1. News 2. Introducing Alex McCudden 3. Introducing Drugstore Romeos 4. Jake Clarke Review 5. The Magic Gang Review 6. Teen Suicide Awareness Show 7. Teen Suicide Awareness Show 8. Basement Show at The Joiners 9. Social Media 10/11/12/13. Spring King Feature
Could this be the Year country music cracks the UK music scene. It continues to fly under the radar. Soon it may be impossible to ignore with Maren Morris on the rise.
With the budget measures outlined on March8th set to limit the rise of business rates, this has called for a better understanding on the effect it will have on live music venues.
“Have Mercy” are set to release their album “Make the best of it” on 21st April.
Black Sabbath comfirm split after nearly 50 Years (49 to be exact).
Alex McCudden was our last session peformer back in December where we released the video session on social media early January. He was part of our “Punk” sessions we had hosted also with Barney Hall. All sessions were musically recorded and mastered by our good friend “Dan Hattersely”.
For the session he performed two songs his own single “Its Okay, I’m Happy Now” and a cover “More Like Signals Midbest” by Wil Wagner. Both songs were able to really showcase Alex’s voice showing the audioence his hard hitting gravelly voice thats suits the genre so well. The guitar playing
also supports that with the acoustic guitar being strum in downward stokes giving his playing a very “Punk” attitude all in all we feel the session went down really well. Alex is now part of Larkhill recently on tour, where you can next catch them at washed Out Fest in April this year.
Drugstore Romeos a band from Fleet were one of the greater small acts we’ve seen recently. their sound a fusion of Psychedelia, Shoe Gaze and Jazz created this amazing atmosphere especially in a low roof venue like The Joiners. The three piece really found a way to create a big sound.
The Singer, Sarah had this incredible voice which was backed up by this reverb effect which allowed for the band to have this very mature sound even though they are at the begining of their careers. You can catch them next at our show at The Joiners supporting Birdskulls.
With Superheaven on hiatus, their guitarist/vocalist Jake Clarke has teamed up with Indie/Dream Punk band Spur to showcase his solo project and release their respective debut spilt LP. As a long time Daylight/Superheaven fan, I found it easy to sink into Clarkes six songs on the first half of the split. Sticking to his roots with powerful, grungy riffs and cool melodies, Clarke does what he does best. In this much more subdued take on this style, it gives you asedhfnvisdfkbnsidfkbnvsidfvnfisdjknvfijsdnvijfsdnvsifdjnroom to appreciate his singing and lyrical content more thoroughvfsidjnvijsfknvijdfsnvfisjdnvfisdjnvfijsdnvfsijdvnfsdjvnfijsdly. The vocals are softer and seem more purposeful than we’ve heard nvfijsnvfijsdnvfjdsvnfjsdvnfdijsvndfjsknvfijsdknvdfsjknvdfsfrom Clarke when playing with his previous band, and although the jkvnsdfkjnvsdkjnvsjkdvnskdlvndskljfnvsdkjnvksdjnvkdjsfndrums are lacking for me, it doesn’t ruin his effort as it’s clearly the vksjdfnvkfjdsnkjsdnvkjdfnvkjsdfnvksjdnvksdfnvskdfnvksdfguitar/vocal combo that is the main event and what will attract people. nvsdkfvnsdfkjvnfkdsjnvdfskjvnsdfkjvnfkjnvfjkvnsdjvnsfjkdIn contrast, through Spur’s first tracks ‘Out Of View’ and ‘Fire’, the nvsfjkdvndfskjvnjfdsnvkjsdfnvfjksdnvfjkdsnvfjkdnvdfjkvndfk sound is an up tempo Tigers Jaw/Radiator Hospital hybrid, which jsnvfjksdnvfkdjvndfskjnvkjsdnvkdjsnvskjdnvdknvkdjsnfvksdnvkdsjnkvnks I enjoyed but wasn’t anything exceptional. At times I found the mix a little messy, but by the third track ‘Freeze’ I’d already forgotten that. With the heavy guitars and vocal shouts towards the end of this song, the punk elements really shine through, showcasing their diverse, and fairly unique, sound. All in all, a very strong introduction to this band, and definitely one to watch. Written By Charlie Flowers.
‘How Can I Compete’ is the latest single from Brighton based four piece The Magic Gang. The track is set to be the first single released on Yala! Records, the label set up by The Maccabee’s Felix White. Back in 2015 The Magic Gang came onto the scene with their debut single ‘No Fun’, using grungy guitar and moody drum beats to capture the hearts of their audience. Over the past two years the band just keep setting the bar higher and higher. Their latest single How Can I Compete just goes to show how much the band has grown. The single has the same sunny charm that most The Magic Gang tracks have, pairing laid back vocals over rosy guitar riffs and bouncy drum beats. The songs infectious indie style makes it the perfect song for summer, with the catchy chorus seeming far too cheery for an anti-love song telling the tale of rival lovers. The band have also hinted at a third upcoming EP. Appearing on Radio 1 as Mistajam’s hottest record they revealed that a new EP is coming “at some point in April”. Plans of creating an album were also mentioned with vocalist Jack Kaye saying, “I feel like we’re at the point now where we’re piecing together what’s going to be on the album”. The Magic Gang are going on tour at the end of April with support from fellow Brighton based band, Abattoir Blues. How Can I Compete is out now via Yala! Records. Written By Izzy Evans.
Back in early February, The Joiners in Southampton played host to a charity gig for Teen Suicide Awareness. The shows line up featured a variety of young local bands, and was opened by Fleet’s Drug Store Romeos, , who impressed the seemingly youthful audience with their woozy dream pop. Up next was Southampton locals Arid Wave, they raised the tempo and mood instantly with their heavy riffs and rhythmic bass. Probably the most well received band on the night, Arid Wave played a very tight set indeed and I definitely recommend to those who are fans of bands like pulled apart by horses and marmozets.
Due to a technical difficulty whilst I was filming the bands I didn’t get to catch Cages who were performing next. Headlining this special night was a band I’ve been friends with for a while called, The Gillies. The event was set up by Gillies vocalist and guitarist Lucas Edwards,.
Someone this charity means a lot to after Lucas recently lost his cousin and close friend Angus. Being a young band you’d expect The Gillies to lack charisma on stage, however this was clearly not the case with these young lads as they played an incredibly engaging set.
Pouring passion and a huge amount of emotion into their performance were brothers Lucas and Kristian Edwards, whilst Ben Thomson on guitar wooed the audience with his intricate guitar solos, Louis Moore controlling the flow and commanding mosh pits with his percussion work. I’d like to take my hat off to Lucas, for constructing such a pleasant gig in memory of his cousin, and donating 100% of the nights earnings to Teen Suicide Awareness.
Credit to Barney Hall
Second night seeing Higher Power and Basement, really enjoyed myself the night before so went in with high hopes about this night. The night starts with Higher Power, a hardcore band from Leeds drawing influences from bands such as Anthrax, Leeway and newer bands such as Turnstile, they impressed me the first night but tonight was so much better. The energy in the room was super high and you couldn’t help but dance a little to the infectious grooves, it initially seems like a strange support for Basement but the general consensus was that people enjoyed it. Basement came on and the room set off, opening up with Aquasun to get the singalongs going it was night of push pits and stage dives. It was great fun, Basement continuing to prove that they’ve come back to take the emo throne. Written By Jacob Walker
@Dipgirls
Here we are then, my 4th time seeing Spring King and the second time within 10 days. This time in a pub called Sixty Million Postcards in Bournemouth. A lovely atmosphere filled the pub as first band Leeches took the stage, forming only last year, After a great set from Leeches, the slightly drunk and energised crowd were ready for the boys from Spring King, they jumped straight into one of their fastest songs ‘Better Man’ the crowd swaying all over the place and chanting every word. My favourite thing about intimate gigs is how you see the crowds energy reflecting in the bands body language and performance. These are the type of gigs you wish you were at every week, you leave the pub knowing everyone is going home fully satisfied. The band kept the tempo high for the first 6 songs with their hits City and Detroit delighting the Bournemouth crowd. Bringing it down for a bit, Tarek took a step away from hit drum kit to get an even closer look at the crowd and pour his heart into a performance of “They’re coming after you”, at this point everyone was very much at one with eachother, the crowd and the band infused by passion and joy for a good music. Ending the set by rising the tempo again for the next 6 songs, Spring King closed with
“Rectifier”, rectifying every last bit of energy from the crowd for the final banger, which made for a perfect ending to a great night. 9/10 I’d also like to point how appealing and nice it is to see bands like Spring King hang out with their fans after a show, genuinely ‘going for a drink’ with their fans. also the three piece “Leeches” thrashed through their sick set which included first single, Inside Voices, a song I highly, highly recommend. Leeches warmed the crowd up for Spring King in the most appropriate manner. 8/10 You can catch Leeches playing at our first show (The Joiners, Southampton 28th March)
Do you have any influences outside of music, for example in film or literature? I like to read old philosophy books and literature. Marcus Aurelius ‘Meditations’ is a big inspiration to some of the songs. Films are great, whether they influence the music, i’m not sure. My favourite films are ’12 Angry Men’, ‘City of God’ and other classics like ‘North by Northwest’ are great Photogrpahy done by All7Promotions
I first stumbled across Spring King when Dan Croll tweeted a link to your video for ‘Can I?’. Are there any bands you have discovered through a tweet, that have stuck with you? Dan Croll is a good friend of mine from the days I studied in Liverpool. We used to play in a band called Dire Wolfe together! I always discover new music online, I try to pick through the web as much as I can looking for new music. One band I re-discovered this way (after many years of our guitarist Pete telling me about
You’ve just spent 3 nights performing in the south coast throughout February, at 3 very different types of shows, one arena, one large room and a pub. How do the 3 shows compare? All the shows were great, that’s for sure. We get nervous at every gig we play, whether its a small pub or a huge arena. Something about performing always gets us on our toes before the show. Once you get out there and see all the smiling faces and people jumping around it all goes away and it’s just about having fun. We play 60 Million Postcards in Bournemouth, and that felt very special. We’ve never played in Bournemouth before and the crowd were real positive to us. We went out drinking afterwards too, sometimes it’s hard to if you’re driving to the next city straight away but we definitely had a sweet night. Arenas and bigger stages have their technical differences to pubs and small venues. I think I prefer performing on a small stage because the sound is different. It’s more intense, more intimate and in your face. We like to play the same we rehearse, which is in a small space, with amps up loud. One thing that doesn’t change between all venues is the crowd, we’ve never had a bad crowd…luckily.
The 60 Million Postcards show was an 18+ event, does that change the atmosphere at your gigs? I like all ages shows, but I understand the limitations due to alcohol licensing or any other regulations a venue has to stick by. When I was 14 my weekends were all about going to gigs, and i’d always want to go to the 18+ ones that I couldn’t get into. The atmosphere is still intense. And finally, I’ve grown up on the south coast my whole life, dotting between Portsmouth and Southampton. What’s the one thing we’ve got down south that you wish you could take back to the North? Well, for a start the coast. I love the south coast. Me and Pete recently got into surfing a little, and when we can on tour we try and find a beach. I’d love to take the beaches around Newquay all the way up to Manchester. Thank
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