10 Questions for…Lights Out Lester

 

I caught up with London duo (and sometimes trio) Lights out Lester who have been making some sounds down in the capital, and getting people’s attention!

First things first how did you come to be?

Ben: – We coincidentally lived together at university and bonded over creating a foul potion at the end of Marty’s 21st birthday party. The ingredients included, vodka, wine, whisky, orange juice, milk, coke, celery, salami, leftover bolognese.

Marty: – Yeah, it wasn’t till after that year of living together that we started doing the music thing properly. Whenever we hung out in that house we just sort of dicked around. Then it wasn’t till about 6 months after Ben had left uni that we had our first recording session for fun and came to realise we worked together really well musically.

What genre of music would you say you play?
B: I guess it’s kind of ‘exploratory rock’ if you do have to put a label on it.

Which bands/artists do you take influences from?

M: There’s far too many to begin to name. We were just talking about this a couple of hours ago. That’s probably the biggest plus of being part of a generation that grew up with the internet, if you love music then there’s so much incredible music out there from all over the world and that was made decades ago that you can access/discover 24/7. Plus it’s not just music that influences us. Personally I get influenced by anything from listening to my favourite musicians to people-watching in coffee shops. The song we’re recording at the moment which is gonna be track 2 of the EP was actually an instant response when I was watching an episode of House Of Cards! The lyrics have got nothing to do with anything in that show and neither does the mood of the music, but I think Kevin Spacey did some monologue where he talked about phantom pain and I thought ‘I’ll have that’ and went upstairs and did a demo of the song. So it’s often not even necessarily music that influences us musically.

Best venue you’ve ever played and why?
M: We both have a bunch of live experience from past projects, but we’re not starting gigging together as Lights Out Lester till Autumn when everything with the EP and the music video is complete. But we have done one gig together which was a lot of fun. It was a party in a field in the middle of nowhere next to this old pub called The Bull’s Horn.

Best gig you’ve ever attended?

B: Soundcraft at Latitude. That was probably the most I’ve enjoyed anything ever. Was it Soundcraft? Kraftwerk! No, yeah it was that. With a K.

M: Probably the Hives at Glastonbury in 2013. They were one of the first acts on the Other Stage on the Friday and they had so much energy. Plus their roadies were dressed as Ninjas so they had everyone’s attention before they’d even stepped foot on stage. That said I might be securing a pair of Kylie Minogue tickets this week, which could change everything…

A band you would most like to support and why?

M: Lana Del Rey because then she can fall for me and I can tick that off my bucket list. Or Snoop Dogg.

B: Pink Floyd. There’s just something really ‘full’ about their music that I’ve been drawn to.

A band that you would like to work with?

B: Tame Impala.

M: Snoop Dogg. Or maybe Lana Del Rey.

Top five albums you’ve ever heard?

Bold As Love by The Jimi Hendrix Experience

To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar

Live At The Greek by Stanley Clarke

Hot Shot by Shaggy

Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis

Biggest accomplishment as a band/solo artist?

M: I guess the fact that we’ve taught ourselves to do everything from scratch and it doesn’t sound shite! Everything from the songwriting to making sound insulation to where the microphone is placed to the mixing is done by the two of us with no external input/assistance. That and pulling off quite ambitious songs without it sounding pretentious. The finale of the EP is a song called Ant vs Elephant and it’s 6 and a half minutes long, has three key changes and I think we’ve written, recorded and mixed it without making it sound pretentious. Or at least I hope we have.

What’s next in the pipeline?

B: Putting the finishing touches on the EP, shooting a music video for SMOKESCREEN with a production company called Somnio and then gigs gigs gigs!

 

Thankyou so much guys for taking the time out to answer the questions,you had some interesting answers I never expected!

Strangers – Something New (Single)

Intro

Strangers are a dark-pop group coming from London and in the band we have:

Vocals and Frontman – David Maddox-Jones

Drummer Raife Hacking

Synth player – Piers Sherwood-Roberts

After a year that saw the band release three EPs, earning praise across the blogosphere, managing to  played on Radio 1, earn a a place onto the  XFM playlist and attention from the likes of Mixmag, Music Week and Artrocker, and support slots with Niki and The Dove and Grimes. So in a year the band have managed to complete a lot, perhaps more than what some bands complete in 5 years.

‘Something New’

I have never really been into synth pop until I listened to Decibels and their song ‘RUZA’, since then I’ve looking round in search of other synth-pop artists, and it was then when I came across STRANGERS. Their dark tones and clear vocals made the place in my heart for synth music slightly larger with their song ‘Something New’. Throughout the song you never feel at ease, as if you’re waiting for someone to scare you from behind, also the lyrics don’t help this with lines like ‘Touch my chest, and feel my pulse, there’s two heart beats and you live underneath it all”. Although it has beautiful dark side to this song, it also manages to be quite groovy, slightly making you want to float across the room. The vocals play an instrumental part in this song, Maddox-Jones has a  clean edge to his voice,making you listen so much more intently. There’s not a dull part present in the song with the beat constantly holding attention throughout, until the chorus bursts through like a ray of light leaving you no other choice but to sing along.The song was produced by  Dimitri Tikivo, who has worked with The Horrors and Goldfrapp. You can hear a sense of his work throughout this song, as there is a Horror’s feel and to it all but just more pop. After the first listen you can understand why it’s gained so much recognition and plaudits, as well as air play and a place on the XFM Playlist. This is only the start for STRANGERS and their sound, now they’re on my radar I won’t be losing track of them anytime soon. 

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The Hottelles – Movie Reel

Intro

I stumbled across this band a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as I heard the first song ‘Ignore Me’, I knew that this was the band for me. Fortunately I’ve had the luck of getting in touch their people and they were happy for me to get an exclusive on their upcoming new single ‘Movie Reel’, so I’m doing something right.

They’re a three piece coming out of London, and aren’t following any speed limits after their music has currently featured in a promo video for the fashion company Vans, as well as support Fantastic Mr Fox. The band are made up of three brothers, which just makes this band that much better with:-

– Tom Easton (21) – Vocals and guitar

-Ben Easton (18) – Bass and Vocals

– Sam Easton (14) – Drums (I was shocked when I found out his age because he drums like a pro)

With this Cribs set up and two other singles behind them, I was excited to see what they could do next.

‘Movie Reel’

Unfortunately the song hasn’t been released yet so I can’t place it on my blog, but I can tell you how good it is and how you should most definitely buy it.

The single was produced by Cam Blackwood who has worked with the likes of The Horrors, Florence and The Machine and Hurts (so he hasn’t got a bad body of work). The song see’s them take a step into a more mature direction after their first two releases, which are well worth a listen to.

The song has a very Cribsy feel to it, especially with the catchy but at the same time quite complex guitar riffs, however they seem to keep this independence at the same time, it’s not like they’re ripping The Cribs off. The song contains a very British guitar sound, which sometimes you don’t hear so often anymore with up and coming bands so it’s nice to hear.The vocals are flawless throughout and the lyrics are fresh and don’t seem fake or thrown together, they just roll of the tongue, lyrics like ‘someone to kiss in the sun’. It’s an excellent performance from the band on this one, and especially  Tom for his undeniable talent on guitar. For a relatively young bad, this song sound so past their time, it sounds like a song that should be coming out from a band that are experience, but it’s not which is pleasantly surprising and can only spell good things for the future.

The song is released on March 4th so be sure sure to buy it from every outlet you can and give them every penny they deserve. I definitely will

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Tinmen – Handful Of Dust EP – AW

Intro

Coming from the capital of England (for the people who are stupid, and don’t know London), the Tinmen formed 4 months ago after practicing in a shed. They’ve been gigging around the London circuit, while also recording this debut EP ‘Handful of Dust’. Unfortunately the lads didn’t feel the Shed was good enough anymore as they believed it had asbestos (also they had lanlord debts, so good job they got out of there), they now rehearse underneath a strip club with a load of heavy metal bands, which to me doesn’t sound too appealing but needs must. They’ve had some radio play off BBC radio 6, supported The Weeks on their tour and also have been selected to play Kingston’s new Slang by Banquet records. So for a band that have only been together for 4 months, they’ve already managed to get themselves quite a bit under their belt. So who’s in the band? I’ll put in in their words because it made me laugh.

Samuel Chatterley – Holds the small guitar and says the words

Robbert Cotter – Plays the big guitar and says more words

Samuel Freems – Sits behind the pile of scaffolding, fingers the tiny plastic Ivories and joins in with the words (my personal favorite Bio).

Oh and they’re Lovers of The Smiths, Pixies and Talking Heads.

The EP

You can listen to the EP for free on their website, which is quite a nifty website, and I think that’s actually nice, especially how good the EP is. So before you continue to read the review listen to it on their website. http://wearethetinmen.co.uk/tinmen.html#bio

‘Cradle/Grave’

Th e first song featuring on the EP is called ‘Cradle/Grave’, and it’s a catchy number to say the least having the high pitched guitar keeping you interested, but wait that’s not the only thing that keeps you listening. I found the lyrics rather funny especially with lines like ‘Get drunk and stumble around the dance floor/ Watch boys watch girls and feel alone’, because that second was literally me  when I was single. However it has a slight dark undertone with the lyric ‘You’re only one step from the cradle’. The vocals remind me of Carl Barat in his Dirty Pretty things era, I don’t know what it is but there’s something there that links me to him.

‘Holly’

In this song I got a connotation of The Smiths, especially with the melody and how it’s sung, also I think the guitar really does show signs of Marr with that high pitch and combined with that sexy little jangle hidden within it. This song is the shortest out of all them, but I think it’s one of their strongest ones, because they keep quite sweet with a little interlude in the middle of it. Again there’s the slightly more haunting side to the song, but a side that sits really well with the song.

‘Dear Sorbet’

‘Don’t confuse thrill with substance’, probably one of the best lyrics I’ve heard this year, understandably it’s early days but I’ve listened to A LOT of music. This song is probably my favorite on the EP, partly because I really the vocals in this song and how they both sing separate lines, and you can tell a clear distinction in the voice,  slightly like The XX, but it doesn’t sound like they’ve ripped them off, they seemed to have made it their own. This has some really cool lyrics in it, I think it’s probably the best written song on the EP, perhaps not the most musically challenging, but definitely a very good song. Coming to the end song it breaks away and picks up a bit of pace, Sam really show’s his talent with his vocals.

‘Handful of Dust’

The final song on the EP,   and it’s an ample way to finish an EP. Sometimes I find in EP’s I listen to it starts with a really strong song, and as the EP goes on I lose interest because the following songs weren’t strong enough, this Tinmen manage to keep that going all the way through and this final song emphasizes that point. The song has a swagger to it with the line ‘I’ll show you fear in a handfull’, after hearing that line for the second time I was singing it. A masterly well composed song, accompanied with these lyrics that accommodate a swagger that, I’m going to say it again, Carl Barat has.

Overall

Thoroughly enjoyed the EP, I’ve listened to it over and over again and just can’t seem to pick a fault with it, looking forward to what else these guys can do, and I’m sure they’re working on some new stuff because it seems like they haven’t stopped since starting, so give them all the support you can.

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Sisteray – EP – Unsigned Bands

Introduction

This band is a four piece coming from Chingford, London and although they’ve only been gigging for short amount of time they’ve built up quite a fan base around there, having sold out venues such as The Camden Rock and
The Rhythm Factory , and it looks like it may branch out it even further. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist Niall Rowan, lead guitarist Daniel Connolly, drummer and brother Ryan Connolly and Bassist Michael Hanrahan. Taking their influences from the likes of The Kinks, The Who, The Rolling Stones and loads more they have quite a good sound behind them. They’ve also gained interest from Tom Clarke, Bonehead and Peter Mcleod, as well as this they are wanted around the UK, South America and South Korea. As if that wasn’t enough they’ve aslo gained airplay from TCRFM Tamworth, Croydon Radio, The Hey Mr DJ online radio show, John Forster’s daily rock podcast  and The Unsigned Music Show, not badhttps://wordsformusic.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=823&action=edit for a band who’s just started.

The EP

The EP contains three songs which are ‘You Shine’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘War on the floor’.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I’m a fan of loud drums, and I like the drums to play an integral part of the song by being loud and prominent, so when I first listened to this song, after the first few seconds I knew there was going to be a strong chance I’d like it, and I was right.  I can definitely hear hints of Oasis in there, slightly in the sound of the guitar and an essence in the vocals. I think what I like most about this song is the edginess of it and the rawness, it doesn’t seem like it’s been coated with loads of effects which is nice to hear.

https://wordsformusic.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=823&action=edit

After listening to the first track, I had high hopes for the second on and it didn’t disappoint, as it stayed consistent by keeping that rawness which they get from having highly distorted  guitar and those loud drums being caned in the background. Like the first track this has a bit of a punky edge to it, which they get from the rawness of the recording of it, again it hasn’t had loads of effects thrown on top of it. For any other song I think I would pick out the fact that you can’t hear the vocals enough, but I think it really suits this sound, like The Strokes first album, Julian’s voice really suited the music they were playing.

‘War on the floor’ is probably my favorite of the EP, mainly because of the riff, it’s the catchiest one on there. Also I think the set of lyrics they have on this track are their strongest lyrics, and I also think that this is Niall’s best vocal performance on the EP. Also I think this one would be definite crowd pleaser live, all the songs would so big live but I just think that this on would sound the biggest, especially with the chorus.

It’s a band that I need to see live now, another one added to the list. They have quite a lot on their soundcloud, so it’s something that you should be listening to if you haven’t. After some good signs in their first EP, I’m really looking forward to their second EP, and what they will do next, so I’ll be keeping one eye open for them in the coming months.

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