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Author: Mia Edwards

Review: MorMor at YES

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

Last week in the basement room at YES, MorMor played his first show in Manchester, and proved that he is an artist of breath-taking versatility and control.

Toronto musician Seth Nyquist, aka MorMor, is something of an enigma. An enigma whose music some reputable sources have labelled “psychedelic indie-pop”. I have no idea how MorMor might feel about that categorisation, because I didn’t get a chance to ask him after the show, and even if I did have the chance I think there’s other things I would rather pick his brains about. Personally I’m not so sure there’s any mishmash genre bracket that can really contain him: his music straddles genres and styles effortlessly, often within the space of a song. One thing is certain though: last week he played a set that was so eclectic, so present and full of feeling –  that it felt like something of a revelation.

For some reason, I and most of the people I know seem to be completely unable to arrive in time to see support artists. I’m not sure what the reasons for this are, but seeing acts like Duendita make me fear that we might have been missing out on a whole lot. Duendita’s music is really one-of-a-kind; filled with tender moments of warmth and genuine feeling. Her deep and jazzy range was textured with a voice that felt somehow joyous and melancholy at the same time. In fact it felt like a lot of things all at once. Duendita used a small vocoder to explode the boundaries that should normally contain the human voice.  In the course of one song “baby-food”, her singing evolved from a bass-coated baritone to a rapidly clipped falsetto that made it sound as if she was being recorded through the engine of a 747 – it actually sounded great I promise. The other band members both blended seamlessly into the mix, providing off-kilter drum patterns and atmospheric synth melodies to accompany Duendita at the centre of it all – an artist totally and gleefully her own.

Then came the break in between, and a moment to savour one of YES’s £2.95 pints (a beverage sensation more than deserving of its own review). MorMor’s band came on stage and started easing in to the first bars of the shimmering, airy “Whatever Comes to Mind”: one of the tracks on his debut E.P Heaven’s Only Wishful, released just last summer. The man himself was nowhere to be seen. But then, just as a cry of “MorMor!” left the lips of a trim-bearded punter, a door opened behind the keyboardist, and Nyquist quietly and confidently made his way to the microphone.

Over the mid-tempo drums, languidly strummed guitar and floating synth chords of “Whatever Comes to Mind” his voice roamed free; delivering smoothly sung-spoke lines which then blossomed into a falsetto somewhere between a whisper and a yell. In person Nyquist’s singing is just as effortlessly expressive as it sounds on headphones, and it was a real thrill to watch him unleash every word in an intimate venue which meant that we were only ever a few metres away. Even without the subtle support of layered vocals, his voice more than had the strength to carry it all.

In the middle of his set MorMor dropped “Lost”; a track that combines massive, droning synth chords and the clatter of a drum-machine to propel crisp, clean vocals. This landed extremely well in the cosy confines of the basement and was a perfect display of the tightly controlled vision Nyquist is able to exercise.  He writes, records and produces practically everything you hear in his songs, and this allows him to craft music in which absolutely nothing is wasted, or even expendable. His stage presence was quietly focused throughout; determined to nail every vocal melody and every guitar part, and achieving this with calm style. There was no sense of aloofness in all this though, he seemed to enjoy himself and thanked us all for coming out to his first ever show in Manchester. He’s a pretty likeable guy really.

What became clear to me, on an almost physical level, is that this music is totally steered by emotion, and that’s a great thing. As a songwriter he has the appealing ability to feel a melody rather than think it: to sometimes let it speak more clearly than words. Very often, he manages to capture a feeling, or even a tangled mess of them, and distil it in one crystalline hook. The coda of “Heaven’s Only Wishful” is one of these such moments, and made a perfect finisher for the set that left the crowd in a satisfied daze. I won’t try and crudely recreate that experience for you here, instead I would urge you to go and listen to it and experience it for yourself.

All in all, MorMor’s set was a powerful statement of his abilities as an artist. It was a performance that seemed to vibrate with the bittersweet sensations of being alive, and with a new E.P on the way this year, it seems that he’s only just getting started.

Review by John Bodyy

Review: BangFace Weekender

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

When I got off the train at Ainsdale, a small seaside town north of Liverpool, I did not expect to be greeted by German accents. I was wondering why they had come all the way from Germany to a windy and rainy Pontins holiday park on the north west coast of the UK. I soon found out the reason; they, and many others (from Spain, Malta and even L.A) had come to pay homage to the neo-rave extravaganza that is the Bang Face weekender.

A shelf at the on-site Nisa local.

The uniqueness of BangFace was noticeable from the start, many of the ravers, known as the ‘Bang Face hard crew’ wore T-shirts and held papers with tongue-in-cheek slogans on them (see picture below).  Bang Face takes itself way less seriously than your average techno or jungle night, the mix of ravers from different scenes and the general open & friendly vibe made me feel completely comfortable, despite going on my own.

The effort put into the back to the future theme was obvious, with references to all things sci-fi, I saw costumes like Mr. Meeseeks from Rick and Morty, a whole gang of flying saucers, and even the full model of a Delorian with two guys dressed as Marty and Doc. My favourite costume was someone dressed as an 8ft oblong painted completely black – I thought it captured the absurdity of a sci-fi themed mega-rave in a Pontins holiday park.

From old school acid house to hardcore gabba and everything in between, Bang Face is celebration of electronic music culture from its beginnings to today.

I spoke to some of the stewards about what they thought of the weekend, they said that they look forward to it despite the noise. The chalet set up was another feature that set it apart from your average festival, after a certain time, they became mini-parties with an open door policy.

Ceephax acid crew – oldschool banger provider

I wouldn’t be surprised if people start following the Bang Face Pontins rave model.  I wasn’t there in the 90s but I think that’s what was achieved with 21st century technology, you could be forgiven for feeling transported to an earlier era of rave if it wasn’t for the memes flashing relentlessly during some of the sets.

 

My personal highlights

Ceephax acid crew – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhZzSdgnDF8

Eprom – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBlovL8J6JY

Post human – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpKcebnQyO4

Otto von Schirach – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_SFb4gNWHc

 

Best DJ names awards

1st –DJ lara crofts dentist

2nd Abba Gabba (pls look up their set from 2016 lol) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWonx6SdszM

3rd Shitney beers

 

Review by Adam McCarthy

Live Review: Maribou State at the Albert Hall

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

From humble beginnings in Hertfordshire, Maribou State found their musical niche in 2015 with their critically acclaimed debut album Portraits. Now four years later, dance-music duo Chris Davids and Liam Ivory electrified Saturday night at Manchester’s Albert Hall on their sophomore album tour, Kingdoms in Colour. Maribou State were clearly still feeding off the buzz from playing London and Bristol just a few days prior, but still seemed stunned at the energy Manchester had to offer.

The stage was set. Spotlights of blue and white bow their heads, illuminating the balconies, the back wall and finally the floor beneath them. In the gloomy glow the band takes their positions behind keyboards and guitars and drums as the crowd roars in anticipation. It would only seem fitting that they began with the very first song of their first album. The song “Home” is appropriately named: you feel acquainted with the sound. Yet woven into the song are distorted hums and moans to inflict feelings of unfamiliarity.

Kingdoms in Colour features previous collaborators like Holly Walker in “Nervous Tics” and “Slow Heat” as well as U.S. group Khruangbin co-producing one of the album’s two singles “Feel Good”. Walker made her appearance for fan favourites like “Steal” and “Midas”. As she grooved from left to right on stage, smirking to the band as she did, it was clear that their relationship between her and them was more than professional: a bond strengthened by similar visions.

The album is vastly more ambitious than its predecessor. After a Portraits world tour, Davids and Ivory scoured the globe for inspiration. Each song builds to a combination of unlikely instruments in what can only be described as some sort of neo-orchestra. “Nervous Tics” is quickly becoming a personal favourite of the album. It blends Walker’s falsetto with the Guzheng, an obscure Chinese instrument found on their worldly travels. Her voice becomes increasingly indistinguishable from the crescendo of melancholy drums.

What is personally intriguing about Maribou State is that their music somehow suits a rainy Sunday afternoon as much as the depths of Saturday night. Across the crowd you could watch people losing themselves in the music, while others felt comfortable just bobbing their heads. Maribou State is music for whatever mood you’re in.

Their sound is one that begs to be seen and heard live: the performance engages the eyes as much as the ears. Shoddy earphones whilst on a bus will not do the songs justice, but watching them on stage is a delight. They’re young, they’re cheeky, and they’re comfortable in the spotlight.

It’s clear that the group sought to tell their story in their set-list. This is what we were, and this is where we are now. As a last hurrah, the band was cheered back on-stage with “Turnmills”, the second single off Kingdoms in Colour. The song is a slow build-up, but at its peak it’s a club banger and a wild send-off to end the night.

Maribou State has this unique skill of making their music feel alive. Portraits was the same, but listening to Kingdoms in Colour, feels fresh and exciting while also embracing the technicolour empire of sound that made them famous.

Review by Byron Gamble

Photo by @SamNeillPhoto

Interview: Boyzone’s Keith Duffy

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in News.

Keith Duffy is a founding member of Boyzone, one of the UK’s most successful bands (his words, not ours) and this week he talks to Fuse FM about Boyzone’s farewell tour, his continued success with offshoot Boyzlife (with Westlife’s Brian Macfadden) and their upcoming collaboration with student favourite Bongo’s Bingo. Our interview starts off on a rather awkward note as a misunderstanding on who is calling leads to what we expect to be an extremely short “interview”. However after a few unanswered, and admittedly rather creepy sounding ‘Hello Keith, how are you?’ the Boyzone star realises we aren’t cold callers from The Daily Mail and everyone begins to relax. Throughout the interview Keith excitedly rattles off the places he’s performed in during his illustrious career but for someone who has toured the world several times, the singer is surprisingly more down to earth than you would expect.

Keith puts this to his upbringing, citing the bands “strict Irish mothers” and “God-fearing working class backgrounds” in helping him to stay grounded throughout the continued success of Boyzone. He also praises the atmosphere of the band as well, revealing that if anyone ever fell into the traps of success “there were always three or four of the other guys to help pull you back up.” Even when we tell Keith that a lot of our female friends were extremely jealous that we were interviewing him he seems surprised and says he never understood the attention he received after Boyzone blew up. “We never saw ourselves as any different from the lads we grew up with” claims Keith, “when it all happens so suddenly you can’t process it too much- you can’t get too confident because if it all came so quickly that also means it can be taken away just as quickly.” It was only on Boyzone final tour with the album ‘Thank You & Goodnight’ that Keith truly realised how involved the band had been in people’s lives. He tells us that it was during the meet and greets fans had told him how his songs had been used for first dances at weddings, songs that people’s children were conceived to and even at funerals. “It really made me think for a second, whatever the critics or cynics have said over 25 years of Boyzone, we’ve been really involved in our fans’ lives and that’s something truly touching.” On the decision to call it a day on Boyzone, Keith reveals it was important for the band to finish on a high, saying their last album is “the best work we’ve ever done, it took us two years to record the album compared to a time where we could make a record in two weeks.”

Keith also opened up about the loss of bandmate Stephen Gately, who died of a congenital heart defect in October 2009 and who’s death had an overwhelming impact on the mechanics of the band. “We were all so close we didn’t really know what to do” says Keith, “we finished the album out of respect and called the 2009 tour ‘Brothers’ in his memory but we were falling apart at the seams.” Stephen was even featured posthumously on 2018’s ‘Thank You & Goodnight’, with the band remastering unreleased songs that Stephen had written whilst also sampling his vocals on the tracks. This acknowledgement of the past is crucial to keep the fans engaged says Keith, “its about giving the fans what they want. Don’t just be self-deprecating and play your new songs, its when you play the old hits that people feel young again, it takes them back to when they were 17 and didn’t have any responsibilities.”

Since 2015 Keith has partnered up with Westlife’s Brian Macfadden to perform a collection of their bands’ hits under the moniker BOYZLIFE. This March they will be featuring in Bongo Bingo’s Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations and the boys seem to know the hedonistic reputation of the event, calling it “a great night… but crazy! We’re really happy with what we have planned for our St Paddy shows.” Boyzlife have gone from strength and strength and sold out their UK shows in a matter of days when tickets were released earlier this month, but Keith says there’s more in store including “another tour this winter, followed by our debut album which will hopefully come out by the new year, followed by an even bigger tour in 2020; my diary’s pretty full.” It does indeed, Keith, it does indeed.

Interview with Noah Matthews and Harrison Brown

Interview: The Stranglers

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

The Stranglers frontman Baz Warne discusses the state of rock and roll, his distaste for genres and how to
maintain a rebellious image in a sanitised pop landscape.

After Hugh Cornwell left the band in 1990, The Stranglers struggled to replace the hole he left so
when you joined the band in 2000 was it daunting taking on such an iconic role?

I never thought about it that way because I was in my mid 30s, I had been a fan of them for many
years and had even toured with The Stranglers in 95 and 97 as their support act. They made me
feel very welcome and we were so busy touring straight away that I didn’t even get a chance to
think about it. The dust settled after about a year and then we all moved into a farmhouse to write
the next record.

The Stranglers were known for their notorious, punk persona, even appearing on stage in 1978
with dozens of topless female dancers. Do you think bands have to worry about being politically
correct when trying to also maintain their rebellious image?

I think it’s just the times they [The Stranglers] were living in, i think if you try and be right on and PC
you’ll never get a chance to say anything to anyone; you’d end up having to call a manhole cover a
person inspection hatch- to be fair that is a really extreme example, funny though! We are who we
are, and it worries other people more than it worries us.

The Stranglers have touched upon some hard hitting topics in their songs, are there any more in
particular you want to tackle?

Well, subject matter just comes to you at the time. I mean, there’s plenty to write about at this
moment in time; we’ve got some US gigs in May and we’ve just got to watch what we say because
I’ve already written a few songs about the cartoon character they’ve got in the white House. It
happens naturally so you don’t really plan ahead, you just save up instrumental bits and someday
you’ll fit words to that.

So do you have pre-made lyrics, then? Or is it more impulsive?

Different sides of the same coin: you should never through anything away, always write it down,
often on a mobile phone which is crucial to musicians nowadays. You might listen back to it in 6
months and think that’s crap and say “I don’t remember writing” that “I don’t want nothing to do with
that shit” but sometimes you’ll listen back and think it’s great and wonder why did we never
recorded it before.

Did you expect the success of Big With Coming?

Big Thing Coming… that was one of the first thing we did together. To be fair we laboured long and
hard on that record actually. I don’t know, it would’ve been easy to follow the same direction of the
90s album which the other guys would admit was a bit ‘wishy washy’. New blood is always good: in
a football team, for managerial staff, anything; anyone coming at something with a different outlook
is bound to bring something new. Living in this farmhouse altogether, it was like The Young Ones, just trying to learn each other’s personalities and how we worked and Big Thing Coming just came
out of that situation.

Did you grow up listening to The Stranglers?

Well I had no internet- just top of the pops. It was so sanitised and mindless but every once in a
while you’d get a band like The Stranglers- their sound was so unique and no one sounded like
them, and no one probably ever will. That is what you want in a band, 45 years later and we’re still
doing it, so that’s gotta count for something.

Have you noticed a change in the demographic of your fans over the years?

The teenage fans from 1970s are all parents now so naturally yeh. And a lot of the fans, the
vociferous fans, who and eat and sleep the band have clearly got their kids into us too. So in the
crowd we get men in their 60s, all the way down to small kids down by the barrier who are being
lifted up so they’re not squashed and just eating a bag of crisps and watching the show! There’s
this one kid who’s been coming to our shows since he was a wee ginger lad and now he’s grown
up with a beard and a girlfriend, it’s fantastic!

What do you think about bands moving away from traditional rock music, like Arctic Monkeys’ last
album ‘Tranquility Base’, or The 1975 finishing off their recent round of UK arena shows with a
massive ‘Rock is Dead’ sign?

Ah! Well how do you mean by genre, if you had to use that awful word. They’re just boxes and
pigeon holes so that music is quantifiable. I tell you what lad, you come and see us and you tell us
that rock is dead. In London, Manchester, Glasgow, there’ll be thousands of leather jacket wearing
lads just waiting to rock out. Basically, it’s just about how it makes you feel, it’s not rocket science,
its very simple to be honest- you might catch yourself humming a tune that you accidentally hate. If
you don’t like rock go and listen to some bloody acoustic guy or some Ed Sheeran and then you
can tell me you don’t like rock music.

You’re primary fanbase is in the Uk but you also have big fanbases overseas, such as in France,
do the type of fans or atmosphere change country to country?

That’s what happens when you have a French bass player! Yeh we love playing there and we do
very well in France. When you go to places you haven’t been to in years- like our US shows which
will be the first in 6 years- the venues are absolutely rammed and alive because people have
missed us. We’re also off to Japan for first time in 10 years and one of the things I love in Japan is
the politeness, they’re so polite! The stage times are earlier too so you go on at 6pm and end by
8pm, they literally come straight from work and then go home straight after we finish- you wouldn’t
have that in the UK would you.

How to stay on the straight and narrow having such a crazy job?

We’re about to get in a bubble for 6 weeks recording and its important to not get up your own
backsides. Eating good, not burning the candle at both ends, get up, shower, go to the next town,
play the gigs, done. Its just a pleasure to still do this, I know that sounds cliched but we just feel
honoured to be able to still play to our fans. We won’t have played for 5 months by our next gig
which is too long and in the studio we all have massive smiles on our faces, so if we ever aren’t
smiling thats a sign to stop, but we aren’t there yet!

Doing this for so ling, have you guys developed any traditions?

Well of course they’ll be specific pubs or restaurants in specific towns that you want to visit but our
only major tradition is we all have a nip of rum and blackcurrant before going on stage. It’s an old
working mans club trick- the rum opens up your sinuses and blackcurrant coats your throat; a bit of
medical help works but just don’t do 6 shots of rum otherwise you won’t give a crap what you’re
singing.

Did you have any particular inspirations?

To be frank anything with a guitar in it but it didn’t always have to be guitar music. Great guitar
solos used to stick out to me on the radio, like ACDC, Motorhead, Sex Pistols and The Stranglers
but I wasn’t into the Jam or The Clash because they always felt too manufactured for me. As I got
older I even started to listen to Neil Young but to be honest whenI finish work and I go home I just
want to sit with my wife or go ride my motorbike through the Yorkshire dales. Music is my job but
don’t get me wrong it’s also my pleasure and a luxury too.

Do you have any hobbies outside of music then?

I read a lot as I’ve gotten older and I’m a very passionate football fan even if we team [Sunderland]
is now in the First Division; I’ve from a working class background where football was all pervading.
My grandchildren are great- I love being able to play with them and then give them back when they
get too much. Also as I mentioned I ride so maybe when the weather gets better we’ll get the
motorbike out and have some fun!

The Stranglers have dipped into so many different musical styles, what can fans expect from the
upcoming tour, any surprises?

Well you just have to play ourselves, like some old songs that the band haven’t played every or
haven’t played for 30 years; we call them the black jukebox. I could tell you the setlist but I’d have
to come up to Manchester and silence you! There are some secret surprises coming up but
likewise they aren’t public so I don’t wanna piss anyone off by revealing them to you.

The Stranglers play the 02 Apollo on March 30th as part of their UK tour.

Interview by Noah Matthews and Harrison Brown

Live Interview: Saint Sister at The Castle Hotel

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

Saint Sister is an Irish electro-folk duo comprised of Gemma Doherty and Morgan MacIntyre. On Friday 14th December they played Castle Hotel in Manchester. This venue itself created an intimate setting and feel to the evening, enhanced by captivating harmonies and sounds created by the duo.

The two met at Trinity College Dublin. Doherty recalled, “We were both in Trinity at the same time and met towards the end of our degrees, and we both were looking to make music in some capacity – I didn’t even know what kind. It was that weird time after college. But Morgan reached out and we just went for it. We just started playing together and did what felt most natural, which at the start was just using our two voices and using the harp, and we built it from there. That was about four years ago now.”

Their Manchester gig did not feature their band who often play with them. However, if one were to close their eyes during the set you would not believe you were listening to only two people.

The duo created loops onstage comprised of voices, harp and thumping rhythms, producing a sound that filled the entire room. The emotion and meaning behind their songs are evident when they play, and this held the attention of the audience fully throughout the one hour set. The audience remained in complete silence other than to applaud and cheer after every song. MacIntyre, who writes the lyrics, stated “All the songs are emotional for me and all of them ring true and that stops them from going stale”. In particular, McIntyre says she enjoys playing ‘The Mater’ live, due to its stripped back and intimate nature; “It’s the easiest one for me to tap into the reasons why I wrote it. Because it’s quite a sad song, it doesn’t ever feel like I have to work hard to get into that mood when I’m singing it and trying to deliver it in the appropriate way.”

Manchester’s show was not the most intimate the duo has played throughout their tour, which began in September. Doherty recounted that during a show in Mullumbimby in Australia there was a power outage, “There had been a tropical storm. It just happened as we landed, maybe an hour before our show. So, when we walked in to set up, [nothing was working]. The whole town was out, so [it wasn’t] our fault… I feel like everyone becomes very forgiving in that instance; when all of a sudden it’s everyone’s [problem] to deal with together. There was a guy in the audience just shining a torch up at us. Everyone else was just so quiet, and they sang along if we were playing a cover. They were really with us, even though they probably couldn’t hear a thing!”

Saint Sister’s songs all tell a story, and not just through the lyrics. The instrumentation feels like an extension to the stories told, complimenting the lyrics wonderfully. Doherty explained “We do quite separate things; Morgan focuses on lyrics with the melody a lot of the time, and I’ll work on production or instrumentation and arrangement. We come together quite early on in a song. We both have different roles, and it works well”.

Saint Sister have a unique sound that is a perfect representation of Ireland in 2018; it’s modern but the folk roots are still prevalent. The duo finished their set with a beautiful acapella cover of The Cranberries’ ‘Dreams’. Doherty and MacIntyre’s voices blend together to create rich harmonies, and this cover perfectly highlighted that.

It is clear The Cranberries’ music has had an influence on Saint Sister. When asked which artists they are currently listening to, MacIntyre described a game taught to them by Ciaran Lavery, who opened for Saint Sister during a number of dates on their tour. “He introduced us to a game called ‘Good Song, Better Song’, where you just think of the best song you could possibly think of. My first one was ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Dire Straits. You think it’s the best song, and then someone comes up with an even better song, and you just keep going. [It’s] good because it can go off in different genres, and then someone [throws] a curveball. We also do this thing, we call it ‘Irish Hour’ and everyone has to pick only Irish acts.”

Saint Sister’s debut album ‘Shape of Silence’ came out in October 2018; if you have not already listened to it, you are missing out. Saint Sister is one to watch.

by Hannah Montgomery

Live Interview: You Me At Six

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in News.

You Me At Six are headed out on their epic 52-date World Tour. This is nothing new for them, but this tour is extra special because selected dates are also part of the Take Off Your Colours 10-year anniversary tour. This was their very first album and so they are playing it in full, alongside some of their newer hits. This didn’t stop them from throwing in a lot of their old songs on their first night at Manchester’s Victoria Warehouse, despite it not being a Take Off Your Colours night. The crowd was with the band for the whole show, but it is safe to say that these older songs got the biggest reaction. In particular, Save It For The Bedroom and Reckless were particular crowd favourites. Their staging included huge video screens with animations and lighting effects adding to the atmospheres of each song.

Frontman Josh Franceschi prefaced an emotional performance of Take On The World with a speech about his love for Manchester. As well as his admiration for the resilience and community solidarity shown in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. You Me At Six were supported by The Xcerts and Marmozets, both of whom delivered electric performances and quickly drew the audience in, gaining more than a few fans.

Ahead of the performance, I sat down with guitarist Chris Miller.

Fuse FM: You just dropped the Back Again music video, it just looked like you were having a laugh. What was it like to film?

Chris: Yeah, to be fair, it was a lot of fun! We just got to bowl all day and chill and dress up in stupid outfits. We’ve done too many videos now where we’ve taken it too seriously and try to be ‘the cool band’ and we just aren’t!

FM: Do you get a lot of input in the videos then?

C: Yeah, the ones on this campaign in particular! Especially 3 AM and Back Again, they were both our ideas and then we worked closely with the director, came up with the treatment together and we’re now good friends. So, it’s just like coming up with a crazy idea and then seeing what you can do. The 3AM was just supposed to be like how you think you’re doing on a night out, whereas in reality you look like an idiot! Then Back Again, we just wanted to take the piss out of a film basically. We all thought The Big Lebowski was a good one to do, because we thought it was a bit of a cult classic. So, if you’re a bit younger you might not know the film, but you could still get something funny out of the video. Whereas, if you have seen it, you sort of get both sides of it.

FM: This is obviously a huge tour, what’s your favourite thing about touring?

C: I just like being in a different city every day to be honest. It’s nice just going around, having a walk and seeing stuff. We’ve obviously been to Manchester loads now but we went to the Trafford Centre today, and I’ve been to Manchester thirty or forty times but never been there! It’s like Vegas in there! It’s ridiculous! So yeah, I just like seeing the different sites, especially when we’re abroad. There’s obviously loads of touristy stuff you can do or just kinda find some locals to take you about and show you what’s good!

FM: You’re doing the two nights in Manchester with different sets, how do you think they will compare?

C: I don’t really know, I’m sure quite a lot of people will come twice. It’s been fun playing the old stuff, it’s definitely fun for the crowd, because some of the songs off the first album we haven’t even played live before. Call That a Comeback, we’ve never played that live ever! So, tomorrow night will be like the fourth time we’ve played it! It’s a weird one for us and we obviously enjoy playing both of them but it’s nice for us to see the difference of playing the first album and then we chuck about 8 or 9 more songs after the first album at the end. So, people get a bit of both!

FM: If you could collaborate with anybody, who would it be?

C: It changes all the time, personally, as a songwriter, I’d really like to write a song with John Mayer, I think that could be really cool. I’m sure Max would probably say someone in the hip hop world, like we’re really into Anderson .Paak at the minute. Which is really cool because it’s got all the rap elements but still a proper band in there. I think we’d go for something completely wild and unexpected and see what happened.

FM: What’s been the best thing of your career so far?
C: There’re so many things! On every album we’ve released there’s been some defining moments. I think back in the day the first time we ever headlined the London Astoria was a big deal for us; because that’s where we grew up going to see bands. It’s not there anymore, so I’m glad we got tick it off the list quite early. Then moving through, moving up the bill at Reading and Leeds is a big thing for us, and being on the main stage there. Number 1 album was a big thing for us as well for Cavalier Youth, it’s just really cool for a British band that play guitars and isn’t in the pop world, to actually be number 1. We’ll just keep aiming high now and see what happens!

FM: You finish up the tour and then play Neighbourhood festival next year. It’s such a musically diverse line up, what’s it like playing shows in that setting?

C: Yeah, I think our day is us and Nothing But Thieves and then like George Ezra and other people like that. Our favourite shows to play are shows where we shouldn’t really be on, like ones that are a bit of a weird line up. When we first started, every show we played in our local scenes was just metal bands, and we were sort of just the pop band on the metal gig. I think for us, we really enjoy playing the first few songs and maybe the crowd’s not that into it, but by the end, everyone’s loving it, so we know then that we’ve done our job.

You Me At Six are on tour in the UK until 9th December before moving on to the European and American leg of the tour.

Interview by Sophie Stevens

Live Review: Kamaal Williams at Gorilla

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

It is unusual to enter a concert and be greeted by a completely silent room. At first, I thought the first act hadn’t started yet and the crowd wasn’t feeling very talkative after a busy Tuesday. Then the ethereal sound of Madison McFerrins voice filled up the entire space under Gorilla’s industrial railway arch. As more layers of her voice appeared, I realised she was using a loop pedal to create acapella melodies over which she would eventually sing. The crowd were encapsulated by her ability to craft her tracks with her voice as the only instrument. It would be easy to think that she was performing with multiple performers if I wasn’t watching it live. She also included the crowd and set a nice buzz for the rest of the night. It was a much-appreciated start to the evening and brought a soulful female twist and a new discovery for me. She’s an artist I will be following from now on.

Next up was the main event, Kamaal Williams: with Henry Wu on the keys, Josh McKenzie aka McKnasty on the drums and Pete Martin on Bass. From the first few notes I could tell these three were going to work well together and I was excited to hear what was in stall. The crowd was quickly whisked into motion with fast paced drum beats and skilled keywork. This would be the theme for the first half of the performance: a jazzy fusion that people couldn’t help but dance to.

There was a clear artistic relationship between Henry and Pete, they seemed to be challenging one-another with high intensity, pushing the speed and complexity of their sound to a high energy crescendo at multiple points. Around half-way into the performance a repetitive loop was played on the keys, blending jazz with house music. It’s something I haven’t seen live before and by body noticed before I did. I found myself dancing with a two-step, thinking that this wouldn’t go too far awry in the second room of bona fide techno night.

With that in mind, the performance was not fast paced throughout, with a guest appearance from the Manchester based duo Konny Kon and Tyler Daley, otherwise known as Children of Zeus. They managed to incorporate singing into a performance which I was expecting to be strictly instrumental. With hip hop and soul influences, the crowd certainly sounded impressed.

Next up on the stage was Mansur Brown, he was a welcome addition to the stage. He brought a mature, dignified prescience with a calmer flow compared to the start of the set. This worked extremely well and introduced yet another dimension to the performance.

There was many members and a high amount of energy on stage – each member had different vibe but it came together in the music, giving a multi-faceted performance that I’m very glad to have seen.

Review by Adam McCarthy

Live Review: Parcels at Manchester Academy 2

Written by Mia Edwards on . Posted in Reviews.

Darkness. The smell of BO and beer. The nondescript chatter and buzz of pre-show hype. Out from the dark, synth chords start pounding away as a slick guitar riff begins to ring out; the crowd instantly starts bopping away. Parcels have arrived. Straight off the back of their self-titled debut album, the Berlin based Aussie boys have been lighting up the European synth-pop circuit for years and after 2017’s collaboration with Daft Punk, they have been on everyone’s lips. I sat down with the band before they headlined Academy 2 to talk all things music, influences, and Christmas albums. When asked which genre Parcels would describe themselves as, Patrick (keyboardist and vocalist) said ‘I don’t think it’s important, and it’s not very easy to define. I wanna say pop music because that’s the mentality, kind of, but I don’t think people would instantly associate our sound with pop music,’ and as opener Comedown’s disco synths and jazz-like guitar solo suggests, Parcels are musically miles away from the formulaic music dominating most charts today. However, the intense audience reaction, plus their 1.8 million monthly Spotify listeners, shows this 5-piece has a great understanding of what clicks with a listener. As drummer Anatole puts it ‘in Berlin we were pretty influenced by music that was made to make people dance and we try to re-enact that in our lives shows cos there’s something really special about the whole audience dancing to your songs,’ and when smash single Tieduprightnow is finally delivered there isn’t a single member of the audience who can’t help but groove to this masterfully crafted funk hit.

That’s not to say the boys are all about fan service, as they admits that sometimes ‘we decide to mess with the audience, like after a heavy dance song we’ll play a really slow song’ which at points in the set can be frustrating, especially when the crowd desperately wants to just dance and sing along. These creative decisions might be a product of the youthful playfulness and self-deprecating nature of these lads, which is quite refreshing in a climate where bands take themselves and their reputation too seriously. Anatole even jokingly mocks Patrick when he tries to talk me through the pedals and effects they use to achieve their unique synth sound: ‘Oh the way we make sounds, hm it’s very interesting’ jokes Anatole in a faux intellectual voice. The joviality continues when discussing their Daft Punk collaboration: ‘they [Daft Punk] have inside helmets and outside helmets, the ones they wear on their album covers are the heavy duty ones, but in the studio they just wear smaller ones with better breathing space and holes in the side to listen, it’s pretty casual.’ When asked about future projects, keyboardist Patrick jokes about the possibility of a Christmas album, much to the instant disdain of his bandmates, although I for one would love a funk cover of All I want for Christmas Is You, and even John Lennon delved into the festive realm at one point.

That’s part of the quirky charm of Parcels, when the 8 minute long Everyroad is performed, which
Patrick called ‘liberating, as we weren’t trying to make a pop song, we just made it for ourselves
through jamming,’ guitarist Jules and bassist Noah climb up the stage and begin performing a David Byrne-esque minimalist dance. The crowd goes wild for it and you can see from their beaming smiles after their little choreographed moment they relish these moments of absurdity, although this referential moment is superseded by my highlight of the whole show, when Parcels’ display themselves as the collective they truly are. The five bandmates leave their various positions on the stage to form a single line at the front of the stage for the chilled Bemyself, showing the band off as a cohesive, creative unit in contrast to other bands that portray themselves as merely the FRONTMAN and co. If guitarist Jules wasn’t already the spitting image of George Harrison I would’ve forgiven you for not noticing the comparison earlier, but as they stated in our earlier interview ‘when song writing we would always sit down altogether and listen to demos to decide things together, from the instrumental side to lyrics. We never really wanted a main vocalist either; we wanted it to be like The Beatles.’ The impassioned sing-alongs, the creative harmony, the eccentric bandmates, and most importantly the fantastic songs; Parcels are on the Abbey Road to something special.

They leave us on IknowhowIfeel, a surprisingly slow track in contrast to their bigger dance hits but it makes perfect sense when Parcels deliver their last trick of the night. One by one, throughout the song, each band member leaves the stage, starting with the guitarist, and ending on the drummer. By leaving those responsible for the beat to continue by themselves, it installs the catchy tune into the minds of the audience members much like a fade out on a record, so that when the drummer finally leaves the now empty stage, the audience carries on singing the tune without them even there. Genius.

Review by Noah Matthews