40 – ‘Fjokra’, ‘Houdini Dax’ and ‘Brave Yesterday’
Fjokra:
“Earnest singer songwritery balladeering? NO!
Retro revivalists? NO!
‘Hip’, urban funkateers? NO!
‘Queen on crack’? Perhaps. Chuck in a liberal dose of Mike Patton/Mr Bungle, Todd Rundgren, Prince, Rachmaninoff interludes and metal riffs the size of skyscrapers and you’re halfway to describing the musical smorgasbord that makes up Fjokra’s music. Oh, and there’s some Latin grooves and some monstrous Dubstep chucked in as well. Five guys, two girls and a lot of facepaint.”
(Quote obtained from the band’s website)
Houdini Dax:
“Summer 2011. And the nippers are still making good honest rock ’n’ roll. Take Cardiff’s Houdini Dax, who have an average age of 19. What are they doing digesting records, writing songs and rehearsing when they could be playing Xbox or texting friends from the back of the bus? Weren’t “the kids” supposed to have tired of analogous music? Wasn’t the house music craze of the late ’80s supposed to have killed rock? Heck, thinking about it, weren’t the synth bands of over 20 years ago viewed as the only way forward?
No my dear music lovers, valves are not dead, rock ’n’ roll is blossoming and “the kids are alright” (as Pete Townshend so neatly put it 46 years ago). The Noughties has seen great success for young bands. The Libertines and then Arctic Monkeys paved the way post-Brit Pop and now still barely out of the shadows come Houdini Dax, your soon to be favourite new band.
Hearing ‘The Magicians’ for the first time it’s impossible not to think of Alex Turner and his band in their early stages. Jack Butler’s edgy vocals, sharp wordplay and the stop-start, spiky New Wave tendency of the playing certainly share similarities with early Arctic Monkeys, but it’s not what defines them. A video of a live acoustic performance for Huw Stephens’ Swn Festival ‘Swn is Sound’ video series of ‘Struggling In The Sand’ show Houdini Dax playing in a stripped back setting with acoustic guitar, bass, brushed drums and harmonies to the fore. It’s tight, honed and timeless. Yes, they have major talent. They can sing splendidly, they throw in some deft bridges and could very well sound like one of those great old acts. Yet they don’t! And when quizzed about their favourite bands, ’60s touchstones (The Beatles, The Kinks, The Sonics, The Stooges) meet latter day acts (Blur and Supergrass) and new bands (The Black Keys, The Raconteurs and White Denim). Yet You Belong To Dax Darling sounds nothing like any of them. It’s the sound of teenagers discovering what they can do.
“Recording the album was amazing,” Jack reveals. “Having Rich from The Method [another of the See Monkey Do Monkey coterie] as producer was special. We’re friends, so he won’t shy away with his opinions. And he always got the best out of us.” Mentioning how the production had elements of ’60s guitar heroics, post-punk rhythms and an element of My Bloody Valentine about it, Jack beamed back at me as if their mission statement had been achieved.”I’m glad you hear those things clashing,” he eagerly states “because we love that retro ’60s style, but it’s been done so much before. It’s important for us to mix older styles with newer ones… We were aiming for a really strong debut that doesn’t really let up in energy and excitement,” closes Jack. “We tried to capture this by recording in a really live way.”
And live and exciting is the order for the day for the teenage world view of Houdini Dax. Their second album may well feature strings, ballads and mellotrons but for now let the revolution begin as these youngsters play it their own way with what they have learnt from Hendrix, Syd, Gaz and co. They should be famous! ”
(Quote obtained from the band’s official website)
Brave Yesterday:
www.myspace.com/braveyesterdaymusic
“We are Brave Yesterday, a rock band from Jersey. Not the one immortalized in rock mythology by the Boss. The other Jersey, the one in the Channel. Knowing this, you could also be forgiven for thinking that we are nearly French. We’re not. We’re nearly Canadian-ish.
Our frontman Nutter’s authentic North American Rawk voice gives us our mid-Atlantic twang. Mention us in the same breath as Rival Schools, Jimmy Eat World and 30 Seconds To Mars. We’re cool with that.”
(Quote obtained from the band’s facebook page)
22 – ‘For Abel’, ‘The B.Goodes’, ‘Neo Ferns’ and ‘Dakota Beats’
For Abel:
“We are For Abel. We make music. We want to make you sad because we feel like that too sometimes. We want to make you happy because thats what everyone wants to be.
Since acquiring limbs we have have flown far afield as showcasing at SXSW in Texas, as well as playing much closer to home in fields and lesser established premises. For Abel have been featured by BBC Radio’s Steve Lamacq, Vic Galloway, Huw Stephens, Colin Murray, Tom Robinson & Jim Gellatly and have also been digitised on the wireless by many others including XFM and NME Radio. The Skinny, Art Rocker, NME and numerous British tabloids have also thrown their arms towards For Abel in loving fashion.
We Are For Abel
You Are For Abel”.
(Quote obtained from the band’s myspace page)
The B. Goodes:
www.myspace.com/thebgoodesband
“The B. Goodes were formed with John Brett & Phil Jackson writing and recording in late 2008 and by Summer 2009 were joined by Jay Goodrich & John Randall (formerly of Rosalita), with a shared view to write and perform original music taking influence from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. The sound which came out was a mixture of beat, surf, soul and rock ‘n’ roll. The B. Goodes are an energetic and dynamic live act with the emphasis very much on having fun.”
(Quote obtained from the band’s myspace page)
Neo Ferns:
“Neo Ferns is the musical vehicle of London based singer-songwriter James Andrews. Formulated around a love of the acoustic guitar, he began developing a sound from an early age with the intention of taking the genres of folk and pop in a different direction. Although heavily influenced by the greats of those styles, the real focus of the music is to create atmosphere and space, combining a soft and reserved vocal style with thoughtful lyrics, he’s always enjoyed the art of music experimentation, resulting in a haunting but undeniably distinctive form of indie-folk. That’s not to say he isn’t fond of collaboration. The project has seen the work of several musicians contribute to provide a dynamic and complex sound.
The project is attracting lots of attention at the moment, both on the airwaves from radio play, and around the streets of London Town from many successful recent shows, such as supporting Merge signed Wye Oak on their first European Headlining Show, it’s a representation of the years of hard work and determination towards the project. This is what Spoonfed.com said “Ethereal, minimal pop makes for comforting listening. Minor tweaks and seemingly insignificant electro-bleeds can transport an average group to a great one. Neo Ferns have done just that, going that extra mile has evidently paid off in their indie-electro airy squeezes. “. The recently released ‘Five Weeks’ E.P on Octopus Escape signalled a changing sound, with a more standard rock approach. But like every release in the past, the sound has always changed, being the beauty of the project as it evolves. Who knows what’s coming next?”
(Quote obtained from the artist’s Official Website)
Dakota Beats:
“Dakota Beats are a 5 piece Indie band based in Dudley. From the ashes of The E-Go’s the Dakota Beats are set for a very exciting 2011. Dakota Beats have gig dates booked nationwide and management in the form of Jolene Chalk. Dakota Beats have recorded their first 3 track EP called ‘No New Faces’ with Editors, Ocean Colour Scene and The Twang producer Gavin Monaghan”
(Quote obtained from the band’s facebook page)
03 – ‘Hurricane Season’, and ‘The Twisted Hearts’
Hurricane Season:
http://www.myspace.com/hurricaneseason1992
The Twisted Hearts:
http://www.myspace.com/thetwistedheartsuk
01 – Recent Bands…
The first gig I photographed professionally was in October 2009 and since then I have photographed a variety of bands at a wide range of venues. Around Camden, Islington, Shoreditch and Kilburn, every venue is different. Personally, I’m not a believer in using ‘flash’ when doing live music photography. It can be distracting to the performer(s) and it also has the potential to drown out some of the atmospheric stage lighting. Sometimes though, when used appropriately and correctly, it can work to the photographer’s advantage. Some venues are very dark; even on the stage, and I think these places are the best locations for any photographer to practice and test their technical abilities. After all, I believe that testing conditions determine how good we really are. A photographer can be in a studio all day long with full control over everything from lighting, backgrounds, props etc and not be tested. On-location shoots, such as gigs are the ones that are always different and test me…plus they get my adrenaline going too.
Here is a selection of a few Live Music Photos that I’ve taken recently.
AmberSuit:
Live @ The Workshop
Live @ The Workshop
Live @ The Workshop
Live @ The Enterprise
Live @ The Enterprise
Live @ The Good Ship
Live @ The Good Ship
DeepSeaGreen:
DeepSeaGreen’s latest album can be purchased from itunes here
The Glass Child:
www.myspace.com/charlotteeriksson
The New Outfit:
Pearl Jammed (Tribute Band to ‘Pearl Jam’):
Absolute Bowie
(Tribute Band to ‘David Bowie’):
London Unsigned Music 