Sound Of 2016 : The Sherlocks

Hailing from Sheffield and made up of brothers, The Sherlocks seem to be the perfected British indie band.  

 

Sound Of 2016 : Neon Waltz

I fell in love with Neon Waltz when Bare Wood Aisle was released and it became one of my songs of the summer.

Narrow Plains Explain Themselves

There is an indie three piece from London, Narrow Plains, who I love but can't even begin to explain. Earlier in the year I thought it would be best if I got them to help explain themselves.

 

First of all, who are you ?

We are Narrow Plains. An acoustic-indie, trio based in London, consisting of Charlie Ferriday (guitar/vocals), Stuart Connick (drums/back-up vocals) and Roger Connick (bass/back-up vocals).

Is there any meaning behind the name 'Narrow Plains' ?

Narrow Plains doesn’t really mean anything special – we just liked the sound of the words together and thought that it fitted our type of music.

Who are your influences as a band ?

There are lots but we all love to listen to acts like Goo Goo Dolls, Ben Howard, Newton Faulkener, Mumford, Bon Iver.

The most difficult part for me as a music blogger is trying to describe a bands style/sound. What would you describe your sound as ?

We call it “acoustic-indie” but our music probably crosses a few genres and many people term our music “folk rock”. We just try to write and perform songs that are acoustic-based, have strong lyrical content and are fairly simple and straightforward in terms of the melody.

 

As a sound comparision, what other bands have a sound similar to yourselves ?

That’s a bit difficult for us to say but we are really honoured to have been compared to some great modern artists, like the ones I mentioned and Ed Sheeran. Also even to other amazing artists like Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel.

2015 is quickly coming to a close. A year of big festivals and huge announcements in the world of music. What was 2015 like for you as a band ?

It has been a brilliant year! There have been a lot of exciting things for us, like winning the Hard Rock Rising competition at the Hard Rock Café in London. We also won a US-based talent competition, Bands4Good and got the chance to go over to North Carolina and record with John Davenport at his Deep River studios.

We have also signed an album deal with Smart Indie and have spent a lot of time in the studio recording our debut album. This has meant though that we didn’t have as much time to play live so we are all looking forward to getting out on the road next year and sharing our new songs with audiences.

Your an upcoming band with a lot going on. As you mentioned, you haven't toured much this year, so what has been the best show you've played so far and what is your ideal venue/festival to play ?

We have been fortunate enough to play a lot of great gigs at places like The Cavern Club, 100 Club and Barfly as well as a lot of festivals. However, our favourite show to date was at O2 Academy in Islington. It is a great venue and a very special audience who really supported us and sang along to all our songs. We are playing the same venue for our album release show and hope that will be an even better experience!

There are a lot of amazing festivals but for us the pinnacle would be to play at Glastonbury. We have all been there many times as fans and seen some brilliant acts. It would be amazing to play there!

Glastonbury's your pinnacle place. Who would be your perfect band to play alongside ?

Any of those great bands and acts we mentioned before (Goo Goo Dolls, Ben Howard, Newton Faulkener, Mumford, Bon Iver, Ed Sheeran) would be a dream to play with!

All great musicians and bands. What advice would you give to bands who are just starting out, earlier in the music making process than yourselves ?

We would just say that it’s important to stick at what you do best and keep working to improve.

Is being in a band all you thought it would be?

Being in a band has been a great creative experience but has also been a lot of hard work. We do look forward to every new challenge though.

Talking of new challenges, the new years coming quick. Do you have anything planned for 2016 ? Any challenges to overcome ?

Well, our debut album is due out in January 2016 so that will obviously be the major event for us. We will release another single ahead of the album (our double A-side single So Rewind and Keep You Anyway will both feature on the album but we have recorded new versions). Then we will have to see how the album is received before we can really make any other definitive plans to tour and so forth.

Finally, what would you like to say to your fans?

We are really grateful to all our friends, followers and fans for all the amazing support they give us as a band. We love playing to and recording music for people who really appreciate our songs. We really hope that you all enjoy our new songs on the album.

Don’t forget that our debut album is coming out on the Smart Indie label in January 2016!

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Two Yeak Break Interview

This year I've fell in love with so many bands and musicians. Some brand new, unheard of and unsigned. Others are supporting huge headline bands, making a name for themselves on an international level. 

 

 

 

Pretty Vicious Are You Ready For Me Video

This year there's been a lot of bands I've gotten excited about, none more than the Merthyr boys, Pretty Vicious.

Earlier this year National Plastics was crowned BBC Radio Ones Track of The Day and now, its happened again, this time with Are You Ready For Me, on the day of the videos release. 

Their young, incredibly talented, creating outstanding music and bringing to life the indie sound your going to love.

If you haven't already please check this band out. I write about them a lot, but for a good reason. So many bands don't sound this good in their careers, never mind at a collective age of 18.

My definite Sound of 2016.