While these days, rubbing shoulders with well-known faces at events such as Cannes Film Festival may be commonplace, Bury-born Joel Rothwell’s down-to-earth nature and clean-cut image have stemmed from the family around him nurturing his long-harnessed dream to become a chart-topping success. With a stylishly crafted formula of honest story-telling accompanying his guitar-driven electro-pop sound, the first of 4 inspired songs recorded with Brighton producer Toby Scott – ‘Just Don’t Know’ tells the story of a chance encounter, forbidden attraction and the inherent dilemma faced from within.
Rooted from a childhood spent with his eldest sister Rebecca imitating their musical heroes, the stars have never seemed too far out of reach, which has led to formulating a creative partnership which has seen them writing together for a number of years. More recently, through his father’s film company, Joel was able to enhance his credentials as a multi-talented performer in his latest film project SKINNED, which also featured his songs ‘Satellite’, and the as yet unreleased ‘Animal’.
It was recording and preparing to release his debut album under the Steelworks Studio label, under the support of songwriter and producer Eliot Kennedy (famed for working with the likes of the Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Lulu and Take That), that led to Joel taking part in his biggest gig to date. The Vulcan Experience aircraft hanger at Robin Hood airport in Doncaster was host to a sell-out charity event that raised over £65,000 for Help for Heroes, in which he shared the stage in following none other than Gary Barlow.
From being wrongfully expelled from Bolton School until the age of 16, it was at Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Blackburn where he nurtured his ability and pursued his dream of a career in music. Joel is now based at a studio in the vibrant Spinningfields area of Manchester, while also having spent time writing and recording at Tileyard Music in London alongside chart musicians such as Sigala, Mark Ronson, and Ella Eyre. Through a blend of passion, talent, and determination, Joel firmly believes he has what it takes to stand out in such a competitive industry and match the ambition of his dreams.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/thatjoelrothwell
https://www.instagram.com/thatjoelrothwell
https://twitter.com/joelrothwell
http://joelrothwell.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQN6VLKZZ6M
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The Gloomies – Nightlight
Belying the grim name, Andy Craig formed The Gloomies in a sun-bleached surf town in Southern California. Taking cues from Southern California’s surf scene, The Gloomies are influenced by the sounds of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Ariel Pink, and Lana Del Rey.
The Gloomies broke onto the music scene in 2015 with their single “LSD”. This strange paradox, mixing gritty realism and yearning optimism, is what caught listeners’ ears with the single “LSD”. The surfy track was only posted on Soundcloud for friends to hear, but ended up on countless music blogs and eventually landed them “Buzz Band of the Week” in NME.
After receiving praise from Noisey, DIY, KCRW, and many others over the last few years, combined with months of touring, The Gloomies released their “Blackout” EP in 2016. This was followed by the 2017 single “Space” in collaboration with Cults singer Madeline Follin. In 2018, they returned to New York to complete work on the debut LP “Romance”. They have spent the last year in New York recording new music, creating a hypnotic collection of songs that showcase their original vision.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/thegloomies
https://twitter.com/thegloomies
https://www.instagram.com/thegloomies -
Doohickey Cubicle – Thinking
Doohickey Cubicle has released their new video for the single titled ‘Thinking’. Done in a sort of home movie style, the visual captures the audio with subtle beauty and highlights the music’s sublime creativity.
‘Thinking’ is a song that sneaks up on you with angelic vocals and a quiet majesty that is rare in music this young. Combine that with the unique instrument choices, such as the beautiful saxophone in the interlude, and you have a node to the postmodern with a look to the future. This is where music is going, or should be.
ABOUT DOOHICKEY CUBICLE
Doohickey Cubicle (formerly Booty EP) is a dream-inducing synth-pop duo that oozes creativity. Whether it’s their energetic and visually stunning live shows, their self-produced singles, or their wealth of DIY music videos, they’re always up to something, and it’s always interesting.
Since 2017, Doohickey Cubicle – made up of Alli Deleo on keys/vocals and Francis Hooper on guitar/synth – have been creating art in multiple mediums, and always from the ground up.
Beginning as a small project that mostly focused on self-recorded off-the-cuff late-night jams with humorous vocal improvisations, the group didn’t take themselves too seriously (hence the original, or current name). That being said, after a handful of shows, the duo began to realize that the audience felt differently, as they were visibly taken back not only by their ethereal musical presence but by their captivating projection visuals, which have since then become a staple for the band’s live show.
It wasn’t long after that they released their first EP What What and the Who Now? followed by the single Mascarpone in 2018, showing a new focus towards their work, and no lack of inspiration or momentum after being discovered as an up-and-coming power duo in Vancouver’s indie-pop scene.
Since then the group has played festivals like Reeperbahn (Hamburg), Linecheck Festival (Milan), POP Montreal (Montreal), Music Waste (Vancouver), Rifflandia (Victoria, BC), Fringe Festival (Vancouver), and Westward Festival (Vancouver). They’ve toured in Italy for the last two years in November, along with shows in Berlin and London, a Pacific Northwest tour, and shows in Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and NYC.
More recently, the duo released their new single Airbag with an accompanying music video on April 17th, which will be on their self-released debut LP Don’t Fix Anything 😉, due out in March 2021. Recorded between Montreal and their home studio The Juniper Room, and self-produced as always, Don’t Fix Anything 😉 is without a doubt their most ambitious musical venture to date, with countless collaborations with notable artists, multiple single releases, remixes, and numerous additions to their already towering arsenal of music videos.
Written by Kurtis Floyd of Sled Island.
Photo credit: Jordyn Taylor-Robins.
LINKS:
https://doohickeycubicle.com
https://www.facebook.com/Doohickeycubicle
https://doohickeycubicle.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5cnv2wmWqSU2ode1U9p8BH -
Woodfish – Damn Thang
Woodfish is one of today’s best U.S. based rock bands. The band’s appeal is universal. Their music is energetic; groove oriented and places heavy emphasis on the bass. The drive behind the creation and performance of Woodfish’s music is to stick to the roots of what makes great rock music while still creating a great new “Woodfish” sound that keeps people moving while touching their hearts and souls. The music of Woodfish can be described as a combination of rock, funk, surf, jam band and progressive styles which, infused together, provide audiences with an intoxicating and entertaining musical “Woodfish” experience.
Woodfish is the continual result of a musical adventure/journey which was started when two rhythm section oriented brothers decided they wanted to start a rock band. Woodfish formed progressively as brothers, Steve Kalorin (bass/vocals) and Dominic Kalorin (drums) hit local open mic jam nights on the Jersey Shore. As time passed, the brothers joined up with other musicians and began to identify a cohesive, consistent sound in their jams. Inspired by friends, songwriters and other musicians they met along the way they then decided to combine the free elements of their jamming with traditional and innovative songwriting arrangement styles. The resulting sound is now the very rhythmic, energetic and intoxicating sound you will find here on their website. Over the years, the full line up of the band members changed as things do with many rock bands but the Woodfish sound has and always will always remain constant.
LINKS:
http://www.woodfishmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/WoodfishBand