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By Jon Milton This first week back in January has seen new singles by TV Priest and Shame, a new EP from the Oscillation and the debut album from Lice released, but what about the new music prospects for the rest of the year? We talked to three bands whose output in 2020 was limited to a single each, but have grander plans for 2021. Springfield Elementary What were your highlight(s) of 2020? The biggest highlight has to be the release of our single Doctor, Doctor in June. We were fortunate to be able to record it with Rainy Daze studios back in January and it was difficult planning a video for it once the first lockdown happened. We thought to take advantage of the situation and video what we got up to during the strictest covid restrictions. Brad edited it together and it turned out really well. We were glad we could still be creative together, despite not being able to see each other! Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Mnc9hlVDo  Photo by Jake Manuell When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? We were supposed to be recording an EP in November, but stricter restrictions meant that we had to postpone. We're set to be recording later this month at Airtight Studios in Chorlton. We've had a lot of time together writing songs this last year so expect to hear some songs we haven't performed live yet! Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? It's all still a bit up in the air at the moment, we've had a few planned earlier in the year but all were either called off or postponed with no new dates set yet. Any festival appearances planned? We're booked in for YANA fest, which at the moment is set for March 6th across Northern Quarter venues. All profits of this are going towards the Manchester Mind mental health charity. Fingers crossed enough vaccines have been rolled out by then. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? Our main focus is on the EP at the moment and getting that heard by as many people as possible! Once that's all recorded the plan is to make a couple more DIY music videos like we've done with previous singles. Other than that we just want to play to crowds again, we have a lot of new tunes written and ready for that first gig back! The Howlers What were your highlight(s) of 2020? I think we are one of the few bands out there that has managed to keep our head above the rising tide of sh*t our industry has had to deal with this year so I guess that is a big highlight especially in a time when there's not much to really get excited about. We've also had the pleasure of working with some amazing people 'in secret' this year which has been what's kept us going really!  When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? Very soon...we have recorded a wealth of material that's all scheduled for release in the first half of 2021, depending when this interview goes out we may have already announced something...and there's lots planned for physical(s) Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We have our UK Tour in March/April Hopefully which may become socially distanced, both our promoters and us are watching the current climate closely, we've got some big plans for 2021, but if you haven't already get a ticket for our UK tour, there's still a few tickets left in some city's Any festival appearances planned? We can't say to much at this stage as we don't know whether most of them will go ahead but we have already been announced for a few in the England & Scotland What are your hopes for the band in 2021? Well if the past 9 months of planning pays off we can get back to doing what we love, that's what its about really, as long as people dig the records then that's good enough for us, there's far to many overly ambitious people in our industry and that just takes all the fun out of what we do, of course we all strive for success but at the end of the day what really matters gets lost in translation sometimes, that's why we never do politics or try to be a 'Pop culture' band it's not who we are, I think people get that as well! Bleach Boy What were your highlight(s) of 2020? We had some fun moments at the start of the year, we played some new places across the UK (Leeds, Stay Fresh Fest). When lock down was announced, we were in the studio recording our new tracks. We were also announced to play some more festivals across Europe, but unfortunately, they have been postponed.  When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats?
You can expect to hear some new tunes from us ASAP. We have spent a while figuring out where we stand in this pandemic and what the best move is with releasing. We have some ace tracks lined up and our priority right now is just getting them out there. Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? Our gigs that were cancelled last year have been rescheduled for 2021, hopefully starting with a headline show in Manchester in February. We were also planning on hitting up some spots in Europe and maybe making it into a European tour. Any festival appearances planned? We are hopefully going to be making some festival appearances this year, including God Save Claremont in France and Right Noise Festival in Copenhagen. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? We are not going to be moving slow. We live for gigs and this pandemic has affected us all. We have heaps of material to get recorded, videos to do and shows to tear up.
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By Jon Milton Last year saw the merger of Clue Records and Hatch Records, aiming to buck the trend of record labels calling it a day and flying the flag for the music industry in the North of England. Clue Records have released music from the likes of YOWL, Crushed Beaks, Team Picture, Avalanche Party, and Van Houten, and Hatch have released music from The Wedding Present, Nine Black Alps, Then Thickens, Napoleon IIIrd and more. I talked to Scott Lewis (pictured on the right below alongside Come Play With Me's Tony Ereira who works alongside Scott at Clue) about the plans for 2021. What were your highlight(s) of 2020? Despite all the badness we did some stuff I'm really proud of, releasing Team Picture's debut album, finding & signing Bored At My Grandmas House, plus our merger with Hatch Records & releasing a load of other good music. Personally we had some extreme highs & goals achieved set against some of the hardest things we've ever faced so I think getting through the year & becoming stronger & more supportive of each other has been the biggest highlight.  Tell us about the artists you have that are lined up to release new music in 2021?
There's a lot of TBC's but a definite is Bored At My Grandmas House's 'Sometimes I Forget You're Human Too' EP. Then there'll be a bag full of bangers from Team Picture, Van Houten, YOWL, Fehlt & a couple of others at least. When will you be releasing that music, and will any be in physical format? We're starting very soon, the Bored At My Grandmas House EP on Feb 5th on a stunning black seed splatter 12" vinyl limited to 150 copies & then a transparent red indie only version, again 150 copies of this & it's gone! Then we'll just keep going til we can't go no more but there'll definitely be some physicals in there. We've just re-pressed Team Picture's debut album The Menace Of Mechanical Music on a limited edition seafoam green vinyl too. If there's one thing we like, it's a fancy colour wax slice. What are your hopes for the label in 2021? Just to keep going, support the artists we have into releasing amazing music & finding a bigger audience. I also want to build more of a local community, doing stuff near where I live with likeminded people. Need to figure that out but I want to be a force for positivity & good on my doorstep as well as supporting artists in the wider world. You can listen to a playlist of artists on the label here. By Jon Milton What can we expect from bright young things Home Counties and Courting in 2021? New music next week from Home Counties and an EP from Courting in April for a start! Both bands stood out as ones to watch last year and found their way into the Top 10 of our Festive Fifty, and are beginning the new year very much on the front foot. Home Counties Home Counties released their first single ‘Redevelopment’ in March last year, around the time of lockdown. Redevelopment was a cracking introduction to the band and helped them to secure a deal with Alcopop Records. Their follow up single, the excellent ‘Dad Bod’ followed in July with a full EP landing in September in both digital and physical formats. What were your highlight(s) of 2020? We started Home Counties nearly a year ago to the day, and it didn’t really pan out the way we expected with Covid and all. We did manage to get in some gigs, on tour with Hotel Lux up north and some dates with Ditz in February. These shows were pretty formative in solidifying the band and line-up, as well as starting to write some more songs. We’re actually pretty proud that despite everything, our debut single got a fair amount of airplay on Radio 1 and 6 Music and we soon signed to Alcopop Records. As things started to loosen up during the Summer we briefly came out of hibernation to play a socially distanced show at The Victoria in East London. That was a pretty special day - the turnout was big and we were celebrating the EP release in the sunshine with cold beers in-hand. It reminded us how much we love playing for a crowd.  When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? We have a new single called ‘Modern Yuppies’ out on Tuesday (12th January). It’s pretty different to everything on ‘Redevelopment EP’. We couldn’t find a way to get back in the studio as a five-piece so it’s a self-produced home-recording, with drum machines and synths taking the centre over the typical guitar-band setup. ‘Redevelopment EP’ wasn’t a drastic departure from the music we made when we were known as Haze but we’re certainly planning on moving further away from that and being a little more experimental… I think this is a good first taste of what’s to come on our next EP. Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We were super excited to be playing the 100 Club in mid January to celebrate the release of ‘Modern Yuppies’. The government ordered the venues to close again about 3 hours after we announced the show, so that was that over. But we will absolutely be rescheduling, probably for late March. Details to follow. Any festival appearances planned? We were booked in to play at a fair few festivals last summer which obviously were cancelled. We're hopeful that we'll be invited to play the 2021 editions instead, but like the rest of the music industry, we're still in the dark, eagerly but optimistically awaiting some news about when festivals can return. We’ll be doing everything in our power to avoid another Summer of live streams from our living room. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? Honestly, right now we just want to be back on a stage together. We haven’t actually been in a room together as a full band since...July i think. We can’t wait to be in a position to be back in a van and playing sweaty basement venues. We also have a bunch of news songs ready to be recorded so we’ll certainly be heading back into the studio as soon as we possibly can. Courting Courting went from strength to strength in 2020, turning heads last January with the anthemic ‘Football’ then latterly releasing David Byrne’s Badside and Popshop, both of which displayed their growing maturity as songwriters. Their active use of social media (particularly twitter) has helped them a steady following and build a profile as an approachable bunch of lads that make great music, and they are clearly very ambitious, which should see them just get bigger and better in 2021. What were your highlight(s) of 2020? Playing the few gigs that we were allowed to, playing the DIY Hello show was a nice respite from a year of boredom. Recording our debut EP was a lot of fun too.  When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats?
‘Grand National’ comes out on April 9th on Digital and Vinyl Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? SO many. But you’re going to have to wait and see. As of now though we’re playing futurama and dark arts. Any festival appearances planned? Quite a few depending on the situation. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? World domination / Glastonbury legend slot / Household name / Knighthood By Jon Milton With lockdown 3 now in place, now more than ever we need things to look forward to this year. Luckily three of the many impressive artists that make up the prolific Leeds music scene have new music planned for 2021... Treeboy and Arc Treeboy and Arc have released a string of excellent singles including ‘Concept’, released via Dan Carey’s Speedy Wunderground label in 2019. Last year saw them put a lot of things on hold, although they finished it off with a blinding online performance at the Brudenell in December, sounding sharp. Sammy from the band said of 2020: We had a big release we'd been working on which obviously has been delayed but I think it's given us a little bit of time to sit back and really look at what we're doing and why we're doing it. We've been focusing a lot on writing some more new music and have recently been in the studio recording some of those songs. That time for reflection has been quite nice though, it's made us realise that we're writing these songs for ourselves over anybody else and has helped us make some music which we're personally really proud of. When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? Hmmm, that's a tricky one because we'd planned to release something a long time ago but plans change when you're in the middle of a pandemic haha. We're recording an EP currently which we're hoping to release in the coming few months. Then maybe some more stuff later in the year, but who knows! Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We were supposed to be playing 2 Socially Distanced sold out shows at The Brudenell in December but they've been postponed to January. That's not looking too likely now either but hopefully they'll happen in the next couple of months. Other than that, we're booked in for a couple of small bits here and there but we've kind of hit pause on booking in any new shows until we have more of an idea of when we'll be releasing new music and when these shows are actually going to be able to happen. Touch wood though, we'll be getting out and about around Spring/Summer, even if all the shows are socially distanced! Any festival appearances planned? A couple of mini-festivals, if they manage to go ahead... What are your hopes for the band in 2021? We just want to release some good music and play some fun shows. Anything will be a highlight after 2020 to be honest! I think if there's one thing that we've all realised this year it's that we'll not be taking anything for granted from now on, so even if we were to play a show to 5 people in the basement of a random pub in the middle of nowhere, we'd still be pretty pleased with that!  Fuzz Lightyear Fuzz Lightyear caught our attention last year with their debut release ‘Animal’ which also featured on their equally boisterous Fuzz II EP which followed in October. What were your highlight(s) of 2020? 2020 obviously wasn't the best year for artists but we still managed to do a fair bit and have lots of things to look back on. Definitely our biggest highlight was putting out our debut EP, FUZZ II, and see the warm reception to it, but we also managed to put on a few shows when possible that all went great and were ones to remember. Earlier in January we headlined the first show that Bad Arts, a Leeds punk promotion company, put on and we also played the Dark Daze all day'er at Mabgate Bleach with Belk, Pop Vulture, and Curb in October. When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? We can't promise any release dates yet, but we can say we're already planning to get back in the studio as soon as possible. Hopefully, we'll have a string of singles in 2021 and if all goes well, maybe a few of them can exist outside of just the digital! Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We were very fortunate to be able to announce that we will be supporting CLT DRP, Brighton's finest electro-punks, at The Key Club at the end of January if it's safe and legal to do so. We also might be making appearances in a few cities new to us, like Manchester and Newcastle, but it's hard to say for certain at the moment. Even if the worst does happen and gigs take longer to come back than expected, we will still be putting out a live session we recorded at Mabgate Bleach right before our EP launch for people to enjoy. Hopefully, that will hold some of the same magic that a live gig does. Any festival appearances planned? Sadly no, we don't have any festivals booked in at the moment. Here's hoping we at least get to go to some though! What are your hopes for the band in 2021? I think we have a lot of plans and hopes for 2021. We've used the time in lockdown to sort out a lot of things we've been meaning to do for a while so, hopefully, we might be able to put out some physical merch, have a few more releases for people to check out, and play some good gigs. More than anything though, we just want to be able to see some other bands live and see the industry bounce back even if it's in a different form to what it was like pre-pandemic. Fingers crossed everybody makes it out of this safe and sound. Photo by Sam Joyce Photography  Yard Act Yard Act certainly got themselves noticed last year, with many of the mainstream music publications (and the Guardian) positively gushing over them. None of this was a surprise of course, as you couldn’t help but be impressed by their debut single ‘The Trappers Pelts’ when it landed in April, or the two tracks that followed ‘Fixer Upper’ and ‘Peanuts’. The wry lyrics of each song, no doubt helping them stand out from the crowd. Lead singer James’s observations on the highlights of 2020 are similarly tongue in cheek: I spent most of the year tending to the lone cauliflower I grew in the garden. We ate it on Christmas day, tasted better than the ones you get at supermarket. When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? A new song and a new seven-inch incoming. Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? End Of The Road festival looks positive, so let's aim for that. (They also have a couple of sold out live shows planned for the Brudenell in February and The Lexington in June, although unsurprisingly caveated with ‘Optimum Optimism’, see https://yardact.bandcamp.com/community for more info). What are your hopes for the band in 2021? Make loads of money.  By Jon Milton 2020 is now behind us, and although we remain in uncertain times the promise of a vaccine means that we can start at least start looking forward to a time when live music returns, and the music scene begins its long road back to (hopefully) full recovery. Several exciting artists already have new releases and gigs scheduled in 2021, while others have them planned, so we thought we’d have a chat with a few of them to find out what we can be looking forward to as the year unfurls. In the first of this series of interviews I talk to White Flowers, Sunstack Jones and Cross Wires. White Flowers White Flowers first emerged at the start of 2020 with their excellent single ‘Night Drive’. A string of digital releases followed last year, also made available on limited run physical format, selling out within days. Highlights of 2020 were ‘Touring in the first three months of the year was fun - we had more planned that unfortunately had to be postponed / cancelled. Although one benefit of being in lockdown was having the time to work on new music’. When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? Our EP, Within a Dream will be out on vinyl and digital on January 15th, then we’ll have more releases to follow soon. Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We’re scheduled to play Independent Venue Week at the end of January in Birkenhead - but it’s looking unsure that this will even go ahead! Hopefully we can get some solid dates booked in as the year progresses. Any festival appearances planned? Not as yet.. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? The main hope is to be able to get back out playing live and touring, seeing new places and meeting new people - that’s what we’ve missed most this past year, as I’m sure all bands have.  Sunstack Jones Sunstack Jones released one of the albums of 2020 with ‘Golden Repair’, which included the wonderful ‘How It All Went Down’ - number 7 in our festive fifty. Their highlights of 2020? Despite the initial postponement of the release of our new LP Golden Repair, the eventual release was great garnering a 4 star review in Mojo and Steve Lamacq "urging people to investigate" it on his 6 music show. The vinyl sold out TODAY on our Bandcamp without any shows to support so it's really warmed us to know people are liking what we do. Only 15 left with the label too! When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? We were due in the studio again with Simon Jones again in October. Literally the day before we locked down again. We have loads to record for the next LP which at this stage is being worked on as a double album. We would imagine digi singles will precede 🌞 Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We have shows organised in April, May and June at the moment - Manchester, London and Chester (re organised LP launch ha). Our European ventures to Paris, Holland and Belgium are still being looked at to re organise, not gonna be easy is it? Any festival appearances planned? There is a potential for a Dutch festival, different to the one we played a few years back, but again, God knows if euro adventures will be doable now. GRRRR. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? See each other again would be the main one. Releasing our best album and not all being together to celebrate is weird and sad. After that it is to get the next LP recorded, crank everything up again and actually play for and see people again.  Cross Wires Cross Wires released their debut album ‘A Life Extinct’ at the end of 2019, with a string of singles from the album accompanied by new tracks released in 2020. Their highlights of 2020 were getting ‘some fantastic radio last year after we released ‘A Life Extinct’ from Steve Lamacq and Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music, John Kennedy on Radio X and Black Flag legend Henry Rollins on KCRW in America. Getting played on those amazing shows was such a buzz for us’. When can we expect to hear new music from you in 2021, in digital and physical formats? ‘Distracted Technique’ the M.A.W remix of our single ‘Distraction Technique’ will be released on 8th January across all streaming services. He has taken our 3 minute New Wave Punk track and turned it in to a 7 minute weird Electro banger! John Kennedy played it on his Xposure show on Radio x last week and people really seemed to like it so that was cool. We had planed to put out a series of songs written and recorded in a day at our rehearsal space ‘The Control Rooms’ like we did with our recently released single ‘Hall of Mirrors’ but we’ve not been able to get in to the studio because of the lockdowns. We will hopefully get to record and release another of those types of tracks in the first half of next year. The idea is to hopefully release an EP made up of tracks recorded this way. Probably digitally and CD I would imagine. We’ve written about 80 percent of album 2 and will hopefully start recording that in the summer. Pandemic permitting, what gigs have you got lined up? We have a gig for Kick Out The Jams at The Amersham Arms in New Cross on 18th March with National Service, The Institutes and The Palpitations. I’m not sure if that will come too soon because of the tier system but hopefully it will still go ahead even if it ends up being moved. Really great line up. We are also supposed to be playing at Hot Box in Chelmsford In April. We played a live stream gig there in September and it’s a fantastic venue. It’s better than a lot of venues we’ve played in London and the people involved with the venue are all amazing. Proper passionate music lovers. I highly recommend people get down and support that venue when it’s open again. You won’t regret it. Any festival appearances planned? 2 so far. 1 I can tell you about and 1 that I can’t because it’s hasn’t been announced yet. The one I can tell you about is Shiiine On in Minehead. We are really really looking forward to that. There’s some fantastic bands on the line up. The Coral, Black Grape, Glasvegas, Peter Hook and The Light. Lots of our friends and families are coming so it’s going to be a cracking Weekend. What are your hopes for the band in 2021? Hopefully we get to play a lot more gigs next year. I’d imagine the first half of the year will still be pretty rubbish in terms of putting gigs on but the second half should be much better. Getting album 2 recorded is the main ambition for us though. I was listening back to some of the demos today and I think we’ve really taken it up a level. All the tracks are quite different from ‘A Life Extinct’ There’s a track called ‘Hold On’ that’s potentially the best thing we’ve ever written.  |
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