Kazoopa Festival 2017

Undoubtedly, Kazoopa Festival provided this year with a shit hot line-up and I was lucky enough to bag interviews with some of the gorgeous groups who made it so full of sparkles. Laced with versatility, Kazoopa not only gave upcoming bands exposure to grab the attention of new fans amongst the crowds but it also played host to the more experienced few blessing Leeds with a day full of sweat and glitter.

Interviews and Reviews

Oporto was my first port-of-call for Stealing Signs set; a four-piece comprising of Nick on vocals, George on lead guitar, Steve on bass and Will on drums - echoing sounds from the likes of The Kooks or Razorlight this humbling group radiate pop rock vibes accompanied by tight harmonies and backing.

I stuck around in Oporto afterwards to catch The Voodoo Bats whom came highly recommended to me and this recommendation was spot on. Oozing new wave indie-punk sounds these four sport punchy guitar riffs complimented through the heavy bass-line. Despite experiencing a slight transitional period, the whole set showed development whilst effortlessly slipping in and out of punk-esque tones – something not easy to execute meticulously. The Voodoo Bats drew parallels to The Libertines stylistically as well as performance wise especially within the quite literal brotherly relationship between frontman Patrick and lead guitarist Tom reflecting visions of Pete Doherty and Carl Barat. Alongside these two brothers we have Sam on bass and Dr. Nick on drums; both key to the tightly packed sound generated within the intimate venue. Flexibility of the vocals fell into every song with ease flattered by the stop start drumming – as the set came to a close these boys drew parallels to the new revived sound from The Brookes (another four-piece to wrap your ears around). 

If you’re interested in catching these boys at their next gig head down to The Underground in Bradford on 15th December for a Christmas show extravaganza.

So next I ventured to The Packhorse to catch Bradford based five-piece The Escapades (Sean, Todd, Tom, Rob and Danny) – this being the third or fourth time I’ve seen them I was no less impressed than the first time.

These boys spared a few minutes to chat with me about their sound, influence’s, and the latest upcoming single release of 2018. After learning they take influence from ‘good music’ in general it is easy to see why their sound is unique of today whilst mirroring old-school blues and rhythm sequences. After discussing the sound, we spoke briefly about their upcoming single – a track stemming from the concept of male lust towards a female, metaphorically using a lion as representative of the chase. Rounding things up, we discussed briefly it being a ‘good time to be seeing bands and live music for cheap’ alongside an added thanks to Double Denim for the voluntary effort and organisation of Kazoopa.

‘Share the Love x’

After The Escapades I visited The Lending Room where I very luckily managed to catch an interview with brotherly Brighton based two-piece Sons - comprising of Lee Meldrum on vocals and guitar alongside Nick Meldrum on Drums. 

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch these guys on stage, but I did have the pleasure of conducting one of my favourite interview’s to date. Humble, chatty, funny, and HUGE Game of Thrones enthusiasts, hard not to get along with them; these boys made me feel like I’d known them for years.

So, you’ve been playing with this set-up for almost 2 years now – would you say you’ve ‘discovered’ your sound? How would you define yourselves? Punk/indie/grunge, we kind of jam by ourselves and follow the technique of ‘hit and hope’ really. Influence wise we’d probably say Nirvana and Slaves and definitely Deaf from Above.

Cliché I know, but is there any particular gig/interview/experience that has stuck with you? Anything that was a BIG deal for you guys? Uh we played Reading 2017 which was awesome and hot, had a lot of radio exposure on Radio 1, Radio X, Virgin, BBC6 – had all three singles played on the radio. Probably one of the biggest things was our interview with John Kennedy at Radio X Introducing. We also played Camden Rocks and obviously London is great exposure, and probably Brighton’s Great Escape at The Queens hotel stuck with us massively, performing for the Delegates. Also, I’m really injury prone (Lee) so I’ve spent 4 months out of our 2 years as a group injured – had a broken jaw, multiple sprained ankles, broken rotator cuff. Everything.

Any upcoming tours or single releases you’re excited about? Yes, we have a European and UK Tour (Germany, Paris etc) around February and March time in 2018 and our 4th single release ‘Rise’ on 2nd December. In conjunction to all that we have two single releases in the same night on 2nd December; Brighton at The Hope and Ruin’ and London at ‘The George Tavern’. Busy night.

A quick question for your manager, John – how do you find managing these guys? Easy or hard work? Very easy to sell these guys and I feel lucky to be there manager.

Any closing statements from anyone? Any social media platforms you’d like me to share? Uh yeah, big thanks for the interview and you can find us @Sonsbanduk

After I finished speaking to the boys from Sons I had the absolute pleasure of a surprise interview with the beautiful and alluring Martha Philips and now I want her to be my best friend. Anyway, during my short interview with Martha we spoke primarily about her solo work and touched upon her placement within her band, The Elephant Trees. Here’s what Martha had to say during our chat.

So, you’ve been a solo artist for 5 years and you’re a vocalist, you play guitar and occasionally a loop pedal? What can’t you do. Do you write your own music? I write my own music; at first, I took influence from artists such as Ben Howard and Laura Marley but since I have developed as an artist I evolved slightly in relation to my melodies and rhythm – I now take influence from different artists such as Bombay Bicycle Club. I kind of take influence from present experiences and the usual teenage drama when writing lyrics.

Anything particularly interesting occurred recently with either yourself as a solo artist or with the band? Yes, as the band we recently took part in a video with an Orchestra from The Royal Northern College of Music which was really cool. Definitely gave us a sense of fulfilment which was awesome and that’s due out sometime in December.

Well gorgeous this has been a lovely informal interview, more of a chat really but those are the best kind of interviews. Thankyou Martha (Ps when you read this do you want to be my best friend?)

MOVING ON. I also managed to get an interview with Seb and Tom from Naked Six; a two-piece with a punk-esque stylistic attitude. Now based in York these guys have been jamming together for about 3 years but been gigging for a year and a half; writing their own music surrounding the topics of politics, mental health and current situations and modern influences.

So, I asked these two a couple of questions to try and gain a general gist on what the hell they’re all about. 

If you’re as interested as I was, have a look at what they had to say.

So, are you guys on tour at the moment? Yeh, we’re currently on a two-week UK tour, visiting Plymouth, Cardiff, Stoke etc.

How are you finding that? I’m presuming this is your first tour? This is our first tour, so far, we’re enjoying it, gigging back-to-back every night.

How’re you finding our earlier chat and our interview? Very chilled out, we’re having a really good time.

Do you have anything interesting coming up that we should all know about? Single release on 8th December called ‘Unwind’; that’s at the Lock Tavern in Camden.

Lovely stuff, thankyou it’s been lovely to meet you. Especially you Ameillia, you’re the best.

So next up on my list of interviews is Sheafs; luckily for me I managed to sneak a quick chat with frontman and vocalist Lawrence before they stormed the stage. 

These lovely boys are a five-piece comprising of; vocals from Lawrence, Chris and Charles on lead guitar, Callum on Bass, Charlie on drums accompanied by band photographer/friend, Lewis.

Here’s what he had to say.

I have heard a lot about you guys and I am so excited to be chatting with you now – could you first just tell me a bit about Sheafs and what your vibe is all about? We have a chilled group relationship and are currently undergoing quite a transition in terms of a new set developing a newish sound which has come with getting to know each other more. We take influence from the likes of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Cage the Elephant.

So, for me as a music journalist, the most important thing is when I can’t pin an artist/band to any other band I have heard because that for me screams originality.  Uh we have purposely tried to divert from the norms and work on the response we get.

That’s a perfect answer for me as I think, personally, for bands to be able to react to audience response and decide whether to act upon it is a huge part of creating original music like you are doing. Do you have any key gig dates we should know about or any social media platforms you’re eager to promote? We have our newest single ‘This is not a protest’ and video alongside a UK headline tour through February and March 2018.

Thankyou it’s been glorious to briefly sit down and chat with you.

Finally, Avalanche Party, my one-to-watch, my favourite act of the day and I managed to sit down with them all and ask a few questions. A day full of blessing’s. This five-piece is made up of Jordan Bell as frontman and vocalist, Joe Bell on bass, Jared Thorpe on lead guitar, Kane Waterfield on the drums and Glen (Thor) on the organ. 

For me, I was completely overwhelmed with their Kazoopa performance as a first-time fan – stage presence, tight backing and the heavy, full sound produced erupted The Lending Room and triggered every single person in the audience. Nobody was left disappointed, especially not me. Here’s a little snippet of what they had to say.

So, without sounding cliché, who are you guys inspired and influenced by as musicians? I couldn’t even begin to pin you down to anything I have seen/heard before which is a HUGE compliment I think. Uh we take influence from Nick Cave, Iggy Pop, The Sherlocks, Kendrick Lamar, make sure you write all of those down.

Any particular venue that you enjoy playing? Our gigs at Brudenell Social Club are probably our favourite, we’ve done loads of gigs there.

Anything exciting coming up soon? Any important dates we should know about? We have a European and UK Tour next year 2018 around February to December but as for recently we have just completed our February to October 2017 so we’re in wind-down mode now. 

Our single will be out around February/March time 2018 which is called 'Porcelain'.

To finish what has been an incredible experience for me, is there anything you boys would like to ask me or anything you want to say? We love you very much and you have a lovely dress xxx

That’s the best comment to end my day at Kazoopa.

That concludes all of my incredible interviews/reviews for Kazoopa Festival 2017 and I am so blessed to have been a part of it. Big love and thanks to all the bands that took the time to chat with me. Also, BIG THANKS to thank Double Denim, Mick, Chantel and Arianne imparticular for organising this gorgeous event. 

It was a pleasure to work with everyone. 

Me and Bongé had a ball.

For anybody that’s interested you can catch me for a review/interview by shooting me a message via my blog/Facebook or email which is accessible through my blog page.

Get sharing this, lets spread the love and spread the talent.

Stay Juicy, Mica Rae.