North East no-steppers Absorb Vs Sequel release their brand new download-only single “Step One” today. Toonwaves caught up with the MC half of the duo to find out what it’s all about: Toonwaves: You’ve got a new single coming out on Monday. Tell me about that… ABSORB: We have a brand new digital single out [...]
For this week’s Q&A Toonwaves caught up with Hazel Wilde, singer with shimmering Tyneside psych-pop outfit Lanterns On The Lake before the band headed down to Glastonbury for their set on the BBC Introducing Stage tomorrow (June 26). Toonwaves: Firstly, how are things going? Hazel Wilde: Swimmingly, thank you. TW: Tell me about Lanterns On [...]
Quirky North East indie-poppers Brilliant Mind unleash their debut single “Our Osprey” on Monday (June 7) as a beautifully packaged limited edition cassette complete with badge, mini-poster and photograph of one of the band’s favourite South East Northumberland industrial industrial estates. To celebrate, they’re holding a joint launch party at The Cluny 2 with O’ [...]
If you see just one act at this year’s Evolution Emerging make sure it’s Nadine Shah. Walking a line between the funereal blues of Polly Harvey and the leftfield alt-rock of Tori Amos, the Whitburn and London-based singer-songwriter’s haunting piano-pop is guaranteed to leave plenty of punters stunned when she exits the stage at The [...]
Words: Casey Spence Whatever tickles your musical fancy this year, make sure you catch The Villeins. This Geordie five-piece (comprising three local lads and two adopted Tynesiders) are making waves through Newcastle and beyond with their own brand of vibrant rock. Loud, proud and unquestionably talented, The Villeins are not to be missed. TW: How [...]
Words: Matthew Ketchell France and the Habsburgs, the name is a Scrabble enthusiast’s wet dream and the band are a seriously competent four piece hailing from Wearside currently finding their gigging legs in and around the Newcastle area. Turning heads in all the right places: The Cluny, Head of Steam, End Bar, particularly heads of [...]
Words: Casey Spence Up and coming Newcastle band Night of Sevens are well and truly throwing themselves into 2010, as their alt-Garage sound leads them from strength to strength. With regular sessions at music stalwart The Cluny, a growing number of support-act slots and a brand new EP just around the corner, the band are [...]
Former Test Icicle Dev Hynes brings his critically-acclaimed alt-pop back to The Cluny this Friday (May 7). Last time he was here I interviewed him for R2 Magazine. Here’s what happened: “The songs were written before the idea of an album existed,” explains former Test Icicle Dev Hynes. “People heard them and were like ‘wow [...]
Borne out of a shared appreciation for Death Cab For Cutie‘s Transatlanticism LP, North East-based three-piece The Winter Hill Transmission are yet to play any gigs but their beautifully layered acoustica has already found them favourably compared to Odessa-era Bee Gees by Narc Magazine. Named after a television and radio transmitter in singer-guitarist Ben Holland’s [...]
Naming your band after Newcastle United terrace anthem “The Blaydon Races” is bound to win you plenty of fans round these parts. And so it is with Tyneside psych-prog outfit 1862. Lifting their moniker from the second line of Geordie Ridley’s folk classic, the band’s riff-heavy pyschedelia is already building a groundswell of support around [...]
