One of the most anticipated gigs of the year took place at The Deaf Institute, Manchester over the weekend (21st Nov) where the electrifying The Hyena Kill took centre stage and certainly brought a sold out crowd to their knees with a pulsating set
MIMR favourites Peur and False Advertising were perfect appetisers with both showing why they are considered stellar live bands at the moment
Here are some highlights from a memorable evening
Peur
False Advertising
The Hyena Kill
The latest band to perform at MIMR Sunday Sessions will be Alt-Rock Foursome President Ray-Gun and with their new EP out next month it sure is a busy period for the band.
MIMR spoke to the band ahead of their set at The Oxford this Sunday (29th Nov)
MIMR: Welcome to MIMR, so whats the latest with the band?
Zach – Thanks for having us, we’ve recently recruited our new guitarist Luke who I’ve known for a number of years and is great to finally have the chance to work with.
MIMR: How would you describe your sound and what influences do you have on your music?
Zach: I think sound wise we have drawn a lot of influence from 90s. Particullary the Pixies even now 2 years on I look at the the Pixies as one of the key formative influences of this band and still play a part in my song writing. When you listen to songs like Lucky H. and Supernova Remnant they have a very clean rhythm parts backed up with the use of effected lead guitar which is very indicitive of the Pixies.
Sarah: I agree with Zach that the structure to our songs have a very Pixies feel, but we also draw alot of influence from bands like Art Brut and Weezer. Art Brut, who have a lot of fun in their live performances and Weezer who have a strong geeky feel which we have too. Lyrically we have references to Science Fiction, Comic books and even wrestling. We try to
put the things we enjoy into our music to make it more personal to us.
MIMR: Your playing the next MIMR ‘Sunday Sessions’ later this month, whats your favourite gig venue you’ve played?
Tommy: Night & Day was a favourite of mine
Sarah: I agree my first gig ever was with PRG at Night & Day and I think it’s a great venue and have enjoyed it everytime. The sound is great on and off stage and just has a great feel to the place.
Luke: The Roadhouse 😦
Zach: While I also to enjoyed both Night & Day and the Roadhouse (R.I.P), I have had some great experiences at Kraak Gallery (now Aatma)
MIMR: Do any of the band have any pre-gig routines or supersitions?
Zach – No but I have considered demanding a brandy glass of brown M&Ms
MIMR: What does the immediate future hold for the band?
Luke: Chips and gravy hopefully
Zach: We all have dreams
Luke: We also have an EP coming out next month named Sex, Ray-Guns and No Delay. The EP will include the 3 tracks which were on the orginal EP but recorded to a much higher quality as well as 3 other tracks; Out & Down, No Delay and our new single Knowhere.
Sarah: The launch party is at the Castle Hotel on the 11th of December and we have some other great acts lined up to support us. It will be a charity event with all entry fee going to the Alzheimer’s Society as I recently lost a family member to dementia who sadly passed away this year and thought it would be a nice tribute.
MIMR: Thanks for sparing your time to talk to us, look forward to your set at The Oxford in a few weeks. With Christmas just around the corner, whats your favourite christmas song?
Luke: All I Want For Christmas Is A Dulka Prague Away Kit by Half Man Half Biscuit
Tommy: Fairytale of New York The Pogues and Kirsty MaCcoll
Sarah: The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)
Zach: Probably Christmas Wrapping by The Waitresses, thanks for having us 🙂
Why not come to this on Sunday, free entry and you get to see President Ray-Gun for real with great support from indie-rockers Strange Friends
MIMR has witnessed many exciting new bands in Manchester this year, this next band are up there as one of the most enthralling live acts around. We got to speak to the band about their year and what to expect from their live show
MIMR: Welcome to MIMR, what have the band been up to recently?
Darma: Hi there! These last few months have seen us pretty much exclusively gigging and getting our name around and about in Manchester, and around the country infact. We’ve played some awesome gigs with Broken Hands, Tigercub and Love Buzzard. The last few weeks have seen us begin to put in some solid groundwork for 2016; every year we aim to improve on the last and this year has seen us played on the radio, on TV and been in the MEN so next year we’re hoping for even more, and obviously more gigs!
MIMR: What can people expect from one of your live shows?
Darma: It’s so hard to describe without using all the cliches… We pride ourselves on our live set, it’s our biggest asset. We put all our energy into every gig, if you haven’t left everything you’ve got on the stage by the end of the gig then you’re doing your fans and the people who have paid an injustice. People don’t just pay to see music played, they want a performance, something they’ll remember and that’s what we aim for. That and bleeding ears – we like being loud.
MIMR What’s your favourite venue to gig at?
Darma: That’s a tough one. Night and Day has become our spiritual home, we’ve played there more than anywhere else and our last outing there was our “What the Fuzz?!” night in the summer, which was without doubt our best gig to date. We like Gullivers too, we’re always really loud there! We liked the Roadhouse but unfortunatley that’s no longer operating as a venue, the same as the Lomax in Liverpool, which had some of the nicest, most down to earth owners we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. The Dublin Castle in Camden is a great venue for unsigned acts too, but I think Night and Day is the venue we look at most fondly.
MIMR: When not playing in Darma what do you do in your spare time?
Darma: Spare time is something we rarely have! The three of us work full time jobs to enable us to buy the best gear we can, pay for fuel to gigs, and the rent on our rehearsal room, which is where we spend most nights of the week beavering away at our song crafting, practicing our set or recording new songs.
MIMR: Thanks for taking time out to speak to us, which new bands would you recommend we have a listen to?
Darma: We really, really like a band called Sewer Rats from Grimsby, they’re one of the best live acts we’ve ever shared a stage with, as are False Advertising. We played with a band called Youth Man recently, they’re from Birmingham and completely blew us away with an amazing set. When we’re in the car we’ve been listening to Demob Happy (try Succubus on for size) and Dinosaur Pile Up too, there seems to be a decent scene at the minute with bands like God Damn, Drenge, Darlia and Slaves bursting out into the mainstream.
Keep updated with Darma here:
Ahead of their gig supporting Mothers in Manchester next week (27.11) gritty, blues maestros Bones Shake spoke to MIMR about what to expect from the trio at The Castle on 27th
Lead singer David explains all
MIMR: MIMR presents Manchester’s Bones Shake to the blog, cheers for being here. Whats 2015 been like for the band?
David: Really good, released the album in the new year and then we’ve just been gigging incessantly since then. Highlight was probably the weeklong tour of France in Summer, they seemed to like us over there. Being a huge Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers fan it was also pretty special supporting Walter Lure on the Manchester leg of his tour.
MIMR: Were you happy with the reception the ‘Kicks’ record received? Its damn awesome btw
David: Thanks very much! That’s the first bit of feedback we’ve had so yeah, we’re pretty happy. ‘Kicks’ was difficult for us to make, we hate polished studio recordings we wanted to capture the feel of the live shows so it was recorded it live in one day. We’re all pleased with it and we assume everyone else is too. Our new album ‘Junk’ is out in the new year on Abattoir Blues Records.
MIMR: What creative influences do you have on your sound as a band?
David: Mainly blues, trash and punk artists such as The Stooges, New York Dolls, The Fall, The Birthday Party, JSBX to name but a few. We like bands where even on record you can feel the intensity, the menace and the sheer raw power of the music. They’re the all or nothing bands, they play and perform like their lives depended on it. We try and carry that over into our music, if we look and sound like we like don’t give a fuck then why should we expect anyone else to.
MIMR: What’s your favourite Manchester venue you’ve played?
David: Any venue where there’s minimal separation between us and the audience so we can really bring the performance to you but Soup Kitchen’s probably our current favourite. It’s dingy which suits us and the sound’s great. You can catch us there on Jan 24th supporting Night Beats, an awesome psych, garage band from Seattle.
MIMR: Thanks for sharing with MIMR, i’m spreading the word around the city of you guys. Are they’re any other upcoming bands that you like?
David: Any artists currently on Abattoir Blues Records, check it out at http://www.abattoirblues.com and listen for yourselves, then buy all their stuff….and ours, it’s awesome (see question 2)
Here’s all the info you need for the Big Muff Promotions gig next week, its going to be a bit special
Follow and check out Big Muff Promotions future events here
https://mobile.twitter.com/clubbigmuff
Have a look at recent MIMR Band Chat with Headline Act Mothers here
https://musicismyradar2.wordpress.com/2015/11/17/mimr-band-chat-mothers-2/
This Edgy Indie pop duo from York are currently struting their stuff with a string of dates around the UK and certainly not a band to be missed. Junk headline Big Muff Promotions gig at Fallow Cafe (19/11) and MIMR will be there to grab all the highlights from the evening
I was very lucky to get a few words with Estella from the band ahead of their Manchester show
MIMR: Welcome to MIMR, who are Junk and what influences do you have on your sound?
Estella: Hey there! JUNK. are Estella Adeyeri and Danny Barton. Our influences are noise-pop garagey-type stuff with a hint of 60s girl groups in there.
MIMR: This year must of been pretty busy with the release of your 2nd EP ‘Liquorice’ in May. Tell us how the EP came together and what changes in approach did you make with this record
Estella: We mostly kept to the same DIY ethos that we had for our first EP, ‘Car’ – we recorded it all ourselves, Danny mixed all of the tracks and his brother James mastered the EP. ‘Car’ was recorded in an artist’s studio, whereas ‘Liquorice’ was recorded at our local rehearsal space Melrose Yard so I think it maybe sounds a little bit tidier than our first effort as we got to use all Melrose’s nice gear, and use a drum kit that wasn’t falling apart (Danny’s kit has a floor tom that just topples over at random, comical but not really conducive to the task at hand).
The songs where I sing lead on ‘Liquorice’ are more mellow than the first EP too I think. Things have been pretty steady since the release of ‘Liquorice’, we’re on a little mini-tour this month in support of the recent release of our 2nd single from it, ‘Dennis Wilson’. I think this November has been our busiest period gig-wise this year, and we’re loving it!
MIMR: Whats been your most memorable gig this year?
Estella: It’s hard to pick just one really! Indietracks was a highlight for me (Estella) – we played the Church Stage, in front of pews of people politely watching which was nice but quite surreal! The whole festival just has a really great positive vibe to it, and we saw loads of great bands so it holds a lot of good memories for me. We played the Brudenell for the first time this Halloween, which is a local-ish venue to us that we love so that was really exciting, the line-up was insanely good too (Metz, Mitski, Protomartyr, Crows etc). Also playing with The Go! Team was another favourite – they are incredible live, they’re all ridiculously talented multi-instrumentalists and had the whole venue dancing. (I’m aware this is three gigs now and not one, sorry, but 2015’s been surprisingly good to us!)
MIMR: Are they’re any bands you’ve played with recently that you recommend MIMR checks out?
Estella: Yeah loads but I’ll try not to waffle on! Most recently Don’t, who are on the same label as us (Chud Records, a Leeds-based cassette label), Eugene Gorgeous (from York – really young and really good), The Graphite Set (London-based), Chorusgirl (London-based with a great new album out on Fortuna Pop, we play their album launch the night before we head to Manchester).
MIMR: Thanks for talking to MIMR, looking forward to seeing you play in Manchester, hope the other gigs are going well. What does the band do between shows to relax?
Estella: We’re both in other bands too so that keeps us pretty busy! Otherwise just hanging out with friends, having a few drinks always goes down well, also supporting our friends’ creative projects and going to see other bands.
Pop along to this gig tomorrow evening, you won’t regret it
Check out all the pics from the gig on the blog this week
Follow my friends Big Muff Promotions here and check their future events: https://mobile.twitter.com/clubbigmuff
MIMR Band Chat is back and we are here to introduce the fantastic Mothers. They play The Castle, Manchester on the 27th of this month as the headline act for Big Muff Promotions, it’s got the makings of a great night
I spoke to Roanne from the band about this year and what to expect from Mothers at The Castle next week
MIMR: Thanks for talking to us, who are Mothers and how best would you describe your sound?
Roanne: Mothers are Jack Evans, Roanne Wood and Lewis O’Neill and we’re a Noise Rock Trio from Widnes. Our sound is very much guitar based with super duper drums coming from our amazing drummer Lew. We like to play loud.
MIMR: Whats the latest with the band and has 2015 treated you well?
Roanne: 2015 has been an important year for us. We changed our name to Mothers on 1st January 2015 and it couldn’t have gone better. We’re treated like this new band that people kinda know about. We have changed our sound slightly from when we were called Aeroplane Flies High. You can tell it’s the same band but I guess it’s not as ‘pop’. If it ever was pop? We’re just playing music we want to hear which is really noisy guitar music. But 2015 is the year we started Recording our debut album at Brock N Broll with Whalley the nicest guy ever. All music and Vox are done, just going in at the weekend to go over mixing. It will be out mid 2016 on Mountains Of Records on Vinyl and CD. WE CAN’T WAIT.
MIMR: You recently played the ACP festival in Manchester, how did that go and do you enjoy playing in Manchester?
Roanne: We love playing in Manchester. It’s got a great music scene and of course lots of cool venues. ACP went amazingly well. We love Matthew and everything about ACP. We played the previous year which was also a fantastic gig so we weren’t expecting to play this year. Lucky for us a band pulled out so we got asked. The show was boss, lots of people, great sound, great sound guy, couple of free beers! The crowd were made up with us, so what more could you ask for? Also a lot of our friends play ACP so it was fun seeing them. We’re playing in Manchester a couple of times this month. We’re supporting Teeth of Sea and Hey Colossus this Friday at Islington Mill and the following Friday we’re playing a Big Muff Show at The Castle.
MIMR: What records of this year have you enjoyed listening to?
Roanne: For me personally it has to be Wolf Alice. I’m really bad with new music and I often have a stubborn approach to it. All these new bands you hear that just sound like some other band I like from the 90s so why would I want to listen to the new version? But yeah, I really enjoy Wolf Alice’s album ‘My Love Is Cool’ from start to finish. It’s really well put together and you have to enjoy an over produced album every now and then. They’re a great band and they’ve been touring loads, write great songs and don’t sound like anyone who is out at the minute so I think they deserve all the great cred they’ve been getting.
I’ve also enjoyed both USA Nails albums. They’re boss! If I was to speak for the lads, Lew is well into Mac De Marco and Jack doesn’t really listen to a lot of new music either but I know they both love the USA Nails album too. Jack likes bands like Trumans Water, Part Chimp, Glenn Branca! OHHHH and The Lovely Eggs – This Is Our Nowhere was released this year and that’s bloody sooo good. What a great band. We will always send love out to our bezzies Stilts who are also working on their debut.
MIMR: Whats been your favourite gig venue you’ve played?
Roanne: We love JT Soar in Nottingham, it’s a tiny little ex fruit and Veg warehouse with DIY ethics. It’s always a good night there and we get to play as loud as we want which is always good. The Brudenell Social Club is THE venue though, right? We would play there every day if we could.
MIMR: Thanks once again for chatting with us, we look forward to your gig at The Castle. Do any of the band have any pre-gig routines or superstitions before going on stage?
Roanne: haha, that’s an interesting question! ermm, the band in general consists of a lot of trumps (not from my behalf) so that wouldn’t be any different I suppose. When we arrive at a venue, the first thing Lew wants to know if there’s stairs to the venue or not. If there is, it’s going to be a bad night. If not, it’s a good night. (this is a joke) But it’s due to our big cabs haha. Sometimes once we’re on stage, before we play the first song we all join our devil horns like some rock ritual.
Check this gig out and come down and join us!
Follow Big Muff on twitter here: https://mobile.twitter.com/clubbigmuff
More interviews from the other acts playing The Castle gig coming soon to the blog
MIMR finally got to see Scottish indie trio Tuff Love when they played The Castle, Manchester (14/11) and they played a brilliant set. Their set featured tracks from all 3 EP’s including their recently released ‘Dregs‘ EP which is a sweet record and must listen
Here are some highlights from the gig
