local artists

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 — Leave a 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.

Newcastle Based Dream Pop Artist Mac Benson on songwriting, the future and new EP

1st Nov 2019 — Leave a comment

Friday sees Dream Pop rising star Mac Benson release his second EP ‘Coming of Age’.

Photo by Shona Radcliffe – @shonaradcliffe

The five track EP stretches across a variety of different influences combining to make a poppier sounding record than anything previously seen by the solo artist.

Earlier this week, I sat down with Mac to ask him about the new EP as well as how it came about.

The EP has been two years in the making for Mac Benson after the release of 2018’s ‘Love and All it’s Colour’.

The record covers the themes of love, friendship, loss and growth over the last few years of Benson’s teenhood.

‘Looking back on the last year retrospectively it kind of does feel like a transitional period of my life, and as if the period of time these songs are about are their own little era.’

Musically the EP is also inspired by a particular period with Benson pointing to various pop records released late last year.

Whilst influenced by pop, the EP takes the form of a mixed bag highlighted by the wide array of influences from within the genre.

‘I took a lot of inspiration from pop musicians who I like and grew up on: Lorde, Frank Ocean, The 1975, Taylor Swift, Bleachers. Quite a mixed bag really.’

However, ‘Coming of Age’ sees a change of direction from the singer songwriter, as heard in lead single ‘Divine’.

The single described as the darkest on the record is a perfect starting place for those wishing to preview the vibe of the EP.

However, whilst the track is a darker song, Benson makes clear that there is light on the record as well as a more electronic feel than previous releases.

‘I feel like all the others are a bit lighter in comparison (Divine), at least in terms of the production. Everything’s very electronic on this one though, definitely a departure from the last EP.’

Benson has also experimented with new ways of writing for the record, particularly building a greater understanding of the structure of pop songs which has helped him hone in on his own specific style.

‘To begin with I don’t think I was really that good as a pop writer and I didn’t really have the confidence to try and write to that kind of structure, but while making the EP I feel like it’s just grown into my natural way of doing things.’

Photo by Shona Radcliffe – @shonaradcliffe

A highlight of the singer songwriters work are his lyrics which often go into deep and personal places however according to Benson lyrics come easy due to their honesty.

‘I don’t know how else to do it, I’ve tried writing fictitiously but it just never works for me. I’m a huge overthinker, definitely more dramatic than I’d like to admit and am never short of stuff from my life to draw from.’

‘A lot of the time I’ll actually realize how I’m feeling through writing. Like I’ll just write things subconsciously, sometimes I’ll finish a whole song and be like ‘oh I guess that was what was up’, it can be really cathartic sometimes.’

It is this approach to songwriting which makes Mac’s music incredibly relatable, endearing and most of all amazing.

Mac Benson’s new EP ‘Coming of Age’ is out now on Bandcamp.

Follow Mac on Instagram here: macbenson_

All photos were taken by Shona Radcliffe make sure to follow her on her Instagram for more amazing photography: shonaradcliffe

Music Reviews – Sam Fender – Hypersonic Missiles

16th Oct 2019 — Leave a comment

Polydor Records

Release Date: 13th September 2019

I know I’m over a month late to the party but it would be hard not to talk about this album with Sam Fender mania sweeping the North East.

The Limited Edition Picture Disk ft. bed

It’s been quite the month for Sam Fender, a number one album followed up by announcing huge gigs at the Utilita Arena here in Newcastle. There has even been talk of potential gigs at St. James’ Park it’s fair to say that Sam Fender is now amongst the biggest alternative artists in the country.

But is all the hype deserved: the short answer is definitely yes. The album starts with the title track, an arena ready song made to be performed live with smart socially relevant lyrics which perfectly combine. Despite this, one drawback is the ‘oh’ lines which feel forced in there to create a festival singalong which isn’t really needed when the song is so dramatic already.

‘The Borders’ and ‘White Privilege’ are both excellent painting Fender as modern day Geordie Springsteen, the catchy riff in ‘The Borders’ shows off the singer songwriter’s talent, immediately distancing himself from the array of acoustic guitar wielding artists, which are all over the radio like a plague of flesh eating locusts feasting on the corpse of originality.

‘White Privilege’ is lyrically the best on the album performed for the majority in one continual verse flowing like a rap or poem, confronting difficult social issues in an incredibly self aware way making this a great song for finding a unique spin on commentary.

The excellent social commentary continues on ‘Dead Boys’, which confronts male suicide in a heartfelt way whilst ‘You’re Not the Only One’ changes up the sound of the album adding in a drum machine creating the vibe of a sped up version of Iggy Pop’s ‘Nightclubbing’. Overall, this gives the song a welcome change to the rest of the album with it’s pulsating beat which sounds very different to the rest of the album of which, there is little variation from the core indie sound.

‘Play God’s looping guitars are effective in reflecting the dystopian narrative of the song lyrics and proving another excellent single showing off Fender’s talent of writing pop songs with an indie twist. This continues in ‘That Sound’ with a thunderous chorus and pounding guitar riffs forcing home the heaviest song on the album in triumphant fashion.

‘Saturday’ continues the anthemic nature of the album with yet another effective future singalong. This flows into ‘Will We Talk’, which is a far more bittersweet song with a beautiful underlying melancholy to the tune despite keeping an energetic outer shell of guitars and violins.

‘Two People’ is the most similar to an Ed Sheeran type song expected from most male singer songwriters having the vibe of ‘The A Team’ with an electric twist whilst delivering another amazing set of lyrics. The album takes a downwards turn on ‘Call Me Lover’, a very poppy song, that is not necessarily a bad thing but amongst this album stands out as cliche and repetitive.

However, the next song, ‘Leave Fast’ is the best song that Fender has released to date. It is hard to describe just how perfect this song is, the riff is beautiful and brims with emotion, which combines well with the perfect lyrics revolving around the monotonous struggle of living in a small town and the inability to separate yourself from it. The song is easily the best on the album.

‘Use – Live’ is a change up from the rest of the album if a little baffling described as being there to prove that he can perform well live which gives the impression of the album being more of a CV to the audience than an album of songs. Despite this, the song is a nice switch up from the formula of the album with the guitars ditched in favour of a piano and Fender providing a strong vocal performance to finish off the album.

Overall, I really like this album, it’s a really strong starting point highlighting Fender as an extremely good lyricist combining social commentary in an effective unpatronizing way. However, I do feel as though the lyrics are stronger than the music which is backing it up.

Whilst the music is good I feel like it is a little tame in some areas considering the content of the lyrics. This is mainly nitpicking however and overall this is a really solid debut backing up the hype of the North Shields artist.