Gig of the week: Slate Hearts acoustic at Truck Store, Oxford (28th Sep)

Our gig of the week this week is a freebie at Truck Store in Oxford - because who doesn't love a bit of free entertainment with some record browsing and great tea & coffee thrown in! Cracking local band Slate Hearts just released their new EP Honey Roasted Henry, with a slot on the local BBC Introducing show on Saturday to chat about it, and they'll be performing tracks from it acoustically this Thursday, 28th September. As a notoriously heavy, loud and energetic band and a live favourite for many in the local scene it'll be really interesting to see the guys playing a stripped back set and we hugely recommend you head along and fill up the store for their set! Take a listen to the new EP below (which you'll be able to grab a copy of at the instore) and find more about the event on Facebook here.

Follow Slate Hearts online - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram.

Gig of the week: Flatlands at The Cellar (7th Sep)

Our gig of the week is the last Flatlands show of the summer, as they play a hometown headline show for us at The Cellar in Oxford. After a superb set for us at our Yan Tan Tethera all-dayer at Tap Social Movement a few weeks ago we can't wait for this show, with the brilliant Slate Hearts and Who's Alice in the support slots! Ample opportunity to tell you all to sign the petition to help save The Cellar from threat of closure (12,000 supporters in a week!) and join the Facebook Event to be kept up to date with the fight to save the beloved Oxford venue! Check out Flatlands interview in The Oxford Mail talking about the show and The Cellar, and the importance the venue has for young bands in the city.

Grab advance tickets for a bargain £4 (+fees) through Eventbrite here for what is sure to be a brilliant show!

Eight questions with Slate Hearts

Cristina Camilla Corazza

1. Who are Slate Hearts, and where did the name come from? (a short introduction)

Hellooo we're Slate Hearts we're a 3 piece from Oxfordshire and people say we're grungy. How we got our name is a really boring story, we had managed to book a gig but needed to put some demos up online for the promoter to hear and obviously to do that we needed a name. We were going to be called CUBS but then we decide we didnt like it (boyscouts, beavers, sound like an indie band etc.) so Will's ex girlfriend pointed out that there were slate hearts hanging outside his house and in our haste thought it was a good name, now not so much but it's kinda stuck.

2. You’ve just finished up supporting on the Lucy Leave tour… how was that?! Seeing you guys at the final date of the tour you all looked like you were having the time of your lives, particularly when they invited you back up to play ‘Carry’ with them, which went down an absolute treat with the crowd.

Supporting Lucy Leave on tour was great fun. It was basically just a week of playing music, hanging out with friends and having a few beeeeers, I'd recommend it to anyone. Playing Carry with them was sweet, Ed looked so happy and so lost at the same time going back and forth between the mic and a cymbal, a beautiful site. Haha we're glad people enjoyed it too as it was a bit self indulgent of us.

3. Your ‘Blood Fluff’ EP has been out for a few months now… how has the reception been?! It was a pleasure hearing ‘Take Me To The Green’ at the Lucy Leave show - what a tune! When was the EP recorded and where, any cool stories about collaborations with other artists, producers etc?

People have told us that they like it so it can't be too bad which is cool. We recorded everything back in April and used Ed's friend's studio to record the drums (which was a bit of a waste of time as things didn't go so smoothly and we could have done them ourselves). Everything else was recorded in Ed's little shed of a studio that he built. Ed produced everything you hear on the EP as he's some kind of wizard but our friend Callum Marinho from Too Many Poets mastered it for us which was v nice of him!

4. What’s next for you, is another EP on the horizon? (If so we can't wait!)

We're currently writing new material which should eventually turn into an EP at some point so look out for that. It probably won't be as long as our previous 2 though.

5. How do you approach the songwriting process? Does it start with the lyrics or the melody, or does it vary from track to track? Do you draw on any particular musical influences?

It always starts with the melody for us and then I mumble over the top of it until they somehow turn into lyrics, I think I'd like to be more of a poet but you can't win them all. I don't think we actively draw on any particular influence, it's just a combination of them all and if we think something is sounding good we'll try and turn it into a song.

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

Our audience is absolutely anyone, bring your grandma to our next gig.

7. Tell us about your dream gig… are there any venues (anywhere) you’d love to play, or a band you’d love to support, or maybe a line-up of local bands you’d love to be a part of?

Hmmmm our dream gig? That's a tough one. Maybe like headlining a packed out Oxford O2 with free beer and pizza for everyone. Yeah that sounds like it could be fun.

8. What does the rest of 2016 hold for you, and do you have plans for 2017?

We have a few gigs left currently in 2016 such as Oxjam and the Idiot King Christmas party. We are just going to try and gig as much as possible next year and really try and get ourselves out there and heard.

Sadly we haven't got any gigs with Slate Hearts coming up yet, but we love them and can't wait to work with them on more shows so watch this space (and their Tigmus profile here!)