing in the capitol?
Michael Warnock: Our headline gig was great as it was not only a rare occasion of us playing last but it was also the first time we got to play with our new bass drum logo and Karkosa banner which was really cool! We also sold the biggest amount of tickets for a gig ever! Overall, we had a lot of fun and the audience seemed to love it! Our Camden gig was a lot more exciting for me as it was something we hadn’t done before. Not only were we performing in a new location, but we were also performing to a new crowd. The surprising part was the fact that people started enjoying themselves, even stating that we should have been on last! Either way, it was a great weekend and we look forward to going back there again!
Radio DJ Steve Kelly had this to say about you: “Quite a few of my fellow presenters loved their song named ‘Sheffield’. No exaggeration, but the guitar work on it is up there with ‘Hotel California’ by The Eagles, which is my favourite track ever. I think ’Sheffield’ is probably the best track we’ve had on the station and I’ll be giving you regular airtime”. This is no ordinary praise, being compared to one of the most beloved songs in the history of rock music.
Karkosa is fighting the law…
Michael Warnock: We are very lucky to have a contact such as Steve as he has constantly gave us a lot of support, ever since we first got in touch with him! We did our first radio interview with him and it was real pleasure to meet him in person at our headline gig. He came all the way from Blackpool to see us! We look forward to seeing him again in May, and it’s nice to see his incredible dedication to the band!
The list of recognitions is not over yet: BBC Introducing West Midlands played your three consequently released singles (“Monarchy”, “Sheffield” and “Where the River Flows”) with the last track becoming a song of the week in July 2017. You also had a very successful national tour that saw you playing in Leeds, Edinburgh, Bath, Plymouth and selling out several dates including at legendary Sunflower Lounge. Hard work is finally paying off, isn’t it?
Michael Warnock: It certainly does. We view a lot of this stuff as “climbing the ladder”. Getting played on BBC Introducing was pretty cool, however we found that getting played on some of the smaller radio stations was even more enjoyable. The presenters always had more to say about our music! Playing at The Sunflower Lounge is also a lot of fun as we’ve had fans moshing to our music and there’s always a bigger buzz when you’re closer to the audience.
We have to ask you about your collaboration with award winning producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Jaws, The Twang, Ocean Colour Scene). His recent work with The Sherlocks brought him universal acclaim. Did you travel to his famous studio (Magic Garden) in Wolverhampton? How many songs were recorded and when can we listen to them?
Michael Warnock: Recording with Gavin was pretty exciting based on his recognition. We were working at his Magic Garden Studios which was filled with lots of cool memorabilia! We only recorded one song, “Where the River Flows” however we hope to work with Gavin again!
2018 looks like a breakthrough year for you guys. With huge interest from local press and sold out shows, Karkosa’s future is looking particularly bright. What do you have in store for your loyal fans in the coming months? Any gigs or new singles we need to be on the lookout for?
Promo picture of Karkosa
Michael Warnock: This year has been awesome and it’s only April! So far, we’ve still got a lot of great gigs lined up and we were also nominated for best indie/alternative band at the Birmingham Music Awards! We are currently winning the HotVox vote to play at the Isle of Wight festival, mainly due to our music going viral in South Korea. We look forward to seeing what else comes our way this year and it would be a dream come true for all of us to play a major festival!
Now this is something we don’t hear very often! West Midlands band going viral on the other side of the world! Do you have any idea what made you popular in Korea?
Michael Warnock: (laughing) To be honest we are not exactly sure! We try to engage with anyone that takes time to follow us on social media. At first, it was just a few followers, then literally over a couple of days we were replying to over a thousand followers from South Korea, mainly on Instagram and Twitter. They have been sharing links to our music and have helped us with this vote for Isle of Wight festival. We’re now hoping to play out there at some point!
We will be watching Karkosa in the next months to see how our favourite Birmingham quintet is doing.
For now, you can also support them by casting your vote at The Birmingham Music Awards’ Rising Star/One to Watch 2018. The vote will end on 24th of April!
Winter months have been a very busy period for your favourite independent A&R’s. We traveled to gigs, went to Indiecon conference in London, took pictures, filmed shows, handled merch, sent countless emails and wrote reviews and articles about our lovely Worcester Wave bands. The rest of March will leave us very little time to relax as well, but we love what we do!
Last time, we spoke to Lower Loveday – an exciting new rock group that makes a name for themselves on the indie circuit. Today we have something for lovers of young, hip and alternative rock with fuzzed guitars, wall of sound and catchy melodies.
Do we have your attention? Good – please read our conversation with a band that is quickly following the trails of Soeur and The Americas, leaving jaws on the (dance) floor and an insatiable craving for their full-bloodied debut album.
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Promotional picture of the Weebs
Growing-up in the spotlight
Almost a year and a half ago, when we saw Junior Weeb for the first time, we were not impressed. They played a short set and compared to other acts performing that night, we didn’t think the young quarter had any future. How wrong we were! In recent months, Junior Weeb underwent almost miraculous transformation. Their stage presence is electric, their writing improved to the point where their songs could easily conquer the Top 40. Everything about them is matured, sophisticated and exciting.
Luckily for us, the band do not hold grudges and we didn’t have to beg for second chances to interview them. Chris Phee and the company were a joy to talk about their humble beginnings, self-(re) discovery and their upcoming music.
Official bio: Junior Weeb are an indie funk/alternative rock four-piece hailing from Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire. With hard-hitting bass grooves, soulful vocals and sticky guitar licks, Junior Weeb take their influences from a catalogue of different genres hoping to create a finished product that pleases your ears.
Chris Phee (rhythm guitar and lead vocals)
Max Killing (bass guitar and backing vocals)
Joe Webby (lead guitar)
Quentin Hill (drums)
Junior Weeb’s official bio mentions that the band was formed at the beginning of 2016. Tell us more about the beginnings of your musical journey? Where did you meet and who is in the band?
Junior Weeb: We’ve all been close mates since high school. To begin with, we were in 2 different bands, one of our old bandmates had a house party where we all played in his kitchen. This brought us closer together musically so we formed a super group called Junior Weeb in around February 2015 and thus discovered our mutual love and trust in music. We have the soulful enigma that is Chris Phee on rhythm guitar and vocals, Max Killing slapping da bass and vocals, man like Weeb (Joe Webby) providing that sticky lead guitar and the big friendly giant Quentin Hill smashing the shit out of those tubs like.
The Press and your fans affectionately refer to you either as The Weebs or The Juniors. Where the name “Junior Weeb” does comes from?
Junior Weeb: (laughing) Our guitarist Joe has the nickname “Weeb”. We don’t refer to him as Weeb anymore because of the association with the band. He said that if he ever had a son he would want it to be called Junior Weeb. We laughed but never really thought of it as a band name. It wasn’t until many weeks of arguing and moaning about the band name that we referred back to what he said and we finally settled with Junior Weeb. It was something catchy, funny and relatable to the band. We also happen to be the first website that pops up when you type our name into Google. Mad isn’t it?
We have to admit, when we`ve seen you for the first time, we were not into your music. Watching the band for a second time, a year later – we have fallen in love with Junior Weeb. Yours is the biggest, most impressive musical development on the local scene in recent years. Can you tell us what drives you, what keeps you focused?
Junior Weeb live on stage
Junior Weeb: We’re very happy with the progress we’ve made in the last year or so. We all study music at Kidderminster College and the tuition we’ve received has definitely kept us motivated and driven. Our musicianship has developed, each player is learning their instrument well and we’re listening to all kinds of music at the moment which is driving us to succeed. Some of the bands we’ve played/become acquainted with are doing some really great things at the moment which is also inspiring and a gentle reminder that we need to get our arse in gear.
It’s the beginning of the year and 2018 looks very busy for you already. On 17th of February you played at Mr Wolf’s in Bristol, where you supported two other WorcesterWave bands: Soeur and HVMM. You have opened for Soeur before at a sold out home-coming gig at the Marr’s Bar. How does it feel to perform alongside your friends? Have they offered any advice?
Junior Weeb:Soeur has looked after us a lot over our musical journey and we couldn’t thank them enough for the support. We feel honoured to be playing alongside such talented songwriters who are so lovely and kind. We don’t think we’ve ever had any advice from Soeur but we know how dedicated and driven they are. They have put so much hard work and passion into their music, they’re probably the most organised band we’ve played with and they deserve all the recognition they are getting. Playing with Soeur has definitely inspired us to work harder and organize ourselves respectively. We love you Soeur! XXX (laughing)
You shared stages with many popular independent acts such as Muncie Girls, The Riscas, Ivory Wave and The Americas. How important, in your opinion, is the close fellowship between different bands on the indie circuit? Is the Worcester scene supportive towards new starting acts?
Junior Weeb: In our opinion, we think the fellowship between bands on the indie circuit is very important. We’ve had some great opportunities recently and as long as we’re all supporting each other, things are gonna keep ticking along. The Worcester scene is always supportive to new bands and we’re always excited to hear new music and meet new people who are keeping the scene alive. Seeing what all the other bands have achieved and the support we’ve received recently has really helped us out. Long live Da Woo Town scene!
On April 21th 2017, your debut single “No right” was chosen as the track of the week by This Feeling circuit and a month later popular website GigSlutz gave you a glowing review describing your music as “dreamy, psychedelic affair with just a hint of Oasis”. That’s very impressive review for a young band. Have you expected such warm reactions to your song?
Junior Weeb: To be honest we didn’t expect these reactions. “Not Right” was the first song we wrote together and it’s one that’s very close to our hearts. The main riff in the song was something that Max’s brother Sam came up with before he sadly passed away. We decided to write it as a tribute to Sam and his legacy. The reactions to this song have been very heart-warming and we hope Sam is proud of the finished product.
You are currently working on a new material to be published later this year. Can we expect an EP or a full blown debut album? We are curious where are you working and who is attached to the project?
Junior Weeb: We’ve had a lot of fun in the studio recently, we’ve been recording new songs at Kidderminster College with help from the Music Tech students who have made some impressive mixes for us. We thought it would be a good idea to record these songs live because on some of these tracks there is a lot of feel and groove. Hope that doesn’t give too much away (laughing). It’s great being able to record in an environment that we are all so comfortable with and the recording sessions have been fairly regular. We’re not too sure about an E.P or an album anytime soon but there will definitely be new music. Expect the unexpected.
You had to deal with incredible family tragedy. Do you feel confident to talk about it?
Junior Weeb: We lost Sam Killing in December 2015. After a long battle with mental health and drug misuse, Sam took his own life with unclear intent. He was a charming, intelligent and charismatic guy who inspired us a lot. We were all very shocked and upset when it happened but the legacy he left behind in his music and persona helped us a lot with our music. When you have to deal with a tragedy like that it’s hard find comfort when listening to music but we knew that music was the only thing that would help us out. Sam played lead guitar/backing vocals for Babypink and it’s not until you sit down and properly listen to Babypink that you understand the intricacy and beauty of Sam’s playing and writing. He has been a massive inspiration to all of us and one of the main reasons we formed. His legacy will continue to inspire us and live on through our lives as long as music will. R.I.P Sammy x.
Juniors on the green grass
2018 could be a breakthrough year for Junior Weeb. What are your hopes and fears for the nearest future?
Junior Weeb: 2018 is the year of the Weebs. We hope to gig as much as we can up until summer. The plan is to spend summer writing and working so that hopefully we make a fabulous return when we’re finished. None of us are driving yet so we hope to get on the road too. At the moment, we have nothing to fear, we’re going with the flow, taking everything as it comes. Big thank you to everyone who has supported us on our musical journey so far and we hope to see you all in the near future. Weebs out! Xxx.
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Baby Pink
Writing about Junior Weeb, we cannot omit Sam Killing, the incredibly talented elder brother of Max Killing. Hailed as one of the most talented musicians to come out of The Faithful City, Sam played lead guitar for a band Baby Pink along with Andrew Brooks (vocals, guitar), Jack Vaughan (bass) and Jack Cotterill (drums). Formed in 2012, Baby Pink very quickly gained a lot of attention and toured the UK without even releasing a debut EP. Their gigs in London and Manchester drew big crowds even with minimal promotion, giving the band very positive reviews from music journalists and comparisons to the American alternative rock legends, The Pixies. Baby Pink were featured in the New Musical Express (named as precious find) in February 2014 and toured with Jaws, Catfish and The Bottleman, Wolf Alice and many other. Baby Pink decided to call it quits in March 2014 and Sam went on to form Birmingham based quartet named Juice with Davis Armstrong, Matt Burdon and Damon Cox in September 2014. Tragically he lost his life three months later.
Junior Weeb keep a tight schedule of gigs all over the West Midlands. They recently supported Soer at Night Bus in Bristol, played legendary Fleece, opened a gig for hugely influential Catholic Action at another iconic venue – The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham and will progress to 02 in Birmingham in April.
They will play Marrs Bar with Happy Bones and The Americas on March 30th. Its gonna be carnage and a sold out home show – we are warming you. So grab your tickets before they are gone.
As usual we will keep our hand on the pulse and will report all the action. In the meantime, you can follow Junior Weeb using the details below. You will thank us later for introducing you to the quality music and future rock stars.
What can we tell you about Junior Weeb that we haven’t said already? They are a perfect combination of youthful indie, funk, blues and classic rock. They emerged victorious from a tragedy that would end much older and experienced bands. They improved their act to the point where they outgrew local circuit by a long distance and moved easily to play bigger venues in Bristol and Birmingham. They will be on a label and touring their debut album sooner than we think.
Junior Weeb supporting The Americas at the Marrs Bar on 30.03.2018
We look at Junior Weeb and see a new Viola Beach. A four piece made for biggest stages, a group with strong work ethic and resilience, talent , sense of humour and desire to succeed.
And they proved it on the night they supported The Americas. Jumping into crowd, singing their hearts out, being joined on stage by one of their dads for a hilarious blues piece. They are wild, free and unstoppable as soon as they are in front of the audience with their instruments in hand. There are no apologies, no fear when they play.
Loud and ready. Junior Weeb put everything into their set.
Interaction with audience is very important
But see them back stage, sitting on a sofa in a front of photographer – huddling together, making sure that all of them are in the frame. This is a band that does not only play good music together. They genuinely like being in each other`s company, they treasure and respect one another. Junior Weeb are a bunch of close friends as much as they are the next big indie act.
And that is why readers you should see them when Junior Weeb play live.
Here`s some videos in case you missed the gig.
And some green room shots too.
Junior Weeb with photographer Duncan Graves at the green room
Posing for a photo session right after the set. Junior Weeb work hard and play hard
Everybody in the frame. Post gig photo session at Marrs bar on 30.03.2018
Oh! February is an extremely busy month for everyone at Vanadian Avenue. After talking to Dharma Bums about their new EP “Nothing to Lose Blues” and grilling Andrew Marston from BBC Hereford and Worcester about their new radio show, here we are throwing questions left and right at another very talented young band!
Named after a street in Birmingham, Lower Loveday are a four piece outfit that connects pop melodies with a edgy rockier sound. They are perfect for Top 20 chart and a mosh pit pogo at your local venue. We have caught up with the guys from LLD a day before their big gig at O2 Institute and had a quick chat about winning talents shows while at school, travelling to Australia and their music.
Lower Loveday logo
The band that was meant to be – Lower Loveday interview
Tom Garbett (drums)
Stuart Creed (bass),
Chris Francis (lead guitar/vocals)
Mark Washington (vocals)
Official bio: The band has its roots way back to Year 8 in school, when Mark (Vocals) & Tom (Drums) entered the end of year talent show in a band. From then we always assumed that it would always happen one day, although this was delayed by education. Then having both met up during travelling in Australia, we decided to go for it when we got back and follow our dreams and get a band going! With this then Tom got writing some songs whilst the two of us practised. We knew there was potential, not only in the song but in us as a combination. We then begun our quest to fill out the remaining positions in the band. And after a long and tiring journey we finally found our perfect fit in the form of Chris (Lead Guitar), who manages to provide the perfect guitar part to support our melodies and hooks. Along with Stuart (Bass) who has added his unique blend of punchy but melodic bass playing to fill out the rhythm section… Now nothing can stop us in reinventing the music wheel and creating something the world has not yet heard and therefore needs!
There then Lower Loveday was truly born.
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Lower Loveday promo picture
Lower Loveday is an incredibly poetic name. Where does it come from? Is the band named after a single by Britpop heroes Menswe@r or have you been inspired by a picturesque canal side street leading to the Jewellers Quarter in Birmingham?
Lower Loveday: Thank you very much! Our name actually comes from the street in Birmingham you mentioned. Tom, our drummer, lived on Lower Loveday Street during his second year at the university and always thought it would make a good name for a band. We didn’t have any other names, so we went with it and it actually means something to us.
Your biography is full of surprises. Is it true that the first incarnation of the band was formed for Year 8 talent show?
Lower Loveday: (laughing) Yes, that is absolutely correct! Tom and Mark went to school together and were very friendly throughout. It was the Year 8 talent show when for the first time music brought them properly together. It was also a bonus that they won it but after that they didn’t really pursue the music that much yet then.
After playing for a while at school, you seem to go separate ways only to meet again years later on the other side of the world…in Australia! We are sure, Hollywood will soon come knocking on your door asking for movie rights!
Lower Loveday: We wish! Yes, we’d joked a couple of times before both going our separate ways that we’d be in a band together in the future but university put us on different paths. It wasn’t until we both went travelling (separately!) and then we met in Sydney. After a drunken sing-along, we realised the band we’d been joking about previously, was actually a possibility. At this moment, Lower Loveday consist of: Tom Garbett – he’s our drummer and also the principal songwriter, on bass guitar we have Stuart Creed, on lead guitar is Chris Francis and on vocals is Mark Washington.
Your music has been compared to Kasabian, Kings of Leon, The Arctic Monkeys, The Blossoms and (a little bit) to Oasis. Those are huge names and it must be flattering to be likened to the most important rock groups of the last two decades. How do you feel about it?
Lower Loveday: We’ve said it before that those bands are our main influences. We weren’t aware we’d actually be compared to all of them but if that’s actually the case then that is incredibly flattering. To achieve even half of what those names have would be amazing.
We absolutely love two of your tracks: “You Could Have Been My Queen” and “Chains”. Can you please tell us more about these songs?
Lower Loveday: It’s funny that you like both songs as, ironically, they came along at pretty much the same time in terms of song-writing. We knew then that they were a bit of a game changer for us. They had a different, very unique “pop” quality to them that the other songs we wrote at that point had not. We haven’t written anything like them before. And so as soon as we showed them to people and started playing them, everyone just really loved them and we knew we had something there.
Lower Loveday received some good response from the music business. BBC Hereford and Worcester called your single “You Could Have Been My Queen” fresh and exciting and New Musical Express included your music profile on their website as one of the upcoming bands from Birmingham. Three of your singles, “Loved You”, “You Could Have Been My Queen” and “Anything You Wanted Me To” also received a lot of airplay from Brum Radio, Cannock Chase Radio, Uckfield FM and The Bugcast.
The band on stage
Lower Loveday: We thought we knew almost everything that has been written or said about us but we missed a few here. Being anywhere on NME is amazing! We initially started just being happy to receive any sort of air time on anything but when BBC Introducing H&W played pretty much every song we uploaded it really makes you think! Maybe these tunes we think are great, aren’t actually that bad!
On the 24th of February, you will be performing at SoundWaves Music Competition UK Final at the O2 Academy in Birmingham. Of course we are keeping our fingers crossed. Where did you learn about this competition and what will happen during the finale?
Lower Loveday: It may be hard to believe but finding the competition was as simple as just googgling ‘music competitions’ on the Internet. Or vocalist Tom found few good links and we applied for several. As far as we know, at SoundWaves 15 acts are due to perform in the finals and we will get a small slot to impress as many people and judges a possible. We think the winner will be announced on the night. It’s a great opportunity for us to perform on a big stage and it gives us a chance to play in front of an A&R’s and representatives from many labels. Hopefully we will go out and get our name out there even more.
Worcester News – 23 February 2018 (page 21)
You recently started working on new material to be released later in the year. Are you finally recording your full debut album?
Lower LoveDay: Yes, we are currently working on several new songs. We went back into the studio just before Christmas to lay down the initial parts for two more songs which we’ll be completing very soon. The goal is to just keep recording tunes until we have enough for an album and then release when the right time comes (laughing)
Your website is warning that a musical storm is brewing. When can we see you live on stage? Any upcoming gigs we should be aware of?
Lower LoveDay: We came up with that phrase initially to lure people into listening and to create a sort of intrigue about us but it’s something we’ve seem to have kept going with from the start as it hasn’t done too badly! After this weekend’s final, we have a gig the following Sunday 4th March at The Fleece in Bristol which is going to be a full day of live music and a festival slot in August at Venture Festival in Nottingham! We will be adding new information as they come!
The competition starts at 19:00 PM at O2 Institute so please come and support our local talents if you can!
We are keeping our fingers crossed for you guys!
We always have fun speaking to bands, singers, songwriters and artists. Discovering new music is what we love to do and we will never miss the opportunity to ask few questions and direct your attention towards a good tune or an album that is worth listening to. From time to time, however we have a special guest at our blog and today’s entry will be dedicated to a man we all know but whom nobody interviewed yet (we know it is a shocker!)
It is with the biggest of pleasures, we are able to announce that Indieterria has interviewed the man who not only came up with the name for Worcestershire music scene but who has been tirelessly working behind the stages of biggest local radio programmes, festivals and concerts – Andrew Marston of BBC Hereford and Worcester and BBC Introducing! We sat down with Andrew to discuss the impact the BBC Introducing has on the UK musical map, the best songs he has ever received through the Introducing Uploader and his brand new exciting show.
Think globally, do locally – Andrew Marston Interview
The right person for the job!
Official press release: A BBC programme, dedicated to supporting up-and-coming musicians, is to launch a second show this weekend.
BBC Music Introducing in Hereford & Worcester, which broadcasts every Saturday from 8pm, is to double its airtime in its new timeslot on Sundays from 6pm. Since its launch in 2005, the team has been overwhelmed with the amount of musical talent coming out of Herefordshire & Worcestershire with more than 15,000 demos sent in, during the last decade, from the local area.
Presenter Andrew Marston says: “We have such an incredible music scene right here on our doorstep – and I looked down the pile of music that I’d earmarked for broadcast and realised, if I never received a song again, I still had enough to carry me through the next decade without repeating a single track!
“The picture, nationally, is also very similar – with 170,000 artists now registered and 500,000 songs submitted. It would take 3 years to listen to every song currently on the Uploader and the number of musicians registered now exceeds the number of people who went to Glastonbury last year.”
Originally broadcast as the Friday Session, the programme has gone on to discover acts such as Ellie Goulding, Becky Hill and Peace. John Peel’s former manager, Clive Selwood, said: “John would have loved the programme – it would have pleased him enormously.”
As well as the superb quality of music the programme showcases, there’s a weekly gig guide, local music news, interviews with movers and shakers, a Musicians’ Masterclass, a local history of great gigs and musical legends, coverage of our local festivals plus live sessions on the show every week.
The team has also been responsible, in recent years, for sending Leominster’s AKA George to Glastonbury, Hay-on-Wye’s Cherryshoes to T in the Park, Sœur to Reading + Leeds and flew Bromyard’s Remi Harris to perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Other successes include Sam Isaac at Glastonbury and the BBC Electric Proms, Pencil Toes, Luke Leighfield, The Anomalies and Pegasus Bridge at BBC Maida Vale (and Radio 1’s Big Weekend), while securing the brother/sister duo Muchuu a support slot with Florence & The Machine and the Temper Trap alongside a spot on the BBC Radio 1 playlist. Other Radio 1 opportunities include Riscas and Lauren Wright, while FREnchfire, Georgina Upton, Kamos & Tripbuk and Scarlette Says ending up on the BBC 1Xtra playlist. Andrew also landed The Roving Crows a place on tour with Jamie Cullum, AKA George two spots on the Radio 1 playlist, as well as a place on stage at Glastonbury and Radio 2’s Live In Hyde Park.
Andrew continues, “Every month, we record our sessions at a variety of festivals – including Hay, Wychwood, Nozstock, Lakefest, Worcester Music Festival, SXSW, T In The Park, Montreal Jazz Festival, The Great Escape, Radio 1’s Big Weekend, The Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds.
“When artists upload their music for airplay, they often don’t realise they’re being considered for these incredible opportunities.
“With such a diverse range of music, the new show makes it really easy to plan – and sharpens the focus for our audience: ‘Is this more of a Saturday night track?’ or ‘is this more of a Sunday night track?’”
You can listen to the new show on Sunday from 6pm on 94.7FM in Hereford, 104FM in Worcester, 104.4FM in Redditch, 104.6FM in the Wyre Forest, 738AM across Worcestershire, 1584AM in Tenbury Wells, on DAB Digital Radio, Freeview channel 720 and online at bbc.co.uk/introhw. The programme will also be available via the BBC iPlayer Radio App for free download for 30 days.
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Andrew Marston at the mixing console
You are very well known in the West Midlands, but in case somebody spent the last decade on the other side of the world, please introduce yourself to the readers of Indieterria. Who is Andrew Marston and how did you get involved with BBC Hereford & Worcester?
Andrew Marston: Hi, I’m Andrew, a 36-year-old radio presenter from Hereford who’s now spent more than half a lifetime behind the record decks and well over a decade at the helm of BBC Music Introducing. In fact, I’ve always been surrounded by music having had keyboard and piano lessons since the age of 6 and have wanted to work in radio since discovering my first cassette recorder as a toddler. Somehow I’ve managed to combine both passions in a way that I’ve not played piano in public for 2 decades and haven’t played a cassette since I was at Hereford Sixth Form College!!
In fact, I was gigging regularly at Whitecross High School (mine – I didn’t just break in!), also touring the country with my brothers’ band – but I was being asked more and more to DJ between sets; something that ended in me landing my first residency at the Jailhouse Nightclub aged 14! Slowly, but surely, my gigging time was filled with playing CDs rather than keys – and I eventually tried to claw back some of what I’d “lost” by organising weekly band nights at the Imperial in Hereford. At the same time, I was presenting a non-music show (!!) on Hereford Hospital Radio, focussing very much on bringing news to life. I finished college on the Friday, had the worries of ‘what to do next’ for two days and went into the BBC’s Hereford office for work experience to be greeted with the words “how would you feel if we’re to train you up as a Broadcast Assistant?” I still haven’t had my training…
Outside of Dj’ing and music production, you are heavily involved in the BBC Music Introducing programme, looking for new talents. Tell us more about it.
Andrew Marston: I spent from 1999-2005 working behind-the-scenes at the BBC, including several stints on BBC Online. Back then, we were writing album reviews and gig features – very much like Vanadian Avenue and Slap Mag, but we kept saying to the boss “let’s stop talking about music – and let’s play it”. 12 months later, the boss came to us and said “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s stop talking about music – and let’s play it!” and the Friday Session was born. It made a lot of people very nervous thinking there wouldn’t be enough music to sustain a 2-hour programme every week and “is local radio the right place to be breaking new acts”. In fact, the bosses of Radio 1 came down to see how this was impacting on their audiences and some of the people in charge of local radio. I think they weren’t keen on the idea, before they arrived, but within 6 months the BBC Introducing brand was launched nationally!
In 2017 BBC Music Introducing celebrated 10 years since its conception. If you look at the official stats, nearly 130,000 bands submitted more than half a million songs. That’s nearly 3 years’ worth of music if one would like to listen to them all. How is BBC Introducing in Hereford & Worcester looking compared to other local shows? Do you know how many bands submitted their songs and how many played a live session for you?
Andrew Marston: Since we launched the uploader seven years ago, more than 10,000 songs have been uploaded from Herefordshire & Worcestershire alone. We’ve also just finished ripping all of the CDs sent into us 2005-2010 and that’s another 4,000. But – in those early days, tracks that didn’t get a spin after a couple of years were deleted from the uploader to save on server space – so I’m guessing that figure is much, much higher. In fact – I’m going to keep my eye on that! In terms of live sessions, we’ve now had more than 1,000 acts perform live on the show leading to countless opportunities. Last week, the whole Introducing family (that’s what we call it) got together at Broadcasting House in London before heading down to Maida Vale for our annual get-together. Everywhere in Britain is powering forwards, but it’s interesting to see how the poor folk in London are swamped by acts claiming to be from London when they’re not. Geographically, you have more chance of “making it” if you’re from a rural area than somewhere that’s overrun with musicians (who’ll also play for free. I lived in London for a couple of years and, despite playing 137 gigs in one year, struggled to find any paid opportunities in the capital as everyone would do it for nothing).
Andrew Marston preparing to go live
You were one of the first DJs to play Ellie Goulding, The Voice UK alumna Becky Hill, Peace and the alternative outfit This Wicked Tongue. Do you remember the artist or a band that made the biggest impression on you as part of the BBC Introducing?
Andrew Marston: Muchuu made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Sadly they’re no more, but their music was haunting, full of space and left you wanting more. Somehow it drew you in and I still go back and listen to those tracks when I want to reflect. They were one of the first acts to use the Uploader and I instantly passed it onto Huw Stephens at Radio 1, who claimed there was “something in the water” with so many artists going national from our neck of the woods. They’d go on to support Florence + The Machine and the Temper Trap at the BBC Introducing staff Christmas party (those were the days!) and turned down a slot at Glastonbury because they were going on holiday – I know, right??!
Worcester music scene is going through a real cultural renaissance at this moment. Many local acts receive fantastic reviews from the critics and you are credited with coining the name for it – “WorcesterWave”. Do you think Worcester is going to be the next musical hotspot after Manchester, Cardiff and London?
Andrew Marston: I think we actually have a greater music scene than all of those cities. Having lived in London, everybody that claims to be from there comes from somewhere else. Sadly, these big cities are so swamped with bands (from across the region) they’re embracing the “pay to play” culture, meaning you’ve either got to sell tickets for your show or actually pay the promoter for stage time. It’s a very sad state of affairs, especially when musicians have learned their craft since a young age having music lessons at £20 per hour. I also lived in Manchester for a while and everybody tours there, but Manchester bands rarely get the chance to play their own city because of the competitive nature. Every city has its own music scene – but often it’s cut-throat. The thing with Manchester is if you’re 15-years-old and you get bored, you go out. But if you’re 15 and living in Clifton-upon-Teme, you form a band. And when there’s nowhere to play, you organised your own gigs. This whole cottage industry, where everybody supports everybody else, is what’s getting this city noticed.
You have an eye to spot future stars. Many artists championed by you frequently receive national coverage. The list is very impressive: The Americas performed on Georgie Tonight, a prime-time show across the whole of BBC Local Radio, Soeur recorded live session at the legendary Maida Vale studios, Nuns of the Tundra reached second place in nationwide “Battle of the Bands” competition sponsored by Firestone, Tazmin Barnes’ EP “Powerful” debuted at number 11 at iTunes Pop charts, nth cave and Thousand Mountain were played by Steve Lamacq while Population:7 and Chavy Chase Stole My Wife were noticed by Tom Robinson. What qualities are the most important for future success? Song writing, catchy melodies or stage presence?
BBC Introducing
Andrew Marston: The song is always key. It doesn’t matter how good your biog is, who you’ve toured with, where you’ve played and how good you are at playing guitar, the 3-minute song is the thing that will get you everywhere. In fact, it’s your best advert. In commercial radio, a 30 second commercial could cost you £150. A 3-minute song is effectively £900 worth of airtime. If you were recording speech – you’d tell people to download your music, advertise your shows, sell some merch and ask them to friend you on Facebook. So make sure your demo isn’t a demo – it’s the polished product.
As a presenter, if you get too involved with a band, it definitely impacts your decision making. I’ve seen many bands who’ve blown me away, jumping all over the stage, but I’ve listened back on iPlayer and they’ve failed to jump out of the speakers. I will score every track based on the first listen – as that’s exactly how the audience will hear it. There’s no such thing as a “grower” unfortunately – that’s a phrase coined for bands that have had so much money invested in them, they’ve got no choice but to champion that track. First impressions count.
Rumour has it that there is a brand new Sunday radio show being prepared? Can you please tell us more?
Andrew Marston: Exactly that! We have so much music coming in that we want to play, 2 hours a week just isn’t enough. In fact, it’s a really simple thing to do – the gig guide still exists, we still want to cover the same number of festivals, enjoy live sessions – but the canvas is now twice as big. The thing we’re accused of, most of all, is using a too-bigger paint brush. At one end of the spectrum, there’s tonnes of classical musicians and folk artists in the Malvern Hills; at the other end of the spectrum, Kidderminster produces the heaviest of death/screamo metal and Bromsgrove unearths a lot of dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass. The balancing act is to aim to the programme at everyone – otherwise you risk broadcasting the X-Factor to only the people who queued up to be on the X-Factor! Being blunt, musicians provide the raw material for the show – it’s my job to then expose it to as wider audience as possible, so I have to be careful not to make the show sound like a fanzine. That job just got a little simpler; I can now ask “is this more Saturday night or more Sunday night”. So Saturdays will be a lot louder, a lot more raucous with a real edge. Whereas Sundays will be a lot more accessible, focussing a lot more on those acoustic/soulful/folk/jazz/blues/country styles with “candlelit” stripped-back studio sessions. I’m hoping there’ll be a fair bit of crossover, meaning audiences will feed between both programmes – but the idea is you’ll definitely have your favourite, all, of course, available for 30 days to download and listen via the BBC iPlayer Radio app!
What advice would you give to the kids who are just starting out and would like to send their music to BBC Music Introducing for consideration?
BBC Hereford and Worcester: Guitars and great tunes!
Andrew Marston: Here’s my top three…
Always disappoint your audience!! Keep your music short. Your favourite song will never be long enough; loop play is the greatest compliment. If they hear it on the radio and want to hear more, they’ll have to go out and buy it! If you play a gig, don’t give them an encore. If they want more, they’ll have to come to another show! Take pictures of every gig – especially the audience having fun – and host them online afterwards. People will be disappointed they missed out and will come to your next show. If you’re on the door, don’t let every Tom, Dick and Harry in! An exclusive audience will grow punters; letting in those who don’t particularly care will distract your die-hards. Remember that time you couldn’t get into your favourite nightclub because your mate was wearing trainers? You didn’t particularly want to go in – but the moment the bouncer said no, you were desperate to be in there!
Properly release your music. Set a release date. My best music I’ll save for a “rainy day”. I’m hoping it’ll never rain. But that means I might not play it for 5 years! Setting a release date ensures everyone is across your track on that particular date. Nobody likes to back the last horse in the race, so if everyone else is championing your music on that date – others will follow. Make big events even bigger. I remember booking Remi Harris for the Montreal Jazz Festival a couple of years ago and just as I was ending the phone-call, he said “oh – did you hear I have a new album?” If I didn’t know, nor would any of his potential audience. I told him to stop being a fool and to release it at the festival! Forevermore you can say “I launched my debut album at the biggest gig of my life”. The festival will be happy you saved such a special moment for their event – and, with any luck, will also do your promo for you! Whenever Remi rings up a venue, he can now say “and here’s a copy of my album I officially released at the Montreal Jazz Festival”.
Write music you believe in. You’ll be amazed how many people I interview who write rock music who go out every Friday and Saturday night and listen to dance/RnB then wonder why nobody comes to their gigs. Take a look around and see what people are genuinely listening to. If you’re really into electronica, you’ll probably write better electronica than trying to form a band with people who don’t really share your passion. The most common reason bands split is because of “musical differences”. If you wouldn’t be happy to drive around town with your windows wound down and your track blaring out, you’re possibly not being true to yourself – and if you’re not 100% behind what you’re writing, what chance does anyone else have?
But most importantly – have fun! If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, you’ve probably forgotten the reason you got into music in the first place. If you become the best at what you do, the money will somehow find its way to you. But just remember it’s not always this cartoon version of “write a song, get signed, achieve #1 then headline Wembley”. There’s money to made in writing theme tunes, being a session musician, writing for video games, weddings, playing the piano in hotel receptions, writing for other people and one of the most lucrative “revenue streams” is writing lift music! But that’s just page one of an ocean of opportunity. Remember, I learned piano and I now host a show on the BBC. So music can open all sorts of opportunities – just make sure you grab them with both hands and never let go!
Vanadian Avenue would like to thank you to Andrew and the crew of BBC Inroducing in Hereford and Worcester for their time, hard work and answering the questions.
Keep on doing the good job!
Please come back soon as Indieterria is meeting a really cool band next week and we will be back shortly with another interview for your enjoyment!
Welcome back to another edition of Indieterria, where we discover new and exciting music. After speaking to the wonderful Nic Evennett two weeks ago and receiving many nice comments regarding the interview (including a praise from the legendary musician and radio DJ, Tim Robinson himself!), today we will introduce you to a 4 piece outfit from Worcestershire that plays rock and blues better than the cowboys from the American West.
Dharma Bums are incredibly nice folks and it was a privilege to talk to them. If blues, country and a jazz fusion is your thing, you cannot miss them! Please read on.
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Welcome to the Wild, Wild West Midlands
Dharma Bums at the Abbey Road Studios in London
Inspiration works in mysterious ways. Sometimes you are not even interested in making music and you end up forming a genre defining band with your school mates or friends living on the same street. Or you could be a professional musician, for years struggling to find same minded people to play with. Luckily for us, all members of Dharma Bums were in the right place, at the right time and clicked together immediately. Their instant communication, understanding of one another and simple joy of working together can be heard in their every song. It was a pure pleasure to listen to their EP entitled “Nothing to lose blues”. Vanadian Avenue took The Bums leading outlaw, Kevin Wrench to the nearest saloon to discuss their previous musical experiences, love for blues and their new material over a bottle of finest whisky and a game of cards.
Kevin Wrench – Vocals/Guitar
Dave Shuter – Lead Guitar/Harmonica
Jon Green – Bass
Thomas Paine – Percussion
Your biography mentions that Dharma Bums were formed in 2015 yet all the members have been active on Worcestershire music scene for years and were involved in several different projects before. Tell us how did the band start and introduce all the members to our readers.
Kevin Wrench: Dave Shuter (lead guitar/harmonica) and myself initially started playing together early in 2015. Dave’s wife lived just up the road from where I grew up and after chatting to her on Facebook one evening, Dave and me got together and instantly hit it off. We shared an appreciation for blues and in particular, Robert Johnson. Dave had never met anyone, who was as keen on Robert Johnson as he was before the two of us met. Dave & his wife performed in a function band together for a number of years but they hadn’t gigged for quite some time when we first met. Dave’s patience has really helped me improve my own playing. He’s one of the most easy going and nicest guys I know.
I’ve been interested in making music for years but could never quite find the right outlet to pursue it. I’ve never been a particularly confident performer and as a child, I was painfully shy. It has taken a number of years and a bit of effort forcing myself out of my comfort zone in order to get to the point where I feel happy performing or sharing my music with anyone. Some time ago I had guitar lessons and played on and off for years but never really considered writing songs myself. I had some singing lessons around 2009 and did ABRSM Grade 5. The popularity of Michael Buble at the time coupled with my grandfather’s influence. He was a big admirer of Frank Sinatra and led me to collaborate with a couple of local pianists. Together, we performed mainly swing/jazz covers at local restaurants.
In 2013, I was approached by a producer friend about writing some songs for a solo project. Unfortunately, that project never quite came to fruition although I may re-record the four songs I wrote at some point in the not too distant future. Essentially, that meeting was the spark that ignited my passion for song writing. I also appeared in a couple of musical shows at the Rose Theatre in Kidderminster; that was where I met our percussionist Thomas “Tom” Paine. Two years later, while volunteering at The Civic Hall in Stourport, I organised a monthly music night called ‘Live Local’ which featured a variety of local artists. As well as being a rewarding experience, it also ended up being a massive inspiration as I was bowled over by the amount of talent in the local area and that ultimately inspired me to seek out some musicians to start a band myself.
Walking down the Abbey Road
Our drummer Tom has been a member of two local amateur dramatics groups for a number of years. In fact Tom`s whole family are members of both Kidderminster Operatic & Dramatic Society (KODS) and Carpet Trades Musical Theatre Company (CTMTC). Tom plays a variety of instruments and joined us around November 2015. He had never played the cajón before he joined us and slowly but surely, we’ve discovered more & more things that Tom can play which has greatly added to our overall sound. Only last year he was bought a banjo as a present and learnt several songs on it already. Tom grew up in a family where performing is second nature. He is a very gifted and versatile musician.
Out of all of us, our bass player Jon Green has had the most experience in terms of being in bands, he’s played in several different bands since the age of 14, ranging from Rock to Crust Core Punk. A couple of the bands Jon has been involved in previously have been signed to record contracts. Jon is also a multi instrumentalist who plays the bodhrán and recently started learning the violin to bring something a bit different to our sound. Jon has performed all over the UK including London and even toured in the US. Jon’s daughter Ellisha Green is an extremely talented singer/songwriter and Ellie has also performed with the youth section of KODS, which is how Tom and I met Jon as he was often involved helping out backstage.
As I’m sure you’ve gathered by this point we combine a variety of very different backgrounds but we all share a passion for making music.
Right at the end of 2017, Dan Mathew joined us on percussion. Dan is also the drummer for The Bug Club who are another great local band and already he is proving to be a tremendous asset to our line-up. He has given the new songs we’re currently working on a much more dynamic sound.
“The Dharma Bums” is the title of the 1958 beat generation classic novel written by Jack Kerouac. It is also the name of an American garage band that influenced many pre-grunge groups in Seattle including Nirvana, Hole and Green River. What inspired you to take on that name as well? How are you going to distinguish yourselves from your American counterparts?
Kevin Wrench: That would be down to me. “The Dharma Bums” is one of my favourite novels and I’ve loved Kerouac’s work for years. He was a pivotal figure in the Beat Generation of the 1950’s counter culture which was very much a forerunner to the psychedelic 1960’s. It influenced some of my favourite artists including The Doors and The Beatles. My partner and I travelled quite a bit in our early 20’s and on our travels we visited Morocco and stayed in Jack Kerouac’s room in Tangier. Jack and Alan Ginsberg stayed there for a couple of years writing. In fact, I popped the question to my partner Sarah in Jack’s room when we arrived there!
After I chose the name, I realized that quite a few bands had used it. I did do a bit of research before picking it, but must admit, I didn’t realise that the other Dharma Bums had reached such a wide audience. I’m sure though if they truly are “Dharma Bums” they won’t have any issues with us using the name too and our sound is very, very different to theirs.
You have just released a video to your song “Ballad of El Chivato“. It was directed by twice award nominated film maker Nick J. Townsend of Weak13 and shot in Bewdley. Can you tell us more about working with Nick and the story behind the song’s lyrics.
Kevin Wrench: Working with Nick has been an absolute pleasure. He’s a lovely genuine guy who’s passionate, full of creativity, enthusiasm and he’s been on the local music scene for as long as I can remember. Not only did he produce a fantastic music video for us, but he’s also been incredibly supportive and has been very generous with his wisdom and experience which has been invaluable. I wrote “Ballad of El Chivato” while on holiday in Tenby with my partner and our daughter. It was raining one day so we were limited as to what we could do. We stayed in the caravan and I wrote a song. I’d been reading a book called “To Hell On A Fast Horse” by Mark Lee Gardner which is about the American West Outlaw Billy The Kid. I’ve read many books about the Old West, particularly about Billy The Kid and I’ve always loved songs that tell a story so that’s exactly what I tried to do with this song.
Dharma Bums use a mixture of blues, jazz, country and rock and rock to create their unique sound. Slap Magazine described your music as “cool” while Ryan’s Gig Guide called it “unique and vintage”. What is the audience reaction? Do they like it?
Kevin Wrench: Audiences tend to respond really well to our music. We’ve picked up some lovely supporters (feel reluctant to say fans) who really seem to appreciate the blend of influences we draw on. As we’re still building our repertoire of original material, we tend to play a mixture of covers and originals at our gigs at the moment, covering artists as diverse as Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Hank Williams, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Prince or The Soggy Bottom Boys. We’re writing more and more original songs though, so over time we will increase the number of originals we play and most likely not play as many covers. As I’m sure many other bands will testify, you’re never going to please everyone. There’s been one or two gigs where people drunkenly shout “play Summer of 69” or “play some Bon Jovi” not that there’s anything wrong with these songs/artists but they’re just not to our taste; but for the most part we get a great reaction wherever we play.
“Ballad of El Chivato” is promoting your latest EP entitled “Nothing to Lose Blues” released in July 2017. The 5 track EP was recorded in Stourport and mastered in London at the famous Abbey Road Studios. It must have been quite an experience to work with Sean Magee a Grammy winning mastering engineer of The Beatles, Rush, Deep Purple and Public Image Ltd.
Nothing to Lose Blues cover
Kevin Wrench: Since we started gigging, every penny the band has earned has gone into an old biscuit tin and has been accumulated to pay for recording, mastering, producing a video and paying for our CDs to be printed. We feel it’s better to create memories like visiting the legendary Abbey Road Studios, rather than taking a quarter share of gig money and then having to contribute towards these costs anyway after we’ve spent the money. Obviously, visiting Abbey Road wasn’t cheap, but it was paid for entirely out of the kitty and is an experience that none of us will ever forget. All four of us stayed together in London as well as our time in the studio, we had a great time.
“Nothing To Lose Blues” features a wide array of local musicians including George Alan on trumpet, Chris Yates on piano and Matt Worley on banjo. The EP cover was also designed by an established contemporary artist, Craig Simmons. For a debut record, the guest list is simply impressive. Was it hard to bring so many creative minds to the same project?
Kevin Wrench: When I first thought about starting a band, I always imagined the line-up being flexible and being able to work as a collective melting pot of various creative minds able to operate across a variety of genres. This was a very romantic notion for an amateur band and I’ve since come to realise that it’s important to have a strong bond amongst the core members of a band. That’s not to say that we can’t invite other local musicians to make guest appearances and I think our next record will be very similar in that respect. I met a lot of musicians while organizing ‘Live Local’ at The Civic in Stourport and I made a lot of friends in the local music/artistic community. I’ve become quite cheeky and not afraid to ask others to be involved. We never tell people what we want them to play, we invite them to play because we know that they will bring something of themselves to our recordings. We were blessed on this first recording to get George, Matt and Chris on board, they are all extremely talented guys and we hope they will be involved on our next project. We also hope to invite several other local musicians to be involved. Craig Simmons is an incredibly talented local artist and luckily for us, he is friends with Tom. We think he did an awesome job on our artwork and we very much hope to be able to work with him again on our next release.
Rumour has it that you are beginning to work on a new material. We heard that you have wrote a protest song called ” Sell Your soul”. Would you like to elaborate?
Kevin Wrench: (laughing) I don’t wish to give too much away just yet but yes this is true. Like many people, I’m a little concerned by the emergence of certain “leaders” in the last couple of years and wanted to write something that communicated this concern that I know I’m not alone in feeling. We’ve already discussed with Nick Townsend about a possible video for “Sell Your Soul” and we’re quite keen to get it out in the public domain as soon as we can. I know some people don’t like it when musicians incorporate their political opinions into their music but I think it’s difficult not to sometimes as it effects us all and our opinions are just as valid as anyone else’s. We’ve also got a couple of bluesy numbers and a pirate shanty inspired folk song which will appear on our next record.
Dharma Buns performing
Dharma Bums has just been confirmed to perform at WolvesFest in Wolverhampton on 16-17th of June 2018. Where else can we see you playing live? Any coming up shows to look out for?
Kevin Wrench: Our calendar is filling up quite nicely at the moment with new dates being added regularly. We’ve not pursued too many gigs in this early part of the year as we wanted to focus on writing new material and also we wanted to give our new percussionist Dan chance to settle in. We’re playing at The Swan in Stourport on 1st March and at the Cock & Magpie on 14th April. We’re currently arranging dates with many of the venues we’ve played at over the last couple of years, so if people wish to keep up to date they could check out our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/dharmabumsuk.
And finally, a question that has to appear on every interview: where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?
Kevin Wrench: Wow, that’s a big question! I see us being maybe 2/3 albums further along with a lot more of an established fan base and maybe even having travelled to America to possibly have used a studio over there for mastering and with a bit of luck picked up a few gigs while we were there. I’d also like to have done a couple of mini tours in the UK, maybe also in Ireland and I’d like to have gigged in London. I’d also like to think we would’ve had a bit more airplay which seems to be the most difficult thing to acquire, particularly if you fall outside of the mainstream musical spectrum. The ultimate aim would be able to give up the day job and focus full time on music. I don’t think any of us are naive enough to believe we’ll achieve fame and fortune but there are plenty of musicians out there who are not household names but still manage to make a good living from their music.
If you think we have missed some excellent tune, a future rock star or a band that is worth listening to, please kindly let Vanadian Avenue know and we will be more than happy to feature them on our blog. We are constantly on the lookout for independent artists and we will always help in any way we can. We do receive a lot of requests so please give us some time to properly listen to your music and read through attached links. It sometimes can take a week or more but if we like what you have sent us, it will definitely be featured on Indieterria.
We do specialize in rock and alternative music, but we appreciate all genres, from A(bba) to Z(ZTop) so please don’t be discouraged! All requests should be sent to rdabrowicz@yahoo.com and contain links to Soundcloud, Bandcamp or Youtube videos. We do accept mp3’s but please limit them to 2 or 3 only – choose the best ones that represent you and your musical style. We will also need 3 or 4 pictures (good resolution is essential as they will be used to illustrate the interview or a review) and a bio. You know, the bare minimum needed to show the world how good you are. Vanadian Avenue undertakes a thorough research and we try to present each featured artist in a professional way. Interested? Drop us a line!
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Between January 29th and February 4th 2018 we celebrate Independent Venue Week. This national campaign was set up five years ago to shine a light on local music venues, cultural hubs, parish halls and arts centers that give prominence to young and upcoming bands on the indie circuit.
Worcester had participated in the scheme since last year and 2018 is no different. There will be plenty of gigs at our local independent music venue – Marrs Bar. To celebrate a whole week of music delights, new bands and DIY ethos we took few figures from our scene on the side and asked them questions.
Welcome to Indieterria IVW18 special.
James Willis
(The Marrs’ Bar manager)
Marr’s Bar logo
You have some high profile gigs scheduled this year, involving leading local talent. Can you tell us in brief what can we expect from Independent Venue Week 2018 in Worcester?
James Willis: We have 3 shows booked for Independent Music Week this year. The first gig is HVMM, The Soviets, Juniper Nights and Malvern newcomers Dead Dads Club. It will take place on Thursday, February 1st. On Friday, 2nd of February we have Gaz Brookfield and The Company of Thieves. Gaz is a great friend of the Marr’s Bar, we always love having Gaz performing on our stage. He first came to us while supporting Nick Harper and now nearly sells the place out. On Sunday, February 4th, we have a great concert by the best bands of the Worcestershire scene: Soeur, Nuns of The Tundra, Navajo Ace, Esteban and As Mamas. It is a collaboration between two great local promoters, The Task In Hand and Surprise Attacks. These guys love putting things on that try to push the musical boundaries a bit. All info on the mentioned shows can be found at http://www.marrsbar.co.uk
Marrs Bar has been participating in IVW before. How did the initiative change over the years?
James Willis: This is our second year participating, but I love how Independent Music Week continue to push awareness all over the country and advertise how important grass roots music venues are.
After losing so many iconic venues, the music community is pushing back – Agent of Change gets a second reading in Parliament and Music Venue Trust (MVT) is set up. Do you think such measures will have a lasting effect on safety and well-being of music venues
James Willis: It sounds like it! It already has started saving music venues from closing due to complaints, but venues are also closing due to decreasing numbers of visitors and less money being spent at the bar. It is very important we keep going to see live music and keep drinking! (laughs)
Marrs Bar is itself going through a lot of changes. Can you give us any details about it?
James Willis: We cannot reveal anything yet at this moment but watch this space!
From where you stand – what can be done to help music venues and local scene in Worcestershire?
James Willis: The more venues Worcester has that are willing to put on live music, and the more locals we have that get involved and put shows on, the stronger the music scene will be.
James was also interviewed by BBC Hereford and Worcester on 3rd of February 2018 regarding the campaign and this is what he had to say:
As a promoter, what is the best thing about having an independent venue in town?
Christian Burton: Local independent venues support local music, which is essential for any city’s music scene. Whether it’s live music, DJ sets or open mic nights there is something on pretty much every night of the week. The independent venues in Worcester recognize that variety is vitally important and this can only encourage both the established and the new bands and artists.
As a local promoter for the last 5 years, keeping it DIY, believing in local acts and taking risks in bringing touring bands to Worcester has been key to putting on varied genres. We often put on music which is fairly experimental or leftfield too, and having the support of the independent venues is really important. The venues support the local scene as much as the locals support the venues. That’s the ideal existence for any town!
I think in the last couple of years this two – way support has really come to life with the existing promoters building loyal followers and new promoters being inspired to start up too. This is a great thing for Worcester especially as the student population is growing, and also great for existing and new bands.
New bands need the support of the promoters, who are able to take a chance and put them on because they have the support of the venues, who in turn provide that environment for the crowds and bands alike. So for us as promoters it’s all about community and creating a social hub and everyone seems to be doing the right thing in creating a vibrant and growing scene.
So many venues have closed down in recent years but with the introduction of Music Venue Trust and Agent of Change, the music community is fighting back. What in your opinion, will be the outcome of this struggle?
Christian Burton: It’s a worrying time. The Agent Of Change principle seems just common sense and it’s frustrating that it doesn’t already exist in UK law. I know that in Australia it’s being put into practice to positive effect.
I think the struggle will always be one of money versus culture, with residential or commercial developers obviously wanting to maximize profit. So the cost of proper soundproofing is left up to venues, which is logical if the venue is the new development next to existing offices or residential buildings!
It makes perfect sense that if homes are built next to or near to an existing venue, the developers should be responsible for the soundproofing. Unfortunately the struggle between money and the arts is a long standing battle.
The outcome? Well I’m hopeful that Agent of Change will be introduced into UK law and the importance of live music is realized to be an essential component of the UK’s culture.
Last year Cardiff nearly lost their famous Womanby Street (a street full of clubs and music venues), now they are UK`s very first City of Music. Worcester is not far away from Cardiff, has its own music festival, periodicals, lively scene. What could be done for Worcester to be properly put in on the music map?
I think Worcester is on the way to greatness with its scene and a great music festival, but it’s main downfall in my opinion is the lack of support of local venues and promoters from the University. It’s very hard to get promotional material within campuses : posters, flyers etc.
There is a huge student population in Worcester. Music scenes in other cities really jump on the opportunities to promote to the students, and have the support of Universities when doing so. It’s certainly something we will be addressing as local promoters.
Aaron Whittaker (The Americas)
The Americas
You played for Indie Venue Week in London at The Rocksteady on 24th January 2018 How does the America see the campaign for independent venues?
Aaron Whittaker: The 21st century is an endless battle against irresponsible developers building here, there and everywhere. We’ve seen so many beautiful and historic venues forced to close their doors over the last few years because of this.
Independent venues need to be celebrated and cherished and the importance of this week-long festival that shines the spotlight on these magic little places can’t really be overstated.If you care about music then you have to pay attention to and support the spawning ground for its future.
Troy Tittley (Nuns of the Tundra)
Nuns of the Tundra
What do you think about the Independent Venue Week campaign?
Troy Tittley: I think Independent Venue Week is an important reminder of how crucial these venues are to both musicians and audiences. Most people will have their first proper gigs in these places and it is where you learn to hone your craft. You are surrounded by like minded people, creative minds and people passionate about the arts.
I’ve made a lot of meaningful connections in local independent venues, and without them networking would be way harder. I’ve also witnessed some of the best live shows I’ve ever seen in the Marrs Bar which is a stone’s throw from my house. I remember seeing the Subways there when I was a teenager, more recently Creeper, and I have the privilege of supporting Soeur there as well.
If people aren’t into clubbing or getting wrecked, these venues are a great place to spend a night out even if you don’t know who’s playing.
IVW18 with Soeur & Friends
Worcester will close IVW18 with a concert of mighty Soeur, Nunes of The Tundra, Navajo Ace, Esteban and As Mamas at the Marrs Bar on February 4th 2018.
Now what are you waiting for. Put your dancing shoes on, we are off to the mosh pit.
