Friday 30 September 2016

Tig Digs: Kid Kin 'Masterclash'

After a busy couple of weeks with lots of great shows and two simultaneous tours with two of our favourite Oxford bands, Lucy Leave and homeplanetearth, we've got a week until our next show so we're catching up with some of the artists who are playing for us over the next couple of months. One of those is Oxford's Kid Kin, who is touring the UK in celebration of his new single Masterclash, finishing up with a headline show for Tigmus at The Library.



The track is billed as his "most ambitious work to date", and although he's been playing it live for 2 years, Peter (AKA Kid Kin) says its taken about 18 months to finish the recording, with over 50 different instruments in the final mix. It's available to listen through Soundcloud above, and will be online to buy and stream on 3rd October. The dates for the shows in Swindon, Bristol, Chester, Liverpool, Oxford, Manchester and London are on the poster below.


Our headline Kid Kin show with Midfield Workhouse in Oxford at The Library is on November 24th, and tickets are available here (for just £3 with no booking fees.) 

Wednesday 21 September 2016

Eight questions with Little Red

(c) Charlie Landells
1. Who are Little Red and where did the name come from? (a short introduction)

We are an Alt-Folk trio from Berkshire and Oxfordshire, consisting of Hayley Bell (vocals), Ben Gosling (vocals, guitars, drums and bass) and Ian Mitchell (vocals and guitars). We play as a trio and as a six-piece with label mates Tom Hodges on Keys, Nathan Allsworth on Bass and Marc Challans (formerly of AMP) on drums. The name was inspired by the lyrical tendencies that Ian takes as the band’s principle songwriter. Often drawing upon children’s Fairy Tales and Urban Legends. Little Red sat well with us as it was hinting at our sinister underbelly whilst being ambiguous enough to seem a little ambiguous. We like to surprise people, so having a name that didn’t pigeon-hole us too much was important.

2. Looking online I can see that your influences include Tom McRae, Mark Lanegan, The Staves and Nick Cave. How does listening to them influence your own music, and what else inspires and shapes the music that you make?

Honestly, it’s a real melting pot of things. Yes, those artists have inspired Ian but Hayley’s and Ben’s favourites also play a part. What really drives the music is the lyrics. If there is something worth saying and done in a way that seems original, the song will be pushed to completion.

3. It must have been pretty exciting to sell out of physical copies of your debut album ‘Sticks and Stones’, is a follow-up in the pipeline? Perhaps another EP? What’s the recording process like for you guys?

Since starting in 2014, we have released one album and three EPs. We are working on the next album at the moment and it has some songs that we are REALLY excited about. One in particular, entitled “Siren Song” is sounding great. It’s part acapella, part Southern-gothic and part Low-fi Dub-Step. Ben is our producer and we primarily use his studio. Because of this, the process is relaxed and laid back. We know each other well and are always honest. We tend to not record until we are sure that what we are putting down works.

4. Who is your audience and how do you connect with your fans? Any crazy, fun, exciting stories are very welcome.

We have been amazed by the range of people who like our music. All ages seem to get what we do. The recent double release of “The Huntsman” and “Teeth, We Have", has really helped. Because of the versatility of our sound we are quite proud to say that our audience is quite simply people who like live music with harmony and driving melodies. We are so grateful to everyone who has bought our records, it’s still such a buzz to hear people singing along.

5. We see the music scene in Oxford as a really collaborative, productive community, and we love Tiger Mendoza’s remixes of your tracks on the ‘Teeth, We Have - The Remixes’ EP - how did this come about? How important do you think it is to work with artists, particularly local ones, on collaborations and remixes?

We approached Tiger Mendoza because we were blown away by what he had done for other bands. He’s a real talent and a real gent to boot. He showed a genuine affection for some of our quieter tunes such as “Petal” and “Bonnie and Clyde” (to our surprise) and the relationship blossomed from there. We think collaboration is such a great way to grow and enrich your craft. Tiger Mendoza, Fraud and Foci’s Left were so encouraging and inspiring by what they did with our music. That really provided the catalyst for us to develop our live sound and start working as six piece as well as a trio.

6. You’re playing at two of our shows upstairs at the O2 Academy in Oxford later in the year, first supporting homeplanetearth and then going back to headline a couple of months later. How will you prepare for those shows, particularly when making the transition from opening act to headliner?

Each show is getting the two different sides to what we do. The show with Homeplanetearth will feature our trio line up. Lots of harmony, space and subtlety. The headline show will be with our live band and whilst there will be the harmonies and quieter segments there will also be a more driving experience for everyone. A few new songs will also feature.

7. What does your dream gig look like? Any bands you’d love to play alongside?

It would be an honour to support some of the acts locally and nationally that we admire. We would love to support some acts like The StavesStornoway and First Aid Kit, whilst we are also big fans of local acts such as Cameron AG and Vienna Ditto.

8. What are your hopes and expectations for the rest of the year and looking towards 2017?

After a short break from Ian as his wife is expecting their first baby soon, we are keen to be getting back into the studio to record some new tunes. In the Autumn, we are very excited to be playing at the O2 Oxford twice, as you mentioned before, so we will be rehearsing hard for that. Getting the 6-piece band back together for the headlining gig in November will be sure to be a highlight to round off this awesome year! For 2017… hopefully releasing a second album and then organising some great gigs in order to promote it!

As mentioned above, Little Red headline the O2 Academy Oxford 2 for us on the 18th November, tickets for that show are available here. They also supported at the homeplanetearth O2 headline last Friday!

Sunday 11 September 2016

Tig Digs: Little Mammoths 'Phantom Dreams'

While this blog is a great place to celebrate the music of those who have shows upcoming with us, we also love keeping up to date with what the artists we've had previous shows with are doing, and on that note... Little Mammoths, who played their first ever Oxford show for us back in February, have recently released their debut record and we're loving it! We're also massively digging their new video for Uncle Ken's Bar, the opening track of the record.



As well as the online streams, digital release and an upcoming CD release, the guys are hoping to get the album released in a limited vinyl run. If you like what you hear - show your support and reserve a copy here! We're 

Friday 9 September 2016

Eight questions with Roberto y Amigos

(c) Megan Seekings

1. Who are Roberto y Amigos, and what does the name change from Roberto y Juan signify? (a short introduction)

We're a not-so-Spanish-sounding band from Oxford who want to get people grooving and singing along to our bass lines, beats and folky-soul melodies. We draw our influences from John Martyn and Nile Rodgers to bands like Portishead and more souly outfits. We started off as a duo with acoustic guitars and flamenco influences. Now we've found some rhythm and groove the name change signifies that our drummer George is now just as much a part of the group as Jonny is, while leaving the options open to also collaborate with other musicians.

2. Your ‘Monster Love’ EP is one of my favourites so far this year, when was it recorded and where? The launch show in the beautiful surroundings of Art Jericho with our very own Oli supporting as Count Drachma was hugely successful, how did you find that show and the experience of organising it yourselves?

Monster Love was recorded by Robin in our Shed Studio in Oxford over late 2015/early 2016. For us it contained quite a lot of old material that we had been playing for a while and hadn't got recorded. The launch show was just great. It felt like all of our friends and family (+ more!) where there in support and we were launching something we were proud of and had worked hard on. Loved the arty surrounding of the Art Jericho as well and would recommend as a venue to any other bands wanting a little launch show.

3. We love hardworking artists and loved your video diary about the EP and the show - when can we expect more videos?!

Yes we're planning to get some more videos up soon to keep our followers up to date. Especially some live acoustic performances of new tracks. Nice to keep it intimate and personal with our musical lovers.

4. Who is your audience and how do you connect with your fans? Any crazy, fun, exciting stories are very welcome.

Well we sometimes have people back to our studio to have a little boogie party (there is no age discrimination (in the most normal way possible)) so in September when we support HPE come and say "Hi" after the show and we can get on down.

5. As a pretty collaborative band, are there any local artists you’d love to work with on a track? Or perhaps any dream collaborations on a bigger scale?

We really dig Esther Joy Lane at the mo. Her voice is pretty entrancing and her sound would work well with our trip hop-y strand. Would love to get writing a tune together with her maybe with two lead vocal parts. We love Portishead and Massive Attack.

6. Moving from recording to playing live, what does your dream gig look like? Any artists you’d love to play alongside?

Two drum kits, a brass section and a permanent female vocalist who got the audience to dance like crazy would be pretty sweet... + an interval/break for pancakes and creamy snacks.

7. We hope you’re looking forward to supporting at the homeplanetearth O2 Oxford show as much as we’re looking forward to seeing you play, how will you be preparing for the show? Any new music to premiere at the show?

Seriously we can't wait. Already thinking about costumes. We'll be playing our new track Home in Your Heart which was premiered on BBC Radio 6 Music a month back and might have some other tricks up our sleeve too. It'll be one of our last gigs as a three piece because Jonny (guitar) is off to uni in September so we intend to have a bash.

8. With Jonny off to university, what does the rest of the year hold for you, and looking towards 2017?

At present, the three of us are collaborating with a range of other musicians and vocalists to make a full length album ready for the autumn and, though without Jonny, the next year we'll be working on gigging with our new set of tunes, incorporating a female vocalist and more electronic sounds and synths. Can't wait!

Roberto y Amigos play upstairs at O2 Academy Oxford on 16th September supporting Homeplanetearth on the hometown date of their UK tour- tickets here, support also comes from Polar Front and Little Red.

Tuesday 6 September 2016

Eight questions with Hickory Signals

(c) Days in the City
1. Who are Hickory Signals and where did the name come from? (a short introduction)  

We’re a folk duo from Brighton - Adam Ronchetti and Laura Ward. Laura sings and between us we play guitar, flute, cajon, shruti box, various shakers, cymbals and other noise makers including a glockenspiel designed for children. We make new music inspired by old music, so play a pretty much even split of traditional songs we’ve re-arranged and original songs we’ve written ourselves. Inspiration comes from not only old songs and lyrics but also poetry and stories. When we first started playing together in 2014, we referred to ourselves as Bagmen because we carried so much paraphernalia to each show. Then we decided that was probably only funny to us and so came up with Hickory Signals whilst sitting on a bus. We are now considering setting up a dating site for lumberjacks: Hickory Singles.

2. This is the point where I’d usually ask about the recording of a recent release… do you have an EP or album in the pipeline?! If so, where/when was it recorded and when do we get to listen to it?  
Yes indeed! Back in 2014 we released our first 4-track EP and in about two months, we release our second EP (6 tracks this time). We recorded it at our friend’s studio in Kemp Town, where were lucky enough to have Ian Carter of Stick in the Wheel produce it for us. It will be ready in November but you can get a sneak preview of the title track, ‘Noise of the Waters’ (an arrangement of James Joyce’s sea-inspired poem) on our website.

3. Who is your audience and how do you connect with your fans? Any crazy, fun, exciting stories are very welcome.  

We attract a heady mix of trad enthusiasts who watch through slitted fingers as Adam pulls out his cajon, ladies who love a natural red head, younger people coming out as folk-curious... and our parents. Together we form a little South Coast menagerie and we couldn’t be more proud and grateful. We used to be in a folk rock band together called Laura Ward and the Risen Road and we’re incredibly lucky that a lovely cohort of Risen Road fans have stayed with us and now count themselves as Hickory Signals fans. To thank them (and anyone else who loves live music) we run monthly live folk/acoustic nights at a beautiful venue in Shoreham By Sea called West Street Loft. We love them, the audience seems to love them... there’s a lot of love in that loft. A few months ago, we asked them whether they thought we should buy a cat. They said yes and now we have a beautiful orange ball of fluff named Cognac!

4. You were hand-picked by JINNWOO to support on a couple of the dates on his upcoming album-release tour, how do you guys know each-other?  

We played alongside Ben, aka Jinnwoo, at a ‘Folk Rising’ show at Cecil Sharp House back in 2015 and were immediately spellbound by the rawness of his sound and the emotion he fills each song with. After the show we got chatting and realised we live a couple of roads away from each other in Brighton. Since then we’ve become bosom buddies; playing, recording and drinking together at every opportunity. We’ve actually just recorded an album together under a new folk revival project by the name of Bird in the Belly.

5. What can we expect from your performance at the shows in Brighton and London? Will you be performing as a duo?  

Others have described our live set as haunting, cinematic, atmospheric, un-rushed and detailed. We just hope to get the guitar in tune and hit the right notes. We’re (beyond) happy playing just the two of us, experimenting with how many instrument and tuning changes we can make during a 30 minute set, but we’re hoping our buddy Tom Pryor will join us with his violin for at least for the Brighton show. Tom’s fiddle features on both our recordings and his sensitivity and musicality make him an utter joy to play with.

6. What does your dream gig look like? Are there any artists you’ve love to support or collaborate with?  

We could support Christy Moore at Vicar Street in Dublin, come out of that gig and drown, satisfied, in the River Liffey.

7. Having run your own monthly live music night in Shoreham for a couple of years, do you find that the experience of running shows affects your performances?  

Good question! We’ve really worked hard to cultivate a night which is well-attended where the audience can expect a great quality evening and the artists are paid for their work. The nights have also presented us with an opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing musicians and songwriters. When it’s your night, you’re really aware of the audience’s experience and the importance of being warm and engaging as a performer. Also, we’ve had to master the art of compering which has done wonders for our between-song patter...

8. What does the rest of the year hold for you, and looking towards 2017?  

We’ve got a run of nice shows coming up over the next few months. As well as supporting Jinnwoo in Brighton, London and Norwich, we are playing the Bermondsey folk festival in September where we’ll play alongside the Bara Bara Band and Stick in the Wheel. We’re also supporting the Astrakan Project at the Harrison in October. Aside from gigs, we’ve got the EP coming out in November and we’ll be continuing to work on the Bird in the Belly project with Jinnwoo. Next year we hope to release a full-length album and then... maybe supporting Christy Moore at Vicar Street? Maybe not.

As mentioned above, Hickory Signals support Jinnwoo on his upcoming headline shows in Brighton, Norwich and London over the next couple of months, kicking off with a free entry, donate on the door show at Brighton's The Blue Man, info and tickets for all three shows here!

Thursday 1 September 2016

Eight questions with Polar Front

(c) Marina Fucito
1. Who are Polar Front and where did the name come from? (a short introduction)

Polar Front are an alternative three piece, combining electronic and raw instrumentation to create atmospheric melodies, a hard-hitting rhythm section and soulful vocals. Inspired by the likes of, Jack Garratt, The Maccabees, Daughter and PVRIS, Polar Front take contrasting genres to develop their own unique and modern sound. 

With their music featuring on two of Vicky Pattinson's 'Honeyz' television adverts, playing the likes of Wychwood Festival and Sofar Sounds London, and working closely with Roli, Polar Front have already booked some impressive jobs in their first year as a band. 

Made up of singer Sophie-Rose Goldsworthy (23), guitarist Perry Sangha (23) and drummer Liam O’Halloran (23) the three piece create backing tracks that drummer Liam triggers before each song, to play along to live, to fill in the missing instrumentation, for example bass. The name came from a friend of theirs who once mentioned how “Polar Front” would be a great name for a band, and after his permission the three decided to use it themselves. In meteorology, the polar front is the boundary between the polar cell and the Ferrel cell in each hemisphere.

2. Your debut single ‘Eye to Eye’ has been out for a few months now - how have you found the response has been?

The response to ‘Eye to Eye’ has been fantastic, we expected local support, from friends and family and the regulars at our gigs, but we have had a lot of people from different towns, cities and even countries giving us some lovely feedback about it. It’s definitely the song in our set that gets people up and dancing, we’ve been told it’s very catchy, and often hear our friends with it stuck in their heads! 

In fact the other day, my (Sophie’s) friends were all at Centre Parcs celebrating a friends 21st, and I (Sophie) couldn’t make it due to a busy weekend of gigs, and they’d posted a live feed on Facebook of them all in the cabin dancing and singing along to it, it was brilliant!

3. Tell us a little about your songwriting process… does one person usually take the lead or is it a joint effort? Does the music come first or are the lyrics the initial element of a song for you guys?

Our song writing processes vary to be honest. It could be Perry that starts it off with a guitar riff or a chord progression, then the melody and percussion follows, or I (Sophie) can write a melody and lyrics and the boys will fill in the gaps instrumentally, and Liam is really into his books and poetry so he really helps with the lyrics too. It will always start as one tiny factor of the song though, for example a hook or a line of lyrics, and then we will jam it out until something works and we are happy.

4. How does it feel to know that your debut EP is due for release in a matter of weeks?! When was it recorded, and where? If there is an interesting story behind how you and any producers and session players met and started playing together, please do share!

The EP release is really starting to get exciting now, the whole idea started when our manager/producer Sam Bates suggested that we turn the September gigs into an EP launch at the beginning of August, and obviously we all wanted to. However only having a month as a deadline has really pushed us all to work hard! We have been working with Sam for around 9 months now, after we met at an acoustic gig in Swindon, he messaged us and since then we have pulled him in as our mentor/manager and producer. Without Sam we wouldn’t have been able to have this EP, let alone already have Eye to Eye out, he has really helped to develop and bring the best out in us, and is a very talented producer and musician, so that always helps when recording an EP! Due to busy schedules, we actually recorded the EP in a few days at Ladder Factory Studio’s, with Sam and Perry working hard leading up to the studio dates, to make sure as much as possible was pre-recorded so that we could get the vocal and most of the mixing done in the studio. We actually recorded most of the drums for the EP at my (Sophie’s) grandparent’s house in their swimming pool dome! It was amazing for reverb in there!

5. You’re launching the EP at a Songs of Praise show in Swindon on 15th September, before supporting at our huge O2 Oxford show with Homeplanetearth on 16th September. A pretty exciting couple of days we reckon! How are you getting ready for the shows?

We are releasing our debut EP “Polar Front 16916” on the 16th of September electronically, and at the Songs of Praise gig on the 15th of September we will be releasing the physical copies! We have been lucky enough to have a pretty packed summer with gigs and festivals, so we are well rehearsed for the O2 show and excited to get up there and play! We will however have brand new backing tracks, from the EP recordings to play with, as the ones we use at the moment are brilliant but we are always wanting to improve and sound better!

6. Who is your audience and how do you connect with your fans? Any crazy, fun, exciting stories are very welcome.

Our audience varies, as we try to cover as many genres of music as we can, we find that most people can find something that they like within our music. We have been described as refreshing before by a heavy rock fan and complimented by a classical piano teacher, so it is hard to describe it under one category. As a band in Swindon, you find you that you’ll know most of the other bands as well, everyone is really supportive of each other, and after a show together you can often find yourself with a following from an audience initially there to see someone else, and as far as online support goes, I think we all try to share and support each other’s success, and you find you increase your audience and type of following that way as well.

7. What does your ideal gig look like? Is there a band you would love to play a support set for, or perhaps a local band you’ve love to play alongside?

Our ideal gig will always be a sold out one. Every band wants to play the huge venues that hold thousands, but unless you can pack it out it won’t have the same effect as a local pub where there’s no room to breathe it’s that packed! So as long as there’s a good audience there and everyone is having fun, we are happy to play anywhere and everywhere. We all have differences and similarities in our music tastes but I think we can agree that we would love to support PVRIS and Jack Garratt, their music is brilliant and they are a huge inspiration to us. Locally we always love gigs with our friends All Ears Avow, Yves and SN Dubstation, all with completely different music genres, but great bands to watch and play with!

8. Aside from the EP launch, what does the rest of the year hold for you, and looking towards 2017?

For the rest of the year I think we will continue to write and play shows, we are hoping to release a remixes EP of the one we launch in September towards the end of the year. We think it would be really interesting to work with different people and have their take on our songs and to see what they could do with them. We also want to pack out our Summer17 dates as fast as possible, we really loved all of the festivals and shows that we have played this year, and want to make sure we have it all again and more!

Polar Front support homeplanetearth at their huge Oxford show upstairs at the O2 Academy on 16th September... tickets for that one here, and we've also got some tickets for their Swindon EP launch the day before here.