Berries recent single sees the band further explore their unique take on riff-driven rock with even more grit and confidence. “Wild Vow” boasts big riffs and choruses and further highlights the clever musicianship, weaving guitar and bass lines and well thought out drum patterns that this exciting three-piece are becoming known for.
The band has had an infectious buzz around them ever since they dropped their first release “Lights” last year, followed by singles “Waiting” and “Siren”. Their tracks immediately caught the attention of BBC London Introducing and they were hastily invited into the studio for an interview with Gary Crowley who openly showed his support for the band urging listeners to “keep an ear and an eye out for them as they have a lot of promise!” The band’s tracks have also received regular airplay by Jim Gellatly and Shell Zenner on Amazing Radio, Tom Robinson on BBC 6 Music and John Kennedy on Radio X.
Following the release of their debut EP Those Funny Things the band was approached by a member of Fender’s A&R team who expressed his interest in their unique and energetic playing style. They were endorsed with new gear and included in a playlist of Fender’s ‘Top 10 favorite new acts’ alongside Bryde and featured on Richer Unsigned. Their song “Siren” was then added to nationwide playlists in Richer Sounds stores, Samsung and Barclays. The band’s EP has been championed by Fred Perry Subculture, Gigslutz, Even the Stars and The Revue along with several other influential tastemakers and blogs. “Wild Vow” is their anticipated follow-up single.
The band has regularly featured on the Gigslutz girls show called ‘Get In Her Ears’ on Hoxton Radio and have also received great support from It’s All Indie who have mentioned them in in a recent interview giving a shout out to female musicians.
LINKS:
https://Soundcloud.com/Berriesband
https://Facebook.com/Berriesband
https://Twitter.com/Berriesbanduk
https://instagram.com/berriesband
https://Youtube.com/BerriesBand
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Vix 20 – Me Gwanishi (No Problem)
Vix 20 are Gary Mills and CJ, two music industry veterans who grew so disillusioned with the state of every element of the music industry that they threw their guitars out of the window and sulked for a few years. Now rejuvenated, though no less prickly about the Modern Age, they return, to quote the band themselves, “we’re hard rockers turned to the dark side of pop”.
As evidenced on their previous single, Digital Age, their passion for power-pop (don’t say ‘punk-pop’ to them, it suggests too much jumping around) and dexterity with words combines to become insanely catchy 3-minute thunderbolts.
The track Hashtag Change pushes the envelope even further with the glorious cut-up tones of Donald Trump delivering a love letter to his beloved Melania.
Usually, a band would flash their pedigree and tell you about all the incredible things members of Vix20 achieved during their years in music. Regale you with stories of rock n roll decadence, tours, and air miles…from Rick Wakeman on a beach in Tenerife to L A Reid in New York City, not to forget becoming Dutch Rock Heroes…but you probably wouldn’t believe them anyway.
And so it was 25 years after their first school band and after a period of time spent apart sheltering from the music industry, label politics and amoral men in suits, CJ and Mills quite accidentally started making music again…strictly for fun, right?
Sure, right up until Mills arranged the commercial release of ‘Digital Age’. This has made CJ very angry but Mills thinks it will be fine. Each cut on the Vix20 debut album draws from their eclectic influences.
After the surprising reach of Digital Age, The second single follows up where we left off punk leaning towards pop of Me Gwanshi and the tongue in cheek day in the life of the commander and Chief.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://www.vix20.com
https://www.instagram.com/vixtwenty
https://www.facebook.com/vixtwentymusic
https://twitter.com/Vixtwenty
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuPABFfRP8fWPKkp6mA9Kkw
https://open.spotify.com/artist/01fEKKUsAN1pp9jguVrTQG?si=0cMw1OI6R6mM2iO_42M6sw -
Clark Twain – Fly High (Like Richard Branson)
Sanguine indie pop artist Clark Twain has announced his debut single ‘Fly High (Like Richard Branson)’, a fun and upbeat track that is infectious with high positivity. Hailing from Austin, Texas, this song is the first single off his coming debut album ‘Life is Wonderful’.
The fun, high-flying accompanying video was directed by Vanessa Pla, who also co-produced it with Clark Nowlin. His music is influenced by Death Cab for Cutie, the Flaming Lips, Ben Kweller, and John Mayer. Thematically, for this single and the accompanying video, he also took inspiration from an unlikely, but intrepid source – Richard Branson.
‘Fly High’, which features a soundbite of Richard Branson speaking excitedly about flight at high speeds, is dedicated to the Virgin mogul and is timed to release on July 18, Branson’s birthday. With an ardent sense of optimism, he looks forward to a “world with color; a journey with many turns”, asserting “where we’re going, it’s going to be one hell of a ride”.
“I want to live a life like my biggest hero Sir Richard Branson, so I figured the best way to start was to do things that terrified me. I got my hands on a houseboat (Branson lived on one until he was 30) and then a private jet, and the vision for reenacting his life story in a music video was born. Making this music video terrified me. With it behind me, I learned that fear is always smaller when it’s behind you! Thanks for the inspiration Richard to challenge me and push my own boundaries,” says Clark Twain.
“Fun, adventure, and business as a force for good – these are the ingredients of Branson’s life and my own. We both love rock n’ roll and shaking things up for good. That’s what this video is all about it. It honors Sir Branson and I hope it inspires others to take this on!”
Clark Twain is the solo moniker of Clark Nowlin, who began playing guitar at 10, cutting his teeth on Metallica and Nirvana covers with friends in the attic and starting his first band a few years later. He eventually quit his day job to fully immerse himself in the world of music “because the gig money put enough gas in my tank”. After touring and recording with Tim Halperin and Marshall Young for a few years and supporting various artists, he amassed recording gear, learned the ropes, and began producing various musical projects.
“I knew that if I didn’t make a solo album and put out my own music, it would haunt me. That’s what I’m doing now. In an honest state of writing about what’s real for me – a song that embodies my own aspirations – that’s how this single was born,” says Clark Twain.
“Last November, I went to Cozumel for 11 days. The only book I brought with me was Richard Branson’s autobiography ‘Losing My Virginity’, which inspired me to write this song and make a music video re-enacting the big pieces of his story: adventure, business as a force for good, and of course fun. I decided to throw myself into all of these situations… a lifelike Sir Richard’s is one of great fun and chaos!”
Clark dedicated a solid 6-month block of time to working on his new material, beginning in January of this year, and splitting time between Elmwood Studios in Dallas, Clark’s home studio in Austin, and in Denton, Texas with Brack Cantrell, one of Clark’s all-time favorite producers, who also mixed his new material. Mastering was performed by Jon Törnblom.
“If music is to serve any purpose, it’s to remind us that we’re alive and that we’re not alone. For me, making it is a sign that I’m alive. Connecting with it is a sign that this big mysterious journey called life isn’t new territory and that whatever situation we’re in – someone’s already been there and has made it through,” says Clark Twain.
“I’m an eternal optimist and truly believe the best is yet to come in our experiences here on Earth. If there’s a shred of this hope embodied in this music, I’ve achieved my goal. I hope that these sounds put a little wind-in-your-sails when needed on a still day.”
The song eventually meshes into Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ – the first album released on Virgin Records. In fact, this label was created for the purpose of putting out this record. It quickly became an international sensation, selling tens of millions of records and becoming the theme for “The Exorcist”. This success allowed Virgin Records to sign the Sex Pistols, XTC, and many groundbreaking artists and eventually artists such as The Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson. ‘Tubular Bells’ was the initial snowball that got enough momentum to create the avalanche we know as the Virgin empire today.
LINKS:
http://clarktwain.com
https://www.facebook.com/Clark-Twain-1563597527101436
http://www.instagram.com/clarkin
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvpeieaYohK7OkHgeyk82KQ/videos
https://soundcloud.com/clarktwain
https://clarktwain.bandcamp.com -
Where We Sleep – The Desert
London-based dark and dynamic pop project Where We Sleep has announced their debut EP ‘Experiments In The Dark’. Ahead of that, they present the lead single ‘The Desert’, a jaded and winding psych-infused track traversing similar addictive territory as PJ Harvey, Curve, and Garbage.
At Where We Sleep’s core is Beth Rettig, perhaps best known as the vocalist of alt-pop darlings Blindness. But this project also involves collaborations with various other artists. ‘The Desert’ sees Rettig collaborate with Axel Ray of United Ghosts (and also The Black Windmill and Cadet A) on lead guitar.
Dark and rough around the edges, this EP combines synth and live elements. This release also features contributions from Ben Pritchard, formerly of The Fall and currently in Manc Floyd, and former Blindness bandmate Debbie Smith of Curve, Echobelly and SPC ECO fame (and also Snowpony with My Bloody Valentine’s Debbie Googe and Moonshake’s Katharine Gifford).
‘Experiments In The Dark’ is a five-track offering, recorded in studios between London and Manchester. This follows up Where We Sleep’s single ‘The First One’, released in August 2018, preceded by Where We Sleep’s debut single ‘Veins’ in June 2018, also featuring Debbie Smith, and b-side ‘Crawl’, mixed in Addis Ababa by Guy Fixsen.
Raised in Africa (Nigeria, Botswana and South Africa) and saying goodbye to the days of her Johannesburg band High, Beth Rettig returned to the UK in 2000 and eventually hooked up with Debbie Smith to form Blindness. They had a good run until playing their final gig in 2016, followed by ‘The Monsoon EP’ in 2007, their final release.
“When Blindness ended – solely down to a change in my personal life – I didn’t know if I was going to write again. Where We Sleep is the result of discovering that you don’t know how not to make music,” says Beth Rettig.
Rettig’s music is rooted in an array of influences, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Curve, EMA, Nine Inch Nails, Jesus and Mary Chain, Garbage, Kate Bush, Massive Attack, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, Pete International Airport, White Rose Movement and The Fall.
About ‘The Desert’ video, Rettig explains, “The road footage in The Desert video was taken when Axel and myself took a road trip to the Mojave Desert in California, with trips to Pioneertown and Joshua Tree National Park. It seemed a shame not to use those visuals, albeit affected, for the song. As the song came first, it was a cool realization that two people who did a song about driving through the desert together were taking a road trip through the desert together.”
‘Experiments In The Dark’ is slated for release on May 31 and will be available across digital stores and streaming platforms. It can also be pre-ordered via Where We Sleep’s own Bandcamp site.
LINKS:
http://www.wherewesleep.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/wherewesleep
https://wherewesleep.bandcamp.com
https://twitter.com/wh3rewesleep
https://www.instagram.com/where.we.sleep
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb68iXZZOJKK7qV3sMnQo7Q
https://soundcloud.com/wherewesleep
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3FFR8UDRIgrRmnZIH3AB2L