Fret-Buzz Music Magazine : V2.1 August 2016

free

v2.1

August 2016

Introducing

psychic shakes

charts the only isle of wight music chart

get your ears around this Hoo Has | Lnaks | Tiny Elephant

who’s who Luke Joynes | Silas Gregory

featured bands Ecsess | Nakamarra

reviews rhythmtree | xockha

gig guide

pullout poster

nakamarra

Indie electronic 5 piece from the isle of wight 1

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ecsess P14

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in This issue 6 uhub 8 news 10 IOW CHARTS Featured Bands 14 Ecsess 22 nakamarra 18 introducing Psychic Shakes Discovery 28 hoo has 37 tiny elephant

28 Lanks 40 who’s who Luke joynes 44 reviews 50 live Reviews 56 Listings

Editors Note At Fret-Buzz we’re all about discovering new music and championing the unheard.

This month brings a new look and a fresh approach to promoting local and independent music. Buckle up for a voyage into the unknown.

Support your local music scene - bands, venues, promoters, everyone - get together and make a noise.

Editor: Jake Priddle editor@fret-buzz.net Contributors: James Gilby, Anthony Sharp, Andrew Butcher, Luke Joynes All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or in any for or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

Published by Fret-Buzz Media

Jake x

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Local Acts Lined Up For Victorious P

erforming alongside headliners Noel Gallagher and Manic Street Preachers will be some of the south coast’s finest up and coming stars, playing on Victorious Festival’s nine stages.

Make sure you check out one, or all, of these fantastic local acts below:

Rhythm Of The 90’s Back by popular demand are Rhythm Of The 90’s, performing some of the world’s biggest hits from the soundtrack of our youths. Chosen by local promoter Nick Courtney to perform on the Casemates Seaside Stage, the band always attract a massive crowd for their sets and their cover of Faithless’ Insomnia is something that you simply can’t afford to miss.

Jerry Williams Portsmouth pop sensation Jerry Williams will perform on Victorious’ second stage, the Castle Stage, following successful shows at BST Hyde Park and supporting Bright Light Bright Light at Hackney’s Oslo. Her tracks have had over 1 million streams on Spotify, with her latest single Mother attracting airplay from Amazing Radio, Express FM and BBC Introducing.

Kassassin Street Southsea psychedelic quintet and Victorious Festival favourites Kassassin Street will return to the Casemates Seaside Stage following a busy summer festival tour which has seen them play the likes of Tramlines and the Y-Not Festival Main Stage. I’d check these lads out while you still can because they are going to hit the big-time very soon.

Marley Blandford Portsmouth star Marley Blandford will be opening Sunday’s proceedings on the Main Stage at Victorious, supporting the likes of Will Young, Echo & The Bunnymen and Noel Gallagher. Marley is a regular on the Portsmouth music scene, which makes his gigs feel polished and complete. He’s just launched his latest EP A Shooting Star Ain't A Sign Of Love, so make sure you check that out too.

Words by Luke Joynes www.iowfestivalsfansite.net 8

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Tibican are a London based alternative indie band with a sound flatteringly likened to that of giants Foals and Wolf Alice.

Consisting of Dom Scialo, Peter Saunby, Cathal Wharton, Tom McKay and Marc Saunders.

Their Indie style coupled with their live performances make Tibican one of London’s most up and coming unsigned bands, earning them rave reviews along the way.

Their debut 'When You Love Your Love' was picked up by BBC Introducing and since featured on several international stations.

Regarding new single 'Your Kisses Work' the band explain: "It’s been a long process but we’re ecstatic to finally announce the launch of ‘Your Kisses Work’ as part of our campaign to raise awareness for Lupus UK, The Lupus Foundation of America & St Thomas Lupus Trust".

Lupus is a chronic and currently incurable auto-immune disease believed to be affecting thousands of people throughout the UK and about 5 million worldwide, of which 90% are female.

Having experienced within the Tibican family what life is like living with Lupus, they have decided to release their first charity single. All profits will be donated to the three charities mentioned above and we hope more people will become aware of the condition.

Available via all major online distributors and streaming services.

First 150 downloads will receive B-Side ‘Wolf’ FREE

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iow music chart This month Grade 2 stay on top, achieving even more plays than last month. Jon Hart is pushed down from number two to number five. Signals creep up one place despite the track receiving slightly fewer plays. New to the charts is Alistair Copping at number 25 who frequently uploads drum covers – so far his channel has over 28,000 views. Definitely someone to watch out for! Another welcome addition to the charts is Dayita with her first release at number 13. email: charts@fret-buzz.net

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Leaving School W

Some Thoughts On Life (as a musician or anything else) elcome to the real world! It’s your first day of freedom. You’re passionate - you’re excited – you’re ready (and you may even have the qualifications to prove it). You never really thought this moment would come – and yet, it has.

So you go back home and you think about the last two decades of your life. There were good bits, but there were also bad bits. Nevertheless you are you at this very moment, and, while your plan to become famous by the age of eighteen hasn’t quite worked out, you know you’re still working at it.

For a while you take the time to enjoy your new-found freedom, just while you mentally process this milestone in your life. Some days you wake up in a panic – you’re late for school. Of course, it’s not long before you remember that you left school weeks ago. Then your parents drop the dreaded question. “What’s the plan?” You feel half insulted and half terrified. You know – but then you don’t really know if you know. If you’re sensible you avoid the question. But it keeps cropping up.

So you start to think about what it is you know, and it turns out you know a lot. You know everything about the industry.

You know how important networking is. You know you need to work hard. But like one of

those so-called survival experts on Naked and Afraid, knowing and doing are two different things. You’ve been trained to think the same way your whole life. “This is your lesson, remember what I say and regurgitate it later”. You have become the most efficient information-regurgitation machine on earth.

Somebody superior to you gives you input, and you produce output.

Naturally, perhaps this is why the vast majority of us find a job so comfortable. In many ways we are told what to do, and then left to “do our homework”.

But as good as the temporary solution of getting a job in the pub seems, it can leave us asking ourselves “What do I really want?” For many of us, the realisation is that the government has been paying for us to study something that isn’t really aligned with what we want. They give us an umbrella – but now that the weather has changed, what’s the point? So to simplify the conundrum of life, I believe that you need two things in this world: money and a purpose.

A purpose is something that brings a sense of fulfilment to your life. This can include your job, family, spouse, hobbies etcetera. Your purpose lets you say “I am happy to be alive because I have and do these things”.

And then there’s money. Let’s be honest – you can’t do anything

without money. You need money to eat, travel, wash, dress and stay warm. (Some people say money can’t make you happy – and yet you have a lot of people who hate their seventy hour a week jobs and claim to be happy! So is it the money making them happy or are they just lying to themselves?)

As far as I’m concerned – if you have money and a reason to enjoy life, then you’re all set!

But unfortunately what makes us happy doesn’t always make us money, and what makes us money doesn’t necessarily make us happy. The secret that people with emotionally healthy, fulfilling lives won’t share is that they have found a way to have both. And this really is the key to understanding what you could be aiming for!

But how do you have both?

Somehow, you need a way to link money and happiness in your head. How can happiness make money? What does it mean to make money? Well, let’s look at things that make us happy. And no, I don’t mean chocolate, drugs, TV and booze – do those things really make us happy? I’m talking about being close to people, staying in good health, pushing yourself to improve, achieving your goals and giving back to the world. These are the things that give us real pride, confidence and happiness.

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Now look closer, and you’ll notice something.

These may be the things that make us happy, but they can also make us money:

o t e s o l c g n i e B people g high-qualin in a t in a m ips with Creating and h s n io t la e r sonal e oppority interper is im x a m o t der others in or e skill-sets h t n e d a o r b tunity and to e people m o S . u o y o available t orking! call this netw

r u o y g n i Achiev goals

omfort c r u o y tside of ry). Having u o g n i Stepp t is sca i f i rder a n h e v e f e i ( l zone to make t it may e g a r u the co w so tha e. o n f l e s for your ter in the futur be bet

Pushing your self to improve

Deciding that you w ant better taking rea and l action to make it h pen. This c apould business o be improving your r even jus t your future caree r prospect s.

S

o what does it mean to make money then? We think of money as bits of paper and metal. This is definitely true, but what does money actually represent? The truth is that as we have shown, money represents strength of character. When the owner of the pub you work at gives you your £400 per week pay cheque, what he’s really saying is “I made £1000 this week. I went to the trouble

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of setting up this business. You didn’t, so you only get £400”. The pub owner had to have a greater amount of inner strength to get to where he is in comparison to his employees. If you have inner strength then you have the key to being happier and earning more money.

What gives us inner strength?

The answer isn’t nice. People with very little inner strength will find it extremely hard to

increase their ability to become stronger, whilst people with lots of strength will find it easy to become stronger. It’s an upwards spiral or a downwards spiral. Things that can deplete our strength include health issues, low self-image, having few meaningful social ties, stress, loss and tragedy, addiction or coming from an impoverished background. Even when we get inner strength, we have

This is how the things that make us happy can make us money. But if these are the things that make us rich and happy then why doesn’t everyone do them?

Well it’s kind of obvious, really. It’s hard. It’s hard to stay in good health. It’s hard to go outside of your comfort zone. It’s hard to go out and meet new people.

You need inner strength to do these things.

Giving back to the w orld

d o o g n i Staying health

A se n ty. M se of cha o ri pow ney is ba ty and c er” sed om bit) a (but we around muni’ll g “pe nd mea so unde et to tha ople ning t r of p standing in a e port ople is the ant. im-

nd hav a l l i g gettin r e v p every e u t t e g No o t o energy e h needs t t t a g h in w g to do mornin be done!

to choose where to spend it – someone could dedicate all their energy to becoming great in social situations but otherwise be undeveloped in all other areas.

We all know someone like this!

Look, you don’t have to have a lot of money. Once you have enough to do what you want in life, it’s no longer about money.

The problem arises when what makes you money is not the same as what makes you happy.

Some people say this is supposed to be a part of life (and for many people it is their whole lives). I’d call it coping. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s our fault – you can do everything right and still fail because in the real world everything is a risk – but with the knowledge that it is possible to have money and happiness, to not have both interlinked is going for second best.

I think it’s safe to say that everyone’s in love with the idea of being both rich and happy. Unfortunately, this is not something that is enjoyed by everyone.

Perhaps money doesn’t make us happy – happiness makes us money. But even happiness is not an easy thing.

So, what will you do about it?

Anthony Sharp

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ecs b o c a J ss ba

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toby guitar

ess Q&A

philip f reya drums vo cals

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csess are a now 6 piece band with the addition of james on keys and jordan on guitar. They're from the Isle of Wight with influences from bands such as two door cinema club, the 1975 and foster the people. 'refreshing indie-pop, 80's synth styles, tight bass and drums, heavily effected guitar melodies and sweet female vocals'

Find them on Facebook via @ecsessofficial or twitter & instagram via @ecsessband

Brief history of Favourite Track where do you see ecsess so Far yourselves in a years time 'Started by friends Jacob, Toby, 'One we’ve written - Whim (stay Freya and Phillip as an indie here for the night) 'We just want to write better pop band, we started working In general - SWIM Fickle and better songs, that’s the together beginning of 2016 on Friends' ultimate goal. We plan to our debut single in the studio within the next year, as whilst putting together new Favourite Gig so tourwell as have an EP out' ideas in rehearsals. We got Far involved with Chalk Pit Records favourite venue from the beginning and worked 'Isle of Wight Festival' to release Heading for Red as 'Played at - Black Sheep Bar part of a double release with what's your Been to - Rough Trade Records Nakamarra at the Black Sheep Camden' Bar in May. We then invited recording James Ellis into the band and process like had the opportunity to perform at the Isle of Wight Festival 'We tend to start recordings to an amazing crowd. Right as demos in Logic Pro, which now we are in the process of then get transferred into Pro finishing our new Single, Games, Tools where we self-produce which will be out October 2016, all the musical elements. we have added a new member, Jorden Guest, as well as writing We like to experiment with new material for a tour in 2017' different techniques and use

weird kinds of sounds'

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Introducing

psychic shakes

Psychic Shakes is the solo project of 20 year-old Max McLellan, from Southampton. Psychic Shakes specializes in tinny vocals, downtempo beats, smooth noodling and washy, shimmering 7th chords, creating the perfect “post-coital cigarette at three in the morning� soundtrack.

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So... Psychic Shakes

'P

sychic Shakes, what about it, umm, basically I’ve been playing guitar for about 13 years.

I got guitar lessons for my 7th Birthday, didn’t ever really think about recording stuff… actually I did record stuff when I was younger but it was mainly on a little 4 track. So that's a little history about me…

It's kind of all happened really quickly and really caught me off guard. Getting signed to Hail Hail Records in the first place basically my girlfriend was going to go to secret garden party so I had a bit of free time on my hands so I was like 'Ok, I’m gonna push myself to kinda chuck out like six songs'. I didn’t manage six. I managed 5 but one of them was shit so I got rid of it. It was my aspiration to put at least one thing up on Bandcamp in my lifetime, that's all wanted to do.

So I chucked it up on there and I knew this guy Sam Banks because I contacted him before when I was part of an arts collective and I wanted to ask his advice on how to start a record label . I got an email back from him the day after I put the thing on band camp and then I emailed him and said 'You know what, how would you feel about putting it on your label' and he was like 'Sure fine whatever'.

He wants to do a digital only release for now, and then he wants to sort of develop and grow Psychic Shakes - maybe put a single out before the end of the year and then an LP maybe next year. That was all really lovely, they’re a very good label and they’ve been going for

only like 12 months and they’re already pretty well known.

I knew about them because one of my favourite artists was High Sunn - he’s…. [motorbike drives past] 'There's so many twats in Southampton with motorbikes, its fucking ridiculous!'

But yeah basically High Sunn is this little 15 year old kid who has been putting out music for like fucking ages, he’s so prolific, he’s put out so much and all of its fucking good. If you like Teen Suicide, or any of those like lo-fi bands who kind of like scream into the mic, listen to High Sunn. But I knew about Hail Hail through him and just kind of got in contact with him.

Sam is such lovely guy, he’s chucked out so much in such a short space of time. Very cool label.'

Your recording process 'I always used to record stuff on a little 4 track and my friend Harvey leant me a tascam audio interface and a condenser mic.

He was like 'Yeah you can borrow this, have fun with it, I want it back eventually.' That was part of the reason why I tried to get it done as quick as possible - I wrote recorded and mastered all of it in the space of about 4 days.

He asked for it back at the end of the month so I was like SHIT! I need to get this back pretty soon, I’ve done fuck all with it.

I recorded like 2 albums worth of music, about 26 songs and they were all wank, all fucking shit, I can’t seriously put this out, this just sucks. So I was like ok, I’m just going to start from scratch, just not trying to push myself to chuck out some ridiculous 30 track conceptual album, I’m just going to do a smaller EP and see where it goes.

'I recorded like 2 albums worth of music, about 26 songs and they were all wank, all fucking shit' Basically I write the song on the guitar, and then come up with a drum beat in Garageband, its very rudimentary and very very basic. Then I'll just kind of layer it over the top. I'll record the bass, then the guitar,and then any lead guitar. I'm glad that I did it in such a stripped back way because then it gives me more opportunity to develop a bit more, rather than push myself to do too much with so little. With Garageband and the little audio interface, I’m not going to do amazing things - I know a lot of people who have, Grimes for one - but its only garage band. It's my first attempt at recording any real stuff so it was just fun, I'd stay up until like 4 in the morning just writing stuff.

That was where the inspiration for Kings came from. I live in this flat, there's this building that's under construction at the moment and loads of homeless people go down there and just shoot up and fucking yell at each other until about 3 in the morning so it would keep me awake. So in the chorus 'just for an evening, lets sleep like kings, through twisted screaming, our comfort sings against the heat' - it was hot, there was 19

people screaming, and I couldn’t sleep. Its nothing really poetic, it was just, I can’t fucking sleep, you guys can you just shut the fuck up, please. I do feel sorry for them, that was part of it swell. That's where sleep like kings comes from - I’m sleeping really well and there's like 7 guys down there all just fucking off their faces. So the recording process was kind of rushed but I did put some though into it at the same time. Its more kind of layered, I don’t have a band yet - so far I’ve got interest from a drummer and a bassist and that's about it at the moment.'

response so far 'I've never played live before in my life - I’ve never really played it in front of people before either. I showed it to a couple of my friends who were like 'Yeah that's cool.' The response I’ve had so far is really cool, I’ve got quite a few blogs who’ve posted it. I was on Scottish radio last night, which was a pain in the arse listening to. I like it at the moment, its going good - lots of low key interest and I like that.

‘Fuck off back to your bedroom, you twat.'

I’ve had a fair amount of negative criticism as well - which is part of the reason why I was scared to do it in the first place.

I though if I upload this people would just say ‘Oh this is shit’ ‘Why did you bother’ ‘Fuck off back to your bedroom, you twat.'

But it was mostly ‘Yeah this is pleasant, but its just background 20

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music.' That just pushes me to want to do more with it and not just sit there and keep on doing the same thing. If you surround yourself in an echo chamber of positive criticism you’re never going to do anything different.

Just listen to what people have to say if they didn’t like it and develop it.'

Track By Track

Kings

- One day I came back from work, it was really hot, people yelling, couldn’t sleep.

Holy

Solitude - that is

a wank song now, looking back on it. It just sounds so whiny - some people seem to like it. I had a message from a couple in America who are currently doing a cross country tour. ‘Can we use like one of your songs in our video’ I thought it’d be something like Stay Close To Me but no, it was holy Solitude.

Fine, that's cool.

Stay

Close To Me - that's

a cute little song.

It's for my girlfriend I guess. I enjoyed making that one. It was like 3 in the morning and I was like, I'll just do one more, one more, one more… song before….I fall… asleep.

In

Ribbons - this was about

hangovers initially. It had some lyrics in the verses, but I didn’t want to sing anymore because I couldn’t be fucked.

Because I'd never really sung in front of people before, so I recorded the vocals in my lunch break so people couldn’t hear me sing. Two of my house-mates weren’t in over the course of 2 days so I just sang as much as I

could. Then some new housemates moved in and I couldn’t do any more singing because I’m too shy. So I just got rid of all this shitty flat vocals and just left the chorus in and I think it turned out alright.

Southampton 'Yeah so I’ve lived in Southampton my whole life. Its got this sort of grotty charm which i kind of like. I remember walking down the street like a while ago, and this dude on a bike with a bottle of Lambrini that was half drunk in a tracksuit cycled by and her yelled at me and my girlfriend ‘THERE'S NOTHING WORSE THAN A HAIRY FANNY’ and just cycled off, dropped his bike and went into subway.

Ahh Southampton.'

influences 'When I was 15 and started recording music, I was into a lot of lo-fi bands, well post rock, thats what it started out with really.

Bands Sinch and Rodan. You know, music made for the depressed, by the depressed.

I really seemed to dig it at the time. And then that moved onto more of the slowcore kind of stuff, like

Bedhead and Low. Those bands don’t the really like being called slowcore. Then from that, there was a big moment in my life where I discovered Elliott Smith for the first time. He was a big influence because he was really interested in chord progression and finger picking as well - he was amazing at that - I’d just played with a pick my whole life and never really done anything else, then I got into finger picking.

'It was a massive kind of wake-up

call listening to a singer songwriter thinking ‘Ah this is fucking sick’.

Then from there I was really into math rock for a while. This Town Needs Guns, I guess Tubelord. I listened to them, they’re not really an influence. Ah fuck, quite a few other people as well.

Cap’n Jazz, American Football, Owen, Joan of Arc. That also came about through me listen-

ing to post-rock. I got into a lot of early 90’s emo.

I don’t know where I’m at at the moment. Now I’m just listening to a lot of dad rock like Steely Dan, Creedence Clearwater Revival are a massive influence on me, mainly because their music is really fun to play, and its really easy. It made me realise that sometimes less is more, you don’t need to overwhelm a song with loads of bullshit noodling. Crosby Stills & Nash, Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young. Theres no real kind of genre I’m sticking to at the moment. Whatever I’m listening to right now will influence how I write.'

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nakam

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marra Q&A

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akamarra are a 5 piece indie electronic band from the Isle of Wight. With influences from the likes of Foals guitar lines, Bonobo esque melodies and Mt. Wolf style wispy vocals, these guys serve up 'infectious grooves, ambient vibes and dreamy vocals'.

Find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram via @nakamarramusic

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Vox & Keys: Charlie Jones Drums: Silas Gregory Guitar: Jamie Spronsen Guitar: Joe Watson Bass: Alex Benson

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Brief history of Nakamarra

see people making an effort and enjoying our music.'

What is your 'We formed in January 2016 after Jamie and Joe (the absolute guitarists) had been writing together for 6 months previous. favourite thing The original demos were about being in much more electronic but, Nakamarra with the addition of organic instrumentation the sound of 'I think the fact that we’re Nakamarra has developed into a all equally committed, and in mix of bands like Bonobo, Foals seven months each milestone and Jungle.'

Favourite Track so Far 'Probably Double Shot Scotch, it seemed to be the song that came together the quickest, I also think it shows how we’ve developed in such a short amount of time. And because of its energy, it’s the most fun to perform. Back || Front is also a favourite because it has such a groove and it always has a great response from the audience.'

Favourite Gig so Far 'Considering we’ve only had three gigs, they’ve all gone down really well, but for us, it has to be The Isle Of Wight festival – the turn out was completely unexpected, and it was incredibly humbling to

that we’ve set has been achieved. It’s exciting to be part of something that you’re all so passionate about. I think as well, we can all be completely honest with each other – it makes it so much easier to be creative and to know what works and what doesn’t.'

Best Bands About at the Moment 'Hiatus Kaiyote/ Bonobo / YAK'

What do you think would improve your local music scene 'Having more venues and having more gigs for original music.'

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Get your ears around this

Hoo Has

Hoo Has offer up wit and dark sarcastic humour alongside cocky and powerful guitar hooks

H

OO HAs are an indie-rock quartet hailing from London. Frontman Jamie started off writing poetry which progressed to working alongside his old friend the late Robb Skipper, helping to write lyrics for his post-Holloways projects. After meeting Mark and Adam when they were performing in various musical outfits (including Hares), jamming at parties led to sessions above the Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park and electric late night gigs downstairs followed soon after. Incendiary live shows have always been a big part of HOO HAs heritage and they have since played shows supporting the likes of Gaz Coombes and alongside their good friends in

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the local scene such as: Francobollo, LA Salami, Mohit, Amaroun and Itchy Teeth.

As the front-man of HOO HAs, Jamie’s deadpan vocal belies his clever off-kilter narratives about the 21st-century experience, which are always brutally honest and entertaining. The band substitute cynicism and pretention for wit and dark sarcastic humour, the lyrical content of the EP is full of 90’s Britpop nonchalance. It’s frank, yet charmingly candid, and whilst sharp, the driving force behind HOO HAs songwriting is its idiosyncratic simplicity.

Combining cocky and powerful guitar hooks with anthemic vocal melodies and memorable

shout-along lyrics, tracks such as ‘This is the New Me’ and ‘Hanna’ feel like they have been plucked from golden-era of NME indie.

The band cite their influences as everything from “from JJ Cale to J Dilla”, and it shows, there are clear influences in the earlier tracks on the EP from the likes of Blur, whilst also calling to mind the sounds of Babyshambles and at times Art Brut. The latter tracks on the EP such as ‘Tippex Jeans’ display a completely different element of the HOO HAs songwriting technique with hints of Captain Beefheart and more prog-blues infused guitar lines and psych driven bass parts. Similarly the vocals take a beguiling avant-garde tone and melody whilst the lyrics still retain their acuity. Words lifted from prescriptionpr.co.uk

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Get your ears around this

tiny elephant

We don't really know much about Tiny Elephant since all they have online is a Facebook, Instagram and Soundcloud account with little information about them. So here's what we've scooped so far...

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iny Elephant are from Stockholm. Their members consist of Emil Madrell, Nik MĂĽrd and Jakob Lundquist. You can find them on Facebook via @ tinyelep4nt, on Instagram via @tiny_eleph4nt and through Soundcloud by searching Tiny Elephant.

We first discovered Tiny Elephant whilst randomly playing tracks through Soundcloud

and instantly fell in love with the infectious track 'Phoenix' which inspired the revival of our Soundcloud Adventures where we chose a song we love, and make a playlist of 10 songs based on recommended tracks.

They have another track online called 'Fourth of July' which is also pretty good. Ok, clutching at straws now... the artwork for both tracks is quite nice.... the guy in the picture above has a

small beard and that's a pretty sweet inflatable flamingo.

Of course we could have emailed asking for some details but where's the fun in that? It's nice to keep some sort of mysticism about a randomly discovered band - and on the other hand, it'd be nice to run a proper feature on these guys (get in touch Tiny Elephant!)

Anyway, get your ears around this!

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Get your ears around this

lanks

LANKS is Melbourne singer-songwriter and producer Will Cuming

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he multi-instrumentalist studied jazz guitar at the prestigious Victorian College of the Arts before immersing himself in hook-driven electronic and pop music.

As well as his intricate, layered guitar work, he’s renowned for his elegant, soaring falsetto which draws comparisons to Thom Yorke and Jeff Buckley.

LANKS released his second self-produced EP, Banquet, in July 2015, which was mixed and mastered by engineer/producer, Andrei Eremin (Oscar Key Sung, Chet Faker). Featuring tracks Hold Me Closer, Aurelia and Settle Down, it received strong support from triple j (LANKS was named Unearthed artist of the 38

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week in July 2015), Australian community radio and the tastemaker blogs including Indie Shuffle, The 405, Hillydilly, NME and The Wild Honey Pie. In late 2015 LANKS collaborated with Australian producer Just a Gent on Heavy as a Heartbreak. The song shot to #1 on Hype Machine, Anna Lunoe championed it on Beats 1, and it reached more than 1 million plays in its first two months on Soundcloud. This, plus high rotation on triple j, confirms LANKS as an artist to watch in 2016.

In two years LANKS has an impressive resume of shows, including supports for Airling, Broods, The Acid, Andy Bull, SAFIA, The Antlers, Jarryd James,

Mansionair and playing boutique festivals The Hills Are Alive and Paradise Music Festival Words lifted from lanksmusic. com

LUKE’S ONES TO WATCH

UHURU WORDS: LUKE JOYNES PHOTO: RYAN HENRY

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fter their phenomenal set at Rhythmtree Festival last month, I simply had to give this month’s honours to Southampton electronica duo UHURU. Pronounced “oo-hoo-roo”, Connor Daniel and Rob Jones had the crowd, and even the bar staff, on their feet and dancing to their catchy vocals and hook lines, delivering a dance-set with real power and punch. Describing their genre as ‘future/2step’, the lads had a sound similar to Disclosure and look set to have a massive future ahead of them.

OO•HOO•ROO WHO: CONNOR DANIEL // ROB JONES WHAT: FUTURE // 2STEP WHERE: SOUTHAMPTON WHEN: FORMED 2014 DOWNLOAD: ‘REMEDY’ FIND: @UHURUMUSIC 39

Who’s Who

luke joynes @isleofwightfestivalsfansite @lukejoynespresents

W

elcome to the first edition of Who’s Who a new monthly feature where we see what your local music heroes are up to.

First up to take some fresh Q’s is Luke Joynes from iowfestivalsfansite.net and ‘Luke Joynes Presents’

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Tell us about yourself I’m Luke Joynes, 17 years old, born and bred on the Isle of Wight. I discovered my love for music listening to Spandau Ballet from across the river at the Isle of Wight Festival 2010. Since then, I’ve been studying festivals up and down the country to see what’s hot and what’s not. I now run my own festival blog ‘Isle of Wight Music Festivals Fansite’ and run my own music events under the name ‘Luke Joynes Presents’.

What is Isle of WIght Music Festivals Fansite all about?

Interestingly, for me at least, I set this up in 2012 as the ‘Isle of Wight Festival Fansite’ but, due its popularity and the fact that covering just one festival was a little boring, I expanded it in 2015 to what it is today. I now cover festivals across the Isle of Wight and the south coast.

Tell us about your new project - Luke Joynes Presents My festival website provided the perfect platform to start running my own events and with Luke Joynes Presents I aim to bring mainland artists to the Island, something which is a rarity for one-off concerts these days.

Highlight of the Year Watching Everything Everything play on the Main Stage at the Isle of Wight Festival was pretty special. I’d been listening to their music for a while and to see them in person on such a big stage was magical.

Gig you’re most hyped about this year I don’t have any tickets for it yet, but I’d love to see The Shires at the O2 Guildhall Southampton in October. I’ve seen them twice in the last year and it’s great to see them progressing to a nationally recognised band.

Anything in the pipelines we should know about?

After my first event at the Ventnor Fringe this month with London musician Tim Arnold, I am looking to start quite a big musical initiative on the Island, getting everyone together to celebrate Island talent. That’s all I can say at the moment, watch this space!

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Most overrated thing in the world The 1975- they had one massive hit, ‘Chocolate’, and are suddenly every teenage girl’s fantasy

Best present you’ve received

Hottest band at the moment Blossoms were my one’s to watch a few months ago and I’m still backing them for mainstream success very soon.

An Isle of Wight Festival 2012 ticket! My first ever festival and one of the best yet, despite all the mud!

Last song you listened to I can’t quite remember, but it could have well been, admittedly, Africa by Toto- classic.

Last Film you watched Finding Dory, and it was very good indeed.

Favourite venue Annoyingly, it has to be a sporting venue, Wembley Stadium, because Coldplay sounded awesome there. On the Island, however, there isn’t much choice unfortunately, so it has to be the Quay Arts.

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Who’s Who

luke joynes

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Music Reviews

Max Cowley

ecsess

nakamarra

In The Night by solo artist Max Cowley begins soft and slow, with a dense atmosphere of passion, then suddenly breaks into a beautiful ballad of rolling synths and howling harmonies that echo the message I get from the song: love is beautiful and intense, but can be dangerous and burn - we can’t have one without the other. This track combines modern club-pop and new age synths with retro-techno beats, and is a very well paced, chaotic but beautiful ballad not be missed!

Check it out now on Soundcloud.

Andrew Butcher

Is it just me or does this track have a hint of Last Chance City about it? Just me? Ok. Real bouncy and fffresh, this sounds like a band who're going to throw everything they've got into releases. It certainly sounds like it for this, their debut single, which sounds incredibly polished and well composed.

If you like indie-pop and a bit of 80's styled synth, get right on Excess and keep an eye out for more from this Isle of Wight based 6 piece.

Hey look, another band from Chalkpit Records (Ecsess too).

And so you'd expect another exceptional track from a fairly similar yet worlds apart sounding band. Plenty of alt-pop dreamyness with this slow driven groove. My only gripe with this song is the vocal effects distract you too much from the vibe - often leaving you thinking 'I wonder what Charlies voice actually sounds like?'. Apart from that, another well rounded indie-pop song from the Island.

In the night

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heading for red

porcupine

spearmint tongues

ever

jayana

New band on the block! Spearmint Tongues combines grungy vocals and guitar with processed beats and a hint of quirk-pop (I made that genre up). This is definitely quirk-pop.

It's dark, it's grotty and full of sound aggression. From the off you're introduced to a couple of grungy rock tracks, but then quickly transported to a world of strange in 'Give Answers' - my standout track - before heading straight back towards the darker depths of the EP with 'Is It Too Much?' and 'Not So Easy'.

Heyyy, that's pretty good. I just hope this isn't another Platform One college project doomed into obscurity.

Since that first single 'Bodies', and her first EP 'Common Daze, Ever has grown and adapted showing a heap of personality through her work and nurturing a dedicated following.

This new track is a step down in pace since the 'Bones' EP but a step up craftsmanship. Even more atmospheric but a lot less haunting than her previous releases, this is a track and artist not to be ignored.

Jayana is a singer songwriter from London who takes her influences from the likes of Emeli Sande and Jessie J, creating her own personal brand of soulful stripped down music.

Right off the bat with 'Don't Sleep on Me' you can definitely hear the influence of Jessie J. In fact the next track 'Fantasy' is the perfect homage to Emile Sande. This girl has a fantastic voice with heaps of range and potential!

Really chilled out and easy listening - a great debut EP to be very proud of.

easy peasy

Silence Is Petty, Bitter’s Not Pretty

roots

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rhain

hoo has

tiny elephant

This is the second single from Rhain who's split based between the Isle of Wight and Bristol.

The last time we heard Rhain was a while ago kicking about with Plastic Mermaids - this time round is a whole new level for beauty in sound. This is a haunting and fairly unsettling track with Kate Bush-esque vocals, a slow piano composition behind and string score over the top, it feels more like a movie soundtrack than a second single.

I urge you to go listen to this and her first track 'Humdrum Drivel'. It might fell like an acquired taste is needed but give it time and you'll be all over this.

Good old classic guitar band, British accent, lyrics about a girl and a hint of a guitar solo in the middle - what more could you want from a lad band from London?

One listen and you'll be hooked.

It's loud, obnoxious and in your face rock - a hint that rock n roll isn't dead.

A super quirky and addictive listen from Stockholm based Tiny Elephant. The cover art perfectly describes this track. Swirls of bouncy guitar, reverbed vocals and layers of intrigue it's the perfect accompaniment to a lazy afternoon.

josephine

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hannah

phoenix

the orders

LANKS

billy fox

I know this is just a demo but I can’t get this track out of my head. After hearing it at the Festival (or even hearing it at any gig) I had the chorus firmly engrained in my head play over and over again.

The Orders are only young, they’re from the Isle of Wight, and if they keep at it I really think they have potential.

They’ve got the look. They’ve got the attitude. They’ve got the sound.

Hailing from Melbourne, this track is from Will Cuming’s solo electronic project.

Bitter Leaf is LANKS latest single released on the 24th June.

Everything about this track is perfect - I love the harmonies in the background and the layers of beats and vocals over the top.

It just sounds so fresh and ridiculously catchy with a vibe that comes in waves over the song - add this to your playlist and you’re away!

This is Sydney based Billy Fox’s second single for 2016. Flawless and mad laidback, this track is guaranteed to relax the mind and chill you right out.

Discovered through one of our Soundcloud Adventures, I instantly grew attached to this track and find myself going back again and again to listen.

Check out his Soundcloud profile or like him on Facebook for more soulful vibes.

veronicas venom

Bitter Leaf

avalanche

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psychic shakes

drongo

bullybones

Introducing the debut EP from Southampton based Psychic Shakes. If you're into lo-fi, DIY, dream poppy shoegaze - this is the EP for you. Although the super reverbed vocals may be overused a bit, there's plenty here to keep you listening. The highlight for me is the opening track Kings - the main riff feels nice and familiar whereas the theme of being kept awake by homeless people yelling adds a nice sense of authenticity.

Go and download this now, you wont regret it.

Drongo is a new alt indie band from the Isle of Wight consisting of James Wells and Ellis Durand you might also find them kicking about as part of XOCKHA. Far from their alter-band, this new pairing offers fast paced guitarry indie sounds encapsulating the very essence of music you'd imagine comes from the Island.

This track is nice enough making you bop your head about and wish the sun would stay out but I feel like it needs more variation to keep me coming back for another listen. Looking forward to seeing what happens with these guys!

Yes Bullybones! We've been waiting for a new release from these for ages now. Has our thirst been quenched? Yeah, kinda.

This EP has the usual jumbled in your face appeal as normal but lacks the rock n roll sleaze Honey Dripper had... or the Shoot You Down album - seriously look that up.

Anyway, back to this one. 'All I This Together, Right?' is a proper good track - 'Grow the fuck up mate', having a go at the state of society and good old 60's ish inspired rock n roll. Love it.

psychic ep

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miami

Don’t try and pick me up

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uhuru

s the sea slug

mal webb

john otway

libibio soun

d machine

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nnection

french co ’s t t e r r a b ly il w d wil

6 1 0 2 e e r rhythmt .07.16 7 1 5 1 | t h g i w f isle o

and nica UHURU o tr Uc le e n to e Henge. UH h T uthamp s o u S k n m a o T fr d at tyle azz ban lent on show coffee shop-s rock-come-j e ta n o d th d n n in la t o Is L e f fe o ir st nty the on the e hotte here was ple core, much to what was th ad the crowd n r h e fo U n l R a a iv d e st y e la F g p n were Rhythmtree Talented, risi s The Henge afé and even r. u C k fa e n g a so T id r t.

D a n e y te the g and ked out weekend of night, drawin , Reminders ht of the pac y rd a g e li d b e n d u ib S H e n y d th ra e n nd, with man by establish stars like Lau e ltimate act o d k u e e n e in e w p jo e e re th e th f w nor ir rowds o adliners Claydon Con and after the dred and he the biggest c st ll f A e o is g e d u n n o o a D h , r rc rs a ssful ye their me Moonshine nother succe ing a visit to y a a s acts like The p a w t a h w aids for erformance.

Productions.

Plastic Merm p t e g id W t ose a eople s had by all th e a w run by the p d n e k e e ts a great w and, if th casing ac ’s safe to say wn for show ival this year It o st n e k F is e p e e e c tr e ts, x tr e m ythm ainstream ac year was no ent to Rhyth m w is re o th o h Of course, Rh d w m n , k a d o d n o rl a b kho B part of nue to nd the wo e Diabel Cisso ngo anisers conti e an integral th rg m from all arou o o m c o e fr b l s a e c iv s n o st rforma rds & Photo ld see the fe ners Kanda B o u li W o d c a e e n tion with pe h o w d so n a ar very frikan Boy mmer calend su . e e Sarabanda, A in th h c a M d io Soun es y Luke Joyn Man and Ibib b e m a c festival ances of the rm o rf e p t u o d But the stan

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Liv er ev iew EX•OC•KA Who: Benjamin // Frankie // Ellis // James WHat: Hard-Vibe // Indie Rock Where: Isle of Wight When: formed 2015 Find: @XOCKHA 52

Fret-Buzz Music Magazine

joiners | s

XOCKHA

outhampto

n | 27.07.1

6

I

've lost count of the amount of times we've seen XOCKHA play here at Fret-Buzz, but this is the first time we've been to see them headline a mainland gig. This particular gig is part of Southampton Joiners 'Summer Showcase' where they're playing a whole bunch of unsigned bands from across the south. I've recently moved to the mainland from the Isle of Wight so I jumped at the chance to see XOCKHA in my new local venue. We only got to see a tiny bit of the second bands performance - which was pretty good, only a little scrappy - but gave ourselves enough time to grab a beer before the main act.

What I love about XOCKHA is that they look the part as much as they sound the part with front man Ben dressed in a shiny shirt, Ellis on bass and James on drums looking like a pair of surfer dudes (eh Drongo) and Frankie on guitar with what looks like a roll neck jumper. They all act the part too giving it a shoegazey but energetic performance - Ben shuffling his feet about looking pretty suave.

Playing all their classics to perfection, they have no problem getting the crowd going, especially their posse of groupies dancing all over the place. 'Need it to Stay' is probably my firmest favourite both live and recorded, and tonight was no exception. If you get the chance to see these guys live, go for it. They have a sort of familiar sound likened to that of old Stone Roses, but mixed with a new fresh and unique approach to the standard DIY indie tye vibe thing you usually hear coming out of the south.

Overall a great performance and a great atmosphere.

Words & Photos - Jake Priddle

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d r o w n e spok h bournemout

I

t was three o'clock. The sun shone brightly in the sky, bursting through the windows as I gathered up my bags and trundled out the door of a Primary School in Gurnard, near a place called Cowes (there aren't actually any there though I don't think... Which always confuses me), on the Isle of Wight. After a day of playing drama games with crazy, but sweet, small children, and teaching them Character Acting, it was time for a different journey. I was exhausted already from being dragged around by 9/10 year olds and being used as a 'Horsey' (they had fun, and that's what matters.. Right?), but I still had another eleven hours until I'd be cosy in my bed. The reason: Poetry.

The destination: Bournemouth. The first thing I bought when I got on the ferry to try and keep me awake: a huge chocolate muffin. Did it work?

No. I fell asleep in the car and had pictures taken of me... (One of which you can see here).

But after a long journey up to the seaside city of Bournemouth, a wonder beheld us. The Winchester, our venue (I know, it confused my proximity too), was dimly lit with candles and a few stage lights, and beautifully and simplistically decorated with philosophical quotes on the walls, love hearts on tables and hanging from the vast ceiling, and cloth draping down from above to make you feel as if you were encapsulated in a hidden little den full of literature, fairy lights, alcohol, and awesome! Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised! After heading out on an escapade to find food and proceeding to consume McDonalds (I'm not sponsored by them, I'm just telling you what I ate), I returned to the venue to find the other members of the Reading Between the Lines Poetry Collective had secured us a table, found some beverages, and were ready to hit the stage - which was lucky because the venue kindly decided to move our slot to the beginning of the night so we could catch the last ferry and actually get back to our beds before sunrise the next day.

Mr Tim Callaghan-Martin, honorary organiser of our Spoken Word adventure, decided the order of our performances. I was to take the stage first. So as more and more people filled the room (seriously, the room was packed and the crowd was amazing!), I chose the second piece I was going to perform (I'd decided my previous set was too 'heavy' for the jolly seeming crowd arriving... Little did I know that poetry about Depression would follow us..). Tim was very lovely about us all as usual, and I was pretty psyched for my chance to have my writing reach the ears of a non-island venue.

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And the crowd were amazing! They were respectful, listened intently, and seemed to really love my work - which I was incredibly happy about due to pretty much opening the whole night! I performed two pieces: Phasing, a philosophical box of tightly wrapped imagery that not even I wholly understand, and Wild-Man, a piece about staying in touch with nature and not allowing the noise of media and industry to corrupt you. As the audience applauded, our driver shed a tear, and Tim began to return to the stage, I even managed to plug myself - 'You can find me on Facebook, andrewbutcher93' - just in case you were wondering... I only state what I said in quote form to make this article more authentic, and not at all to also use it to plug myself... Obviously... (though if you do want to find me on Facebook and keep up with my work, I won’t complain).

With me performing that night were fellow Wordshop 2016 graduates Lorna Brownsword, who I like to describe as an emotive realist-feminist Poet, and Richard Heaven, who uses imagery and his own experiences to convey exhaustion and unmet expectation. Lorna’s set was comprised of two poems: a powerful piece about bullying that highlights just how ridiculous people can be when they have nothing better to do with their lives than insult others, and a love letter from a creepy stalker who knows everything about you, despite never actually having met you.... Both were very well performed and received by the crowd, especially a group of girls sat in front of us who seemed to turn to each other with ‘preach it sister!’ expressions after each of Lorna’s pieces.

Richard performed a piece about his experience working on a bar, and how tiring it can be when there aren’t many people out that night but the one’s who are just won’t leave (I’m sure we’ve all been that group at some point...), and a piece about having your expectations of London built up by people continually telling you how much there is there, and how amazing a City it is, but when you get there you actually find its the people you go with that create the experience - not the place itself. Many people in the crowd were appreciative of Richard’s pieces too, as they were an all round wonderful audience. And, since mine and Richard’s poetry didn’t take up too much of our slot time, we even had five minutes for a King Stammers (Tim’s stage name) intervention! Which was as fantastic as ever. If there’s any Spoken Word performer who has the ability to captivate their

audience with an eloquent Stoke accent, its Tim. But one of the best parts for all of us as a collective was that we felt very at home in a room full of incredibly talented and brave Spoken Word artists from all over the country - some even from other countries as there were also Romanian and Spanish performers among us, who performed a few pieces in their native languages.

People often question whether or not there is a high level of experience and culture on the Isle of Wight because of how ‘cut off’ we seem to be from the rest of the country, but this Spoken Word gig in Bournemouth proved that not only is that completely wrong, but that people from all over England and beyond do not even notice a difference in our abilities, and that the passion for what we love burns brightly no matter where we come from. In fact, people were trying to catch us before we left to get our ferry home in order to tell us how much they appreciated us performing at the venue. So thank you very much The Winchester in Bournemouth, you most definitely did deliver, and we hope to be back again!

Andrew Butcher

Andrew has a new book out!

order your copy via thewordsy-smith.co.uk

listings

16TH AUG

Bel Esprit - Joiners

17TH AUG

Rise Before Fallen - Joiners

18TH AUG

Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor RHAIN - Ventnor

10TH AUG

Last Chance City - Joiners Don Broco - Engine Rooms Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor

11TH AUG

Nick Tann - Joiners Don Broco - Engine Rooms Jawbone - Frog and Frigate Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor Ever - Ventnor Tim Arnold - Ventnor Reminders - Coburgs

12TH AUG Sweat - The Green Door Store Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor

13TH AUG

Blue Canary - Joiners The Dead Frights - Lennon’s Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor

14TH AUG

The Soapgirls - Joiners The Dickies - 1865 Ventnor Fringe Festival - Ventnor

15TH AUG

Asking Alexandria - Engine Rooms

19TH AUG

Forleigh - Joiners

27TH AUG

Toupe - Joiners Victorious Festival - Southsea

28TH AUG

Boxkite - Joiners Victorious Festival - Southsea

Faux EP Release Show - Joiners Reading Between The Lines Wight Rock Bar

16TH AUG

20TH AUG

31ST AUG

MC Devvo - Joiners Sulk - Lennon’s

21ST AUG

Bel Esprit - Joiners

23RD AUG

Citizen - Joiners

24TH AUG

The Kut - Joiners Arch Enemy - Engine Rooms

25TH AUG

Dead! - Joiners

Pick of the month

9TH AUG

MM Presents... - Joiners Summer Jam - Coburgs

26TH AUG

Bel Esprit - Joiners The Parrots - Joiners

1ST SEP

Deltorers - Joiners

2ND SEP

Pup - Joiners The Enemy - Wedgewood Rooms

2ND SEP

Listener - Joiners

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