Local Band Profile

Over the past few years, Bristol has been home to an underground country music scene which has been accidentally nurtured by a group of friends and musicians looking for a place to hide amongst the concrete and steel of the city. You may have noticed names such as Jon E. Vistic, Emily Breeze and The Hinkley Veltones appearing on gig posters together. Another name may have been Howlin’ Lord. Whilst almost certainly once the runt of this litter, H’L ambitions are beginning to be realised. Through hard work and sheer bloody mindedness he has put together a live show and band that echoes Neil Young’s Crazy Horse or The Band, at 3am in the Big Pink. His last release, The Blackheart Sessions, in name, references the studio in Easton that he and the previously mentioned Vistic and Breeze shared. Sharing recording space, band members and whiskey.

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Friday 11th February 2011 @ Crash Mansion, Bristol

Mothboy, the innovative London producer, is releasing his latest and perhaps final EP entitled Yeild this week. To celebrate, Drawn Recordings are throwing one almighty launch party at Crash Mansion on Friday 11th February; Deep, Dark And Destined For The Dancefloor. Mothboy’s most famous works have been released through German electronic imprint, Ad Noiseam, where he has unleashed three stunning albums and two 12” singles that have enabled him to carve out a unique place for himself in the world of bass heavy electronic music. Expect a heady night of DJs, live bands, visual projections, a live illustrations showcase and, of course, a performance by Mothboy himself.

www.myspace.com/simonmothboy

www.drawnrecordings.com

It’s been really nice, a privilege, to watch and document this band from their inception to their current point in their journey. Although I’ve known lead guitarist, Luke Horne, for years, my first contact with the rest of the band was when I went to photograph them rehearsing at the Rooftop Studios on Feeder Road. They only had a few original songs and were supplementing their set with Arctic Monkeys covers. There first gig was in a Battle of the Bands competition. They came second and won a set on stage at the Keynsham Festival in 2009. From there on they honed their act with more rehearsals and playing at friends’ parties.
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Scarlet Rascal And The Trainwreck have been making noise in Bristol since early 2009 and if you’ve ever had the pleasure, you’d think it was 1969.  This is how a rock n’ roll band should be:  Rough, raw and ragged at the edges. Having just made slight line-up adjustments, the now four-piece are back and better than ever. SY Magazine caught up with them at their favorite haunt, The Lanes, to discuss their raw, bluesy sounds.

Starting off in college, guitarist/vocalist Luke Brooks and drummer Maya Indelicato got together, sharing the frustration of previous band experiences. Casting off any complications, they went at it as a duo. “We kind of, like, stuck together,” explains Maya. Luke adds; “it was always me and Maya at the heart of it, we kind of just got rid of people until it was just us left.” When left alone in the rehearsal studio they clicked, fueled by their love of The Velvet Underground, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Very soon they were getting out and giving people shows of un-reserved rhythms, electric shrills and wild vocals.
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Wednesday 8th December 2010 @ The Louisiana, Bristol

Everything falls apart in an English winter, and audience participation proves to be no exception; however the band tonight seems unperturbed and crack on with the show. At first it seems The Mysto Juniors are cleverly cultivating an adverb-elusive atmosphere with their front man going all “Thom Yorke” in a disturbing fashion but his haunting howling soon went too far and mingled with bizarre cackling. Once this pseudo-atmospheric art-house fanny around was over, the band picked up some momentum and it was a breath of fresh air to feel some real talent coming from the stage.
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Thursday 9th December 2010 @ Trinity Centre, Bristol

Following my interview with Johnny Flynn in New York (on the blower - he the jet setter, me in my tremendously cold flat), here we were at the Trinity Centre. I say we, I mean it was him on stage with his band, The Sussex Wit, and then me amongst a crowd of very excitable and enthusiastic Flynn lovers. Boys, girls, old and young - there was a genuinely passionate embrace of the man. It felt like the audience were united in being proud of this (our!) English acoustic dream machine
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Creative File goes behind-the-scenes to talk with Bristol creatives in their own working space. This time, Borai steps up. Also known as Boris English, this cat has been a constant in Bristol bass music for more than a decade. Whether it’s dub, funky, grime, dancehall, house, juke or all the steps - Borai is always on point.

So what do you do exactly?
I spend most of my time writing music (lucky me…!) at home in my studio, or round someone else’s house/studio if I’m working on a collaboration. I’ve recently been delving into mastering and dubplate cutting, helping out a friend who runs a small operation in Bristol, Dub Studio, and in return am being taught the finer points of the so called “Black Art”. Other than that I go to clubs/gigs that interest me and try to keep up with the housework!

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Friday 3rd December 2010 @ Colston Hall, Bristol
With Support From: Performance

For all practical purposes, we may as well own up that we’re now reliving the eighties: Tory government, student protests, crap England team, yada yada yada… It’s not particularly surprising then that the New Romantic corpse has been warmed up again for another turn on the floor. ABC, Spandau Ballet and Soft Cell have all reformed/re-record/re-lived their classic records and/or line-ups over the last few years. Synth-pop pioneers, The Human League, rank amongst their number.
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Friday 26th November 2010 @ The Greenbank, Bristol

Sometimes you think why the hell did I venture out on a freezing cold, snowy winters evening, and sometimes you think I’m really glad I did. And it’s a case of the latter tonight with Bristol-based female-fronted four-piece, The Metiers.

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Wednesday 24th November 2010 @ Trinity Centre, Bristol

I looked up the weather for the next week and it’s all 3 degrees this and -2 degrees that. The layers are permanently hanging about, insulating or being annoying on floors or draped over arms. The days of the profit making cloakroom are back. In short, it’s cold. Hence a night out with Beach House could not come at a more suitable time. These two from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, however, are more dramatic and melancholy than their name may suggest. They are electro-dream-pop, with a dark and hypnotic edge.

There was a fear that Beach House may not have been able to transcend from the cosy living room/early hours summer soiree, to the live stage. Well, there was no need for any anxieties about this. They have their own styled, very polished performance down. As soon as the notes were hit, there was an immediate wafting of unselfconscious electro pastel coloured pop.
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