indie

Bands in Lockdown – Shy Bairns Frontman Edd Maughan on how COVID 19 has affected him

7th Jun 2020 — Leave a comment

The pandemic has stopped everything in it’s tracks but Edd Maughan of Shy Bairns won’t let it get him down.

Edd, whose band Shy Bairns were just beginning to find their feet before lockdown saw both members of the two piece separated back in March.

However, instead of allowing it to get them down the band have instead turned to other means of expressing themselves creatively.

“Independently, I do all the social media so I’ve been trying to engage with the audience on Instagram which has been a change.”

“I’ve learnt new skills in that sense so we should have a bigger audience when we get back.”

“We’ve only been a band since October so it made sense to get an Instagram, I’ve had it since December however didn’t properly start working on it until January, we hit a thousand followers in 90 days.”

The Instagram has seen everything from excellent covers to online tutorials as well as baking however, ultimately this is not what the band want to do.

“It’s definitely stunted the band in terms of progression, it is impossible to get ahold of Rich if you don’t go in person so if you don’t use a phone call then he’s useless.” Edd exclaimed with a chuckle.

“The two of us getting together has just stopped due to the lockdown.”

“I feel for us we’re back to square one.”

The band before the lockdown were beginning to work on finding their sound.

“We’re still in a demoy phase, when we release something it will be electric because I prefer electric (Edd has some amazing custom made guitars) however we start out on acoustics as if it sounds good acoustic it will sound good electric.”

However, there are range of artists which have influenced the band despite the two members coming from varying musical backgrounds.

“We want to take classic pop for example pre Sgt.Pepper’s Beatles for example when they were churning out classic tunes with a lot of vocal harmony stuff really comes from there.”

“Then we really split, Rich is really into Motown and more abstract music whilst I love big band acts like Nat King Cole as well as post hardcore stuff,” Edd laughed.

“So I suppose we meet in the middle with bands like Arctic Monkeys and Foo Fighters.”

A Rendition of Sophia’s Mundane Munday – Credit to Shy Bairns YouTube

In terms of life after COVID it appears that Shy Bairns have plans to make up for lost time.

“We want to get back together, I’ve been writing some song ideas and been keeping people interested on Instagram and Rich has been building a little studio room.”

“We’d like to get a little 3 track EP out, we’re already registered with Spotify we wanna release something solid so people know what we’re about and look maybe to support and steal people’s fans, we’d be very happy with that” he exclaimed, letting out a chuckle.

Prior to the lockdown, the band had done an open mic night which has given them a taste for even more.

“Ultimately, we try to live by the name of our band, Shy Bairns, which obviously stands for Shy Bairns get nowt so we’re gonna try and push and push to see how far we can go.”

“Hopefully we can get on local radio or even a festival we really want to shove it in people’s faces, Instagram has been really important in that sense.”

“It would have been nice to do more open mics during the summer with me being off but at the end of the day Shy Bairns is fine because it hasn’t really started yet.”

When everything reopens make sure to catch Shy Bairns and in the meantime make sure to catch them on their socials:

Instagram: @shybairnsband

Facebook: Shy Bairns

You Tube: Shy Bairns.

Gig Reviews – Sports Team @ The Riverside

27th Nov 2019 — Leave a comment
Sports Team @ The Riverside – 25/11/2019 – Joseph Jordan

I’ve seen some gigs this year but Sports Team on Monday night was right up there maybe even the best I’ve seen over this long, long year.

It’s incredible to think that a band without an album out yet managed to sell out the Riverside, the third-largest music venue in the city, but that is a testament to the music that the London based band produce.

Since the release of their 2017 debut single Stanton the band has only grown in stature regularly being found on ones to watch lists.

The fast-paced indie tunes matched with the genius lyrics of which stick in your mind from the first listen does prove that you can go far as long as you have the music.

It is all this which makes their rising status so much more believable. However, Sports Team isn’t just a band which produces excellent music but can also bring it to their live shows as well.

The band got everything right on Wednesday night bringing their unique approach to indie to the Toon.

Alex Rice – Just Chilling – photo by Andrea Navarro as well as the featured image

Visually, the flower-laden set and lights show are welcome but nothing out of the ordinary, where the band excels is their own personal performance from Ben Mack masterclass on the keyboards which is as unique as anyone.

But where Sports Team really excels as a live band can be found in their frontman, Alex Rice.

Rice is perhaps the finest up and coming frontman I’ve seen delivering the energy needed to propel these amazing songs into the stratosphere.

Whether it climbing speaker stack, crowd surfing or good old incomprehensible gestures to those watching him. He truly is mesmerizing to watch.

Speaking to people outside the gig it’s clear that fans agree with many displaying their love with vivid sexual imagery.

Whilst the gig was amazing, there was some unsavoury scenes whilst the crowd, for the most part, were incredible, one punter failed to see the whole gig due to being hit by a flying glass (seen below).

No one wants to see it and similar events are becoming a growing problem at indie gigs with a girl being burnt by a flare at Liam Gallagher and the various complaints about flares which have been made during the latest run of Catfish and the Bottlemen gigs.

Whilst different dickish behaviour was seen at Sports Team last night, it is part of a bigger problem currently facing this genre’s fans.

However, this is not the problem of the bands, who have responded brilliantly to it but more to do with educating the toxic set of fans which feel like this is acceptable.

Despite this Sports Team hit a home run on Monday night and I can’t wait to see what their new album will sound like especially after seeing a preview of some of the new songs last night.

Gig Reviews – Sorry @ Northumbria Institute 2

25th Nov 2019 — Leave a comment
Sorry perform at Northumbria Institute 2 – 22/11/2019 – Joseph Jordan

Almost a year to the day since they supported Shame at Newcastle University, Sorry returned to the North East this time for their own headline show.

With support from local band Swine Tax as well as up and coming experimental jazz punks Muck Spreader, the London based band put on an electric set.

Swine Tax opened the show with an explosion of punk proving themselves to be once again ones to watch for the future.

The Newcastle based band are not strangers to opening for touring artists in the region having supported The Orielles as well as BODEGA in the past and don’t expect them not to be playing in even bigger venues in the future.

Swine Tax supporting Sorry at Northumbria Institute – 22/11/2019 – Joseph Jordan

The delivery of the songs was full of passion and really got the crowd on side especially after an excellent performance of 2018’s ‘Tory Water’.

Make sure to catch them if you can, with the band performing at next year’s Hit the North Festival.

Next up were Muck Spreader, who are completely different beast to Swine Tax.

It’s hard to really explain what the band exactly are due to their uniqueness. They’re a mix of indie, ska, jazz, punk and experimental music.

The entire show was one of the most unique I’ve seen, I don’t know if I just need to get out more, there’s so many questions which stem from it.

Muck Spreader supporting Sorry – 22/11/2019 – Joseph Jordan

The lyrics were particularly great with the bizarre delivery really hitting the right tone.

The heavily delayed, reverbed guitars gave the vibe of The Specials with a haunting quality to some of the songs.

It was an experience and one I really enjoyed, shout out to the guitar/trumpet player.

Now onto the main act of the night, the amazing Sorry. The band recently released the brilliant ‘Right Round The Clock’ (which features in my November playlist if you wanna check it out).

The band are definitely ready for the step up to bigger venues when their debut album comes out next year.

With musical intros and various excellent songs this felt like a bigger show which had been shrunk down into a smaller venue.

The show felt stripped down from the songs which have already been released missing the brass parts to songs like ‘Right Around The Clock’ which is understandable of course with it being difficult to bring a brass band on tour.

This stripped down vibe really worked producing a different energy out of the songs which worked well in a live setting.

Sorry perform at Northumbria Institute -22-11-2019 – Joseph Jordan

Sorry also previewed new songs from their new album, all of which sounded great and showed to different sides to this very unique band.

I’ve seen Sorry three times now and I definitely won’t be turning down the opportunity to see them again.

Newcastle based band Stasis announce a single is in the works

13th Nov 2019 — 1 Comment

Local band Stasis have announced that they are currently recording their debut single, ‘Lies’.

Introducing the band

The band revealed that the track is close to completion with just the bass missing from the song.

Stasis supported The Sheds last Monday at Think Tank? in Newcastle, in what proved to be an amazing moment for the band.

‘It was mint’ said drummer Dylan with the rest of the band quick to back him up.

The communal atmosphere of the band is apparent when you meet them and this vibe has translated into the songwriting process for the band as revealed by the band’s singer Tamzin.

‘The melodies are written by Fae and Ben and I write the lyrics,’

‘When Fae writes a song it’s very different to when Ben writes one, they come from different ends of the spectrum,’

‘Fae will write more heavier, grungier songs whereas Ben will write more alternative or indie songs.’

However, the band had originally been recording within Newcastle College, but the group were underwhelmed with the sessions.

Instead they have been camped around guitarist Ben’s ‘little’ mic writing and recording songs using Garage Band which the group seemingly prefer.

The band draw from numerous different influences with each member of the group coming from a different musical backgrounds.

These different approaches have shaped the sound of the band with influences listed from grunge to indie.

Guitarist Fae has cited influences from grunge icons Nirvana and the Smashing Pumpkins as well as taking inspiration from the shoegaze music of My Bloody Valentine.

This contrasts with bassist Patrick who instead takes inspiration more from Mac Demarco and indie music in general, this creates an interesting mix of songs which keeps the band fresh.

The band wants to be a unique entity which is very much them and no one else.

‘We don’t have a persona or anything like that, we want to be ourselves’ said the band’s singer Tamzin. ‘We all dress differently and we’re a mix of people.’

The Band playing their first ever gig – @thebandstasis

The band met in college with drummer Dylan having the idea to form the band. Ever since then they have been working and creating music.

What the future holds for Stasis they don’t know, but what they do know is that they want to enjoy it as much as they can.

The aim for the future is to simply get as many gigs as possible regardless of the venue with the band just happy to be playing music.

This means recording more songs, which the band have been doing with an EP coming in the future as well as the upcoming single.

This will hopefully lead to more amazing moments for the band live

Make sure to follow Stasis on Instagram here to make sure you don’t miss any future announcements.

Heidi Curtis’ Ambitious Plan for World Domination – building a band, headlining festivals and working with Sam Fender

6th Nov 2019 — 1 Comment

Heidi Curtis is ambitious for success and there’s no reason why her aims couldn’t become a reality.

The band after the Sophie and the Giants show – @heidicurtismusic

The singer songwriter has already supported Sophie and the Giants and appeared on Sam Fender’s amazing single, ‘Hypersonic Missiles’.

However, there is no standing still for Newcastle based artist. She has already begun to implement her manifesto for success with her band, who are currently rehearsing and writing with her.

‘My guitarist Josh is a massive Toon fan so I would just like to headline the arena so he could shout a chant and the crowd could shout it back.’

On her Career Ambition

Curtis has highlighted the importance of being prepared for anything and whilst no gigs are currently planned, she understands the need to be prepared for anything which transpire.

‘The past few gigs have been amazing and we’ve got a promoter involved but we know we have to wait for good support slots’

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3aAbq3hJa5/

Her main aim is to build a passionate following, something she is currently well in process of achieving with over a thousand followers on Instagram as well as a growing YouTube community in which she highlights her work.

The singer songwriter is first concentrating on this rather than releasing music. However, she was quick to tease what it will sound like with demos described as if Blondie hit Fleetwood Mac.

The huge range of influences are already demonstrated on her YouTube channel in which she has reinvented popular favourites from acts such as Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and New Order, transforming them into her own unique style.

It is this and her sensational singing voice which has led to big things for her so far, supporting Sophie and the Giants at the Northumbria Institute last month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpUppWT3q5U

‘It was a great experience, the whole thing was amazing and to play on a proper stage was great… They were super lovely’

However, this is just the start for Heidi who wishes to go all the way to the summit of music with ambitions to top the bill at Boardmasters as well as to have her own headline tour.

This may well become a reality for her with the excellent acoustic version of ‘AGAIN’ on her Instagram demonstrating her supreme talent for songwriting.

Describing herself as a ‘methodwriter’, Heidi often writes from her own experiences dreaming up melodies whilst painting, molding the impressive lyrics around them.

Her songwriting journey began as a way of trying to work her way into her brother’s inner circle, something which clearly worked with her sibling now managing the singer songwriter.

It is also through this that Heidi has formed a friendship with her brother’s best mate and inspiration Sam Fender.

‘He’s always been massively supportive, he’s like an older brother.’

The North Shields based artist has always helped Heidi, having a huge influence on her music as well as helping her to write her first song.

He also provided a memorable moment for the singer songwriter, with Heidi appearing on the spectacular ‘Hypersonic Missiles’, providing backing vocals on the track.

The singer songwriter also has ambitions to headline Mouth of the Tyne Festival like Fender did earlier in the year.

However, top of the to do list for Heidi Curtis is to eventually headline the Ultita Arena in Newcastle if only to provide a special moment for her guitarist Josh.

‘My guitarist Josh is a massive Toon fan so I would just like to headline the arena so he could shout a chant and the crowd could shout it back.’

With her immense talent there’s no reason why the dream couldn’t become a reality.

Follow Heidi on Instagram here

Subscribe to her amazing YouTube Channel here

Audio Interview with Heidi Curtis