In part 3 of the Stay Home interviews, Cameron Pettit of Fish Bowl Events talks to Sophie Kilburn, Ian from The Durty Works and The Swagger, all of whom have contributed music to the 'Stay Home: Independent Artists Against Covid 19' compilation in aid of NHS Charities, which you can listen to and buy from Bandcamp here. Sophie Kilburn Tell us a bit about yourself: Well hi, I’m Sophie Kilburn I am not from Kilburn but from a town called Matlock in Derbyshire. I have been living in London for the past few years. I took a leap with my music last year and started to self-release my material, which has been going well so far. I have been writing songs since I was eleven and just try to make music that is emotionally driven and honest. My vibe is probably Florence and the Machine fused with Phoebe Bridgers. I am a coffee addict who can eat a whole mozzarella ball in one sitting and I am deeply passionate about music and mental health. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? Like many, lockdown has caused a reshuffe in plans with recording and releasing. I have been working with my producer Jack Gourlay remotely, which has been great and in the process I have gotten to work with session players at the top of their game who would normally be on tour so am grateful for that. I think lockdown has been a very up and down experience for me but you just have to adapt and do what you can do with what you got. I released my single Call Home on the 28th May so still plugging away! Are there any tips that you can give to other artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? I would say do your best to stay connected from your friends and family to your followers and fans. I have been focusing on songwriting and doing writing challenges to keep my creativity flowing. I would also say keep reminding yourself that there are a lot of things that your can’t control and yes it can be frustrating that things are on hold (I feel you there) but that doesn’t mean it will never start again. Do a new hobby or learn a new skill it doesn’t have to be music related it is about trying something new instead of staring at blank walls. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? Oh so many! I would say if you haven’t already check out Holly Humberstone and Moa Moa they are both awesome. Also, I discovered a band called Sea Girls who are great! The Durty Works Tell us a bit about yourself: My names Ian, I’m the lead singer of the Durty Wurks. We’ve been going in Edinburgh now for about 7 years and we’re ready to go for another 7. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? Mostly jamming. We stay in touch quite a lot because we get on so well but we haven’t seen each other for months. We tried jamming over web-chats and stuff but the latency just makes it impossible! (It has nothing to do with my terrible timing). With that being said, we have always produced our own material and lockdown has helped us find different ways to do that. We have actually just released a brand new single “How Love Grows”, that we wrote and recorded from the comfort of our own homes during lockdown. The next big thing we miss is defnitely playing live, there’s nothing quite like seeing the smiling faces of a Stramash audience dancing away to one of your tunes and we canny wait to see that again. Are there any tips that you can give to artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Well, let’s face it, there’s plenty to be writing about. The only advice I would ever give is to make music to feel good and not take it too seriously. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? I always go back to my old favourites really, The Valkarys are a legendary Edinburgh band. The Jackals too. Anything from Mechanical Arms, Bettie and the Bass or Frantic Chant and The Rhemedies. Real Edinburgh bands, those guys are the reason Edinburgh still has a music scene and I recommend them all very highly. The Swagger
Tell us a bit about the band: The Swagger are an original 4 piece Grit-rock band from Hornsey, London UK. The band consists of two brothers Lee Stevens (Lead Vocals/Rhythm Guitar), Paul Stevens (Lead Guitar/Keys/Backing Vocals), Will O'Connell (Bass Guitar) & Gaet Allard (Drums). Originally starting off as a duo playing small London pubs/clubs as The Mad Hatters, The Swagger was born in July 2011.. Releasing 4 singles, Loaded Gun (2020), Chin Up Boy (2019) Heart 'N' Soul (2018) Want It All (2018) and having the privilege of working with producers Graham Bonnar (Swervedriver/Brian Jonestown Massacre) recording their debut EP at the famous Konk studios in North London owned by Ray Davies of The Kinks. Also touring the West Coast of America in Sept/Oct 2019 playing shows in Las Vegas, LA, Long Beach, San Diego & Oceanside California and went down a treat gaining new fans and positive acclaim. Supporting bands such as Hurricane #1, Toploader, Space, Mark Morriss, Trampolene, Alias Kid, Slydigs plus many more and gaining positive acclaim by John Power (Cast/The La's) at their Brixton Jamm show back in 2014 and selling out London's 02 Academy Islington and headlining The Cavern Club in Liverpool UK. We've released a brand new single/video 'Loaded Gun', which has been well received receiving rave press reviews and exposure around the globe. Filming a video about a homeless soldier who is suffering from PTSD struggling from anxiety/depression from everyday life & scars of the war who eventually gets his life back on track reuniting with his girlfriend/ daughter finishing off with a happy ending. What has changed for you as a band during lockdown? Obviously we've not been playing shows due to to Covid-19 as our UK Summer Tour & South Africa October Tour 2020 has been cancelled which we are all gutted about but managed to film the music video for 'Loaded Gun' just before the lockdown. During lockdown we've been keeping busy with live online streams, interacting with our fans, released a single and now preparing to go back into the studio sometime in July/August to record new material. Are there any tips that you can give to bands for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Be productive keep writing, do more live streams, interact with the fans and never lose faith. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? During the lockdown i come across an Australian indie-Britpop band called DMA's (Stone Roses vibes) which i recommend - go check out stand out tracks such as Silver, In The Air etc.
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By Jon Milton I think its fair to say that TV Priest have made a bit of a splash. The band have released two excellent singles in the last three months - their debut 'House of York' contemplating the role of the monarchy and how the ruling classes rewrite history for their own convenience, and their latest single 'Runner Up' considering how destination addiction fuels the capitalist dream for the many to benefit the few. All thoroughly thought provoking themes, backed by strikingly impressive music. Its early days admittedly, but they could be one of the best new artists to emerge in 2020. The band describe Runner Up on their socials as being about 'white goods, work ethic, guilt, game shows, not dancing at the Christmas party' 4 car garages, meal deals, spam folders, lotteries, carrots and sticks'. An intriguing list which I asked lead singer Charlie to elaborate on:
Runner Up address feelings and patterns of lived experience as a citizen of a globalised, late capitalist nation. The ‘perpetual motion’ of this economic model feeds a sense of the inadequate in the individual and seeks to rob us of deeper human connections with people, places, and objects in the drive to generate vast incomes for a tiny percentage of the population. Despite getting that new shirt, new job, or new car it’s never quite enough, the true object of you affection remains just out of reach, the latest model upgraded before your very eyes. And yet the model forces us to be complicit and turn hypocrite. As we upload this song we directly, all be it incrementally, help the revenue streams of homogeneous multinational corporations whom have little real interest in ‘connecting’ people beyond establishing data sets that help in predictive behaviour ‘markets’. This song was written as a response to that; a patchwork of observations on what it is to live and work in a pre-pandemic Britain. Perhaps a Britain that may no longer exist. With House of York also focusing on some detailed subject matter, I asked Charlie what other subjects influenced the bands' song-writing, and if there were any matters that they've not as yet covered but may include in the future: As we've progressed as a group we try not to over analyse how we come up with subject matter, its really about lived experiences, research, and internal thought processes. I think art is often about trying to communicate something you couldn't just say in words, that you're kind of seeking to manifest something that is perhaps 'beyond' yourself. However, I do think we've been quite conscious about making sure there is a level of directness in either the lyrics or the intent and energy of the song. We've written songs about the passage of time and age, about responsibility (to your self and to others), history, politics, the internet, family, and our relationship with the city. During Mental Health Awareness Week the band mentioned that mental health was a subject close to their hearts. With mental health very much on peoples minds during this lockdown, I asked Charlie to discuss the bands experiences of mental health and how his mental health had been impacted over the last few weeks: Part of our experience of growing up and becoming adults has been a kind of coming to terms with and addressing mental health - both our own and our loved ones. Certainly some of us have had to either learn coping mechanisms or seek treatment at some stage of our lives and we feel strongly about discussion, dialogue and strategies. Speaking personally, making music and creating with the rest of the band has a very positive impact on my mental health so the lockdown has been hard in that respect. I think its re-enforced the value and need to communicate and commune with other people, in this case artistically and the emotive release it provides. Given that both singles have been released during lockdown, it also seemed prudent to ask what it has been like releasing a debut and announcing yourself to the world in the current abnormal climate: It has been strange to say the least. I think all of us have all wondered if it's even 'right' to put things out at a time like this, when so many things seem so much bigger than a song. I hope that the music or people discovering us is at least a welcome distraction from the situation we find ourselves in. We formed the band primarily to play live so it has been a real shame not to play shows and have a more human experience with an audience. It's also forcing us to be more honest with ourselves as musicians and as people; how can we translate these feelings digitally? How can we remain friends as well as band mates? How do we support other people, places, and things we love and care for? We're all looking forward to being back in a room together making loud noises! Looking to the future, and given that Runner Up and House of York have been released in quick succession, I was keen to know whether the tracks formed part of an EP or an album, and when we could expect to hear more: These are currently two standalone singles that served as a bit of an introduction as to what you can expect from us. We're lucky that we finished a larger body of work in our studio just before lock down begun so you can expect more music over the coming months. Nic our bassist also engineers and produces all of our music at our studio in Hackney Wick so we're pretty self sufficient , we're also writing remotely from each other and finding it quite productive. We would love to put out some vinyl over the coming months, I'm an artist and designer as a job so the physical experience of music is a massive part of it for me, you'll have to ask our label what they have planned hahah! You can listen to Runner up here and House of York here. With any luck they'll be headlining at the Shacklewell Arms on the 28th October (which is where you'll find me!). www.tvpriest.com In part 2 of the Stay Home interviews, Cameron Pettit of Fish Bowl Events talks to John-Paul from Helicon, Lucy from Dream Nails and Daniel Armstrong, all of whom have contributed music to the 'Stay Home: Independent Artists Against Covid 19' which you can listen to and buy from Bandcamp here. Helicon Tell us a bit about yourself: John-Paul Hughes, I live just outside Glasgow and play guitar in Helicon. We make noise. Good fucking noise. Which you can acquaint yourself with and acquire, if you so desire, from Fuzz Club records. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? Aside from the obvious disappointment of having tours and festival appearances cancelled we've been really productive. All the lads in the band have installed basic recording equipment at home to work on ideas and demos then share to see how we can contribute and improve upon one another's ideas. It’s definitely been one of the most creative and productive periods of the band. We've all been pushing ourselves to be better musicians and hone our craft whilst learning more about production techniques. I've definitely acquired a new level of respect for producers and engineers. It’s a total head fuck. Are there any tips that you can give to artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Don't sit about waiting for inspiration to strike. if you do, it wont. Just start and the ideas will begin to flow. Write separately, as individuals, then bring your ideas together for everyone to help make them better. That way you'll get more ideas to work with and explore more new territory than all working one idea at the same time together. If ever you were going to experiment, now is the time. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? Lots of tremendous underground artists on this record i've really enjoyed listening to. I haven't found anyone new as such but rediscovered my admiration for the TVAM album Psychic Data and been enjoying the new albums by The Warlocks, Servo, Sonic Boom and Mogwai. Dream Nails Tell us a bit about the band: We are Dream Nails and a punk force to be reckoned with! We started playing in 2015 after two of us met through their involvement with a feminist direct-action group and we mix political rage with contagious pop punk joy, winning hearts (and funds for abortion charities) wherever we go. We also review fries on our very own Youtube series, 'chipadvisor, which we take almost as seriously as our music and intersectional feminist politics. What has changed for you as a band during lockdown? Everything! We were due to release our debut album on 3rd April, but this has now been postponed until 4th September. We were also due to go gallivanting around the UK and Europe on a headline tour. Although we miss each other loads and can't practice together, we have taken to recording acoustic sessions and have even created a workout-inspired lockdown music video with the help of our beautiful fans. Stay tuned! Are there any tips that you can give to bands for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Hmm.. honestly no. I don't think I can add anything more profound to all the stuff that has already been said and I strongly feel that no one should feel the need to push or overexert themselves creatively or otherwise in this surreal time. If you are finding you're flourishing- great! otherwise, just chill and look after yourself. This is a time for self-maintenance, not necessarily creating your magnum opus. However, as it looks like live shows are going to be a no-no for the rest of 2020, bands and musicians need to get thinking about new ways to stay connected to their fans through home-sessions when the lockdown eases but venues stay shut. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? Ya! I've been loving 'Low Hummer' a nice grungy Hull five-piece and have also been delving deep into 80's synth pop... I also just started listening to BC Camplight and have been digging into the NTS archives - Nabihah Iqbal is a real fave. Daniel Armstrong
Tell us a bit about yourself: I’m Daniel Armstrong, a songwriter based in London. I also play guitar / banjo and sometimes bass in Frankie Teardrop Dead. My submission for the compilation, Lonely Summer, is a demo I made for a track I will be releasing at some point this year. I felt it was a fitting contribution however considering the circumstances as the song is about sudden displacement of friendships, loneliness, and nostalgia for better times. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? It sucks not knowing when your next show is going to be. I live for live music. I miss the atmosphere of being up on stage to a room full of people and feeling the pulsating and swelling of vibrations of sounds meandering back and forth which does grant one an inevitable aura of pleasure! I do hope there will be still venues left open to play in and or watch bands at after this blows over. Support your local venues! Are there any tips that you can give to artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Keep playing music whether it's through live streaming / recording, getting into new artists or perhaps work on a new skill. If you can teach others your skills via zoom or Skype that also can be very rewarding, both spiritually and financially. It certainly helps with the routine. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? I’m really digging Fontaines D.C, Shame, and listening to old live bootlegs of You Made Me Realise - era MBV at the moment. A week or so ago we featured an excellent compilation put together by Fishbowl Events 'Stay Home: Independent Musicians Against COVID 19, which you can read about here. In the first part of a series of interviews with the some of the bands that contributed, Fishbowl Events very own Cameron Pettit speaks with Rob from Hey Bulldog, Tien from Superdrone and members of Stunflower. You can listen to/buy the album (with all profits donated to NHS Charities Together) here. Hey Bulldog Tell us a bit about yourself: I’m Rob guitarist and singer from Hey Bulldog, we’re a three piece garage rock band from Manchester. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? I guess like most people it’s pretty much put everything on hold, recording, rehearsing gigs, album plans, festivals everything put on hold or cancelled. Are there any tips that you can give to artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Personally I’ve been cycling a lot, living on your own in a flat with no garden it does me a lot of good to get out and about and clear my head, I’ve also been reading more and playing around with learning some finger picking guitar, delay pedals and playing more piano. This has all really helped me mentally and physically, we had a few fun band group chats too and keep checking in on each other. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? A couple of new releases in the last few weeks have been the new Mogwai soundtrack album which they did as a pay want you want with all donations going to NHS Charities for the first week and Ty Segall did a free download Harry Nilsson covers EP which is pretty cool. I’ve also been going through a big Radiohead phase and watching a lot of their full live gigs they’ve been putting on youtube. Superdrone Tell us a bit about yourself: Superdrone have x3lps and x1EP on release and currently mastering LP4 called Solargaze which is due for release on the Solstice. We will have a few shows booked and hope they will happen for the end of the year. What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? No rehearsal with the lads but plenty of home studio recording. Oh, and plenty of sitting in the sun or working on my car. Are there any tips that you can give to bands for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? No tips other than you really need to listen to lots of other unknown bands posting online. We’ve found a few gems. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? I can’t remember any names of hand. Been too busy concentrating on completing our lp4.You know what it’s like locked in ya studio. Work work work work. Stunflower Tell us a bit about yourself: Psychedelic reggae soca mantra-rockers based in London from Trinidad, Canada, Argentina & Bangladesh. Blending a cool collision of sound... hard-hitting-groovebased-celebration 3-part-harmonies Indianfusion… heartfelt, holistical, let-loose, transformational music... soothes your soul and moves your feet…a distinctly retro sound with high emotionality... Influences include King Gizzard, The Free Nationals, Sly & the Family Stone, The Band, Prince, George Harrison, Jon Anderson (Yes), The Clash, Talking Heads, Bob Marley..... Music-veterans, international performing artists & life-partners Thomas Idasseril Thomas from Trinidad (composer, guitars, vocals, loops) & Devaki Anne-Marie Thomas from Canada (vocals, drums, percussion) are joined by Miguan Ascanio Green from Argentina (bass & vocals) & Naz Khan from Bangladesh (Tabla). What has changed for you as an artist during lockdown? We are no longer playing live gigs or festivals as all are cancelled and venues closed. We cannot play with our band mates due to lockdown rules. We have started live streaming gigs every Saturday and are reconnecting to people all over the world, reaching out to approximately 12,000 people. The growing connection is allowing our music to reach people it wouldn't have in the past and has inspired us to play many songs we've long forgotten. Are there any tips that you can give to artists for the remainder of the lockdown, anything to help keep them sane, busy, productive etc.? Reach out to people you know around the world and start live streaming your music. It really is transformational, not only does it help you stay focused on your music it helps you feel connected. People are so hungry to connect during the restricted personal space and this is a positive and easy way. Having a regular scheduled time really helps build this platform week to week. Can you recommend any artists that you’ve found during lockdown? Been listening to Kruder & Dorfmeister alot, uplifting reggae music like Easy Star All Stars. |
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