Warpaint almost split up before recording last year’s album, Heads Up. After 18 months on the road the LA group’s four members took some time to pursue solo endeavors, with bassist Jenny Lee Linberg releasing a solo album and Stella Mozgawa drumming for a number of artists, including Kurt Vile. They almost didn’t reunite.
Happily they did, and the resulting album transmits a rediscovered joy of playing music together. It feels freer and lighter than Warpaint’s previous releases, while still being meticulously crafted and beautifully produced. It stands up well to repeat listens.
Tonight’s gig at the O2 Institute is the first of a five-date UK tour, in the middle of a month-long European tour. Warpaint sidle onto the stage for an oddly low-key beginning to the show, with a ponderous instrumental introduction leading into the hypnotic ‘Keep it Healthy’, taken from their eponymous second album. It’s a gorgeous song showcasing the talents of Mozgawa, whose drumming is a focal point throughout the gig.
‘Heads Up’, the title track from their latest album, ups the pace; dancey guitar lines flutter in and out across a driving bass line. ‘Undertow’ (arguably still Warpaint’s best song, keeps up the momentum. The enchanting, eerie vocals are mantra-like, building to a satisfying guitar breakdown payoff.
Tonight’s set draws evenly from across the band’s three albums. By the middle of the gig this serves to highlight the fact that, throughout their career, Warpaint have written a lot of mid-tempo tracks. ‘No Way Out’, taken from a 2015 EP, meanders through seven quite dull minutes. ‘The Stall’, from the new album, is similarly uninspiring and ‘Stars’, a post-rock opus, may be carefully considered and executed, but ultimately fails to hold the attention.
Part of the problem is that the subtleties of Warpaint’s recorded work, particularly in the gorgeously produced new album, are lost in the muddy sound of the live arena. An issue too is the aloof, introspective nature of the band members; they have a lot of chemistry, but at times I feel like an outsider awkwardly gate crashing into their rehearsal room.
Things pick up again with ‘Whiteout’, the opener from Heads Up. ‘Whiteout’ sounds more modern than much of Warpaint’s Cure-rock, with a funky, almost r‘n’b vibe benefiting from an impassioned vocal performance from Emily Kokal and insistent, woozy guitar triplets.
‘So Good’ and ‘New Song’ are also highlights of tonight’s gig, showcasing the pop sensibility of Warpaint’s most recent material. It’s the sound of a band that’s confident, adept and at ease with itself. Perhaps some time apart has done them good.
Doors open at 7pm; the minimum age for entry is 14 with under 16s requiring adult accompaniment. Tickets are priced at £20.25 (+bf) – as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours. For direct gig info, including full venue details and online ticket sales, click here.
On the back of three years touring, and a string of singles and EP’s released, Blossoms hit the road again to promote their eponymous debut studio album. A bit of a warm up before they visit mainland Europe, North America and Canada, Blossoms will be back in the UK for festival season and a potential place in the hall of fame of Mancunian indie rock.
Blossoms arrived onto the music scene in 2014 with their singles ‘You Pulled a Gun On Me’ and ‘Blow’, the video for the latter being shot at the Fitzpatrick Scaffolding yard in Stockport that was their formative rehearsal space (owned by the grandfather of bass player, Charlie Salt). After building up a back catalogue of singles, Blossoms established an almost cult following with tunes like fan favourite ‘Charlemagne’. Their latest single, ‘Sweet Honey’, was released in February this year – once again featuring a who’s who of Stockport locations.
Blossoms‘ synth-rock sound has been labeled as ‘psychedelic’ by some critics but the band themselves arguably prefer to bask in the pop mainstream, cultivating a more mass appeal. Their nostalgia of The Stone Roses has brought older fans to this new band, whilst their sun blushed melodies found favour with today’s pop luvvies and teenage dreamers.
Blossom’s Mancunian roots are a big part of their music (and name – ‘Blossoms’ being a pub in Stockport) but can they be the sound of a new generation, or will their nostalgia tinged indie rock forever remind us of 00’s indie? A dichotomy which was arguably cemented by their support slot at one of The Stone Roses’ homecoming concerts last June.
But with Blossoms‘ debut LP already hitting the No #1 in both the UK and Scottish album charts, alongside a string a plaudits from artists including Johnny Marr and Ian Brown, Blossoms seem to be on their way to fulfilling their dream of being ‘massive’. And if their tour manager tweeting ‘I don’t think @BlossomsBand can fly economy anymore’ is anything to go, they’re becoming at least as recognisable as their musical heroes.
The five-piece Cabbage display ‘a penchant for juvenilia’, look childish (nappy wearing stage costumes) and seem a little… unhinged at times (check the official video to ‘Kevin’) but their appearance is deceiving. Often described as ‘Manchester’s next great…’ (I’m not sure how the headliners feel about this!?) Cabbage take their musical influences from band such as The Sex Pistols and Joy Division; their darker punkier sound with manic drums tackles Brexit, poverty and the boredom of everyday life. It will be interesting to see how Blossoms respond to such a rousing start.
‘Sweet Honey’ – Blossoms
Blossoms perform at the O2 Academy on Wednesday 29th March, with support from Cabbage + Rory Wynne – as presented SJM COncerts. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.
Doors open at 7:30pm with tickets priced at £6 (+bf) – as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online ticket sales, click here.
Birmingham Review first saw Ed Geater just over two years ago, playing at the Sun at the Station in a showcase organised by Call Me Unique. On as a support act, Ed Geater left ‘possibly the biggest impression on me’ and Birmingham Review has been keeping a sly corner of an eye on him ever since.
Now Ed Geater is on the road with his first headline tour, visiting the venues and motorway hard shoulders of fair Albion as he enjoys (we hope, anyway) an increasingly exciting 2017. Big things on the horizon.
But 24th March is the homecoming show, so we’re saving all our cider shekels and garrulous commentary for the Hare & Hounds. The support lineup is strong too – with some tickling voices from Birmingham’s musical underbelly coming out to shout. Ed Geater is a vocal champion of the local music scene and has handpicked the varied artists with a keen eye and interest. Getting there early might not be a bad idea.
But if a picture speaks a thousand words a music video must be an unabridged version of War and Peace in Latin, so here’s a couple of MPEG tomes to save me having to describe anything further.
And if you still can’t land on an adjective… a crisp tenner will get you watching it live with a drink in your hand. Problem, solved.
Don’t Think – Ed Geater
Symmetry (Live Session) – Ed Geater
Ed Geater performs at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Friday 24th March, with support from Bear + Dee Ajayi + Amy Louise Ellis – as presented Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online tickets sales, click here.
On the road med album nummer två, Josefin Öhrn + The Liberation were leaving phosphorescent trails though Birmingham as they finished a UK tour promoting their latest album, Mirage. Always good to catch the tail end of a rainbow.
And whilst our ‘man in Havana’ was struck down by a particularly virulent strain of man flu, Rob Hadley was there to capture the kaleidoscope show for THE GALLERY. But if a picture paints a thousand words… fate may have dodged an editorial bullet that night.
For as the self described ‘alchemical sky gazing’ ensemble proudly declare with their sophomore LP, Mirage ‘sees the band sculpting sprawling, hypnotic jams into elegant nocturnal serenades with such serendipity that their actual creation remains a little hazy even to themselves.’ Well that’s good to know. Where’s my thesaurus..?
In twelve short months Ed Geater has established himself as a firm part of the Birmingham music scene. Overcoming an initial anxiety about performing, his live gigs have become something of an event. With his trademark human beat boxing looped live over beautiful acoustic guitar melodies, and an earnest lyricism that recalls Jeff Buckley and Ben Howard, it’s a beguiling live adventure. On stage Ed Geater exudes a quiet and charming confidence that is hard to resist. He’s like that in person too; warm, honest and open. How did it all start?
“I started beat boxing when I was about twelve,” tells Ed Geater. “A friend got me into Rahzel and I was just blown away it was a human making that noise. Because I’ve got naturally quite good rhythm I could imitate it even though I couldn’t do the sounds. At school it became a house party trick. I always enjoyed doing it and over the years I gradually improved. Eventually I improved the sounds I could do and I discovered that I really liked the percussive side of it. When I was at uni I had the idea of combining that with my guitar playing.”
Ed Geater possessed the talent but found it emotionally tough to perform and struggled with his early gigs. Anxiety would lead to cancelled shows and when he did push himself to get on stage he would feel helpless and begin shaking, struggling to overcome a dry throat and deliver his vocals. It was important to “keep going” though.
Most people that suffer with anxiety don’t get over it by performing on stage? “I would say that it’s the best way that I could’ve done it,” says Geater, “if I’d given in and gone on medication that’s probably a lifelong thing isn’t it? I was close to going on medication for depression but it just never felt right for me to do that. I found another more natural way to get through it. It’s been a personal journey. The whole point of me gigging constantly was to get over my anxiety issues. I had severe anxiety and a history of quite severe depression.”
Are you OK sharing such personal details? “I’m more than happy to share. It’s part of the story. I feel like some musicians find their talent and confidence from a very early age and they just go for it, for me that wasn’t the case. It was very very difficult for me to put myself out there; I had to really really try over a number of years to get over the many hurdles.”
Ed Geater’s friend and now manager, Tom Bradshaw-Smith, could see the improvement in his song writing, vocals and live performances at the tail end of 2015. A plan was drawn up to increase exposure and make his unique sound available to a wider audience. As plans go it was pretty successful, two EPs, a string of gigs – including a sell out at Mama Roux’s, and hearing his song ‘Symmetry’ played to a capacity crowd at Villa Park. Not a bad year’s work. And as the old adage goes, success breeds confidence.
This confidence is apparent in the leap from the first, almost stark, Barriers EP to the slicker and more adventurous Unseen EP alongside the radio friendly pop of his single ‘Symmetry’. “I think that’s just me as a producer improving,” explains Ed Geater. “I love electronic producers and that influences me more than singer songwriters, like Bonobo and Four Tet, all these guys who do creative slightly more out there alternative electronic music with an ambient mellifluous sound to it, that’s the sound I try to create with my guitar and my beat boxing. When I produce I produce with that whole thing in mind.”
And what of creative ‘process’, how does an Ed Geater song get born? “I don’t really have a set structure to writing. Sometimes I will have a riff idea, start to write a melody over it and then write some lyrics to it. I find lyrics come quite spontaneously, I just write down my thoughts. It’s been a therapy, a lot of my songs, my thought patterns, whatever’s going on in here (points to head) I get down and try and make sense of it.”
Using gestalt therapy and meditation helped Ed Geater overcome his anxiety; there is an acknowledgement that anyone can judge him these days and, most pertinently, that’s OK. “Anything anyone thinks about me has got everything to do with them and nothing to do with me,” tells Geater. “It’s their lens and their ego created by everything they have been through and there’s nothing I can do about that so I can’t judge them for it either.” It’s a self assuredness that is palpable in his live shows; there is a friendly swagger about an Ed Geater performance, a charming inclusivity that was memorable during his sell out show at Mama Roux’s in October 2016. “It was like a ride,” remembers Geater, “and when it finished it didn’t feel like I’d done it. The creativity was flowing through me. It’s a high that I love and whenever I play I get it.”
Ed Geater declares a love of variety and a desire to not be “tied down by a single genre”. In the 2017 pipeline is a collaboration with local ‘emcee with a message’ Lady Sanity, plus the small matter of a national tour with a headline show at the Hare and Hounds on 24th March. These are good times for Ed Geater and good times for the Birmingham music scene he talks about with an infectious passion and enthusiasm.
“I’m really excited to get the single with Lady Sanity out in the summer,” tells Ed Geater, running through his roll call of local luminaries. “Also Call Me Unique, I’ve just produced her EP which will be released later this year. Pleasure House are great guys and a great band, Alex Rainsford is a really great singer songwriter, the rapper Vital is really hard working. Bear, DEE Ajayi and Amy Louise Ellis who are playing with me at the Hare and Hounds. Hannah Brown is a great girl with a lovely voice. My other recommendations are Sam Jackson, Dame, Cinema, Youth Man, Elektrik and Namiwa Jazz.” Ed Geater texted following the interview with more Birmingham musical shout outs; his commitment to the local scene is clear.
But as celebratory and positive as his plans are, Ed Geater’s ‘story’ possesses a difficult truth for a lot of performers – the musical talent was there, but the ability to express it was hampered by self doubt, anxiety and depression. But it also shows that all ‘hurdles’ can be overcome.
“There is no time limit on chasing your dreams,” concludes Ed Geater. “I hope something about my story will resonate with people and create awareness of mental health issues.”
‘Symmetry’ / Ed Geater
Ed Geater begins his national UK tour on Thursday 9th March, with a headline show at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on 24th March – with support from Bear + Dee Ajayi + Amy Louise Ellis, as presented by Birmingham Promoters. For direct gig info and online ticket sales, click here.
four members took some time to pursue solo endeavors, with bassist Jenny Lee Linberg releasing a solo album and Stella Mozgawa drumming for a number of artists, including Kurt Vile. They almost didn’t reunite.
‘Heads Up’, the title track from their latest album, ups the pace; dancey guitar lines flutter in and out across a driving bass line. ‘Undertow’ (arguably still Warpaint’s best song, keeps up the momentum. The enchanting, eerie vocals are mantra-like, building to a satisfying guitar breakdown payoff.
