happy daggers – and so she thinks

Live At Leeds 2013

admin — Sun, 05 May 2013 19:06:12 +0000

Leeds is a city brimming with musical talent and enthusiasm, every northern street oozing some kind of inspiration and output, and the annual Live At Leeds festival sees a whole host of bands join the homegrown musicians to celebrate and showcase the best in new music. This year, the city slicking festival’s seventh year, saw over 120 artists performing across the city, from native and highly successful Yorkshire lads The Pigeon Detectives to new and emerging Witch Hunt, local legends Sky Larkin to New York newbies MS MR, and straight up swilling rock’n’roll band The Struts to soulful synths courtesy of Lulu James. Determined to see as many bands as possible, without running around the city like a relentless parking attendant on speed, we spent Saturday 4th May discovering some new favourites.
Kicking off at uber cool Nation Of Shopkeepers was young Georgia Thursting. Soulful and skittish, Georgia and her band played a funk and bluesy melange, all short songs about love and heartbreak. For those keen to find out more, the helpful lass has made it easier to hunt her down amongst the devilishly densely populated world wide web, stressing to the titters of captivated gentlemen the doe eyed songstress stressed that her name is not Thrusting but Thursting. Told.
Menace Beach have been something of a buzz band of late, and their short (15 mins max) set revealed why. Pivoting around the boy girl dynamic duo of Ryan and Liza and supplemented with members of Sky Larkin and Hookworms, their scuzzy grunge riffs and furiously grooving melodies have been turning heads.
Live music in a church is always a winner, especially when accompanied by a pint, and today was no different. Leeds’ Holy Trinity Church is one of the county’s most eminent art spaces, and we arrived in time to catch the end of George Ezra‘s set. The shifting strains of this young songsmith resonated through the rafters of the church, his vocals and notes blossoming into inspired and invigorating tunes. After his final notes died away and we were left with chills, we ran to Mill’s, the least practical venue ever imagined, to cTxh the bluesy swing of Liverpool born David Broad, all toe tapping eccentricity.
DH Lawrence’s Sons And Lovers is one of my favourite books of all time, its detailed and delicate dissection of the complexities of relationships and resolutions so striking and powerful, subtle in their sophistication. The band of the same name are more immediately brash and accessible, like a version of White Lies meets Vampire Weekend, or something similar. Soaring choruses and simple melodies, they make good, yet somewhat entry level indie.
Next up was a sprint up to the Uni to see what Post War Glamour Girls had to offer. Straddling pendulum style between glorious soaring strings and harmonies and angst driven roars and rumbles, this home grown band sent shivering and colossal shifts through the crowd as they captivated via their intimidating and heavy ambience. Australian indie rockers Deep Sea Aracde were up me their raucous and furious rock crackling with punishing thrills on the stage.
I can’t remember a time in my life when my aural excitement hasn’t been fuelled by guitar wielding bands, but apparently guitar music has been dead for a while, and Savages are the band to bring it back. The following statement may have me vilified and marginalised by small music press, but, really? Not nearly as tantalising and the reviews and hyperbole would have you believe, the set was frustrating and limited, failing to set me alight. I seemed to be alone however, as the crowd rocked and swayed with adulation. Wolf Alice have been making waves on the airwaves with their stupefyingly youthful melodies and crackling hooks, and today’s gig reassured early fans that their faith was not misplaced. Poppy 90s influenced grunge flecked with thrillingly steadfast riffs, they could well be one of the new waves of bands to last longer than a few months.
By this point the Cockpit was already operating a one in one out system as the queue snaked multiple streets from the venue. The crowd lined up in anticipation of something of a buzz line up, with Peace and their fellow B town buzz band Swim Deep on the bill, punctuated by the gritty and soaring Unknown Mortal Orchestra. The latter are seductively sincere, their grubby tumbling songs instinctive and invigorating. Particularly potent and thrilling onstage, their vivid and resonant melodies were delivered in a somewhat seismic fashion. With both Swim Deep and Peace you know what you are getting, and they rarely disappoint. Sunny grunge, soaring choruses, languid and defiant lyrics and entrancing guitars, both bands banged out tune after tune. Even in the dark and wintry tunnel of the Cockpit Swim Deep’s summer tune King City warmed and welcomed with spirit. Despite Peace lead singer Harry’s best attempt to distract from the musical output of his band, by rocking a sartorial ensemble put together by cutting up his grandmother’s curtains, tablecloth, and carpet, all in one outfit, he was unable to detract from what are some absolute belters of songs, Lovesick and Float Forever being particularly riotous.
As the final notes of played and the crowd descended into indie disco, the overwhelming feeling was one of success. Sore feet, followed by an even sorer head the next morning, hut a whole host of newly discovered bands to further investigate, and even more that I could not fit into the day but have added to the list to find. Another year and yet further proof that this northern city has a lot to offer.

Live At Leeds 2013

admin — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:19:26 +0000

It’s important to know (and I say this as someone who lives in London and grew up dreaming of doing so) that the capital is not always where it is at. Cities across the UK are bubbling with creativity and musical delight, and in fact the more succinct style of many cities means that as a genuine hub and collective for musical creativity they function better than the expansive and competitive London. Leeds is one such example, and Live At Leeds, an annual festival since 2007, celebrates the local whilst not being so narrow minded as to presume that the rest of the UK is devoid of talent, uniting the best upcoming local bands alongside more established national acts.
Taking place over May Bank Holiday, this year the weekend kicks off with The Unconference , a schedule of seminars and talks on the music business. Curated by whiskas (¡Forward, Russia!, Dance To The Radio, IMGNTN) and supported by Leeds Metropolitan University, the focus this year will be around networking and the landscape of music consumption in the digital landscape, a pertinent issue for creators, consumers, and everyone in between.
It’s this that I like about Live At Leeds ; it’s not just about stumbling from bar to bar lagered up (although I love that too), but about a genuine love for music and how to make it sustainable and exciting for everyone involved. Oh yeah, and the fact that it is only £22.50 for over a hundred bands, including Little Comets, Tribes, Maybe She Will, Sons & Lovers, Theme Park, Wolf Alice, Darwin Deez, The 1975 and Yorkshire favourites Pigeon Detectives.

Happy Daggers

admin — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 17:33:48 +0000

Leeds is a city with a vibrant music scene: buzzing sounds, great bands, and a community ethos. I chat to Happy Daggers about their home town and the music they make there.

You have quite a mix of styles going on, yet all seem to blend well. Are there any particular influences?
We all have very eclectic tastes and I think that helps bring new ideas to the table and keep things fresh. I’d probably say indie, rock n roll, disco and soul are the main ingredients. We’re all really into anything as long as it has a good groove and isn’t too plastic and manufactured. We all love our classics and are probably more into music from the 60′s and 70′s than anything in the charts at the moment. Nights out as a band invariably end up somewhere that’s blasting out funk and soul until the wee small hours.

How do you write – do you find a riff and build it round that, and consciously add elements in?
It definitely varies. Sometimes it could start with a bass riff and everything else builds around it. Other times one of us might come to rehearsals with a verse or a chorus idea and we develop that. There’s certainly no particular formula and that’s how we like it. It generally happens very organically, sometimes by total freak accident.

Leeds is known for having a great music scene. Do you think that being in and around the area has helped the band and your music evolve?
Me (Jon – bass) and Tom (drums) met at University in York and moved to Leeds with our old band purely for the music scene. When that band fell apart we were introduced to Sinclair (vocals & guitar) and Danny (guitar) and things started from there – so Leeds has definitely helped our music, it’s where we started. It is a great scene with some fantastic bands and it just seems to be getting stronger all the time.
Where is your favourite venue in the area?
The 360 Club at The Library Pub in Hyde Park is a great night. Richard Watson,who runs it, is a brilliant promoter who has such a good thing going. The sound is impeccable and he really cares about the acts he puts on. He’s given us some really great advice and has always been really enthusiastic about what we do, from the very beginning.

Any bands you think are up and coming and worth checking out?
We love China Rats. Such a good band and doing really well at the minute. We’ve seen, and played with, so many good Leeds bands and that’s what makes the scene so strong, it also pushes you to up your game, which is never a bad thing.

Like most musicians, this isn’t your first project and you’ve been through a few bands. What is different about Happy Daggers?
Me and Tom have played together in bands for a good few years so the rhythmic foundations were
already strong before Happy Daggers got together. Sinclair and Danny both have a real knack for melodies and the whole thing just comes together quite naturally. Vibe is so important. We work well together and have a lot of faith in what we’re doing. The banter levels are always through the roof as well. If you’re easily offended it’s probably best you don’t come anywhere near our rehearsal room!

What’s coming up for the summer?
We want to keep getting our music to as many people as possible. We’ve got a number of gigs lined up in Leeds and also further afield over the next few months. We’re also looking to get back in the studio as soon as possible. On the festival front this year we’re confirmed to play Live at Leeds and Solfest in Cumbria, with more on the horizon. This year has started really positively and it really feels like we’ve found our sound, now we just want to get it to new ears.
Catch Happy Daggers at their forthcoming shows…
30 March – Freak Out @ Rock n Roll Circus, Armley, Leeds
01 April – The Dublin Castle, Camden
02 April – The Shed, Leicester
05 April – 360 Club @ The Library Pub, Leeds
04 May – Live At Leeds 2013

Originally posted on ZME Music