The Cosmonauts

With main influences ranging from the 60’s right up to modern times with bands including the Beatles, The Clash, Radiohead and Jefferson Airplane, Edinburgh quartet The Cosmonauts are defiantly musically educated.  With such wide taste over many decades their sound is a fine mixture of all and a definitely not something that many bands are doing.

Their story started with Chris and Alan founding the band and meeting Claire through some mutual musical friends.  Their drummer Paul was the last addition after a gumtree advertisement for a drummer.  After a few jams their styles seemed to click perfectly and so the band were created.

The first thing you notice about their music is their distorted sound and then the sound of their secret weapon as it was – the electric cello.  What makes this band unique from the others is defiantly their sound; 

“We have an electric cello in our line up which adds a lot of tone and depth to the music. Also we love doing harmonies which you don’t see a lot of today. As a band we try to reinvent the ‘old school’ 60s sound adding a modern edge.”

The band recently played a hugely successful gig at The Liquid Rooms last month as part of The Big Stooshie Charity Event and as a result of this performance they managed to secure themselves a slot at the next festival being held in Fife in May 2012. 

In regards their biggest achievement the band responded with;

“I think our biggest achievement as a band so far is getting our music out to a lot of people and them actually liking it!! We feel that our calibre of songs is our strength and so far we’ve managed to get a gig at the Barrowlands which will no doubt be our biggest achievement. This is in October as part of SAVIFEST”

Discussion then turned to their opinion on the unsigned scene and their opinions on it as a band that is part of it;

“There are a lot of good unsigned bands out there, we find that it’s all about who you know…and it’s pretty tough for everyone to get noticed and your music played. For us it’s about our music and hope that with the development of online sites for promotion, it’s helping everyone reach a wider audience. “

The Cosmonauts are such an interesting band who have achieved quite a bit they have their ambitions firmly set on the future and one main want from their career. This was made very clear in their an answer;

“Honestly…signed to a major label and touring the world!! Making amazing albums that can stand up to the great bands of the past. “

 

During their upcoming performances the band will be using the gaps between each to record their upcoming debut album. An album for which I cannot wait to hear -if their current recorded tracks are anything to go on.

The band has the following live dates coming up and a potential mini tour in September after their album is recorded.

11^th August – Jam House Open Auditions - Edinburgh

30^th September – Aikmans RGMUSICON Festival – St Andrews

2^nd October – Legends RGMUSICON Festival – Anstruther

21^st October – Glasgow Barrowlands – SAVIFEST

You can check the band out and see any other live shows or news on their Facebook page here 

Liquid Fuse

Without a doubt my favourite genre of rock music has to be 80’s style rock n roll and anything trying to be a modern equivalent I almost always love. So it was in delight when I was contacted by Liquid Fuse, who are just that a good old 80’s style rock n roll band.

Hailing from Brighton, England the band consist of Joe 'Enrique' Wareham, Jamie 'JNR' North, Lee 'Leeroy' Bentley, Dan Kelly and Dwight Brady. The band was originally started in 2007 by twin guitarists Jamie and Lee, but it was the addition of vocalist Joe when things really started to kick off. Soon after Joe, bassist Dan and drummer Dwight were recruited and the bands line up was finally completed in March 2010.

The band takes their influences from some of the greats like Guns n Roses, AC/DC, Van Halen and Joe Satriani.  They also take influence from modern bands like Buckcherry, Audioslave, Rage against the Machine and Avenged Sevenfold.

“Each one of us has different tastes in music, but we are brought together with a mutual love for Rock ‘N Roll. Hip Hop, Metal and Funk all play a big part in influencing us as individual musicians.”

Liquid Fuse has played some impressive gigs in their career so far including the Kemptown Carnival in Brighton, Purple Turtle (London), Barfly (Camden) and the O2 Academy in Islington.  On discussion regarding their live shows one stands out in the bands mind the most;

“Ultimately, our EP launch party on 30^th June at The Volks (Brighton seafront) has to take the biscuit. We put on 3 other great bands and then we headlined with probably the best performance we’ve ever delivered in front of some new listeners but mostly our own fans. It was really touching to have so many people come and support us, and it was very rewarding to be able to give back a great show and evening.”

The last time I spoke to the band a few months back their EP was in the early stages so was astounded to hear back so soon that it was completed. Naturally the band was extremely happy with their end product and even stated it was their greatest achievement as a band so far;

“This would probably be our recent EP release. It was recorded in May and considering the time we had (two days) we think it turned out pretty awesome. On top of that, we literally did everything ourselves and out of our own pockets; we designed an EP cover, promoted it, sorted out copyright and digital distribution. It was a massive achievement for us. We threw an EP launch gig, which became a proper Rock N Roll party, the icing on the cake!”

When I first heard their title track "Loaded Gun" from the EP it instantly reminded me of the beginning of a Motley Crue track but this band are no run of the mill copy act they are so much more. Their musical influences are clearly present within their music but they take an old genre of music and blend it with their own unique attitude and produce a truly amazing product.


One thing is evident from Liquid Fuse their passion for their music is very much alive and burning. The band has worked so hard, and deserves to get as much recognition as possible.  The band also seems to have the same view as a lot of musicians I speak with regarding the state of the unsigned scene at present;

“Some life needs to be injected into the scene – there are too many promoters who don’t really care about the music or promote well, too many sub-par bands who don’t put on a good show or promote well either, and too many gigs end up being just a few people standing around. A lot of this music is just the same generic stuff that you’ve heard a thousand times before, it gets boring! The unsigned music scene needs to be grabbed by the balls and given a good squeeze – we should be bringing it back to life and remind people that there’s nothing like a great live gig.”

The band’s debut EP entitled ‘Loaded Gun’ is available NOW and has already received some rave reviews and got some radio play in Brighton and London radio stations.

You can contact the band on their Facebook page here 

Mik Banner

One movement within the local scene which is providing more and more unsigned artists with not only a place to hone their live skills but also a platform for exposure is the humble open mic night.  Every place from the smallest town to the biggest city usually has at least one on the go, Kilmarnock is no different. Open mic nights gave Mik Banner the start he needed; playing covers of his favourite artists then helping him progress to writing and playing his own material. Mik is still a usual fixture at most of the open mic nights within Kilmarnock with a handful of other local acts who meet up and manage to put on a fantastic show every time along with the other participants  that  get up to perform.

As for musical influences when you listen to his music there are two main sounds that come through;

“Alterbridge and Creed definitely form a major part of my sound, I love the way they entwine their guitar and vocal parts to sound bigger as a whole. In addition, I listen to a lot of Mumford and Sons, and Newton Faulkner, so they occasionally find their way into my own material”

I would defiantly consider Banner as part of the new wave of acoustic artists coming through from the Ayrshire scene. 

When the dreaded question of uniqueness came up within interview Banner commented;

“I don’t think there is a lot of ways you can be unique any more. There are only twelve notes in the chromatic scale, so any chance you have of writing something new is quite slim. However, I think that using the guitar tunings I use and the vocal melodies make me sound somewhat 

different from other singer/songwriters.”

Banner recently played as part of them Kilmarnock Fair Festive held at Centrestage theatre playing to just under 100 people along side some other acts and even a Broadway act. This accomplishment although good is not Banner’s best within his musical career. He stated that managing to accumulate enough written material for his debut album was his best - a very humble view of achievement.

Discussion then turned to the unsigned music scene and where he sees himself in the future Banner stated that;

“I think there are areas within Ayrshire where new and unsigned music is greatly appreciated, and new talented individuals and bands are as well. Hopefully, once my album is recorded, I’ll continue along the path I’m walking at the moment, attending new open-mic nights and getting gigs, hopefully with a bigger profile and fanbase each time.”

Banner is definitely on his way to becoming a very well known local artist.

 With his song “Homecoming” even getting the thumbs up from another well known artist,  in the shape of Mechanical Smile.

Mik Banner is playing at the butterfly and the pig in Glasgow on Sunday the 14^th August, after which he hopes to be booking more live shows .

You can hear some of Banner’s recorded tracks on his facebook page here and on his reverbnation page here.

Stuart Newman

“Well, it started out the same way people do, learning an instrument. Then I wanted to buy some software to layer things, and experience what that was like. I kept on, then kept on some more, and eventually made the decision to pursue things. I felt I could offer something and could become something different.”

A familiar answer to an even more familiar question....How did the band first start?

Unlike the question or indeed the answer there is nothing too familiar about Stuart Newman. His vocals provide a strangely haunting sound that blends perfectly over his raw and stripped back sounding music.  You could compare him in ways to his influences which include Simon and Garfunkel and REM and a good few more, but Newman manages to make his sound very fresh.

In regards uniqueness from other artists Newman responded simply with;

“I approach things differently, make different decisions and I’m not afraid to try things out creatively. So far, people seem to agree. I also use the power of saying 'No'. I know what I want to do, and my reasons behind doing things. I think this helps me approach being more original.”  

From speaking to Newman he is easily the most honest and transparent artist I have ever spoken with when it comes to his music. In comparison to some unsigned artists of our generation he has a totally different perception of the old “music industry owes me a living” view.

 “I ‘released’ my first album ‘Single But Defective’ online, as a free download. In fact, all my music is currently on free download. Try it. Share it. Tell your friends. I’ve made it super easy to download and sample what I’m about. My website shows you everything. Music, videos… it’s all there. You can see straight away how I do things. The music world owes me nothing. If I’m to be an artist of note, I must prove beyond doubt any talent I have. So I will continue to try to do this. But it’s fair to say that my ambitions are as big as they could be

The achievements of unsigned artists mostly depend on their ambition. Due to such ambition held by Newman, he has created some amazing opportunities for himself.  Not only has he had airplay of BBC Radio 6 but he has also very much applied to DIY ethic to his career and mailed t shirts around the world for free.

 Single But Defective - Stuart Newman by stuarttnewman

In regards the music industry at the moment and specifically the unsigned music scene I expected Newman to be rather vocal on this subject and he did not disappoint;

“I think the entire industry is going through big changes. The old are fighting to keep that, the new are trying things. I think as an unsigned artist the weight is on you. The previous infrastructure is crumbling. That needs to re-establish itself. I think it’s partially a waiting game, but you need to prove yourself as much as possible in as many ways, before people take any notice. It’s a tough road”

Newman defiantly has something very different and quirky going on and as a result I am hoping big things will come to him in the future. It is so refreshing to speak with musicians who are down to earth and have no qualms about being brutally honest.

You can download and check out all of Stuart Newman’s material on his official website here.  I highly suggest you do.

Mechanical Smile

There has been a bit of a buzz within the Ayrshire scene at the moment and it all surrounds one band from Kilmarnock. That band being Mechanical Smile. Made up of Dawn Marshall, Garry Irving, Nic Pilmer and Murray Baxter, they describe themselves and their sound as;

“'Two guys, two girls from Ayrshire, combining rock, pop and grunge, creating a melodic and pulsating sound that will blow you away!'

The band have had a busy 2011 so far with a line up change in January and a mini German tour in June after winning the University of the West of Scotland exchange competition. The tour was made up of three dates in Plettenberg, including the main stage of the Immecke (Irock) Open-Air Festival. Mechanical Smile has also been extensively playing gigs within their home town of Kilmarnock, across Ayrshire and within Glasgow promoting their new EP “Sleep and Silence”. Add to these accomplishments their track “Leap of Faith” being chosen personally by Craig McGee (Warner Chappell Scottish Scout / BBC Radio 1 A&R Zone) to be played by Ally McCrae on his BBC introducing show within the A&R zone segment. This accomplishment was then added to even more by McCrae expressing his positive review of the track as ‘Huge’ – all this while they were still in Germany on tour.

The interesting thing about Mechanical smile is their unique selling point of having a female lead, something not that common within a certainly male dominated local music scene.  Marshall however takes this in her stride and shows everyone she can certainly possess the same -if not a higher- level of stage presence and musical passion as her male counterparts.  When you speak to the band about their music and their opinion on their local scene you can see the band “family” dynamic being very much present within Mechanical Smile. The band is extremely supportive of one another including their individual musical influences and ideas.  This in turn leads to their unique and somewhat mixed up style of music where you can hear all the different musical and personal influences throughout the songs.  An opinion agreed with by the band;

“The fact not many rock bands are female fronted that can also play guitar and write songs make us unique but now also there are two girls in the band makes it quite unique. Two guys and two girls that play music that is fresh and new. Not many people find easy comparisons to our sound. The good thing about our band is we all have very different musical tastes and influences, and for some strange reason we don’t really draw on specific  bands for influences when writing songs although bands we all like are Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins and Silversun Pickups.”

On the subject of the local unsigned scene Baxter commented;

“There are so many unsigned bands out there that are amazing, but I feel the smaller towns could do much more for these bands, as there isn’t really a music scene unless you are in Glasgow, and it’s hard to break into the ‘in crowd’ in Glasgow.  It’s all about who you know, which is hard for new bands etc.”

 Sleep And Silence EP by mechanicalsmile 

The band has also played what is seen as the “holy grail” of venues to most unsigned bands this being the legendary King Tuts.  They played as part of ‘The Harder they Fall’ tour with London bands Hopeless Heroic and Fearless Vampire Killers, where I found out from talking to Baxter that they were in fact moved up the bill due to their large amount of pre sales. This impressive fate has now led to them being invited back to play on 5^th October supporting support Young Legionnaire which is sure to be a most victorious King Tuts return for the band.

Mechanical Smile are due to release their new single 'Take Me To The Otherside' on August 15th via iTunes, Amazon Play.com and many other credible online music stores. The track will also be available to stream for free on Spotify, and the brand new music video, produced by Joshua Aaron Porter will be available to view on Youtube. A video which they invited all their fans and friends to be part of.

If this past year has been anything to go by, Mechanical Smile has got an amazing rest of 2011 and a perhaps even most amazing 2012 coming their way. I could not personally think of a more deserving or hard working band for it to happen to.