Welcome to the August instalment of The Unsigned Guide Spotlight, where you’ll find another 5 tracks that we think are pretty damn great and want to shout about. Don’t forget you can send us your best songs via our and it could be you featured here next month. But for now, sit back and enjoy…..
Clockwork Radio – ‘Resolver’
The Welsh/Eqyptian/rest-of-the-world 5 piece Clockwork Radio released their first EP ‘State of Mind’ back in 2010 and have since released 4 EPs and performed on the same bill as the likes of The Prodigy, Bombay Bicycle Club, The Hives and Tom Williams & The Boat.
Comparisons have been made with classic and contemporary bands & artists such as The Police, Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, MGMT and Florence & The Machine, with them exploring genres as varied as Flamenco, Afro-beat, Electronica, Rock, Folk, Disco and Funk. Last year’s “Sketch” EP received support from industry tastemakers such as Steve Lamacq, Jen Long, Lauren Laverne, Tom Robinson and John Kennedy; with the band also getting airplay and reviews across the world.
‘Resolver’ is set to be released in September along with a UK tour in October and a European tour scheduled in for April 2013. The boys are currently creating videos to accompany some of current EP Ubuntu’s tracks and gearing up for yet more touring.
Here’s what they had to say about how they’ve used The Unsigned Guide in the past:
“As we do most of our UK tour booking ourselves we’ve found it really helpful in finding and contacting venues. We're also always looking through it for contact details of publishers, music supervisors, agents, managers etc. There's tons of info about the people listed in there so it helps when you need to look up the people and show them you’re not just mailing off a huge mailing list. It adds a bit more of a personal touch and that always helps.”
Blind Atlas – ‘Brother Moon’
Anglo-American band Blind Atlas came together in the suburbs of South Manchester back in 2009. Their songs range from Blues to Folk to Americana and Rock with influences having been cited as Neil Young, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Calexico and The Grateful Dead. Debut album ‘Kodiak Bear’ was released in June with ‘Brother Moon’ taken as the main radio track.
Since forming, Blind Atlas have played headline slots across Manchester and supported The Bees, Blitzen Trapper, Megafaun, The Acorn, Buffalo Tom, Liam Frost and The Features. They’ve received extensive radio support from the likes of Bob Harris at Radio 2, Cerys Matthews, Gideon Coe, Tom Robinson, Jo Good and Nemone at BBC6 Music, along with plays across Europe and the U.S.
Physical and digital copies of ‘Kodiak Bear’ are available through their website.
Ed Zealous – ‘Diamonds For Eyes’
Four-piece Ed Zealous decided Belfast was the perfect breeding ground for their very own brand of disorder and have been locked away creating, to quote Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, “a slice of awesome electro that would fizz in your mouth if you took a bite”. With their blend of big kick drums, synthesiser chaos and erratic vocals they’re looking to set the live circuit alight when they set out in full force to tour at the end of the summer.
They’ve just finished recording their debut album with producer Eliot James who’s credits include fellow Irishmen Two Door Cinema Club, plus Bloc Party and Mark Ronson. Currently locked away mastering the record, they have a couple of small gigs lined up in Letterkenny on August 3rd and Omagh on August 10th and are working on finalising release dates for both the album and its singles.
You can watch the video for ‘Diamonds For Eyes’ and download a free copy of the track via their Bandcamp page below.
Loverproof - ‘Dalston Salvage’
Ciara Haidar is trained classically and originally wanted to be a Classical performer. Whilst doing her BA and Masters in music and training as a pianist, singer and composer, she began to get into songwriting and met a lot of different musicians from all walks of life. She then started sessioning and touring with a number of different artists including Kid Harpoon and Dizzee Rascal.
After perfecting her songs, she started performing under the name Loverpoof and has performed a handful of London shows. She recently performed at the Isle of Wight festival and did a session there backstage for ‘Ray-Ban Room Sessions’.
Ciara’s just finished working with Charlie Andrew who produced Alt-J’s debut album and is currently seeking management to begin work on a debut album with a view to getting signed. You can catch her at The Wheelbarrow in Camden on 30th August.
We had a little chat with her to see how she’s finding The Unsigned Guide helpful in her quest:
“I found out about The Unsigned Guide through The Musicians Union and have been vigorously using it ever since. As I’m looking for management at the moment it’s great to have everything in one place. All the extra information in the blog and newsletters is really helpful too, it’s full of great advice for people like myself looking to get a record deal.”
Violet Bones – ‘Villains’
Violet Bones are a 4 piece garage rock band from Cambridge who have performed alongside bands such as New York Dolls, Cage The Elephant, Ash, Tribes and Pulled Apart By Horses.
Rik, Oz, Stu and Si have spent the last 12 months working on their debut album ‘Decline of Vaudeville’ which features their recently released single ‘Chemicals’. Having completed 2 full UK tours this year alone, they’ve received support from the likes of BBC Radio 2, BBC Introducing, Kerrang!, Q and XFM.
The rest of the year will be spent with yet more touring and also sees them release their debut record, including our chosen track ‘Villains’, in Europe. A full list of tour dates can be found on their website.
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How do I get featured on the Spotlight blog?
Our Spotlight blog is compiled every month from fresh new music submitted to us by our members. We want to hear from you! We select 5 of the best tracks from our members, so if you want to be in the running you’ll need to sign up to The Unsigned Guide then follow the instructions in your Welcome email to submit a track for Spotlight consideration to us. If you’re already a member and still not sure about how to submit your music for Spotlight, just give us a shout via our Contact page & we’ll help you out!
As well as being featured in our new music blog, your track will also be forwarded onto these music industry professionals including folks from Amazing Radio, Big Life Management, Club Fandango, Domino Records, The Fly, Memphis Industries, Rocksound, Skint Publishing, Sony Music, Spotify, Fake DIY, Transgressive Records and The Great Escape.
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