Cory, Jim and Mike are three likely lads from Winnipeg, Canada who formed a band that has evolved in to something pretty amazing. The Judes have a unique presence, that something special that sets them far apart from the everyday songs that bombard us at every turn. It is this simplicity and rawness that takes everyone to that great place which is fun, good times, and above all an appreciation of great music.
There are some obvious Beatles connotations and influences (Hey Jude) but don’t brush this off as another wannabe band as you will be sorely mistaken! The Judes have already made waves in Australia on their last jaunt overseas. A small tour with a big outcome, fans and crowds all finding an unquenchable curiosity with this international Trio.
Every now and then a band comes along that grabs you by the ears and just makes you listen. One that doesn't sound like just anyone. A band that changes people's perceptions. A band that quite possibly, changes music.
In an age where music is regurgitated and the rate of 200mph, it's refreshing to hear something a little different and less sterile - something that has heart and soul, something that lights that spark of emotion that makes you feel music.
A return to fun. A return to roots.
This is what music is meant to be about. This is what we almost lost.
This is passion, dreams, and the belief that one band can change the world.
The Judes are planning a second exodus to Australia’s shores later this year. With a firm fanbase in place and a taste of life downunder it promises to be a road trip like you see on the movies. If you keep an eye on the street press, your local live music website & the festival listings no doubt their names will be there. Go and watch them then breath out a sigh of relief, music is alive and well again.
Don’t take my word for it, download a copy of The Judes EP offering ‘Sunflower’ from digital retailers everywhere…. I think you’ll get it
Band Members:
Cory Pritchard - bass/vocals
Jim Anderson - guitars/vocals Mike Dickson - drums/percussion/vocals
Vienna in Love are a British Rock/Dance from London. Formed in 2011, they have already gigged in the UK, Europe and the United States, supporting The Gossip and Duran Duran at Exit Festival 2012 (Novi Sad, Serbia), Rocktober Festival 2011 held at Chicago’s landmark Congress Theater, and Scala and Clapham Grand Theatres in London.
Vienna in Love’s single debut “Love is like War” was released in June 2012 and is distributed by Interscope Records on iTunes USA, UK/EU and Japan plus Spotify. They currently occupy UK chart position 5 on Reverbnation with over 24,000 fans.
Vienna In Love were scouted for video game ‘Rock Band’, an amazingly successful franchise having grossed $1bn. Their music will appear on two upcoming games, including the latest edition to Harmonix Game Systems, ‘Rock Band Blitz.’ The release is being planned for the third quarter of 2012 and will be available for Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Ds, and Wii game systems.
Two Wounded Birds were an English rock and roll band, formed in Margate, Kent, in 2010. The band consisted of Johnny Danger (vocals, guitar), Ally Blackgrove (bass), Joe Stevens (guitar) and James Shand (drums). The band's sound had been compared to The Tornado's, The Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground, Link Wray, and Phil Spector. The band had also been compared to The Drums, who discovered Two Wounded Birds in 2010, before taking them on their first European tour
In January 2011, Two Wounded Birds released the EP Keep Dreaming Baby. Three songs from the EP, Night Patrol, My Lonesome and Summer Dream were performed at BBC's Maida Vale Studios as part of a BBC Introducing Session for BBC Radio 1. The EP was followed by two further singles in, All We Wanna Do and Together Forever, which were released by Moshi Moshi Recordings. All We Wanna Do was chosen as Radio 1's Tip of the Week in August 2011.
At Glastonbury 2011, the band played Glastonbury's BBC Introducing Stage.
On 6 November 2012, Two Wounded Birds announced via their Facebook and Twitter page that they had disbanded.
La Resistance is the brainchild of Greg Summerlin, who, after releasing several solo albums on Superphonic Records, formed the band with three friends who have played with him over the past few years. These indie-rockers on the rise prove to be turning the heads of music fans across the nation as the band's debut album, "Philosophy,” barely a year old, has already been covered in such major blogs and magazines as AOL Spinner, Magnet, Blurt, My Old Kentucky Blog, Popmatters, Under the Radar, KEXP.org, The Big Takeover, Allgigs (UK) and many others. It also spent several weeks in the CMJ charts and achieved #1 status at stations like KONC in Chicago.
La Resistance is the past and the future. The old and the new. The classic and the experimental. Their unique sound and perspective is hard to categorize, but their influences range from New Order, Radiohead, The Cure, and Echo and the Bunnymen, to Interpol and Arcade Fire. Without departing from the timeless foundation of catchy melodies and poetic, poignant lyrics, La Resistance has an eye for the future, pushing the words and music to a place that is altogether inspiring but never ostentatious.
La Resistance is Greg Summerlin on lead vocals and guitar, Randle Scruggs on bass, Mischa Jordy on keys and vocals, and Wil Drake on drums.
Parisian Lead singer Nina Courson met British guitarist Phil Honey-Jones in 2009 in the venue Punk in Soho, both of them were in separate bands at the time. They wrote their first song as a birthday present for a mutual friend and it felt good, in fact it felt right. The song is entitled Glam Sister and is on the album and one of the most popular songs in the live set. From then on more songs came thick and fast, the shared influences of the likes of Iggy Pop, Nirvana, Blondie, Killing Joke and Sonic Youth have played a big part in the direction of the group, inspiration has come from far and wide and lyrically the lines between autobiographical and fiction are blurred and merged. I suppose if there was a specific aim it would be to capture and bottle the essence of certain music from the past and release it kicking and screaming into the now. Phil and Nina were soon joined by Steve Nightmare on drums and Tjay Tarantino(Blood Island Raiders/Dusteroid) on Bass guitar. They played their first gig together at an all day punk festival in Brighton in September 2010. Since then the band have played many gigs, all over the U.K. including a support slot to the legendary Walter Lure of the Heartbreakers in November. Earlier in the summer of 2011 the band went on a short tour to France and are heading back there in April 2012. So it’s onward and upwards with the live shows getting better and better. On stage lead singer Nina Courson interacts with the other band members and entices her audience in the theatre that has become the trademark of their live shows.
Band Members:
Nina Courson-Vocals,
Phil Honey-Jones-Guitar/vocals, Tjay Tarantino-Bass, Steve Nightmare-Drums
Anima Pop was an Alternative Pop band formed in the summer of 2006 under the influence of Post-Punk: The Cure, Joy Division as well as the 90’s sounds as exemplified by bands such as Placebo, Kent, Moose and Radiohead.
The band gained a considerable amount of recognition and embarked on an International Tour of 150 concerts in important Festivals and Clubs across the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Switzerland & Portugal.
Living for the tour Anima Pop were one of the most versatile and energetic “go get it” Alternative Pop bands out there:
Spanish Press Awards “Best New Band 2008”
Anima Pop knew how to use the modern Net media and actively networked with both fans and music/entertainment professionals alike. Their myspace page had 20,000 plus fans and had clocked up almost a half a million plays very quickly.
The bands Maxi-Single debut “Save Me” was released on May 3rd 2010; following hot on the heels of this new release the band toured the UK, USA, Europe, and Japan to great enthusiasm.
"Save Me has such an exhilarating feeling that if you close your eyes, it makes you feel like you are in a highly populated festival watching the sun go down over the horizon at dusk. The guitar sounds & production create a thick “wall of sound” with an emotional vocal & great arrangement work. Chris - Big in the Game UK Press"
“The Reagan years. Killing Joke's "Eighties" comes to mind, and The Perfects are firmly rooted from that period. The Perfects are heavily influenced by the sounds of Duran Duran, The Cure, New Order, and much of the Alternative New Wave while infusing a very modern appeal with their 21st century production values giving The Perfects a distinct sound of their own.” ~ MTV - http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/the_perfects/artist.jhtml
Some Velvet Morning may be new to you, but they’re already familiar to Nancy Sinatra, Paolo Nutini and Razorlight, to mention just a few celebrity names that orbit their world. The famous daughter of the even more legendary 20th century swinger gave them her nod of approval when she heard that they were named after her best-known collaboration with Lee Hazlewood on the beautiful song “Some Velvet Morning” (“she was flattered”).
Some Velvet Morning, formed by the Lambert brothers from North London, are influenced as much by 80s synth-pop as the guitar melodies and counter-melodies of U2’s The Edge. “A lot of bands start out the art school way,” says Des, “with a certain purpose. We’re completely the opposite. We just started doing gigs, I could play guitar a bit, and that’s how we went on.” The arrival of Rob, a dexterous and versatile sticks man proved to be a decisive moment for SVM. “I’m influenced by the classic drummers,” explains the Flanagan from Lincoln. “Ringo, Nick Mason and Mick Fleetwood... the great unsung heroes, so often underrated, but the parts they played on those records are unbelievably good.” According to Des, Rob learned to play drums from The Beatles’ Abbey Road and tom-tom laden tracks such as “Come Together” - “that album’s in his DNA.”
Success followed with their 2007 debut album, Silence Will Kill You, which comprised of some punchy, potent pop-rock, produced by Grammy Award winning Rik Simpson (who notably worked on Coldplay’s Viva La Vida album with Brian Eno) and Mike Pelanconi (Lily Allen, Graham Coxon.) This album was nominated for XFM Album of the Year 2007, while a follow-up single, “How To Start A Revolution”, was featured in the international trailer to the Hollywood movie “Kick-Ass”, Matthew Vaughn’s blockbuster starring Nicolas Cage. -
“The first album... was us finding our feet,” explains Des. “We didn’t totally know what we were doing, but one thing we always had were the songs. The question was how to dress them up - the production, the arrangement, the aesthetic of the band.” In 2010 they released a self-titled EP that featured an even more honed and streamlined version of their shimmering, soaring rock sound.
“We consolidated our sound on that EP,” agrees Des. “It was more concise.” Des also notes other influences on the band’s current material such as the “pre - Love Cats” version of The Cure, when Robert Smith et al were mired in the moody, dark rock of “Seventeen Seconds, Faith and Pornography”.
“We were inspired by their rhythmic and aesthetic shadow,” he says, adding that, instead of “chasing quantized perfection” in the studio, they tend to go for a sound that, while not technically immaculate, “really rocks”.
Adept in the studio, exciting live, now all SVM had to crack was how to sell their records. They’re approaching this in a novel way, with My Major Company (partnered by Sony/ATV and PIAS), who operate via crowd funding, a new type of record label system, already successful in France, whereby fans are encouraged to invest in new artists, giving them a say in the future direction of the bands or singers. SVM needed £100,000 to make it work, and they amassed that sum in an astonishing two months.
Of course, none of this would work if their songs weren’t strong, and luckily Some Velvet Morning have those in spades. “Don’t Think,” the first single from their new album “Allies,” is plangent and heartfelt, with echoes of Peter Hook’s trebly bass and U2’s ringing guitars. “Control” is all about control - controlled performances and controlled dynamics, as the players reach peak after peak.
You can imagine their second single, “How To Start A Revolution,” filling the biggest of rock venues, with the band given plenty of space to roam. Here as elsewhere, the move from intro to verse to chorus is subtly explosive. Already the track is being played continuously in Premier league sports stadiums across the UK and has been a key feature on Talksport, BBC Radio 5 Live, ITV’s ‘Europa Football’ and BBC1’s ‘Football Focus,’ as well as ESPN’s ‘Talk Of The Terrace,’ where the band performed live on the show earlier this year.
On “Resistance,” the guitar riff is instantly recognisable, one of those songs designed to rouse audiences at festivals, with Des’ declamatory tones never being swamped by clatter. Meanwhile, “The River” is the sort of quietly brooding, slow-building affair that gives rock ballads a good name.
BBC Radio 2 as well as leading French stations RTL 2 and Cherie FM have been spinning ‘Allies’ this summer, as the band played festivals across the UK and in France. So if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Try Some Velvet Morning.
“How To Start A Revolution is not short of ass-kicking tendencies itself.” Q Magazine
“80s pop instincts give a refreshing squeeze to songs like Hollywood, Control and Allies.” Classic Rock
“After hearing the album just a couple of times, I found myself humming its melodies for several days.” Subba Cutcha
“The Smiths and U2 re-imagined for the iPad clad generation and it works a treat.” Music Week
“Surging bass lines and chiming guitars that, for indie types who still haven’t found what they’re looking for, even after years of exposure to the Editors and The White Lies, will immediately warm to.” The Guardian
“It’s not very often that there is an album closer that instantly makes you want to jump back to the start and go on the ride again, but the subtle guitars along with Desmond’s raw vocals do just that.” Soundcheck Magazine
“358 fans ‘ponied’ up £100,000K to make the album.” Time Magazine
“An anthemic sing along trait is a trait that appears through this impressive collection.” Shout 4 Music
“After listening, I had to play it again and again, and again, then still wanted more.” Ampkicker
"Their lyrics and songs are far more interesting than their UK contemporaries." The Fly
