The Unsigned Guide Spotlight: April
Blog by Louise Dodgson under Artist Managers, Creative & Branding, Finance, Law & Music Business, Live, Media, Music Publishing, Music Training & Careers, Record Labels, Recording & Production, Selling & Distributing Your Music
Welcome to another month's worth of new music delights to get you in spritely Spring mode. Enjoy!
False Advertising – ‘Alopecia’
Imagine the best bits of 90s grunge merged with jagged, DIY punk energy and plenty of hooky, sing-along melodies to boot. Let us introduce Manchester trio False Advertising. Written in response to the audience at their gigs who get more excited about the band’s faster, more energetic songs, we’re sure ‘Alopecia’ more than fulfils this.
Although these days attracting a vigorous interest in their music, False Advertising are keen to stay true to their roots: “Remaining 100% DIY has been a massive achievement for us. We record and produce all of our own music (in garages and the like) as well as produce, film and edit all our music videos and artwork. How we've managed to do this without driving ourselves insane alongside our day-jobs sometimes baffles me.”
With a UK tour kicking off next week, plus some festival appearances including Liverpool Sound City, the band are also keenly anticipating the release of their new EP ‘Brainless’ due on 22nd April.
Harry Young – ‘Pretty Girls’
A Scotsman living in Manchester, Harry Young whips up a mean line in infectious acoustic pop music, and although penned in the middle of winter, there are some serious summery beach vibes in our chosen track ‘Pretty Girls’. Recorded in Glasgow, Harry tells us the process in the studio was fun and this certainly resonates through the song.Flying solo with no management and little budget, Harry has made great waves, playing great gigs in both Glasgow and Manchester, as well as getting radio airplay from Jim Gellatly too. To date Harry is pleased with the reaction to his music and hopes to build on this in the coming year. Plans include recording his debut EP, playing more gigs, and working with a manager or PR company to help take his talents to the next stage. We certainly think he’s a dead cert for bigger things.
In the meantime, why not snap up a copy of ‘Pretty Girls’ yourself on iTunes.
Violetic – ‘Ethanol’
London three-piece Violetic’s atmospheric sound is indulgently dark and melodic with an undercurrent of dance. They tell us how ‘Ethanol’ came about:
“Ethanol was one of the first songs we ever wrote together having input from all of our individual influences at the time. The idea was formed quite spontaneously and was turned in to a full song fairly quickly. The song came out of a developing attitude towards attachment and priorities.”
High points for the band to date include supporting Ringo Deathstarr and Marriages, as well as their recent single release show at Servant Jazz Quarters curated by them and featuring many fantastic and varied acts. Keen to collaborate with other artists for a while, this was the ideal opportunity to create an immersive and linear experience throughout the night, and do something a little bit different.
The rest of the year holds plenty of writing and recording, as well as the releases of a series of singles. Violetic will also be hitting the road soon too, check here for upcoming live dates. They also have a new single ‘Figure It Out’ available for free download here.
Nessi Gomes – ‘These Walls’
Image credit: Babs Behan
Spinning witchy tales of dark and light, Nessi Gomes blends the essence of the Portuguese traditional, emotional and ‘larger than life’ Fado folk music with British progressive inspiration.
Nessi has fostered strong followings in other countries and this year plans to focus more energy in the UK. Last year she toured Europe, playing 30 intimate shows in 12 countries, which proved to be an invigorating adventure for both her and her husband in a small hire car.
She has also had a great response to her IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign last year, check out details here.
Having just completed work on her debut album with producer Duncan Bridgman, creator of One Giant Leap, Nessi is thrilled about its release later this year and is now back to writing new material. Keep an eye on her website for gig dates and festival appearances coming up this summer including slots at Shambala Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival.
The Stirs – ‘Surrender’
Bringing a variety of different musical influences to the table, the four members of this Kidderminster band create emotive and punchy indie rock. They’ve garnered plenty of support from their local BBC Introducing show and it looks like The Stirs’ star is rising. Quite apt, as their song ‘Surrender’ denotes, they’re not a band to take things lying down.
“Surrender is a song for the underdogs. It signifies the emotion of a fighter, someone who never wants to give up. The first line of the song is a question, 'Who falls down first?'. I feel it certifies our self belief.”
You can look forward to more new songs and plenty of gigs during 2016 as The Stirs continue to push themselves and grow as a band. Watch this space!
How can 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. View the full list of who listens to our Spotlight tracks here.
Members of The Unsigned Guide get access to our huge directory of over 8,600 UK music industry contacts. Find out more about the directory and the other services we provide to help emerging bands and artists here:
READ OUR LATEST SPOTLIGHT BLOGS:
The Unsigned Guide Spotlight: March
The Unsigned Guide Spotlight: February
The Unsigned Guide Spotlight: January
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the unsigned guide spotlight, new music blog, music by unsigned emerging bands artists, get my music on blogs, harry young, false advertising, violetic, the stirs, nessi gomes
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